Yesterday was field day. It was hot - more than 90 degrees. I might have been a little less than joyful about spending nearly the entire day outside.
During our first event of Steal the Bacon (hilarious game!), I notice this....
These three boys were participating with full gusto with their shirts tucked in and their shorts pulled up to their earlobes. The one on the left was flailing wildly around, but still able to be athletic about it.
I giggled to myself about it for a little while. I asked the one on the right what they were up to. He gave me a nerdy smile and said it makes him run faster.
These boys were trend setters, let me tell you. Pretty soon I had a class full of boys trying to wear their shorts like halter tops.
Very interesting day, indeed.
I even managed to make it through the day without sunburn (thank you spf 55) and without a migraine (thank you preventative excedrin and lots of water).
All of us teachers could use a little more appreciation, don't you think? How about a sale!
Most items in my TpT shop will be 20% from May 6th to May 8th. And even better, if you enter the coupon code TAD12 at check out, TpT will give you an additional 10% off your purchase.
It's May! That means is also time to link up with Farley.
Were you ever in a pageant?
I never have been. Now I can have my very own title. Greg and I watched the first season of Last Comic Standing years ago and some of those references still sneak their way into our lives. During the challenge at the end of each episode, everyone had to get into the confessional photo booth and say, "I know I'm funnier than ___." Now we always tell each other that we are funnier than the other.
Greg tells me I wasn't funny before I met him. I tell him I have always been funny.
I'm right.
A word about state testing ~ blech!!!
Prior to this year, I taught 2nd grade for 5 years. Before that I taught 4th grade for 8 years. In all of the time I taught 4th grade previously, I have never been so wound up about testing! Our school gets more and more wound up every year. It is a miracle we are not all on anxiety meds.
Maybe everyone else already is on them.
Maybe I need some.
Anyway, the Saturday before testing our school hosted a testing boot camp. We were told to invite about 10 of our kids who were "bubble" kids or who we thought might have testing anxiety.
During one of the sessions, our Literacy Specialist read Testing Mrs. Malarky to the students and talked about how teachers have test anxiety too. Then she had them write us notes of encouragement.
Monday I found these notes in my box. So sweet.
I had a little teary moment as I read these.
So now the state testing is over and in about a week we have district testing. District testing is not nearly as long, as scary, or as high stakes.
But still.
We also have DRA testing and Aimsweb testing.
Maybe we should throw a little genetic testing in there for good measure as well.
I know, I know ~ we get all kinds of useful data from theses tests. Blah, blah, blah.
We got loud and just a little bit wild. There was loud music and pom poms. We came in the multi-purpose room stomping and clapping to We Will Rock You. Then we watched this fun video.
One of our state senators spoke to the kids and encouraged them to do their best on the test next week.
At least, I'm guessing that's what she said, because I was back stage getting ready for a rousing game of What's That Strategy? to review test taking strategies. It was pretty hilarious. Our computer specialist was the host of the show. She was dressed in hot pink, wearing a hot pink wig, with hot pink lips painted waaaay outside her actual lip lines. All this plus a Julia Child soprano stage voice!
Each teacher dressed up as a certain strategy and one by one stood behind a scrim. From our silhouette and some clues, the contestants were supposed to name the strategy.
My strategy was be on time and take your time. So I made a special clock showing the times the students should be at school. In a nod to Mrs. Frizzle, I sported a few extra clocks.
I think maybe I needed more clocks.
And a navy blue dress.
The fact that I represented a strategy having to do with time is quite hilarious. I am a.l.w.a.y.s running late. Friends and family alike are always just a little shocked when we turn up on time to a function, not to mention a little early. Hey, it's been known to happen a time or two.
Also, I have pitiful time management.
This particular personality trait kills my husband because Mr. FedEx is all about time.
My fancy pants clock was double-sided with the second part of the strategy.
Our testing is next week. I am more than ready for it to be over! I have to admit, I'm feeling a little worried & I hope they do well on this test. I crossing my fingers that they wow me with what they can do because for the past week or so I have been less than impressed. I'm hoping their brains are just taking a little siesta before the big test. That has to be the explanation for their performance this past week!
In my room, I've tried to strike the right balance between helping them be prepared for the test, while not making it be our entire focus. I don't want them to be so wound tight about it that their anxiety disables them. On the other hand, they need to sense the urgency of the high stakes testing and do their very best.
We are approaching state testing. Blech! We just finished two weeks of what we call the Blitz (insert *jazz hands*). Basically, the blitz is an opportunity for the students to change classes four times a day (and pretend they are in middle school) while we furtively cram their brains with stuff they forgot review topics we've already taught. The kids loved it. I tolerated it.
One of my review sessions was figurative language. So after we did a few multiple choice questions I busted out the figurative language sort.
In small groups, the kids sorted the terms, definitions, and three examples of each term.
This was a very engaging activity for the kids.
They certainly did have a good time doing it and worked so well together.
The figurative language sort is available at my TpT store. I made several copies on colored paper so I could have five groups doing it at once, but you can just make one or two copies for a center activity.
I'm glad the blitz is over! No matter how much my class may get on my nerves from time to time, they are my class. We get each other. I'm glad we will be on a more normal schedule ~ for one more week before testing. My team wanted to switch again for math this coming week. I rolled my eyes and declined. They are doing it without me. I don't mind.
