Testing's over...Now what?

Hi everyone! It's Meredith from Creativity to the Core. I'm in sunny South Florida, and let me tell you, it is definitely starting to feel like summer!

I've been teaching for two years and have experience in K, 1st, and 3rd. I am currently co-teaching reading in two different 3rd grade classrooms. You can read more about that here. I love the independence and discussions that my third graders can have. It is truly a blessing to this teacher! When I'm not teaching, I enjoy hanging out with my husband and shopping. The Target Dollar Spot has my heart. :)

So many of us are just finishing our state testing or end of the year assessments. My classes have taken oh so many assessments - our state, county, school, and promotion criteria exams. Whew! I know they are tired. I know I am tired! Weeks of planning and practicing and assessing have finally come to an end. What do we do now? That is the million dollar question.

My kiddos think that they do not have to work anymore...hence, some of our current antsy behavior. But we know they need to keep learning. Today, I am sharing a few ideas that my co-teachers and I have been working on. Enjoy!

Remediation

If your class looks anything like mine, you have some struggling kiddos. Whether the students just came to the school this year, are already receiving services, or just have gaps in certain places, we address it head-on. With these students I go back to the basics. We aren't forcing them to read grade level passages anymore. We aren't pushing them through difficult reading response questions. We are simply teaching short vowel sounds. 

This week in small group these kiddos folded five notecards in half to make a tiny tent (Sorry, I forgot to take pictures of these!). Then we wrote a vowel on each one. Super simple. I would call out a sound, and the kids had to quickly lift the corresponding vowel into the air and repeat the sound. I then called out CVC words like "cat" or "pen" and students had to identify the medial sound. The kids LOVED it. They had quite a few problems with certain vowels, but they were truly enjoying it. They wanted to keep playing, so I had them play in partners. It sounds crazy for third grade, I know. However, we have to give the children what they need! And direct instruction of short vowels is what these friends need.

More Writing

We all teach writing throughout the year, but let's face the facts. State testing eliminates a TON of writing instruction just because we spend so much time on reading assessments. After our FSA (Florida Standards Assessment), we decided to begin incorporating writing more than we did before. Instead of just responding to reading questions, we want students to get used to responding to certain prompts. Depending on where you teach, you may have a writing test that is separate from the reading test, like we do in 4th grade. Prepping students ahead of time will make the 4th grade transition a bit easier.

Content Area Projects

We finally have an ample amount of time to dig deep into science, social studies, and math projects! Our kids LOVE these. This Zoo Design Project was a huge hit in the classroom. The kids literally beg to work on their projects. If you are interested in incorporating cross-curricular projects in your classroom, be sure to check out Digital Divide and Conquer.

Science Experiments

Science experiments are so exciting for students...especially in third grade when it seems that all we do is test. Today, I will share some photos from our Earth Day experiment that created a mini oil spill. My wonderful co-teacher found this idea online and planned it out all the way down to the gummy octopus! She found the idea from another teacher-blogger Lindsey Petlak. It was SO cool! I will definitely be doing this every year!

First, she built A TON of background knowledge. The class talked about natural resources, habitats, and oil spills. She showed them videos of the Gulf Coast Oil Spill, and the class recorded notes. Much of this is included in Lindsey's Scholastic article.

Before we started the experiment, we walked around and put water, fish tank stones, Swedish Fish, a gummy octopus, and a gummy shark. We dropped about 3 drops of blue food coloring into the water to make it look like an ocean. Each group of four students had an "ocean habitat". We followed along with this oil spill activity handout which I love because it forces students to write a lot!

Students made observations and sketches about their ocean habitat.

Feathers were handed out to each student.
They recorded observations and made a sketch.

 Then, it was time to place the feather in the water and record more observations.

Mixtures of oil and cocoa powder were added with a spoon. 

The ocean habitat has been harmed by an oil spill!

Students mixed the water. You literally couldn't see through it! It was really neat. Then, they placed the feather inside again. This time, the "oil" stuck to the feather.

First, we tried cleaning the feather in regular water (left). The oil didn't come off at all.
Second, blue Dawn soap was added to the water. Look at how clean the end of that feather is now! 

The feathers were soapy and clean all because of a little soap!

The class discussed how the feathers of birds get so heavy with oil. The oil does not easily come off when animals try to just use the water. Students loved seeing the oil slide off into the soapy water! To end the experiment, the kids made notes about their findings. We even watched the Dawn soap commercial with the birds covered in oil. Guys, it was wonderful. SO fun and SO educational! I highly recommend it, even after Earth Day!

So, that's a little bit about our classrooms after testing. What do you do to pass time and engage students at the end of the year?