Saturday, March 15, 2014

A Peek at My Week {3-16-14}

Top of the week to ya!  That's leprechaun speak for "Welcome to this week's edition of A Peek at My Week," the weekly linky party where you share what you've got going on this week.
Judging from the activity in blog land, many of you have been on Spring Break this past week.  Not me....I still have two weeks of school.  My kids, however, only have one more week and then they are off to Florida with the high school band to perform at Disney and Universal for the week.  So at home this week, it will be utter craziness with packing, shuttling them back and forth for nightly band practice, and making sure that nothing is forgotten at home when we drop them off at 6:30 am next Sunday.  My daughter is fully prepared though.  She ordered every imaginable cable/plug/charger for her Kindle and iPod from Amazon -- just in case one should break on the trip.  Heaven forbid!

As you know, Monday is St. Patrick's Day.
(Love this super cute clip art by Melonheadz!)
How will we teachers celebrate at school?  We are having a baked potato bar at school for lunch.  Yum!  Then later on in the week, we will welcome in the first day of spring with a Salad Luncheon.  Lots of staff have signed up to bring a different kind of salad to share.  (We LOVE to eat at my school! :)  Here is the salad I plan on making -- Cashew Chicken Rotini Salad.
Cashew Chicken Rotini Salad ~ Loaded with Cashews, Grapes, Chicken, Pasta and Dried Cranberries!
Two days of group lunches means two mornings I don't have to scrounge around the freezer to figure out what I'm bringing to eat.

In class this week, we are beginning our research for our Famous Heroes research project.  Last week, students pulled names of famous people from a basket.  In the past, I've let them choose their own person, but this year I wanted a little bit more control over the craziness.  (And I'm sorry, but Justin Bieber has no business being considered a hero...But try to tell that to 9 year old girls.)

We have almost finished going through the research process using my new product, Super Writer Research. The kids have done a GREAT job with learning how to take notes from a source without plagiarizing (think I've scared them to death) and using short phrases instead of complete sentences in their note taking.  Now they are ready to roll!
I was hoping to wrap up these research projects before Spring Break.  That gives us 10 days...I'll keep my fingers crossed.




Wishing you a wonderful week!

7 comments:

  1. I'm super excited about two lunches as well! I need to sign up for the salad lunch and figure out what I'm going to bring! I would LOVE to have some of your students share their research with us when you are done. I think it would be great for some of them to see what a 4th grade writing project looks like. :) I'll cross my fingers for you too, that it will be done before break. 2 weeks---- we can do it!
    Ana
    Mrs. Bentin's Blackboard

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  2. Thank you for the recipe and the linky! That salad looks delish!

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  3. I love letting students choose their topics... most of the time. Biographies are always something I monitor more closely. This year, students will write a biography on a famous Ohioan in the spring. (That way we can knock out a social studies standard as well.) I like the idea of randomly drawing. That way some students will learn about a person who is completely new to them.

    Have a great week!
    Mary
    Fit to be Fourth

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  4. I am just finishing up Spring Break - but could easily take another one in two weeks! How exciting for your kiddos (well not the packing part!). I am very jealous of your lunch - that is the worst part of Sunday nights - having to think about lunches.

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  5. That salad looks delicious! I'm going to need to pin that recipe for later on in my week! Yum!!! Let me know how your salad lunch goes - we're always looking for creative ways to eat as wing :) We've had a pin-spired party already this year!

    Looks like a fun week,
    Amanda
    My Shoe String Life

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    Paula from Paula’s Place

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  7. Jennifer,
    I stopped by to grab your button to link up on the 23rd. My school does lunches like that too. March is such a long month for us, we do a Mardi Gras and St. Patrick's Day celebrations. I also started biographies with my sixth graders, and I wouldn't let them choose any actors or singers. Right there with ya!
    Michele

    Coffee Cups and Lesson Plans

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