Just before spring break we studied polygons. We didn't have a lot of time to devote to this topic, but we managed to squeeze in a fun little activity.
I put slips of paper in a bucket with various polygon shape names & each student chose 5 slips. Any duplicates were put back and they drew again. With those five shapes they were to create a picture incorporating those shapes.
They also had to incorporate one transformation (translation, rotation, reflection) into their picture.
They also had to include an example of symmetry.
Finally, they had to write about what they drew, specifically naming the polygons, transformations, and symmetry. This was a double duty step ~ I didn't have to guess at how they meant to represent their polygons, transformation, and symmetry AND they got extra practice in writing. Win-win.
This activity was 10-year old approved! When I first told them we were going to do something fun with polygons, I think some of them didn't believe me. Doubters! As they were working, several of the kids exclaimed how fun it was. They especially liked it when I turned on the thinking music. I'm sure they'd rather be listening to their pop/rap/whatever music ~ but they never complain when I turn on other genres of music while they work. As you can see, some of them turned out really cute.
Tomorrow we will slide back into our normal routine. No more late nights. No more late dinners. No more jammie days.
Oh, who are we kidding? There will still be late nights and late dinners ~ but with early mornings that follow!
In the midst of finishing the yearbook {hallelujah!} I have been able to put a couple of new items together for my TpT store. The first is a literacy center to practice spelling frequently used words. This will help those kiddos who are s.t.i.l.l. spelling words like does, friend, & they wrong. Included is a practice mat, letter discs, word lists, and a recording sheet. There are also blank lists so you can create individualized lists. The students select the discs that spell the target word and place them at the bottom of the stem to spell the word. The student then moves the letter up the stem to the flower while saying each letter. Then move the discs back down to the ground while saying each letter again. The student will write the word on the recording sheet without looking, then check it against the word list. On the back of the recording sheet is a place to write three sentences using at least one of the words in each sentence. Older students can be challenged to use more than one list word in each sentence. Click the picture to get this literacy center.
I also made a set of flash cards for fluency practice with the Dolch Phrases #49 - 96 with these cute little mice.
Phrases #1 - 48 are also available with adorable owls. I'm still working on the third set of phrases.
So, here's to well-behaved 4th graders after Spring Break!
I'm linking up with Farley for her April Currently link party.
We like Myth Busters around here...plus a thousand other shows.
I'm on spring break right now. I've spent the entire day in my jammies. Yesterday too. Don't be jealous.
I love ice cream. 'Nuff said.
I'm s.t.i.l.l. working on the yearbook for school. It's taking longer than I planned. I'm bored of it now. Since abandoning this project is not really an option, I am soldiering on. I might be having an attitude about it right now.
I might need a second week of spring break. When we go back to school we are having a "blitz" to prepare for state testing. This is new since I was in 4th grade last. I'm not so sure about it. Then there will be the big, scary test. Hmpf!
Ah, the super powers! Since we are picking super powers, I picked two. First, I'd like to have a cloak of invisibility to, you know, be the proverbial fly on the wall. I'm more than a little nosy & like to know what's going on, so this is perfect! I'm also giving myself a magic wand to wave around to get things done. Messy house? Done! Messy desk at school? Done! Finishing a yearbook? Done!
And I am reading that everyone's week was pretty long as well.
All that partying we did on Valentine's Day made it feel like a Friday. Not a Tuesday at all. I woke up in the middle of the night on Tuesday fully convinced that the next day was Saturday. Imagine my sadness when my alarm welcomed me to Wednesday.
Speaking of Valentine's Party ~ I had a simple plan. When it comes to class parties I like to keep it as simple as possible, yet fun. I sent a note home to parents explaining that we'd be decorating sugar cookies along with passing out our little love notes Valentine's. I was supplying the heart-shaped sugar cookies and asked the parents to supply frosting and toppings. So simple, right? So then why did three kids show up with other frosted cookies, mini cupcakes, and chips. Ugh! There goes my simple plan. I know these kids can read! I've heard them. How about their parents?
I know, I have control issues.
The rest of the week dragged on and on and on.
Now, we are at the beginning of a short week. First President's Day today (yay!), then staff development tomorrow. However, these short weeks tend to turn into long weeks. We'll see.
President's Day is near. More than a good reason for a day off school in this long stretch of the school year, it's a good reason to teach compare and contrast. My class is working on a compare/contrast essay about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. The idea is not revolutionary, but it works so well to integrate social studies, reading, and writing.
First, I read books to the class about Washington and Lincoln. As I was reading, I stopped every few pages for the class to tell me what to record on our fact posters. They look different, you say? My sub wrote the Lincoln facts with the kids.
Once the facts have been collected, the students decide which they feel are the most important facts to include in their essay. The structure of this essay is basic - introduction paragraph, compare paragraph, contrast paragraph, and conclusion paragraph.
The students organize the facts they have selected on this graphic organizer in a bullet format. Then the top box contains all the information for the compare paragraph and the bottom boxes are for the contrast paragraph. From here they will write their rough draft. Click on the picture to download the graphic organizer for your classroom.
I'm hoping these turn out well and we are done before President's Day!
