Thursday will never be the same. In days gone by, it was always just one day after Wearisome Wednesday and one day before Festive Friday. Thursday was a routine day of review for Friday exams. In the past, the most exciting Thursday thing was that it was trash and garbage pick-up day on my block.
It's now, however, a new school year in the fall of 2012, and Thursday has taken on a new meaning for this old curmudgeon: it's now Throbbing Thrilling Thursday! Throbbing Thrilling Thursday is a weekly event associated with a new word study program we are using in class. Words have always been my thing, and this is a fine program that lets the students sort words according to common patterns. This year, by Thursday, the students have practiced sorting their words by pattern and are ready to be timed. They begin with a thundering thoughtful shouting of the rules for the game. No, they don't just sit there and sort quietly. It's not Thwarted Thursday, it's Throbbing Thrilling Thursday! Not only can the students see the patterns, but they touch their previously cut word cards, and they shout the words as they sort them to hear themselves say them. Twenty-seven students are encouraged to shout loudly as they find the magic spots for their words. It's throbbing thrilling to witness the students using the senses to commit the words to memory. Wait, though! The throbs thrills have not yet begun to wane. The suspense builds as the time in minutes and seconds taken for the group to do the word sort will be revealed, and the Magnificent Twenty-Seven are encouraged to make it even more of a Thrashing Thrilling Thursday by doing a drum roll on their desks. Immediately after the time announcement, it's Throbbing Thriving Thursday, as the students display how proud they are of themselves and their classmates....
Each week, the throbbing that has resulted from the level of noise in the classroom has decreased, and the focus has been more on the students' learning through sportsmanship, adhering to rules, using senses, and, especially, having fun. If things keep going as they are, Thursday could become just as thrilling for me as it is for them!
Now, it's not Throbbing Thrilling Thursday any more. It's either Melancholy Motivating Monday, Turbulent Terrific Tuesday, Wearisome Wonderful Wednesday, or Frustrating Festive Friday, and the students are encouraged to shout as loudly as they can:
THE MORE YOU READ, THE BETTER YOU READ!
THE BETTER YOU READ, THE MORE YOU READ!
THE MORE YOU READ, THE BETTER YOU READ!
THE BETTER YOU READ, THE MORE YOU READ!
I've come a long way, but still, I cover my ears and long for Throbbing Thrilling Thursday to retreat return.........
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