Quarantining and Cleaning ~ Friday Favorites!

Hello there!  Thank you for checking in!  I hope you're staying healthy and are not too bored.  Today I'm delighted to link up with Andrea from Momfessionals for:

Last Week At This Time...

Last Friday, we had a half-day.  We all knew we would have the next two weeks off (it's now been extended to three weeks), and I was hoping and encouraging my students to at least read:

Of course, on the way home, one of my students (who shall remain nameless) exclaimed, "I'm not reading at all for the next two weeks."  Well, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him or her drink...

Give Me Five Adjectives

During the weeks when life was normal (it seems like forever ago, doesn't it?), my students worked on their "Give Me 5 Adjectives" project.  In this project, each student thinks of 5 positive adjectives that describe him/herself as well as two reasons that support the choice of adjectives.  You can get this activity for free here.

Check out some of the finished products:

 

Today's Exciting Highlight...

This morning I headed out to Target to arrive upon opening so that I could purchase some bleach (for laundry purposes only) and paper towels.  The great news was that I was able to buy both items.  I'm realizing that bleach, toilet paper and paper towels are totally unavailable.  I'm just happy to have bleach for my white wash.  I don't use bleach to clean ~ except in the bathroom ~ because I tend to get it on my clothes.  

Tomorrow (March 21st) is World Down Syndrome Day!

If you need another free activity to celebrate Lots of Socks and World Down Syndrome Day, look no further! 

 Of course, you can just wear crazy and/or mismatched socks!  

Last, but not least...

Have you noticed the outpouring of free resources and web sites for virtual learning?  I'm so thankful, impressed and proud to be part of the teacher community!  I'm also thankful to you for checking out my blog!  Stay healthy and well, and check out some other blogs at the link-up:

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Learning Something New Every Day!

Happy Friday the 13th and the beginning of my two week "break/vacation" due to the Corona virus.  I'm very happy to link up with  Erika,  Narci and Andrea for:

Precautions = No School For Two Weeks & The Gym

My classroom has gone dark, and I'm sad.  This is prime time for preparing for our state test (MCAS), and school has closed for two weeks.  My students and I cleared off our desks and all hard surfaces so the custodians can do a deep clean.

Check out this heavy-duty industrial cleaner the custodians will use:

Click on picture to read more about this cleaning sprayer.

This morning, when I went to the gym for my spinning class, these signs are everywhere:

March 14th = Pi Day While March 10th = Mario Day!

This week is full of very important holidays!  For example, today is Pi Day, and I fought this ultra-cool t-shirt that shows an amazing revelation:

On top of that, I learned that my wedding anniversary is an important holiday:  Mario Day!

Author Norah Dooley Visits Our School

Norah Dooley is the author of a very well known book:

During her visit, she shared her background, her writing process (which includes writing at least 20 drafts), and her many other books.  I enjoy how the author weaves a great amount of multicultural information into her books.  I'm definitely going to check out more of her books!

 Thank you for checking in and reading the blog today!  I'm hoping to post more now that I'll be home for the next two weeks.  I have plenty of cleaning jobs to do, but we'll see how that goes!

In the meantime, Happy St. Patrick's Day!  Please let me know how you're doing where you live!

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Marvelous March & More!

Happy March everyone!  Thank you for popping in for a visit as I link up with Anne from Anne in Residence          for:

Fixing

After returning from our weekend in Tarrytown, NY, I realized I needed to fix the state of my closet (one of my least favorite jobs).  Luckily for the state of my closet, I was under the weather during February school vacation week so I tidied it up a little bit every day.  Check out the finished product:





Hearing

Did you hear that the newly renovated Mayflower II is coming to Boston in May?  Here's the best part ~ I have a ticket to go onboard the ship!  This event happening from May 14th to the 19th, includes presentations by educators from Plymouth Plantation as well as plenty of fun activities!




Borrowing

Right now I'm reading The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates.  In this book, Hiram ~ the main character and a slave ~ meets and eventually works with Harriet Tubman, a.k.a. Moses.  It is a very fascinating book that is full of adventure and sadness.  You can read more details by clicking on the book cover. 

Feeling

I am happy to share that I am just about fully recovered from my recent bout with the cough virus.  It seems like a lot of my students had it before February vacation, and then I got it during vacation week.  The good part is that it forced me to rest and relax ~ which is something that doesn't come naturally to me.


Recommending 

For this WIN (What I Need/Intervention) Block, I am teaching a small group about writing summaries for non-fiction.  On the first day, we took a "field trip" to the school library and borrowed some encyclopedias.  The students had never heard or handled books like this!

Growing up, I always wished my family had a set of encyclopedias so I didn't have to go to the library or a neighbor's house.  Now encyclopedias have gone the way of the dinosaur, but it's still useful and helpful to know about their existence.  We used the encyclopedias every day last week, and all the kids said it was their favorite part of WIN Block.  Consequently, I'm recommending introducing your children/students to encyclopedias as well as browsing through them next time you go to the library.

As always, I'm so happy that you visited my blog!  Have a marvelous March!  Make sure to visit the Anne in Residence Blog to check out more bloggers' Currently March stories!

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