My Spring Break wasn't very eventful. I went back to work at the daycare I am employed at. It was weird going from third grade teacher mode back to baby talk and changing diapers.
The best part about my Spring Break, however, was that I passed my CIA! This is the final test to get certified in PA. I had failed by a couple of points the first time I took it, so I was really nervous, but I passed with an amazing score! I was so happy when I saw it, and just seeing that number gave me a whole new confidence that I was lacking before. I can honestly say being in the classroom totally helped me through the test, because I found myself thinking for like a teacher, when the first time I took it I was thinking like a student.
In my preparation and planning for the week after Spring Break, I gave a lot of extra attention to the Math blocks. The students didn't do so well on the unit on fractions, so I wanted to make sure I spent as much time as I could on each mini lesson, paced carefully, and had many manipulatives and visuals. The first day back was Partial Products. On Pinterest, I found this great idea for place value, and decided to use it for this lesson since they have to find the place value in order to solve partial products. I bought Styrofoam cups and stacked them by threes. I wrote the numbers 0-9 on the edges of them. Then, in the first layer I put two zeros next to each number. The second layer I put one zero next to each number, and the last layer was left alone. The point of this is so children could make any three digit number they want, and then pull out the layers to see what place value the number is. For example, if the number is 365, students will make it so their cups read 365. When they pull the 3 out, it really says 300. SO they know the number they are multiplying is 300. Then the 6 is 60, and the 5 is just 5. The kids really seemed to enjoy it, and it was helping them see the place values of numbers when multiplying 3 digit numbers by 1 digit numbers.
P. Stef came for another observation this week. It was spur of the moment, and I didn't know he was coming until the night before. Luckily, my plans for the day he came for a Reading lesson was "Angry Verbs". The students grammar portion of the week was "helping verbs". (was, will, is, etc.) I decided to incorporate something fun, I would have students write about "Angry Birds" using helping verbs. The students had to write a sentence that included a main verb and a helping verb. The sentences were so cute, and they really enjoyed it. It was such an easy lesson, and I'm glad P. Stef got to see something a little less formal than the lessons he has seen already. The majority of the lesson was the kids coloring their pictures and talking to neighbors about their sentences, but I didn;t mind it and I don't think P. Stef did either. I am currently making a bulletin board with the pictures, so here is an example I created.
Science was a fun week. We are starting "Life Structures" which is a very hands on activity. The first part of Life Structures is life of a seed. For the introduction lesson, students cut open fruits and examined the seeds inside. Then, we talked about how anything with a seed is considered a fruit, even tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, etc. Even though most of us call them vegetables, in science they are fruits. Students examined size of seeds, shapes, colors and how many. It was a really fun activity, and the room smelled so good from the lemons, tomatoes, peppers, limes, oranges and apples.
The next part of "Life Structures" which will happen in a week or so, are the Crayfish and Beetles. (ewww). We received our critters on Wednesday, and had to set up their homes. I am so not looking forward to doing experiments with these hideous creatures, but the kids are really excited, so we'll see how it goes.
The week was very busy, and I am surprised at how fast it went. Only four more weeks until I am done!
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