Five For Friday!

Hey, friends!  Happy May!!!  🙂  I’m checking in rather quickly for a little FIVE FOR FRIDAY action before Mr. Wonderful and I grill out & collapse on the couch to catch up on some of our shows!

1.  This week, we read “Goodbye, 382 Shin Dang Dong”.  My kiddos created character trading cards to compare and contrast two of the characters.  I purposefully chose a flat character and a round character to examine how the authors purposefully crafted the minor character in just a few paragraphs to allow us to learn about her character traits, motivations, and feelings.  I wanted them to see that we can analyze all characters… not just our main characters… and we can look closely at the interactions between each character to better comprehend the story.  They turned out so well!

2.  We also had some fun learning adverbs this week!   We learned the song from School House Rocks, “Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, Get Your Adverbs Here!”  We watched the video, and we discussed how the store clerks were advertising for Lolly Inc.  We discussed the persuasive language they used and how adverbs contributed to the persuasive tone of the video.  Then, I told the students that they were going to become advertising gurus.  We watched the video several more times to really capture the essence of the company, and then we got to work.  I created a poster as an example, and I told them that their objective was to create fliers for Lolly’s Inc. using adverbs!  I am pretty much in love with all of them!  I really want to post all of them, but I currently have 56 students, so I will show some restraint!  Ha!  Here’s a diverse sampling of advertisements for your viewing pleasure!  You can see my sample poster and how they created their own individual twists.  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!  🙂

3.  We also had our Math OAA on Tuesday.  Although I don’t teach math anymore, I still administer the test to my homeroom.  Plus, it’s a team effort.  I support my partner, and she supports me, because at the end of the day, it’s all about the kiddos.  She decided on doing more of rock star theme for the week, so we had the kiddos create stars for a Walk of Fame.  We glued their names to their stars and taped them to the hallway.  It caused quite a stir.  Of course, all of this warranted a red carpet too!  It was definitely a star-studded event!  {Of course, we are finally catching our breath!  Woo hoo!}

The testing poster can be found in my store for FREE here:  http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Testing-Sign

I used this sign last year.  My partner copied it four to a page and printed it on green paper.  She gave the kiddos Pop Rocks and cute number themed silly bands for good luck!  Such a cute idea!
You can snag this testing sign here:  http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Rock-the-Test-Sign

4.  I have had a TON of fun cooking this week!  I had the most unhealthy salad ever.  It was pretty counterproductive to my new fitness plan, but it was totally worth every extra calorie!  Hello homemade croutons!  Get in my belly!  🙂

5.  Speaking of my fitness plan, it’s imperative that I whip myself back into shape.  For one thing, I am turning 29 next week.  I have one more year left in my twenties, and dang it, I want to look better at 30 than I did at 20!  Is that too much to ask?!  🙂  I was in really good shape at 20 due to track and cheerleading, so I am going to have my work cut out for me FOR SURE!!!  I also want to do a Color Run with my teaching partner in August, so I need to start running again now!  {I am a fair weather runner, so I took the winter off.  Guilty as charged!}  The third and final reason why I need to actually work out again is because we have some kind of track reunion on the horizon.  For whatever reason, the mere thought of getting together with all of my old running buddies has ignited a HUGE desire to hit the pavement!  Honestly, I haven’t worked out regularly since last summer.  It’s been almost a year.  Sadly!  It’s going to be tough at first, but I just KNOW that I can do it, and I will be so much happier and healthier!

Today was “Dress Like a Gym Teacher Day”, and I was flexing my itty bitty muscles.  Like I said, I haven’t worked out in ages, and I haven’t lifted weights in oh, at least five years or so!  I can’t wait until that little bump is a bigger bump! As you can tell, my game face is ON!  We’ll see how long it lasts!