Five for Friday...{Just pretend}

I have been dying to link up with my sweet friend Kacey over at Doodle Bugs for her Five for Friday post. Well, I have come to this realization...that is never gonna happen! :) By the time Friday night hits...this teacher is so doneeee! So...pretend today is Friday! Here is how my week went down! 

1: SLEEP 

You know you are exhausted when you fall alseep in your school clothes and don't wake up until 6:30 a.m. True story. On Monday night, I told myself that I would lay down for just a second, and before I knew it, it was 6:30 the next morning. I was still asleep...fully clothed...jewelry and all! My husband even tried to wake me up and then he gave up! {Not sure if I believe that story!} :) 

...seriously though, I need summer to get here ASAP so I can be awesome every single day! Ha!

2: Summer Writing Fun

After a week of state testing, we are back to a normal routine. This week, we spent a lot of time writing our way through my End of Year Writing Bundle. The kids loved thinking about and planning their futures.

After that, we also planned our summer with our Dive into Summer Writing. 

Love how these turned out, but I love these sweet babies even more! Going to miss them so, SO much! {But we won't talk about that right now!}

3: Do the Harlem Shake

A few days ago, I posted about my end of the year behavior management system. If you missed that, we are using balloons! :) 

So...what was day three you ask? Make a Harlem Shake Video. The kids brought props and were counting down the seconds until go time! 

Here is our Harlem Shake...

4: Science Experiment Fun

I love living so close to a local university. They are always so wonderful about bringing experiences directly into the classroom. On Friday, our kids were instructed by the 5th and 6th graders {they were trained earlier in the week}. During this time, they completed 12 hands-on science experiments! Such a great way to give ownership to our older kids and build school community throughout our grade levels. Also a great way to keep our kiddos engaged during these last few weeks! 

5: End of year mayhem! 

Oh my...I can feel it inching closer. Today, I will be working on my classroom awards and finishing up my end of year gifts. Here is a little peek...

I will be posting more about this tomorrow! 

Be sure and link up with Doodle Bugs to show us your week! 

Have a great weekend! 

The Future Me & Summer Planning

Can I just say that I am loving the fact that state testing is over, and we are back in action in my classroom. It makes for a much happier day! :) We are having so much fun working our way through my End of Year Writing Bundle! We have been dreaming of summer, working on our time capsules, and planning our future. 

Just look at my future graduates! How precious are they?!? I can not even begin to tell you how proud I am of these kids! 

I know they are still babies in our eyes, but they are never too young to begin seeing and experiencing the value of education! During this writing, we looked at several local universities, discussed possible career paths, and talked about the most important thing...when they can get their driver's license. ;) They are all about getting scholarships so that they do not have to pay the big bucks to go to school. Their parents will thank me later! :) This activity led to so many wonderful conversations and definitely has my kids dreaming BIG! Of course, they all want to be millionaires! :) 

I am so proud of the writers that they have become over the past year...and the best part...they love it! Melt my teacher heart! 

They are still talking about their dreams and future ambitions...it is the topic of many lunch conversations. It also leads to a game of 1,000,000 questions! :) 

Now...we are moving on to the important stuff. What can be better than our plans for the future?!? Our plans for the SUMMER! :)

Today, the kids began their brainstorming for Dive into Summer, and here is what they are thinking will be the highlight of their summer...

Sounds good to me! We will be finishing these up tomorrow!

If you would like to snag these activities, you can pick them up at TPT in my End of Year Writing Bundle! 

Not much longer now! How many more days for you?!? 

Balloons or Bust...{And Other Randomness!}

We are down to seventeen days until the end of the year, and it has been pretty smooth sailing. With PASS testing behind us, it is time to wrap things up and finish strong. I wanted to do something super motivating to keep our last few weeks...well...peaceful...and then I saw THIS idea on Pinterest....everywhere! It was like a message from above! 

I do not even have a clue where this idea originated, but my WORD, it is genius! Kudos! For Real! If you missed this idea filled with awesomeness on Pinterest, here is how it works. Basically, you place activities inside the balloons to countdown the last few weeks/days of school. I have definitely made this a motivational tool for my kiddos by waiting until the end of the day to pop our balloon. May I add that we only pop a ballon if our work is complete and our behavior is in tact! :) The class gets to participate in the "activity" the next day. 

The activities inside the balloons can be super easy and free. We may or may not be making a Harlem Shake video as one of our activities! :) I made a schedule of activities ahead of time so that they could occur in the order that I selected. {Type A much?!?} Then I numbered the balloons so that they would be popped in the correct order as well. This way, I know ahead of time how to prepare. 

They could hardly WAIT to get to the end of today. Seriously their behavior and work ethic was spot-on...All. Day. Long! Then, I chose my team leader to pop our first balloon.

Tomorrow, we have a chair swap and the students can sit anywhere they'd like for the day. They were beyond excited because I rarely allow them to select their seating arrangement. I know this is only day one, but if it keeps working so well, next year you may see 180 balloons hanging from my ceiling! ;) 

In other news...we have finally moved on from PASS! PTL. Last week, the students worked so hard. Check out our cute treats from our K-2 friends...

They turned out so cute and the youngsters did an excellent job. Now that this is behind us, we are moving on to bigger and better things. 

This week, we have been working on letters to our pen pals who have been patiently waiting since we had to set this aside until after testing. Today, we were finally able to publish. We used a little subway art from my Desire to Inspire pack as our stationary.

We have also been mapping out our futures with one of the activities in my Summer Writing Bundle. I love the innocence of kids! Some of their dreams and ambitions have almost made me cry! AND...they are very serious about their plans! Beyond precious! 

One of my sweet girls is going to be a financial analyst with a "majors" in mathematics. Oh...and she will marry a gentleman! It doesn't get much better than that folks! 

Today we also found some time to add a few things to our time capsules. 

I love that by the time this sweetie is in 6th grade, she will be a millionaire! :) I always tell them to dream big! :) 

These activities have been the perfect way to start winding down on our year. It makes me sad to let my sweet loves go, but it also makes me proud that they have such high aspirations for their future. I have no doubt that they will do amazing things! #proudteacher :) 

Happy Monday, friends! xoxo

Gotta Have It...End-of-Year Edition

Okay...by this point, you are well aware of the mega-sale going on at TPT. 

So, before you empty your shopping cart, here are some of my end-of-year units that you may want to check out and grab while they are 28% off! These are great activities to keep your kids engaged and help maintain your sanity during the last few weeks of school. You can click on any of the pictures to check the unit out at TPT.  

End of Year Writing Bundle: 

Beach Bum Literacy Centers

Living the Ice Cream Dream

I so wish that I could do these activities again. They were perfect for the last few weeks of school. But....same kids = on to bigger and better things! :) Here are a few pictures from last year...

Popsicle Science Experiments

Astronaut Ice Cream Tasting...

A little adverb stack...{can be used  with any skill}

And a little "How to Make Ice Cream" Writing!

 

Student Writing Portfolios...An easy and fun way to celebrate learning! 

Dig into Learning: Activities to send students off into the summer...

And finally...get your awards ready to go! 

Candy Awards & Matching Poems: 

Or you can go with classroom superlatives & writing activity...

 So...are you ready for the end?!? It is near, my friends! :) 

If you would like to check out any of these units, they are available in my TPT shop!! 

Have a great night!