Thanksgiving Vacation

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Today took its sweet time getting here. This week seemed like a very long week, and today seemed like a very long day.

I knew that my students would need something special today to keep them engaged and quiet. How did I do it? I started off with some math work that required them to concentrate and kept them busy for about an hour. Then, for reading, we read an article and watched a video about Ben Franklin and the myth that he wanted the turkey to be America's national bird instead of the Eagle.


My students enjoyed learning the whole story.

The rest of the day, except for their elective classes, lunch, and recess, we spent watching the movie, Mr. Popper's Penguins. This wasn't just for fun or to pass time. As a class, we just finished reading the 1938 novel by the same name. The students had to identify at least 5 differences between the novel and the movie. Most found many more than 5. One young lady handed in four pages of differences she'd noticed.

I timed the showing of the movie, interspersed with breaks for discussion, well. Dismissal time arrived as the credits began to roll. I bid the students a Happy Thanksgiving and, once they were gone, tidied up my classroom and left to begin my vacation.

Now, I have 9 days before I have to return to school. My goal is to get caught up on my NaNoWriMo project.

Wish me luck.

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