Okay, lame title, I know! First, I need to apologize for my recent ranting. It was a stressful week, as if you couldn't tell. This week, I have come to a couple of realizations:
1. My sweet, innocent, caring little 5th graders have turned into monstrous 6th graders.
2. I am not the only teacher in the world who has mental break-downs.
3. It is SOOO important to have a teacher to work with, vent to, and listen to. (Thanks Marcy!)
Here's the scoop about what we've been doing in our classroom.
We just finished our read aloud Out of my Mind by Sharon Draper. It was FANTASTIC. I highly recommend it. After reading that book, I can guarantee that my students have a sense of compassion and understanding now for anyone who has a disability. My kids BEGGED for more and you better believe that I quit reading every single day on a cliff hanger. We had great lessons and awesome writing prompts to go with it. Check it out HERE!
In Science, we are learning about living organisms. We have decided to let our students bring in their own living organisms to share with 5th grade. They have to write a short little blurb and present their organism. This is a great learning experience! I wasn't so sure about it, but hey, we'll give it a shot.
In ELA (English Language Arts) or reader's workshop, we are settling into our newest novel Freak the Mighty and the kids are loving every minute of it. I bought a companion to go along with it that you can buy here, it follows common core standards and really helps get our kids thinking! It has been fantastic. I purchased this as a class set of books, thanks to a grant I received from INEA.
And finally, for the grand finale, we have REALLY started prepping for our State Standardized Tests aka: MAP tests aka: the dreaded test. ;)
So, today the number one question in 5th grade was, why is Ms. Black and Mrs. Davidson wearing sweat bands on their head!?
We were helping get them pumped up for the big tests. Our school-wide MAP testing theme is "All Stars", so my teaching partner and I have changed our bulletin boards and started getting ready! We have big plans for prepping.
First, from now until the test starts, we will be really watching our kids and seeing who displays the qualities that are necessary for the MAP test. Each day we will watch to see how attentive students are being, if they are contributing and asking questions, and if they are putting forth their personal best effort.
Each day we will pick a "MAP MVP". That person gets a cool sweat band and medal. They also get to have their picture taken with our awesome trophy and they get a little snack to enjoy at the end of the day.
The kids are ecstatic! Today was the most learning we had going on in weeks, it felt like!
We also made a very thick MAP practice booklet for each student that we are going through as a class. As we work through the problems, we are talking about strategies to help us do our best on the test.
We are making a huge hoopla about the MAP test in hopes that our students see the importance of it. However, I cannot take the credit for these ideas! This is a tradition that my teaching partner has been doing since she arrived here (and maybe before, who knows!), so thank you to whoever started this! It is a lot of fun for me and the kids and I think it is really helping ease the minds of kids who are stressed about it.
All in all, it's been tense in my classroom. My kids are starting to realize that elementary school is nearly over and now it's time for middle school. That means a lot of things; switching classes, no recess, and harder work. They are nervous. Truth is, I am too! They will do wonderful, at least I hope so!
Until then, we will continue working on MAP prep and I will continue reminding them that they are still in 5th grade!
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