Articles by Alberto Contreras

Spelling Challenge Paragraph (Martin Luther King, Jr.)

January 17, 2026 Comments are Disabled

Over the past five years, I’ve noticed a steady decline in students’ ability to copy writing accurately from the board or a screen—and I mean simply copying what’s there. Attention to spelling, punctuation, and capitalization is often missing. To address this, I now have students write the day’s instructions in their notebooks at the start of class. I’ve also increased the number of spelling and editing activities I use, with the goal of retraining students […]

Read More

“Gram-ography” by Julie Murugen

January 15, 2026 Comments are Disabled

Here is an activity Julie created to tackle both ELA and Social Studies for 5th Grade Students! Google Docs: Link 1: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1i0Xih7L0S4JlapVpfw4VkqJs8dm7eBVVzrKij6XzY14/edit?usp=sharing Link 2: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1B5Pikn57zsT6tFhzfMy3Zud0UoJUTxegYkxTit5uqcc/edit?usp=sharing

Read More

The One Lie Reflection (100-Word Challenge)

January 12, 2026 Comments are Disabled

Your mission: Write exactly 100 words about your recent break (winter break, spring break, weekend, etc.). However… one sentence in your writing must be lie. And everything else should be true. Worksheet: Since we are on the topic of lying, here is another fun activity:

Read More