The OAA Countdown Continues!

Last week, I returned to school after a super-sonic ten day break.  In the midst of regular classroom instruction, spring pictures, STAR testing, a new round of after school enrichment classes, and report cards, I needed to fit in some test prep review.  Since it was such a crazy week with LOTS of changes to my schedule, I decided to keep it simple.  

I slapped this poster onto my door to pique interest, and my boys were going twelve kinds of crazy over it.  They were SO excited.  I could hear them incessantly chattering about “training camp” in the hallway.  One of them said, “Oh man, I forgot all about that!  I should have worn my jersey today!”  I assured them that we would have a big sports themed day right before the test, and that we could all celebrate by wearing fan-wear.  There were audible screams and squeals of delight, and that made my heart happy.  Then, I told them the “game plan”.  I told them we would be doing occasional football themed activities leading up to our big OAA Blitz Day, which will be a full day of small group rotations.  I also told them we would do centers the day before the test for a BIG review.

I’m saving my Football Frenzy centers until RIGHT before the test. This will allow me to really build the excitement over the course of the next two weeks.  I am just as excited about it as my kiddos are.  For real.  🙂

Last week, we used my ELA Test Prep Posters to review all of the strategies that my students have been utilizing all year.  I projected the posters onto the SMARTboard, and then I simplified the definitions to allow the kiddos to create their own succinct mini-posters.  (I simply underlined the parts I wanted them to recopy, and capitalized letters as needed in order to do this.)   We discussed why each strategy is so important and how they help us to be better test-takers.  They really enjoyed this activity!   We worked on the first eight strategies last week, and we will finish it up this week!  The kiddos will simply add the rest of the mini-posters to the back of their papers.  I just LOVE how each child represented the strategies differently.  I enjoy doing activities like this because it gives me a glimpse at how students visualize and process information.  They are just too cute!

We also reviewed vocabulary on the SMARTboard using my Vocabulary Blitz: Test Prep Vocabulary Mapping pack.  In an effort to save paper, I projected the blank page onto the screen to go over a few key terms.  I still plan on having the students create a booklet for key terms, but I plan on using the SMARTboard in tandem to save some trees.  {Please ignore my terrible penmanship.  I could not write neatly on the SMARTboard to save my life!}

As I type this, I am STILL trying to formulate the perfect plan to get my kiddos ready for the test.  I keep trying to add layers to what I am already doing (while still plugging along with our core instruction). but I am getting MORE and MORE excited about our OAA Blitz Day as each day passes.  I cannot wait to share such a fun, inspirational day with my students!  Happy Sunday!