I love the Cardinals!!!

At a trip to Branson, I came across this "Best Seller".  Ok, not really a best seller, but it sure caught my eye!

I just couldn't resist......

Our Student of the Week last week was Briley Finster.  One of the pictures that he shared with us was a shot of him at 3-4 years old.  I couldn't resist posting "Cowboy Briley" on our classroom blog!!!  Yippe-yi-o-ki-yay!!!!

Extra Points on Science Tests!!!!

This was an awesome idea!!!!

Mason Green-He broke the ice for us.  No one would do it.  So Mason got up and sang "Radioactive".

Jacob Jones

Eliza Westmoreland

Gage Brugoto-doesn't he look like a future entertainer??? :)

Dezirae Carter

Halle Musick

Briley Finster

Jake Hutchison

Congratulations, Gage!!!

Congratulations to Gage Brugoto!!!  He got his first deer a few weekends ago!

Adverbs Avenue

I saw an idea on teacherspayteachers.com for adverbs and though I would try it in my classroom.  I have a classroom full of young artists and I knew they would be really interested in the project!  First, we discussed them and made an anchor chart.  I had adverbs on cardstock paper and we sorted them based on WHAT? WHEN? and HOW?, and then made up sentences using adverbs.  To end the lesson, the students worked in groups to create an avenue in the hallway.  Each group got a piece of chart paper, chose a sentence to illustrate, and created a scene to hang together with the other groups in the hallway.  Hence the title "Adverbs Avenue". It was awesome seeing their creativity go wild!

#www.teacherspayteachers.com

Last Friday's Book Jackets

As I graded last Friday's book jackets, I was very disappointed in the results.  I only had 3 100s, and a total of only 4 A's.  All students were given the rubric, it was projected onto the board, and I read and explained it before they started.  The part of the jacket they had the most trouble with was the connections.  This was what several students put down as connections:

"I like to draw."
"I have read a book about clocks."
"I have a dog."

I see this type of connection when I walk down the 1st grade hallway.  :(  A GOOD connection states what you are connected to and what part of the book it is that connects you.  For example, I had one student write down "I have a text-to-self connection to Diary of a Wimpy Kid because Greg has an older brother and so do I."  THIS IS THE TYPE OF CONNECTION (and sentence) THAT FOURTH GRADERS SHOULD BE WRITING!

All rubrics were sent home this afternoon.  Please take a minute to look at your child's grade to see what he/she missed.  These book jackets are fun for them and should be an easy grade.

Thanks for all of your help!!!

P.S.--The covers were fantastic!  I will NEVER complain about their artistic abilities!

4th Grade Crime Scene

To end our unit on writing mysteries, I decided to do something BIG to get them excited about what to write and how to write it!  With the help of my good friend Seth Higginbottom, I got some crime scene tape to help rope off a section of the classroom.  By the time the students returned from Art, we had a murder mystery on our hands!  I got shoes from Mrs. Brown so that I could make some "muddy footprints" on the white paper.  I used some red paint for "blood" and left clues throughout the room.  Bloody handprints on the walls, bathroom doors, fingerprints on the paper towel machines, and then washed it off in the sinks and left a little residue.  This helped them to correctly fill out their "clues" section in their graphic organizer.  We talked about how it was in the girls bathroom AND in the boys bathroom.  Someone said, "It must have been at least 1 boy and 1 girl." I then asked them about distractions.  Another student piped in and said it could have been a girl and she left fingerprints and blood in the boys bathroom to "throw us off".  WOW...  I totally wanted them to get that and they did!

#sethhigginbottom

#ArkansasStatePolice

We love Furry Visitors... :)

Brandi Schulz found a small kitten in her field one day.  Thinking it was lost from its mother and the mother would come back for it, she left it there, careful not to bother it.  When it was still there the next day, Brandi decided to take that little kitty and nurse it back to health.  She came to our classroom to share her story with us, telling us about "Richard Parker" and how she took care of him.  "Richard" was also present for the story and we got to pet and play with him.  What a great morning!!!

#brandischulz

#keymomentsphotography.com