Making Lemonade out of State Testing

State testing time is here!  We began our first official test day today, and I'm proud to say that we all survived.  Getting 32 students to take an hour long test independently is no cake walk.  But... they did their best, and that's all I can ask for, right?  One testing day down, only five more to go.  We can DO this! 

One of the things I like about our two weeks of testing is that we have some time in the afternoons to work on special projects.  Our Open House is coming up in less than three weeks, so I've made a to-do list of projects to have completed by then.

Open House To-Do List:

1. Animal Research Report and Diorama:  We started researching our animals in the computer lab this week, and most students were also able to find books about their animals from the library.  The rest of their project is to be done at home.  I'm not giving regular homework these next few weeks, so they all have plenty of time to work on their projects.  If you didn't already grab my freebie Animal Research Report Poster, you can grab it here  You can also grab my Animal Diorama and Research Report Project Pack which has everything you need to do this project with your students!  You can hop on over to TpT and grab that here! 
2. Poetry Books:  We are still finishing up our poetry lessons from April!  We are in the revising and rewriting phase, but we're on our way!  The students have completed several Acrostic Poems, an All About Me Poem, Cinquain, Haiku, and a Five Senses Poem!  These lessons and printables are all included in my Pocketful of Poems Unit, which you can find here. 
3. Eric Carle Art Project:  This project is a big one, and takes several days to complete, but I've done it for the past two years with my classes and I'm always so thrilled with the results.  We will be making our own collages in the style of Eric Carle.  This means we'll be painting different colors on paper, and then cutting the paper to make a collage.  For inspiraction, I've been reading lots of different Eric Carle books over the past month.  We're keeping track of our stories on a chart, so the students can think about each story and the different kinds of pictures that were in it.  I think the overall class favorite so far is The Grouchy Ladybug, ("Hey YOU, wanna fight?"  My kiddos LOVE that part!  Ha ha!)  I'll be posting about this project soon as well.  It's a big one, but so much fun and so worth all the mess! 
4. Second Grade Memories Layered Flip Book:  This little project is so much fun to make.  It's a memory book where the pages are cut in different lengths so that each page gets bigger by one inch.  This makes it fun to flip from page to page!  I'll be making a post of this one soon!  I've also got this little project available on TpT, and like everything else in my store - it's on SALE for 20% off until tomorrow night!  You can find this memory flip book here

I have some other things on my list of to-do's -- like taking their pictures for an "I wish"  bulletin board display.  I discovered this idea on Pinterest last year, and it turned out so great!  I'll be doing it again, and I'll be sharing it on here as well. 

Until then, have a fabulous week and be sure to check out TpT for their Teacher Appreciation Day SALE going on today and tomorrow!  My entire store is on sale 20% off, and I have a BRAND NEW surprise product on sale for 50% off that would be a great way to wrap up the school year in your literacy centers!  Check it out HERE!