Brain Games

For Writing SOL season, I've been slowing down instead of speeding up. There's always a level of intensity when it comes to standardized testing, but I've been mindful of keeping a balance of practice and fun. Yay for play in a plan for a Grammar Olympics unit that actually worked. I set up conditioning/exercise stations that got students practicing skills AND checking in with me for one-on-one talks about spelling rules and pronoun-antecedent agreement. I, for one, had loads of fun with these training sessions. Who doesn't love to see a spark ignite when explaining why it's not always acceptable to drop the silent e for suffixes that begin with a vowel? The ultimate closure to the unit was a day comprised of multiple events, a competition for fabulous prizes, that required students to work together on grammatical accuracy. I observed both admirable team work and deplorable rivalry, but in the end, there were more smiles than frowns...and the joy I feel when a student finally understand semi-colons is irreplaceable. I let the games begin. My gut tells me I shouldn't ever let them end.