Five For Friday! April 25, 2014

Erin, over at The Short and Sassy Teacher, clued me in on this weekly linky party when I saw it on her awesome blog last week.

Doodle Bugs Teaching hosts the party!

Rotation Day!  

This week on Monday, our team came together for our "Rotation Day!" (We like to do this the day before a big test.)  We each take a math skill and divide our day up so that the kids can rotate as homerooms to each teacher.  The kids get some concentrated review from a fresh voice and they love moving around.  I taped some great geometry task card problems up around the room with QR codes grading station.  The kids checked with iPads as they finished.  It was a successful day!

I taped the task cards to every unoccupied flat surface!

QR grading station!

DEAR DAY!

With state testing this week, we decided to have a DEAR Day when it was all over. (I was actually breathing again by Thursday!)  We "Drop Everything and Read" a few times a year.  The kids can bring cuddly blankets, a pillow, a healthy snack, and favorite books. I'm ready to "let the sunshine in" today and make it a FABULOUS FUN FRIDAY!

Poetry Books!

Our Mother's Day Breakfast is around the corner, so we're doing lots of poetry for our books that we give moms.  One of the activities the kids will have in their book is an alliterative poem of sorts - more like an exercise in figurative language.  It's called "An Alliteration To-Do List."  They write a short "to do" line for each day of the week. It can be silly, but has to make some sense.  

For examples:

  Monday- Make many monkeys mad
Tuesday - Take tiny teapots to tea.

         Wednesday- Work with whimsical wildflowers  

I have to guide them to write something that can be silly, but has some structure.  It helps to have them start their phrase with an action word that matches the weekday's beginning letter. 

Word Work Idea

One of the ideas in my "expanded" Daily 5 Word Work station is a collection of PuzzleMania pages. I hated to see them written on and never used again, so I collected some books (mostly free samples I got in the mail), tore the pages out and put them in plastic sheet protectors.  They can be used over and over! 

Pages from Puzzlemania!

I keep them in a sturdy folder.

I include answer keys if the pages are really tough.

For number 5, can I just have a "virtual" high five?!?! 

CAN you SAY T.G.T.I.O??

THANK GOODNESS TESTING IS OVER!!!!!

After four hours of testing (both Tuesday and Wednesday,)  we put the guinea pigs (Miss Oreo and Miss Harley) in their playpen and sat in a circle and took turns petting them.  The guinea girls seemed to love it, they just went from friend to friend waiting to be loved.  

Guess which one is Oreo.

TGIF friends!