History FAIL

In elementary school, we teach our students how to make text to world connections. Ex/ We read a book about Henry Ford and then talk about cars affect our lives today.

"In 1968 Martin Luther King Jr. moved to Memphis, TN."

"THAT'S WHERE HANNAH MONTANA LIVES!!!!!!!!!!"


Well, yes.




And later, same kid, in reference to TN, "Isn't that short for Texas?"


Oh, we have a big job to do.

Ways to beat a rainy Wednesday

1.  Have your awesome sauce co-worker greet you with a surprise hot Peppermint Mocha on your desk.  YESSSS.
2.  Parent/teacher conferences mean students go home at 12:35.  All of your class schedules are re-worked, so you get an unexpected 30 minute block free.
3.  Take your department head to the airport for a conference and pick up Chick-Fil-A on the way back.
4.  Speak some Spanish at conferences.
5.  Eat a handful of Dark Chocolate Pomegranate bites.
6.  Eat dinner with your favorite peeps at LA Bar and Grill.
7.  Go play a very soggy soccer game.  Try not to get scored on too much.  Bieber Fever is a tough team.

No word on numbers 6 & 7, but I'll do my best!!

4th Grade Bank Geek

4th grade just completed their first essay unit.  It was like pulling teeth.  I don't know who was more excited to be finished.  One of the students in my class grasped the concept of essays fully.  He was the ONLY one.  He not only understood the format (intro, three reasons w/ supporting details, conclusion), but he had so much fun writing his essay, and I am very amused while grading it!

In comparison, other essay topics included the ever ubiquitous: "Why Kids Need Laptops," "Being the Youngest Child is Hard," "Messi is the Best Soccer Player," "Ronaldo is the Best Soccer Player," and "Kids Should Not Have Homework."

And without further ado, "Trombones are Heavy."

It's never too early to become a band geek!

Jamestown

In 4th grade Virginia History, we are studying the Jamestown settlement.  I showed my students this photo and said, "This is the Jamestown fort.  What is a fort?"  To which one of my students from Guatemala enthusiastically announced, "TENEDOR!"

We then had a quick lesson on final consonants "k" and "t."

(For you non-Spanish speakers, tenedor=fork.  Final consonants in English are generally very difficult to hear for Spanish speakers, so fork/fort sound almost the same.)

Read much?

My school has given me 9 textbooks in the last ten weeks.  I have not QUITE gotten through all of them yet.  Would it be a good goal to finish one of them by the end of the year?

Sometimes I wish they would give me gift cards to Target/Loft/Starbucks or John Grisham novels instead.

More Spiling Tests

K- "Ms. A, how do you spell 'would'?"
Me- "This is a spelling test."
K- (long pause and questioning look "aaaaand?")
Me- "It's your job to know how to spell it."
K- "Oh."