Last Day of Class!

I cannot believe it!  The year is over.  It really did fly by!

Today, we weren't in a classroom, we were at a beach party!  Ms. Lisa did such an amazing job with the decorations!  We had beach umbrellas, folding chairs, beach balls, sea shells... you name it!  WOW! 

For homework last week, the students looked back through their folders and came up with 5 review questions from each subject.  They wrote them down on color coded cards, with the answers on the back.  Their assignment was to bring their stack of cards back in to me, to compile for our huge review game!  I was so pleased at how seriously they took their task.  It was an awesome (and stealth) way for them to review their material from the year!

Today, the class took turns rolling the die and moving their game pieces along the board.  In order to advance, they had to answer a question that corresponded to that square's color.  We played for over an hour before I realized that we needed an intermission!  So, we had an interlude, where the kids each wrote a song- to any commonly known tune of their choice- that taught a grammar concept that they had learned during the year.  For seven and eight year olds, the music in the computer game "Minecraft" seem to be commonly known.  And so, the entire class went to work, rewriting the Minecraft music.  One sang about conjunctions... One sang about helping verbs.  Honestly, I have no idea if the tune was right, but they nailed the concepts!

After finishing up our review game and eating lunch, the class changed into bathing suits for a School's Out Celebration!  We had water balloons, but they are a very short-lived activity.  It's amazing how long it takes to fill up enough water balloons for a 3 minute battle!  So, we took things back to basics... with a homemade slip and slide!  Yes... A long roll of plastic + a sprinkler + dish soap = hours of full blown FUN!

These kids definitely needed an afternoon of unabashed play together before summer begins.  It was great to see them have a blast together!  Next year is going to be an awesome year... with new friends and a bigger team of tutors.  But, there will always be a special place in my heart for this inaugural class of 5!