Plain Polly

Today we worked on adding details to our writing. As a way of introducing the topic, I had the students do an activity with Plain Polly. Plain Polly is a stick figure who wants to become magnificent. The students were to come up and add one thing to Polly that would make her magnificent. The below is what the students came up with. I have to say, some of their fashion choices were quite interesting! We wrapped up the activity by discussing how this concept can be put into action with their writing. They then went back to their stories and added more details. Here are the Magnificent Pollys they created!

Plain Polly

First Period Polly

Second Period Polly

Fourth Period Polly

Detailed Art

Today in class I had the students create a piece of art from random objects. Each group was given different objects to work with. After they had made their masterpiece, they were to write down directions on how to recreate it. The students found this to be difficult because I did not tell them ahead of time they would be writing out the directions and they made very elaborate creations! After they had written down the directions, they switched with another group. The groups were to recreate the pieces of art solely on how the directions said to do it. They soon discovered that their directions were not very detailed and it was hard to recreate the artwork. The students seemed to have a good time and it was a great way for me to stress the importance of writing with details!

How Many Licks Does It Take?

Last Wednesday in language arts class the students and I asked ourselves the very important question, "How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?" The questions came from a strategy we were using to write in our journals. Being the curious people we are, we decided to find out. So, last Friday the students got to work. They were asked to jot down predictions and observations in their journals. It's amazing how different the number of licks were from person to person. All in all, the kids had a great time and we were able to use what we found to make a great descriptive writing!

Thank You

I just want to say thank you to all of the parents and students for cooperating today with the bomb threat. All the students acted amazingly good and allowed us teachers to get done what we needed to do. It was a scary situation, but everyone handled it great! 

Successful First Day

What a day! The first day of school has come and gone and it went quite well. Sure there were a few problems with scheduling and lost students (not knowing where a class was), but in the end it was a great day. I do have to say it is quite a relief having an air conditioned building. No more sweating while trying to teach or learn. I hope the rest of the year goes just as well!

New Beginning

It's hard to believe this day is finally here. After 4 years on the 3rd floor in the old building, this new, beautiful building is AMAZING! I was very eager to get into my classroom and make it my own. Now, 18 hours away from the kids coming back to school, I am feeling very excited. I'm hoping though this blog I will be able to document our year through words, pictures, and stories. So, what better place to start than before and after pictures of our room.

Before:

After:

Our new reading center!

As you can see, there's still a lot of work to do. However, I know once the kids put their "touch" on it, everything will look just as it was meant to. I am so excited for this year and I can't wait to get the show on the road tomorrow!