I'm not going to lie, while last week felt short, this one felt long. So this three-day weekend was both welcomed and embraced. Perhaps the reason this week felt tougher than most was the fact that the kids had their nonfiction unit assessment on Monday and Tuesday. Testing is one part of my job I could do without. It's tough to sit there in a quiet room as the kids work independently, and though not being able to provide much support isn't fun, it's an unfortunate requisite when kids are taking a larger assessment like this one. I tried to provide as much assistance and make as many resources available as I could, and most students took advantage of this. They were given a review guide on Friday, which they were able to use for a general two-part question related to what we've focused on in regards to the nonfiction genre. They were also given a chart with what is expected when it comes to writing a text-based response. The chart included both the components of this type of writing (introduction, central idea, evidence, explanations) and sentence stems to help organize their ideas. On Wednesday, we revisited main idea and supporting details with an interactive game of Quizizz on their Chromebooks. That same day, students were even given the chance to return to the main idea questions on the test and make any changes they wanted to based on the activity and on our classroom discussion. On Thursday, we did a small group activity that had students revising sample text-based responses (see the photos below). Then on Friday, students spent the class period revising and reflecting on their own written responses, using an exemplar, checklist, and individualized feedback to help them. In the picture to the right, you'll notice some colored cards on the corner of the students' desks. We use these cards as a way for students to signal if they are stuck on something or confused by something I wrote in my feedback. Rather than keeping their hand in the air and waiting for me to come over, they signal "yellow" if they need assistance or clarification. They then can continue working on other things, rather than just sitting there waiting for me to come over. This is a really simply yet valuable system that allows kids to self assess their understanding, ask for help when needed, and stay on task with what they can do when I am assisting other students. The tests will be sent home this week, and the grade on those tests will include their revisions.

Our Bucket Fillers of the week were Mac and Jodenci. Mac is thoughtful and inquisitive. He continually shows an eagerness to learn and to understand his own learning. He genuinely thinks about what is being taught to him, and he makes use of the resources provided to him. Lately, the way he's been helping his classmates has really stood out to me. Our other Bucket Filler, Jodenci, is a close friend of Mac's, which makes sense. Like Mac, Jodenci is very likable amongst his peers, and he's quick to assist others in need. Jodenci worked super hard on his nonfiction test, and he's always a reliable participant during lessons and classroom discussions. Congrats boys, both of you deserve the prize!