Sunday, April 6, 2014

Peek at my week, Spark Motivation, Pin to Win, & Pure Excitement!!

If you've been reading my blog lately, you've seen my class working hard on opinion writing! They've actually gotten quite good at it! I'm happy to say 100% of my students have finished their restaurant essays and sent them off to their favorite restaurants! I didn't think if this before, but we should have included our email addresses, what companies actually write letters?

Friday, when I came home from a horribly long week if school, I peeked at my phone and noticed I had NINE new school emails! I was not excited and immediately thought the worst. 

http://www.headoverheelsforteaching.blogspot.com/
To my surprise, I received an email from a manager of a restaurant in NYC that one my students wrote to! He looked up the school online (from the return address we used), found my name, and emailed me from the website! He was so touched by my student's essay he read it out loud at his staff meeting and now has it displayed proudly in the restaurant! In my student's letter, she stated her favorite dessert, in the world, is this restaurant's cheesecake! He is SENDING her a whole cheesecake next week, as a surprise! Talk about motivating!!! This student is seriously going to freak out, along with the rest of my class! I couldn't be more proud of my 46 little writers! How cool is it for them to get the real world connection in this simple opinion piece?! This was SUCH a motivating activity for my students and for me to take the extra step, I am considering it for Joanne's linky for Student Motivation this week!

The next step will be writing "Thank you" notes to the companies we hear back from! 

http://mrslaffinslaughings.blogspot.com/
Now to take a quick Peek at my Week! Monday our report cards are going home and conferences go on the the week. We have mostly half days this week, so it will fly by. Conferences are usually extra exhausting, but luckily, I have a lot of work to show off to parents! We are having three half days and still taking the SBAC tests next week. We are also having visitors from a nature center come into the classroom to "bring" science to us! We always have fun when they come!! 

While we finish our revolutionary unit, the students will be writing their next opinion pieces choosing the most inspirational revolutionary. They will use the notes we took and charted and refer back to articles, books, charts, and foldables for evidence! 

I'm excited because I'm pretty much over planned for the week! I know I always have a great week if I'm excited about what I'm teaching and well prepared. I'm starting off the week with my new morning work weekly packet. This spring themed packet focuses daily on contractions! I still have a handful if students who don't use apostrophes and others who choose to write "diddent" or "isent"...which drives me bonkers! I made five worksheets focusing on contractions through different activities and Friday's sheet will count as a quiz! I made the worksheets fun to complete and quick to verbally go over. The first work sheet includes info about the new topic or idea and there is an answer sheet for each page! Sounds good, huh? Check it out... here!


http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/4th-Grade-ELA-Morning-WorkBell-Work-April-Themed-Contraction-work-sheets-1195487

I plan on making my morning work focus on different topics weekly and will bundle them together monthly and for the year. Want to test out this week's work? Let's play PIN IT TO WIN IT! 

Simply pin the above image and leave a comment with the link of your pin. I will choose a few people TONIGHT to send the file to! 

Have a great week teacher friends! ONE MORE WEEK UNTIL SPRING BREAK! :) 


22 comments:

  1. http://www.pinterest.com/pin/316096467568558811/

    cheriemae@gmail.com

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  2. How awesome is that? That student will never forget the power of a well written letter/essay! And I totally understand feeling apprehension at seeing the emails. I do the same thing when I see the Voicemail light flashing on my classroom phone:).

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  3. http://www.pinterest.com/pin/47639708532961045/
    Julie
    DDgirl4ever@yahoo.com

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  4. I so love that your student is getting a cheesecake as a result of her letter! How awesome and definitely motivating. We may have to try this letter writing out! :)

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  5. How awesome it is that your student's letter was acknowledged by the restaurant! What a great writing experience!! Thank you for sharing this idea -- I may have to work that one into my plans before the year is up. :)

    Jennifer
    Mrs. Laffin's Laughings

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  6. I love your April Morning Work Pack. Hope to be the lucky winner!! Here's my pin: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/319966748498895930/

    tinysmiles34@gmail.com

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  7. This is awesome!!! Hope to win the great pack!!! Here's my pin: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/257760778647455839/

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  8. http://www.pinterest.com/pin/95912667039100742/

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  9. Wow, that's amazing that your student received a response from the restaurant AND a free cheesecake. I'm so impressed by the real world connection your writers will see from this experience!

    Rebecca
    Ladybugs Lounge

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  10. Wow! I wish I could see the look on your students face when she receives that cheese cake! Good luck with your state testing! Florida's starts April 14th...ugh.

    Susan
    Passioninportableland

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  11. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  12. Wow! I love the idea that students wrote opinions about favorite restaurants and sent off their letters. And, how wonderful that some are responding and displaying their work!! Great idea! :)
    Here is my pin: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/192810427771301138/
    jenny.glinka @gmail.com

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  13. This looks like what my students need!
    http://www.pinterest.com/pin/193232640236419255/
    Thanks,
    Deb Maxey
    maxeysj@defnet.com

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  14. http://www.pinterest.com/pin/367958232027603455/ debinderry@gmail.com
    We once wrote to various farms and orchards. One student with a nut allergy received a bag of almonds from an almond orchard. We were told never to write letters again.

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  15. http://www.pinterest.com/pin/194288171399197731/

    What a great looking pack!

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  16. How awesome and exciting for your student! I love cheesecake, too! :) I can't wait to hear about how your student reacts. I found you through Jennifer's linky, and I'm your newest follower!

    I love your new contraction pack! I pinned it here: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/116460340338905228/

    Lindsey
    The Journey of a Beginning Teacher

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  17. I think that it's soooo neat about your student's letter getting acknowledged. I can't wait to hear how the surprise cheesecake goes. Please please please share it!!! :)
    Ana
    Mrs. Bentin's Blackboard

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  18. http://www.pinterest.com/pin/529876712380385137/

    These look like great activities!

    scheinbere@hotmail.com

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  19. That is fantastic that the restaurant is sending in a cheesecake and reading the letter to the staff! Your student will be beaming when you tell the class! Glad I found you through A Peek at the Week!

    Susan
    Adventures in 4th Grade

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  20. Hope I'm not too late! Here's my pin: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/302374562454200939/

    LOVE that the manager from the restaurant called you AND is sending a cheesecake! Such great return on a school writing piece! Talk about real world connections!

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  21. Oh my gosh....HOW EXCITING about the company emailing you AND sending a cheesecake. That seriously gave me chill bumps!
    Alison
    Rockin' and Lovin' Learnin'

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  22. What a surprise for that child!!
    http://www.pinterest.com/pin/199565827212568157/
    chief9937@Yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete

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