Teacher of the Month In November Is That Even a Thing?

A wise man once said, "With great power comes great responsibility." (I think it was Peter Parker's uncle in Spider Man who said this.) Alas, I have been given the title of teacher of the month; in November, the shortest month of the school year.  What the heck?!!!  Is someone trying to send a message?

This leads me to November, the shortest month of the school year.  We are in session a total of like 12 days.  This does NOT give' us much time to start new big ideas with our students!  That is why November, for my class at least, is a month of review, introduction, pre-testing, and project making.  I teach a 5th and 6th grade special ed class by the way.

Here's one way I keep my kiddos sharp:

Thanksgiving Themed Resources

My students have Thanksgiving break on the brain!  So in an attempt to hold their interest, I've made some math word problems with a Thanksgiving theme.  We don't get enough word problem practice in our class because our time is SUPER limited.  I figure making a fun little game out of it does two things.  It takes the pressure off the student allowing me to assess them without anxiety being a factor.  It also gives the student a purpose for learning since the object is to finish the course.

Here's what I do:

A Thanksgiving Review Game

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• I hand out a packet of answer sheets, a special occasion pencil (more about this in a later post), and a calculator.  (My students are allowed calculators through their IEPs and I encourage them to do the work without it and then use it to check their answers.) 

• Next, I place a word problem card on each desk in the room.  (Turned over) If I don't have much time, I'll only put out a few cards.  
• Then, I have the students sit at a desk with a card on it.  They are not allowed to flip the card over until they are signaled.

• I signal the kiddos by starting a song.  As soon as the song comes on, they flip the card, note the number of the card, and begin showing their work in the corresponding box of their answer sheet.  
• The amount of time I give them depends on the difficulty of the work.  I usually give them about 2-3 minutes per question.  

• Once the 2-3 minute mark has ended, I stop the music and tell them to switch.  
• The whole process repeats until they've answered all the cards.  
• The students hang on to the answer sheets and only turn them in when they've filled every box.  
• I usually grade their answer sheet as a quiz.  

Kids love playing this!  To them it's a game, and to you it's an opportunity to assess or review.  Best of all admin loves to see kids engaged and out of their seats working on something, and the class basically manages itself because all I have to do is say, "We'll stop playing if you can't behave!", and right away the class rights itself.

I've provided some links to my Teachers Pay Teachers store and products (as if you hadn't noticed), but you can do this with any type of review.  

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