From what I read on FB and the blogs, it sounds like many of you have finished school or will be finishing very shortly! Those who aren't yet finished will shortly be entering that crazy span of time when you still have teaching to accomplish but your students have basically checked out. Warm days, late nights, baseball games and flipflops vs. reading strategies, two-digit addition and book reports... which will win? Hmmm?
Don't give up the fight!
Remember, if your school year is 180 days long, like it is here in NJ, and you have 18 days of school left, that's a whole 10% of your school year! And there's a lot that can still be accomplished in that 10%!!
That being said, we all know that it's so hard to keep some of our students motivated and focused, which pushes teachers to be super-creative. Games, projects, and more small group activities than ever! Stuff your centers with old favorites brought back again for some right-to-the-end review and with a few new items to keep interest high. I love to bring the old ones back out, just to hear those kiddos who'll exclaim about them in a loving voice like they're greeting long lost friends. :)
Do you have old favorites? Some kids just beg for
math games all the time! They're not fussy, and I can't blame them!
Games are an awesome way to practice and review learning! I think it's interesting to notice which kids choose certain types of games as their favorites, and whether the same favorites get chosen from one year to the next.
Four in a row games are often perennial favorites. I think the simple directions make them a great choice for ...
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Beginning of year practice, because the simple and repetitive directions will hopefully keep you from having so many interruptions when you're struggling to squeeze some one-on-one testing in.
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End of year review for pretty much the same reason! Also, those simple directions are less likely to cause "he said/she said" squabbles than more complex games tend to do at the end of the year, when some students are just DONE. They're also great for review that doesn't leave you with a big stack of papers to mark, because seriously, who needs that at the end of the year?
So, I have an ABUNDANCE of four-in-a-row choices in my TpT store. {Truth: I created one of the sets because I actually forgot how many I already had. Almost 600 resources ... these things happen!}
Here's one! :) This set of
10 four-in-a-row games includes games for sight words, short vowel CVC patterns, question words, seasonal words, and even addition and subtraction facts.
Here's a little freebie that might help out in your literacy centers, keeping kids on task while expanding reading vocabulary and decoding skills. It's a nice activity for summer school, summer camp, or at home practice, too!
Hang in there, summer vacation's coming!!
Happy Teaching!
