because my kids are NOT allowed to say anything in English. Consequently, they are VERY quiet and (surprise) they listen better. They worked really hard through math and Spanish language arts. After that comes writers’ workshop. I knew I had to let them blow off some steam or I’d be paying for it. So, I had them begin a new choral reading for our poetry slam that’s coming up. They LOVE to do this. (Drama much?) 
After that little break, we moved into writers’ workshop and they were focused and working hard for the whole 40 minutes. I love how WW builds their stamina and turns them into serious writing. (I actually heard some “Awwwwws” when I told them to guardar los ensayos. Could this be MY class???) Finally, I turned them loose on their social studies project, building their “worlds” and creating maps of them for the hallway walls. I made sure to type up a list of all the jobs the kids had to do and then the team captains directed all the work. It went so well. One of the groups worked better than the other, but they both accomplished what they needed to do. AND they were speaking to each other in Spanish without my prompting.
I wish I could just bottle days like today and keep it on the shelf for the ones that stink.
