A Peek At My Week Link Up!

Today I'm linking up with Jennifer from Mrs. Laffin's Laughings for "A Peek at my Week."

After a wonderful weeklong Spring Break, we are headed back to fourth grade tomorrow!  While I miss my kiddos and am eager to see them, going back to school also means seven teaching days until the New York State Math Test! Yikes! 

I'm relieved that the ELA test is over, because, to be honest, I usually assume that the kids will have a harder time with that.  But the math test worries me too! My students are much stronger in math, and sometimes I think they know it...too much.  Also, I have much higher expectations for my class on this test...and I just want them to do well! So, worried. Yep. Me. Nothing new, really.

So, I'll have math review-themed homework this week, as well as morning works. I also do these fun things called math contests, which is basically a review page that kiddos do in partners and whoever does the best receives a surprise of some sort! In addition, our school has iPads, so I requested a bunch of awesome math games be put on, like the free app Fraction Kitchen, so we'll play those this week, too!

As for ELA, I've been working hard all week to create a bunch of new novel studies! I use the Daily Five in my classroom, but I have a set list of "Must Do" activities for kiddos before they can make lots of ELA choices, while I pull guided reading groups. From now, until the end of the year, I am going to focus my daily five time on novel studies. I will let the kiddos choose the text they would like to read, but they must also work on the chapter questions I created. So, there's choice, but also structure! I have made about 30 novel studies that I'm letting kiddos choose from tomorrow. And I made a bunch of blank lapbooks, so they can use those as a culminating activity and present to their peers. 

Oh, and Social Studies? I teach Social Studies, my fellow teacher friend teaches Science, and we switch. My classes recently learned about the American Revolution. SO WE ARE PLAYING A GREAT GAME! I've used Mission US in the past for the American Revolution, and the kiddos have also played the slavery mission and the Cheyenne mission on their own. It's a great, motivating, way to learn about history! And it will be a laid back way to get back to school!

Anyway, as I pick out a cute, hopefully spring-y, outfit for my first day back (since we had snow in my western NY area over Spring Break, ugh), and organize my teacher bag by the front door, I will leave you with this image...

Happy back to school for all of you returning, like me!