Hey friends,

First, a quick apology for missing last weekend’s email. We were fully immersed in dance parent life and, if you know… you know. Sometimes it feels like we are juggling teaching, creating, and parenting all at once. Last weekend, dance won.

Now, back to our planbook!

Women's History Month!

March means Women’s History Month, and we keep this one intentionally low prep.

This doesn’t have to be a big, time-consuming unit to make an impact. We just share one or two biographies a day as quick reads. Sometimes it’s a warm-up, sometimes right after lunch, sometimes during those odd transition pockets. The consistency is what makes it powerful.

By the end of the month, every student is familiar with multiple influential women without it ever feeling overwhelming.

Then for our culminating activity, each student is assigned a different historical figure and creates a Wonder Woman–style shield based on that person’s life and accomplishments. It turns into an incredible display for Open House and the kids are so proud of them.

If you want something that works for quick reads, partner work, small groups, or a simple display, we use our
👉 Women’s History Biographies (print + digital)​

Read Across America Week

This week we’re celebrating Read Across America by focusing on picture books that still hit in upper elementary. One of our favorites is The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig. Even in 5th grade, students deeply connect with Brian’s story. It opens up honest conversations about inclusion, kindness, and what it means to really see the people around you.

We’re pairing it with this interactive empathy activity 👉 The Invisible Boy – Interactive Empathy Activity​

It’s thoughtful, structured, and gives students space to reflect instead of just “talk about it and move on.” Highly recommend if you’re looking for something meaningful but manageable during this busy time of year. Don’t sleep on picture books in upper elementary!

🏀 i-Ready March Madness

March = bracket season.

We are running an i-Ready March Madness challenge based on number of lessons passed. Students are seeded and go head-to-head each week. We narrow it down until we have a class champion at the end of the month.

We adapted this idea from i-Ready Central. Here’s how we’re keeping it equitable and motivating for all students:

• Prizes at each bracket level
• Milestone rewards for everyone (5, 10, 20 lessons passed, etc.)
• Raffle tickets for every lesson passed
• End-of-month raffle drawings

The bracket brings the hype, but the milestones keep everyone engaged. It’s been such a fun way to build momentum before testing season without it feeling like “test prep.”

Want to use the prizes we are using? Here's a freebie that you can print out to hang next your bracket! 👉 March Madness Prizes​

Using Instructron for Focused Writing Feedback

Right now, we’re in narrative writing.

Our students are doing really well with:

• Organization
• Story structure
• Content development

Where they’re struggling?

• Conventions
• Grammar
• Editing

So instead of overwhelming them with feedback on everything, we are having Tronnie focus only on conventions and grammar for this round of revision. This has been a game changer. When feedback is too broad, students shut down. When it’s focused, they actually apply it. Tronnie keeps the tone supportive, gives clear next steps, and allows students to revise independently before coming to us.

It feels like having an editing assistant that never gets tired.

And Don’t Forget the Test Prep

Test prep is the feature that started Instructron in the first place.

What we love about it:

• Covers all standards
• Gives immediate feedback to students
• Provides coaching from Tronnie
• Shows teachers exactly who is struggling and with what
• Helps identify patterns so you can decide if something needs whole group review before the big tests

It turns “practice” into something responsive instead of random.

This is real-time, mid-year, slightly tired but still excited 5th grade energy over here. Thanks for being here with us.
And if you’re also juggling all the things right now… solidarity.

Joe and Quyen from Top Floor Teachers

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