Week in Review

Happy, Happy Friday!  Do you know why it's happy?  One, we survived the week before winter break.  Two, my blog just got a major makeover!  Isn't she purdy?  I can't wait to celebrate the new design (but, more on that to come, my friends).

I haven't done a weekly recap in a while, so I thought it would be nice to share a few highlights from the week. Sit back, relax, and enjoy a bit of randomness from my week.

Most of you would agree, I think, that this week was all about surviving, but we still had some learning to do, like perfect our close reading skills.  Over the past few weeks, we've been using these winter close reads.




Can I just say that my kiddos are rockin' the close reading skills?  Sometimes we do the reads as a whole group, and other times, the students complete them independently.  Either way, they are doing an amazing job as close readers!

We also wrote some wintry narratives about what we would like to do on a snowy day.  We don't get many snowy days in the desert, but the students certainly had some great ideas about what they would like to do if given the chance!  Some have visited the snow before and decided to write about their experiences.  They had fun publishing their mitten shaped books.


Like most teachers, I've spent my week planning and preparing for our return in January.  I can't wait to get into some of the material I have planned, but I'm most excited about our upcoming unit on time.  It might have something to do with the fact that up until this point we have been working on one and two-digit addition and subtraction and we need a change of pace.  Once the students have been formally introduced to telling time, I like to use these Time Check slips to continually practice our time telling skills.


I tape them to the students desks and call out "Time Check!" randomly throughout the day.  The students stop what they're doing, check the time, and write it down. Easy peasy.  Click the image below to grab this freebie from TpT.


This was also the week of gift giving.  I gave the students their holiday gift and they were so excited! I always give my gifts out on Thursday, rather than Friday.  This way, students who leave early for vacation still get their gift.  I used my Scholastic Bonus points to purchase multiple sets of books.  Each set included a variety of books within various reading levels so I was able to give the students a book at their reading level.  I wrapped the books up and attached these adorable bookmarks from First Class in Fourth Grade.


Finally, our pen pals sent us a new batch of letters.  It's always an exciting day when these letters arrive.  The kids loooove to read the letters from their friends in California.  Not only do we get letters, but treats too!  Stickers for the kids, and a Hello Kitty notepad for me.


I hope you had a fun and productive week too!  Happy Holidays!

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2 comments:

  1. I love your post, Aimee. I have your close reading pages in my cart even though I teach third...I have several that need that fluency practice,etc... on their level! Love the color coding as well; it really keeps them engaged. I'll be looking for more of those in your store.

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  2. Yay! I am so glad you got our letters and goodies before break. It looks like you had a very busy but exciting week. I hope your vacation is restful and full of amazing family time. -Jaime

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