Our first ELA test of the school year? Check! We had our fiction test this week, which covered everything from fiction reading strategies and characteristics of fiction texts, to analyzing figurative language and writing a text-based essay about a character. Though only seven questions, this test wasn’t easy in that there were a lot of two-part questions. It ended up taking most of the kids a solid two class periods. Whenever we take a test, I always set aside a class period post-test that gives students time for revisions and reflection based on my feedback. It’s important that students view learning as a process, and that assessments don’t just receive a final grade without an opportunity to take my feedback into consideration and apply it to their work. Prior to revisions, I don't include any scores on their answers. Instead, I provide comments and questions in hopes of guiding them to make revisions that result in stronger, clearer responses. We discuss the questions as a class, talk about trends I noticed, and clear up any misunderstandings the kids may have. It isn't until after revisions that I attach a number to each question and grade the test. Students will bring those home this week to show parents, and we'll continue working one-on-one, in small groups, and as a class on various "trouble areas" that were revealed through this test.

As a result of the students having the day off on Tuesday, we didn't have a half day this week. Normally we do book club on half day Wednesdays, but rather than simply holding it on our full day Wednesday, Mrs. O'Keefe and I decided to push book club to Thursday morning. We figured kids would already be excited, it being Halloween and all... They also asked if we could make things extra comfy for book clubs and do a pajama day. So Thursday got off to a comfortable start! On Friday, many students reached the publishing stage of their personal narratives. Before typing though, we had to do some editing. As an introduction to the COPS editing strategy (capitalization, organization, punctuation, spelling), we "performed" a whole class skit. Our "officers" in each class were even lucky enough to lead us through a quality COPS rap. Let's just say, it was pretty amusing.

Our Bucket Fillers this week were Romana and Alteo. Romana looooves reading, and I loooove that about her! She is also just so enthusiastic in general about learning, and it's incredibly enjoyable to have that positive energy during our classroom lessons and discussions. Alteo was one of a few kids in my homeroom who really impressed me on Friday. After a rough report from specialist on Thursday, a handful of students really turned things around during art class on Friday. Alteo and a few of his peers showed self reflection and responsibility by making the decision to stand out in a positive way during specialist, and Ms. DeAngelis gave me a list of several names of students who did an excellent job with listening and behavior during art class. Alteo was at the top of that last. Way to go, Alteo!