School Daze in Room 217

It was great to go back to school after our two week Spring break. I can say that because I had the whole week planned before we left, copies were made, anchor charts created and my desk was even somewhat cleared off. What could go wrong....nothing other than I fell in love with a bunch of new TPT items that I read about on the rocking teacher blogs that I stalk.  So I spent lunch buying, printing and planning with the Earth Day Every Day unit creatively designed by Stephanie at http://www.3rdgradethoughts.com/. So there go my carefully planned out week...at least I wrote in my planner in pencil.

Imagine the tingles up my spine when I saw our book bucket overflowing with books being returned to our school library this morning. The students were reading ninja's over the break and earned loads of Reading Counts points.

 Knowing that my scholars would have a major case of ants in their pants, I made sure to have plenty of shorter, snappier lessons and bribed them with a Scavenger Hunt. Anything can be turned in to a Scavenger Hunt in Room 217 and I am always sure to have at least half of the clues in the hallway so the kids really get up amd move around. Today's was simply a variety of questions that we have learned all year (perimeter, measuring, multiplication, elapsed time, etc) and I added in a few that would prove how well they all truly know their teacher. I am a bit embarrassed that they all know that I bring tuna and crackers for lunch everyday, that I hate snakes, and that my favorite vegetable is corn.

 Belgium has many seasons in one day and today was no different. It started out cloudy and cold, then turned warm and sunny, then somewhere along the day it rained, but by the afternoon we were back to a beautiful Spring day. I surprised the gang with "Let's read outside today". We have a secret area right outside of my room. I am surprised that no one uses it mush so I have claimed it as my own! I am so proud of how they are all lost in their book and are in so many comfortable reading spots. Being ever the good model, I even took my latest book - Dreams of Joy by Lisa See (I just finished Shanghai Girls also by Lisa See and beyond loved it!) - to read too. What books are you reading?