Summer Homework? Are you kidding, Ms. A.? FREEBIE/FIFTY FOLLOWERS!!!!!!

I do not kid, kiddos. Yes, you have homework over the summer. I promise: you will survive!

To help combat the learning loss that occurs over the long summer break, I do require my entering sixers to do homework over their vacation. This year I'm adding an addition to my traditional assignment. Every year since I can't remember when I've had my sixers read two novels. One must be a Newbery Award winner while the other can be a Newbery, a Newbery honor, or any novel by a Newbery author. When they return to school in August they will complete a special Newbery Award book report as well as create a book trailer on Animoto (check out my blog post about this awesome website).

This year I'm sending home with every exiting fifth grader a special summer work folder. Besides the papers detailing what they are to read, in it are a mystery picture to help them practice forming plurals, a summer goal sheet (patterned after Jess's Monthly Goals over at I{heart}Recess), several copies of Time for Kids Magazine, and a reading response tic-tac-toe board to accompany the magazines. Everything needs to be completed and returned to me on the FIRST day of sixth grade. If a sixer follows my direction for the folder, he/she will receive a special prize: a goody bag of gift certificates and treats!

The activities on the tic-tac-toe board are quite general and can be used with any type of periodical. Best of all they align nicely with the Common Core ELA Standards. Some of you might like a copy. You can tweak it, personalize it for your class, and give it a try. It makes for a terrific independent/free time project. You can download a copy of the tic-tac-toe board HERE or by clicking on the picture.

TaDa... ANNOUNCING FIFTY FOLLOWERS!

FLASH FREEBIE for you in celebration!

The FREEBIE offer has ended

Happy Teaching,

Happy Summer (almost),

Angela

The Teacher's Desk 6

June Goals

I'm linking up with Jess over at I{heart}Recess for her monthly goals blog post. I joined her last month for the first time... I've got to say that I am soooo happy that I did! After creating goals for May, I really did return to them several times during the month to monitor my progress: I did practice my piano more, I did eat more healthy foods (I even weaned myself off of pop), and I did plan my blog posts ahead of time... yea me! However, I did NOT plan better for school... I have been, gulp, lazy!

BUT, I did have my fivers do a similar activity. We were supposed to evaluate our success on Friday, May 31st, but I was called away to play guitar and sing at a special mass and missed their class... see, if I had planned better at school we could've done it the day before. I didn't want the sub to tackle this activity as it is something special for us! It will be a few days into June before we get to the May goals but it'll work.

Now for my June goals...

PERSONAL: I tend to feel guilty if I am not being productive, doing something. I have not taken the time to just sit and enjoy. I can remember one of my MOST favorite summer things to do used to be just sitting on the glider on my porch and listening to the neighborhood sounds. Gonna recapture this this summer! It's good for the soul.

FAMILY: I've got lots of fun things planned... cookouts, roadtrips, and TONS of FUN!

HEALTH: I must start walking a little. The arthritis in my knees has gotten worse this past year. As a result, I've gotten less active... BAD! I'm going to force myself to walk a little bit each day, even if it's just around the block.

SCHOOL: I'm going to TRY not to think about this for a couple of weeks... yeah, right!

BLOG/TpT: I've got about a dozen or more products in process for TpT/TN... gotta finish them!

READ: LOTS, and LOTS, and LOTS and all for entertainment!

Happy Teaching,

Happy June... yes, summer break,

Angela

The Teacher's Desk 6