Substitute: Day 3 - Friday

On Friday, I returned to the same classroom as the 2 previous days and began the day with counting lunches and sending in the report and money. Afterwards, we moved right into our spelling test. I found one precious little second grader looking at her list in her desk to cheat, and I made her retake her spelling test later. After that, we had story time where I read "Ira Sleeps Over." The children responded by listening intently to the story and participating in answering all the questions I stopped to ask. Next, I re-read "The Story About Ping" to get the children ready for another art project. I had brought beautiful bright yellow paper and bright blue paper and clean, unlined white paper. I showed the children how to rip the paper into small pieces, then glue them onto the paper in the shape of an object. Some chose to work with torn paper, some chose marker or crayons, but all the art was very well thought-out and well-done. We went to computer-lab, but the teacher wasn't there that day, so we had additional class time. I had the children to the time worksheet they were supposed to have taken home for homework the night before. There were 3 pages, and the children worked diligently for the next half-hour and then we discussed the correct answers. Lunch was next, and then P.E. That afternoon, we did a back and front math worksheet on the same math facts the children had been tested on the day before. They had scored poorly, as a class, and I felt they needed more practice. Some were having difficulty, so I had them use their crayons and/or markers to count to work the problems. When they finished the sheet, we had another story: "Too Many Tamales." We stopped at appropriate points, and the children asked and answered questions related to the story. Afterwards, we discussed some aspects of Hispanic culture and briefly explored some Spanish words and phrases. The children enjoyed that. We packed backpacks and went out for recess. When we returned, the children finished projects or just sat and listened as I finished a Junie B. Jones book I'd started on Wednesday. We had a great day together, and the children behaved very well.