Happy New Year

We staggered back into the classroom this week, many teachers were bleary eyed and still reeling from ringing in the New Year. My school had school on Monday, January 2, the only one in the area, probably only one of a very few nation wide to have school on the National Holiday (observed). But students were excited be back and the only student in my class who was still on a vacation was in Mexico, and did not return until the end of the week anyway.

My school has short school-wide get togethers to start and end each week as a whole community. Monday morning we gathered in the auditorium for prayer and to discuss the International Baccalaureate attribute we are focusing on this month: inquirers. Energy was high and students were probably more focused on each other than on what the principal had to say. Two weeks can be a very long time, especially among kids, and there was much to discuss: What did you get for Christmas? Where did you go? Who came to visit? Why didn't you respond to my texts?

The best lesson plans for these circumstances require students to move around, get into groups, and work together. I think I was able to meet these criteria most of the week. We are investigating the properties of matter in science. Students worked in small groups to find the volume and mass of different quantities of water and calculate its density. They also measured and weighed blocks of different substances to calculate their volume, mass, and density. Not everyone quite understands what it means that density is a characteristic property of a substance quite yet, but we will continue our work with this next week with irregularly shaped objects.

We started a novel study this week to compliment the fifth grade social studies unit on the Revolutionary War. My class is reading My Brother Sam is Dead. Their comprehension of the book so far is high, but the vocabulary has them scratching their heads nearly every page. So I had students come the board and write down any words they weren't 100% sure on the meaning as it was used in the book. I use this phraseology in an attempt to free students from the worry of what their classmates might think about the words they don't know. This time it worked - the students covered the board with unfamiliar words. I took their words and wrote one on an index card for each student to define and illustrate. I love my word wall since I started doing it this way.

By the end of the week, I was done - ready for the weekend. The first week back is tough, even if the break was "only" two weeks (which, I reiterate, can feel like an eternity to kids). So if your kids, or loved ones who work on the school schedule, are a little tired or grumpy this weekend, cut them some slack. And maybe, suggest they take a nap.