Positive Thinking Thursday

I am linking up with Mrs. Laffin's Laughings for 

Positive Thinking Thursday! 

My goodness. I read this quote and thought...it's my life right now.

I love my students. They really are the best. But they really are crazy. Especially in June. When we have less than ten days left until summer!!!

Anyway, I'm jealous if you're already enjoying your summer! I'm one of those people who lets out a massive sigh of relief the day after the last day, enjoy the first 2 days of summer, and then catch a bad case of the sadsies when I realize it really is over...

Tried It Tuesday

Let's link up with Fourth Grade Flipper for Tried It Tuesday!

My read aloud time is my FAVORITE time in my fourth grade classroom. We read Wonder by RJ Palacio this year and the class obviously enjoyed it! Which is why we were ECSTATIC to download the continuation of Wonder...the Julian Chapter!

The Julian Chapter is an e-book that we are reading on our class Kindle, currently. We started today and we are LOVING it!

For those of you who don't know, Wonder is the story of August Pullman, a boy born with severe facial disfigurement. In the book, he begins going to school with other kids for the first time in fifth grade. Julian is the bully in the text. In Wonder, many main characters have the opportunity to tell the story from their perspective, but Julian does not. Many fans of the text questioned the author about this, and she responded that Julian's perspective would be too negative and overpower Auggie's story. Welp, she has released his perspective...and here are my thoughts.

When I first started reading, it scared me. Because it WAS really negative. And I didn't want my boys to think that bullying is funny. But then we got to know Julian on a deeper level. And I really enjoyed his version of the story. I even cried. Okay, I cry at everything, so that's NBD.

Five For Friday

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching this week for Five For Friday! 

Well...we thought state testing was over. And then we participated in field testing today. Lovely. But NOW testing is over. Probably.

As our end of the year countdown extravaganza continues....and we pop a balloon each day and read the fun event for the day...today we discovered that our FUN COUNTDOWN EVENT was...

The Reading Marathon!

My students are not big fans of reading this year. 2/3 of my class  are boys...and they just don't get into the reading for pleasure idea. So, I was PLEASANTLY surprised when they cozied up in pajamas with their Reading Marathon trifolds (containing questions for our "checkpoints") and water bottles. It was an awesome day! Very relaxing...and I read a lot, too! A little with each kid and a little for myself. It's good to be a role model in the classroom!

I love the book Wonder by RJ Palacio. My last read aloud for the year, with our 13 days left, is the Julian chapter of Wonder! It's a special chapter written from Julian's perspective. For those of you who haven't read this book, Julian is the bully. He torments August, a boy who was born with severe facial disfigurement, and is going to regular school for the first time in fifth grade. The story is quite moving, and really teaches the kids empathy. 

Anyway, I was skeptical about hearing from the meanie pants, Julian. And I won't ruin it for anyone who wants to read it, but let's just say that I was moved by this final chapter. Like, to tears. It was emotional and lovely.

My class notoriously does not do well with substitutes. They love testing the limits. They love calling out subs for not doing things "the way Miss C. does it." And they like taking advantage of newbies in our classroom. Not nice. Anyway, as the year closes down, I have to be out of the classroom all day on Tuesday for state science test scoring. And so, our end of the year countdown balloon activity? A movie afternoon! I know, it's kind of letting the kids off the hook....but we read all day today! And Tuesday is...10 days until fourth grade graduation. So, movie afternoon it is.

In other news, I've recently requested a grade level change....just to shake things up! I'm switching to second grade next year! Any words of advice?

Positive Thinking Thursday

I am linking up with Mrs. Laffin's Laughings for 

Positive Thinking Thursday! 

Maya Angelou died last week.

Here are some positive quotes 

from this inspirational woman 

for Positive Thinking Thursday.

Wordless Wednesday

I'm linking up with Christine from "Sugar and Spice," for a Wordless Wednesday linky party! It is time for Wordless Wednesday!

What is Lucy thinking?

Perhaps, Lucy is thinking about how excited she is for summer vacation!

Oh, wait. That's me! SO CLOSE!

Currently

I'll be linking up with Farley, over at Oh Boy Fourth Grade, for Currently. I was a lazy bum today and just used the background from my Currently May. Yikes. Sorry!

A Peek At My Week

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

Monday:

LAST STATE ASSESSMENT!

We're taking the written exam for Science...and then the state testing is FINALLY over! Woohoo!!!!

Tuesday:

We have 19 days left of school. Tuesday is a pretty normal day this week. Honestly, I think it's our last normal day of the school year! At this point in June, we have assemblies, field trips, graduation practices, moving up ceremonies, etc.

We'll spend a bit of time today polishing up our writing portfolios. I use pizza boxes to compile the student writing near the end of the year. Each child has a pizza box. I take a picture of the child with a chef's hat and a checkered tablecloth background to place on the pizza box. Each child will make a take out menu type table of contents for their writing portfolio, listing all of the writing pieces they are including.

Wednesday:

Fourth graders graduate from elementary school and move on to the middle school in my district, so we have a visit to the middle school this week. It gives the kids a chance to tour their new school, ask questions, meet the teachers, and get a little more comfortable.

Thursday:

I have a tradition near the conclusion of the school year. I try to do a countdown, and each day we do some fun activity. It keeps things fresh as the year winds down! I write these activities on slips of paper, put them inside balloons, hang the balloons from the classroom ceiling, and pop one each day!

Some activities we put inside the balloons:

Minute to Win It Games

Kickball Tourney

Reading Marathon

Ice Cream Party

Picnic Lunch Outside

Paper Airplane Contest

Popsicle Treat

Bubblegum Blowing Contest

Movie and Popcorn Day

I have each child earn raffle tickets throughout the day for walking quietly in the hallway and making good choices. The raffle tickets go into a jar and I use those tickets to choose kids who get to pop balloons each day. It really is a lot of fun!

So, we started the balloon popping extravaganza this week! The kiddos are super duper excited!

Friday:

Well, the state assessments are over, but our school is doing a wee bit of field testing. The kiddos are going to be quite disappointed when they find out that their Friday morning will be consumed with field testing. 

Our class also has Fun Friday recess today. As long as kids did all assignments, homework, and behaved respectfully, they earn Fun Friday. Now that the weather is warm, Fun Friday is way easier for me to plan! The children are thrilled to go play on the playground and bring a kickball outside!