Making the Grade

This week was oddly reminiscent of finals week. JB had five tests in different subject areas, in addition to regular homework assignments and a progress check for an ongoing project. JB is in fifth grade this year, so I've been preparing myself (and him) for the transition to middle school. I understand that this will be more the norm than the exception in the years to come, but Holy Moly! He still needs A LOT of help organizing information to study efficiently! Translation: I'm giving A LOT of help, while juggling 10 thousand other evening duties.

Take a look at his fifth grade load for the week:

Tuesday: Math Test (Division)

Wednesday: Science Test (Circuits, energy, Resources--they did this unit 2 weeks ago and have since moved on to another topic. I guess the teacher forgot to give the
test)
Math Homework (26 problems)

Thursday: The humdinger...Explorers (Columbus, Ponce de Leon, Cortes, Hudson, et.al) This test also included a written portion where the students were to write a paragraph about an explorer they previously studied in small groups.

Pop Quiz….What country financed Ponce de Leon's expedition? What was he searching for? What was the impact of his discovery?

Math Homework (about 20 problems)
Complete a graphic organizer and word search using a Social Studies newspaper

Friday: Language Test (proofreading, ABC order, letter writing, apostrophes, quotation marks, complete subjects) & Spelling Test, which I could care less about after this week!
Math Homework (13 problems)


All tests count as two grades, which could easily bring a grade average down several points if there's a problem.

My brain is totally fried! I've checked and double checked math problems til my eyes were crossed, printed off practice sheets (Glad I paid the membership for Super Teacher Worksheets, because I'd used all of the free ones), made up review questions. I can still smell the toxic fumes of permanent marker from making flash cards. All the talk of exploring has made me want to cast my sail and set off to sea.

All jokes aside, I hope we got A's!

*When I picked JB up from school, he proudly yells out (loud enough for the whole parking lot to hear), "Hey, I didn't make an F on my Social Studies test! I know I didn't, because Mrs. G passed back all the F's with a note to get signed."