Catching up...

I've been behind the past few weeks! I've been traveling and trying to keep my creativity alive in the classroom, so blogging has taken a back seat unfortunately but here's what we've been doing in fifth grade:

SCIENCE
They have wrapped up all of the ecosystem content with a few rounds of games and activities. Now we're completing a game-show style review activity where they answer questions about different ecosystem facts. They are proving that they have learned some facts but they are also fifth graders who are too cool for games sometimes...I understand fifth grade! I want to challenge them in our next unit so I look forward to history next. Sounds like I'll be learning too! ;)

PHYSICAL EDUCATION
Well we have officially lost our games field to the construction so we are confined to the patio now where we have to play calmer games that do not get too rowdy. I've also visited second and fourth grade classes in the past few weeks where I was able to observe the younger one's behavior and try out some ideas too. In the last class we played a style of paddle game. It was a fun game where everyone could participate because it was a calmer game. Groups spread out to small courts and passed the balls back and forth with their paddles. They also introduced me to a popular Spanish card game called "Wolf Man". I can honestly say I still don't understand the game because I spent some time with my eyes closed as the town slept...and when we woke up I was told I'd been killed! Haha I'm not sure exactly how it goes but there's some logic and reasoning involved so I'm eager to figure it out because that's my kind of game!

Weeks of February 25 - March 1 and March 4 - 8

These past two weeks were slightly off schedule as we celebrated Andalucia Day on February 28 and International Women's Day on March 8. We've also had some teacher's out with various things going on so these past two weeks were definitely a lesson in going with the flow which is very important! All that said, they were very good weeks and the students had a lot of fun with the activities that were related to these two very important holidays.

SCIENCE
Our classes were really thrown out of routine during these two weeks in fifth grade but we were still productive! We played another food chain game with one class. Teacher Dani created the game and the students had to build an assigned food chain with tennis balls. SUPER FUN! It went over much better than my food chain game! They were very involved and active and it seems they learned a lot about each food chain. We didn't meet for the other class to do this game yet so maybe this week.
The following week I again only met with one of the two fifth grade classes and we had a different teacher in class so I took the chance to lead class. They were given a worksheet about the human body and it was in Spanish. Two things that I haven't worked on in this class, naturally. So it actually was perfect! I asked them to essentially teach me what the worksheet was about. They read it in Spanish and I had them translate it in English so that I could help them. Together we listed all of the systems of the body and their parts. Made me proud! You go 5th grade!!

PHYSICAL EDUCATION
We did not have school on our normal class day so there's nothing to blog about from the first week, sadly. But, last week we played a game that I've never seen or heard of. So I don't quite know the name of it either but it's played like tennis using the hands, knees, feet or head to pass the object back and forth. The object is like a cylindrical foam block with feathers attached. And although, they taught me the name of it in Spanish...I couldn't catch the hang of how to say it, let alone spell it! They played in pairs and small teams passing the toy back and forth showing off some impressive skills. My hand coordination and I were intimidated by the game but I eventually jumped in and it wasn't as hard as I expected. Pretty fun! I'm hoping I've gained their trust again to try some American games by now...we'll give it a go next week with one game I think they'll love!