The week after vacation always feels like Day 1.

My school district will return from spring break tomorrow (Tuesday). I am thankful to return to a shortened week, but I am still filled with nerves and anxiety. I know that I am going to feel exhausted. I know my students will be grumpy and tired, too. They have just had 11 days to stay glued to their precious cell phones, and now I have to engage them enough to catch their attention - at least for a few minutes. The battle against student cell phone use is another blog, but for now I will just say that I am not looking forward to that part of my return.

Also, students have been away from English for 11 days. Away from structure and school for 11 days. And, as if this weren't the worst time to do so, they will be facing weeks - YES, WEEKS - of standardized testing in most of their subject areas.

So, what do I do tomorrow with them? I cannot just jump into the next lesson, although so many of my colleagues will be doing exactly that. They race against time, like fools. They're obsessed with state testing results. And the pacing guide. Hardly any of them seem to care about if their students are engaged or understand.

My plan in ELD 3 is to review. And keep it light. We are in Unit 8 of VHL Engage B - Memory. I have been trying to prep them for this unit by doing picture talks based on a photo from Bad Bunny's world famous album, DtMF.

Check out my instagram and youtube or TPT for examples of those.

So, I think we will review the academic vocabulary we have covered so far, using Blooket or Kahoot. Then we will complete a cloze listening about the Puerto Rican dish mofongo.

The passage is full of rich input that engages the senses and will capture the experiences of a few of my Puerto Rican students. After the listening, they may do a running dictation in teams. Finally, there is a short multiple choice assessment about the passage.