Calendar Writing

English ended up being a whole lot more fun today than I originally planned! Our topic was author's voice and being descriptive with our writing. I referred to a game we played last year, the Calendar Writing game, and said we could play it on Friday. The class said, "Why can't we play now, since we're thinking about it?" Huh. Good point. So I got out the supplies and away we went!

How to play: a picture from an old calendar is tucked in a folder so no one can see it. Each student picks one and secretly describes what it looks like, sounds like, feels like, time of day/year, nearby objects, etc. Then the pictures are revealed and students guess whose description goes with which picture. I had the pictures grouped based on seasons to make it a little harder to guess. Our topic today was fall. These guys got really into it! Some had amazing descriptions and found little details from the picture to include. We had some good guesses! 

My kids were on a fly hunt today. For some reason, flies are all over the place! There might be a dead something in the live trap under my deck. If you stand out there, sometimes you catch a whiff of something unpleasant. All the boys fought over who got to hold the three flyswatters. During read-aloud they patrolled the room, swatting and whacking the air. Then they asked if we could leave the door open to let in more flies for them to swat. 

7-8th grade science was possibly my favorite class of the day. They all wanted more read-aloud time, so they tried to convince me we didn't need to do science, but I held firm. We were reviewing something they learned in 5-6th grade, probably something I had told them (back then) that they'd be learning in 7-8th grade and they convinced me to teach it to them right at that moment so they wouldn't have to wait. 

Since it was a review, some of the kids said, "We know this! Why do we have to go over it!"
Me: To see if you remember it.
Them: We do!
Me: Well enough to teach it?
Them: Yes, Miss H!
Me: Okay, go ahead!

So an 8th grade boy taught science today. He actually did really well and the whole class was engaged the entire time. I had to step in every once in a while (I was a student and took notes for him), but we had a great review session. I'm also impressed with how well he was able to mimic my mannerisms and teaching phrases. 😆 

When someone asked a question about something related... "Just hold tight! That's on the next slide."
When they were getting too loud, he did my sign for internalize/calm down.
When one girl answered the question but another student also had a hand raised, he said, "Do you have anything to add to what [first student's] said?"
Someone said they had a connection to what he'd said. His response, "Great! What kind of connection is it? Text to self? Text to text? or..."

I'm so proud! 😅