Take Me Back Tuesday

So THANKFUL for Hope for starting up this new little linky.  It's just what I needed to get my bloggin' groove back on!  Plus, I couldn't resist this adorable little "throwback" button!

After digging back through my posts, I decided on this one from way back in January....it had a little of everything from persuasive writing to dictionary skills {guide words} to the beginning of a biography study.

YES!  Friday!!

Is it just me?  Or are 3-day weeks always the longest?

It was great to see my kiddos again though.  Missed them.

One of my little girls was so stinkin' excited to tell me what she got for Christmas.  (or show me)

A monster Tervis just like mine. Pink lid and all.  Mine was a gift from a student.

And a monster shirt.  It was adorable.  Monster face on the front.  Spikes down the back.

And monster socks.  She was so excited!  She's a true Mon-STAR, I tell ya!

Of course, this is the same girl whose mom told me that she comes home from school everyday, changes into her play clothes to go outside to play, then comes back in to play school each night.  But before she does she has to put her "Mrs. Madden" clothes on...the "play" clothes just won't do!!  Hahahaha....she's going to be a teacher.  I just know it!  Not that I used to do that or anything.  ;)

Anyway, it's been a great short (LONG) week.  We've been productive.

Here's a "flashback" of our week...

We finished up our persuasive writing unit with these book review displays.  Students each chose their favorite book to create a new book cover for.  They had to write a summary of the book, rate it, and create a new front cover (with title, author and an illustration of their favorite part of the book).

Then they created their face and hands to hold the book as if they were reading.  I love their creativity.  Some of them just couldn't get the hands on correctly, but that's part of the reason why I love them...their uniqueness! This one is from my ESL student.  She has come such a long way!!

Finally, they tried to persuade others walking down the hall to read THEIR chosen book by adding a speech bubble.  I wish I had zoomed in on some of those.  They literally tried to stop the people with "Hey!  You!  Yeah, You!"  or "Dude, come here!"  So funny.  I love when their voice shines!

The template for these are in the Persuasive Writing Unit from Teacher's Clubhouse.  You can snatch it up at our new TpT shop if you have a gift certificate from there, too!  Come follow us!

We also finished up our dictionary study with those guide word bees I threw in a post a over the holidays.  Cute!  And they did SUCH a GOOD job!!  We actually played Dictionary Hop & Write and then I had them use the guide words on their game card for this project.  Then had to think of four entry words that would come between their guide words.

We started preparing to dive into our Biography study next week.  I can NOT wait.  This is always one of my FAVORITE units with our Living Museum celebration at the end!

We started by talking about what makes a person famous.  Students wrote their ideas on post-its and we created an affinity diagram with them.

Notice most students know that special talents (like singing, dancing, sports) help people become famous but there were very few who knew of other ways (such as inventions, discoveries, leadership).  I'll definitely have more to share later in this unit about the exciting things we do, but here's a little sneak peek for you.  {Unit available HERE)

Show the blog world what you've been up to this week.  That is if you weren't still enjoying your nice, relaxing vacay.  I don't want to see any pics of you lounging around in your PJs.  That would make me jealous!  Very jealous! :)  Just copy the button at the top of this page to your blog post and link up below!


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