five for friday

Thank goodness it's Friday.  It has been a CRAZY week!  Here is a little run-down.

Monday and Tuesday were set aside for the math MCAS.  Luckily it was beautiful out so we gave them an extended recess afterward.  I love this because it gives me a chance to spend time with the kids outside the classroom.  Lately, I've been playing kickball!  I'm not the best player, but having a teacher on the field keeps the arguing to a minimum.

This Monday, we are walking the Freedom Trail and visiting the Old South Meeting House to reenact the debate that led to the Boston Tea Party.  We have been prepping for this field trip for weeks now, and the kids are very excited.   Yesterday, we finished our prep by watching Disney's Johnny Tremain.

Today we had a half day and we all participated in a PTA fundraiser called the Jog-a-long.  The kids get sponsors and then run laps outside to raise money.  Today was a beautiful day, so one of my Tough Mudder teammates and I ran for the hour with the kids.  I was surprised to find that our running motivated the kids to begin running again when they'd otherwise walk.

Then this afternoon, members of central office served the teachers icecream sundaes as part of Teacher Appreciation Week!  

Finally, the hubs and I are spending tonight with takeout and movies.

Hope everyone has a great weekend and a Happy Mother's Day!!

five for friday

I am excited to link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for this Five for Friday linky party!  As this is my first Five for Friday, I didn't take a whole lot of classroom pics.  Note to self for next time.

                             



This week was a crazy one.  I was one sick puppy all week and the kids were jumping out of their skin with excitement for April vacation to begin.  But thankfully, we all made it through in one piece.



1. We continued our reading groups this week.  This is the second full week and so the kids are really getting   into them.  Below are the books we are reading:

                                           


                                   

In addition to reading their assignment, they all have to fill out a "Think Book" which helps them brainstorm topics to discuss when we meet.  One requirement is for them to record any new words they come across.  We discuss the strategies they used to discover the meaning or if they still don't know, we figure it out together as a group.  In particular, this set of books contain many words that are specific to the culture, location, or time period where the book takes place.  The kids are having fun pointing out these new words to their classmates.



2. We finished up our dividing fractions unit this week.  Since this was the last operation we studied on fractions, the kids had the chance to put them all together.  They worked in partners to solve word problems that included all operations on fractions.  To help them remember the steps, they used a top down web they created.

                                           





3. In Social Studies, we finished learning about how the 13 colonies were formed (I'll blog more about this later).  Instead of making them memorize the colonies, the kids learned where each one is located by piecing together their own maps.

4. A small group of teachers and I are training for the Tough Mudder in June.  We met a couple times after school this week to run together in addition to training individually.  It's so nice to have workout buddies!!

                                              

5. The third book in The Infernal Devices series came out last month, and I finally had the chance to begin it this week.  It's a young adult fantasy series and the second from this author.  I always like reading books that I know my students will be interested in because it makes my book talks much less contrived.  So I'll be excited when I finish this one and can add it to our classroom library. 

                                       

I hope everyone in the New England area has a wonderful April vacation!!