November 16 - 24

And it's here! Thanksgiving break is upon us. Before I head home to celebrate the holiday, I'll make a quick update here. Below is our picture for this week. It comes from our field trip down to the channel 4 station for Good Things Utah. It was short and sweet, but I think they got a great deal out of the tour of the production studio and watching the live taping.

Just a quick look at the week to come. We're not going to have a full on spelling list this week because on Monday we are going to be retaking the placement test for possible group rearrangement. So the students can enjoy a week of break as I grade those tests and reset the groups. Math will keep chugging along as we talk about proportions, circle graphs and probability. For science we'll be doing a bit of wrap-up for the heat unit. After that we will begin our light unit. Our story this week takes us back to ancient Egypt as it talks about the Pharaohs, Pyramids, the Sphinx, and all other aspects of that time and place.

Keeping it short and sweet this week I'd just like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and let you know that one of the things that will be in my mind and heart during this thankful holiday will be your students. I truly could not have asked for a better class to begin my career with. They're fantastic and so are you parents! Thank you all for everything you do!

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

November 9 - 13

I finally feel, at last, that I've gotten back on top of my game. Entirely up-to-date grades for second term are now posted online at http://www.classactiongradebook.com/, and I'm back on top of my planning in advance, where I really like to be. Our picture this week is the finished products of the plaster mask making activity we did. We took some time this week, pulled out the acrylic paints, and went to town. The masks turned out fantastic! Now here's a game for you... can you figure out which one is your students?

Just a reminder, we are still selling DVDs and 8x10 Photos of our play, The Turkeys Go On Strike. They are $5 a piece. If you'd like a copy of either one, or both, just send in the money with a note telling me which it is you'd like.

This coming week should be just about as normal as a week gets. Our story this week is going to teach us a bit about Ancient China. During math, we are going to be learning about circles, including the fabulous number π, which is used to find the circumference and area of the circles. Who knew that 3.14152965358979323846... (and so on) could be such a magical number! For writing this week, we will be focusing on the three different points of view: first person, third person limited, and third person omniscent. This week we also finish up our science unit on heat. After a few fun demonstrations next week, we will begin our unit on light once we return from break.

Ah yes! Break. I'm sure your students, as well as you, are counting down to our first real break of the school year! Gobble, gobble! Thanksgiving Day is coming and so is the break associated with it. We do not have school November 25, and then we maintain that freedom through the weekend, returning fresh on November 30. Only 7 school days to go!

In homage of our masks, I felt that ending with a quote about taking off our "masks" would be appropriate:

"Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else." - Judy Garland

October 26 - November 6

At long last, I'm hoping things have settled down. Reports cards went out on Monday and our long awaited play was performed Thursday. Having that pass lifted what seemed like the world off of my shoulders. I can't express in words though how proud I am of your kids. The hooting, hollering, and cheering of the audience during the curtain call of our performance told me that those kids had achieved what we'd been working all term for. Being backstage running the sound, it was hard for me to tell exactly how the performce looked from the outsiders point of view. That same night, though, I watched the DVD I made of the performance, and I tell you what, I was almost in tears watching the show. I am so proud of them for how well they performed the show. Our picture this week is certainly a great tribute to them for how hard they worked on the performance:

I should be sending home a note on Monday offering sales of an 8x10 of the picture above and a DVD copy of the play. Both will be $5. Any profits I happen to make off of it will be turned around and put right back into the classroom. Again, I applaud your children! They put on a great show.

The second term is now off and running. With the play behind us, we will be starting our new art elective rotation on Monday. Our class will be with Mrs. Dezember for the Movement and Music rotation. In her class, on top of the different movement exercises she does with them, they will also be the choir for the second term production. They've got one more term of performance to come, so be prepared for yet another great performance come end of term.

With the end of term 1, we finished out Science unit on microorganisms. With the start of the new term, we began our new unit on Heat. This week we will be taking a closer look at the different types of heat sharing: conduction, convection and radiaton.

All in all, things are still going strong. One fantastic term behind us, but still three more to go!

"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep." - Scott Adams