Almost March Madness!!!!

It's almost March Madness!  That means we are at the stage where we are no longer enjoying life- just working!  I am trying to make things as fun as possible.  We started looking at probability this week and so we are using tickets for behavior systems and discussing the fractions of students who were chosen/not chosen as well as the probability of who is going to be picked vs. not picked.  I am also trying to teach serious reading comprehension and at least 2 guided reading lessons a day.  I am looking for some ways to incorporate fun into our lessons.  My 8:30 block of ELA students (I do only small group in an inclusion classroom- and yes I have a full time SPED co-teacher since we have 9 SPED students in one class) wants to fall asleep during my lesson.  And while I know it is not totally boring, I do know my students are just thinking about their crazy day!  I am trying to think of ways that I can get them started on their engagement.  Maybe a fun word search of vocabulary?  Maybe a song about pronouns?  What do you suggest?

In other news, my students do not get a chance to write!  I am trying to find time/ways to incorporate writing into our block in March!  With testing around the corner our district has pushed aside all learning that is not directly related to the test, but I yearn for a lesson on animals where my kids can learn about how animals live and where they eat.  I can not help but think back to my student teaching all the time where I did a huge unit about animals and their habitat.  I am thinking about calling my teacher up and asking her for what ever materials she might have.

What do you use if you do not have a designated science unit for the students?  What about Social Studies?  How do you incorporate fun experiments into the lesson?

One last thing,  I am trying to expand my blog and include things I actually do so please be on the lookout for when that start to happen (Hopefully soon!)!


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