Five for Friday

Happy, happy Friday y'all! I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs for her weekly Five for Friday linky.

Since this was the last school day of the month, I announced our February leaders of the month.

Starting Monday, my new leaders get to sit at the "leader" table at the center of the room.

You can only imagine the excitement of getting to sit at our special table!

I've had the biggest problem with incomplete work lately. Originally this shoe pocket was going to be  used for students to keep their water bottles in. Well, that lasted for about a week because the dang thing wouldn't stay hanging. Since it was already labeled with student numbers, I decided to use it as a way to remind students, and myself, when they have incomplete work. They will place a red piece of construction paper in their pocket if they do not finish an assignment during the allotted class time. I chose red paper because it matches the color of their work in progress folder. They know to check their folder if they have a red square in their pocket and once they complete the missing assignment, they can take the square out of their pocket.

With all of the baby doctor's appointments I've had to miss school for lately, I've really relied on my substitute teacher tub. This tub contains extra work in case students are finished early and emergency sub plans just in case I have to be out unexpectedly. 

I've also had to do a lot of multitasking. I've been grading papers while I wait for the doctor! Why have an appointment time if you still have to wait to see the doctor?! That I'll never understand. Sigh.

I had my final formal observation for the school year and it was fantastic! My kiddos loved being doctors and performing surgery on their contraction patients. They even got to wear gloves and masks and use Band-Aids so their patients could "heal". My county has placed an emphasis on student engagement this year and this lesson sure did fit the bill. You can grab a copy of the contraction surgery I used here from First Grade Fever.

I came across a picture that Katie from Queen of the First Grade Jungle posted to her Instagram of a writing lesson her kiddos were doing and I knew that I had to incorporate it into my opinion writing unit.

I had my kids bring in a collection of toys and choose their favorite toy from their collection. Then, they wrote an opinion writing piece about why they chose that toy. Having their toys actually sitting in front of them worked really well for those kiddos that have trouble adding details to their writing.