The First Day of School for 2008-2009

So here we are... starting a brand new school year. The day started with all 32 of the new Room 8'ers in their seats and eager to start the day.We learned a lot without even getting into the curriculum. We spent time looking through ALL the textbooks - and the new math text is not even here yet! We put our names in the books and I recorded the book numbers. I explained to the class that they are now responsible for that text... having to pay at the end of the year if one is lost. Each student was partnered up and they visited and found a little information out about each other. Following that, the pairs introduced each other.

After the 10:30 recess, Room 8 is allowed to eat a healthy snack in the room while I read to them. A lot of classes eat their snacks outside during recess, which Room 8 is certainly allowed to do. I just give them the option of playing the entire recess. This is the book I read to them today. Ask your son/daughter what it means to 'fill someone's bucket'...

We did a 2-minute math drill called the "Mad Minute." We will do this most days, but it doesn't take the place of practicing the basic math facts at home. We also wrote a quick little "1st Day Poem" as you can see from this example. We had a "Scavenger Hunt through the Textbooks" on our agenda, but, as the students learned, 'we are FLEXIBLE in room 8.' We didn't get to the scavenger hunt, so as you can see from tomorrow's schedule, we've just bumped it over a day.

Here's our schedule for tomorrow. Everyday, when the students walk in, the schedule will be on the board so they can see what's in store for the day! Also, it helps keep me on track.

As you can see, tomorrow I'll start reading the book Poppy. It's a sweet little story about a mouse family and an owl. Tomorrow, we'll also start with some basic geography. We'll also being doing a math assessment on place value. This will help me determine where the class is as a whole and how much, if any, I need to review.

So, Room 8 is off to a great start! We have a para-professional who will be coming in to help us with reading, Mrs. T... and one who will come in to help with math... a different Mrs. T! I'm also excited about a high school senior, Caryn, who will come over ever day during our math time to also assist and help out. Caryn is a former Room 8er! I love having students come back!

Notices came home about this blog today. If you look closely, our county, town, or school is never mentioned. The blog only says we are in Northern California. I also don't use the students' last names. If a comment is put on, and the person forgets and writes their last name, I will delete the comment. To sign your name, you could, for example, just put your first name, and/or you could write something like "Brandi, Austin's mom."

Here's to a great year! Remember, Back-to-School night is Tuesday, September 2. I hope to see you all there!

The dominance of the teachers...at least in softball!

The annual 5th Grade vs. Staff softball game was held yesterday. The fifth graders had some great representatives - awesome players, but age had an advantage and the teachers dominated!


BubbleShare: Share photos - Play some Online Games.

Read-a-thon...just for the enjoyment of reading!

Some classes use a read-a-thon as a fund-raiser. I should probably try that sometime...especially with all the budget cuts... but for now, Room 8 had a morning full of reading just for the simple enjoyment of reading.

This corner of the room got a little rowdy after about an hour and a half. Devin wasn't as loud as he looks. Look at that group of guys...geez, I am going to miss them so much! That's Carlo relaxing on the pillow...then Jacob, Edin, Michael, and the dentists' friend, Devin.
Now these sweethearts are enjoying their reading time. Oh my, I'm going to miss them! This is Macey, Amber the star (notice she has Hollywood on her sweatshirt AND sunglasses!), and Emma.
Danielle and Madison made sure they were comfortable. They were definitely enjoying this time to read. Oh my gosh, I'm going to miss them too!
Speaking of getting comfortable, these guys came prepared. Bean bags, and ... well,I'm not sure what kind of chair Trevor is in, but it looks comfortable! That's Austin in the back, and Kyle W in the front. What will I do without these guys? Kyle W is my first student to ask me to do the TWIST at a dance!
Well, guess who? Yep, that's Elijah. I've already missed him when I couldn't find him ... and all along, he was just hiding. Kamren, made himself comfortable while he read about going to the moon. I wonder if he wants to be an astronaut? I'd REALLY miss him if was on the moon... it's going to be bad enough to just miss him not being in Room 8...much less not being on the planet!Mae and Mary... I have loved having these two girls in Room 8. You may remember Mae as being the mother of Lambert (her dog!) and Mary as our Indian princess. Actually, that was her sister's term for her - Indian princess - but that is perfect for Mary. I will so miss these girls.

Room 8, you are an amazing group... a wonderful class ... I will miss you all so much!

The last week of recess duty

Um? Recess duty?
Here you can see a group of 4 relaxed 4th and 5th grade teachers. Now this is not our normal way of monitoring the playground.

What you cannot see is Mrs. W taking the picture AND watching the kids not within our view.

It's the last week, with a great group of kids...what can I say?

4th/5th Grade SOCK HOP!

Friday night was THE SOCK HOP! There were about 70 4th and 5th graders who attended...and I am certain that a great time was had by everyone there. From dancing, to hula-hooping, to the limbo, to taking pictures in an old car... there was so much to do. Hopefully, this will be the 1st Annual...meaning many more are to come. Take a look:BubbleShare: Share photos - Find great Clip Art Images.

Parker Brothers and Milton Bradley...here we come!

I think we definitely have some great game makers in Room 8. You should drop by and take a look.

The directions were:
1. Design a board game around a theme we have studied. 2. Rules have to be written so the game is easily understood.
3. Cards must be incorporated into the game in some way.
4. The game needs to be able to be played between 20 - 40 minutes.
5. At least 3 people need to be able to play.

Well, Room 8 is definitely into this assignment. Friday morning started out a bit rainy...so Room 8ers were in the room before school instead of outside. By the time 8:45 a.m. rolled around, every student - except 2 - were involved in working on their game. So... since we're flexible in Room 8, they just continued working until the 10:30 recess! Emma and ShawnaAustin and TrevorCarlo and Devin... (I think Devin wants his dentist to go ahead and check him now...from this blog)I absolutely love this picture of Casey J and Edin...EmilyJacob and Dillon's theme is Native Americans. In the corner are 4 of their homes. In the lower left corner is a river with a traditional native american canoe. Kamren and ElijahAn example of some question cards...Macey and DanielleMadisonMrs. W helping Dillon to make dice.

This next week, which I can hardly believe is our last week, we'll take an afternoon and play each others games.

Don't forget our barbeque on Thursday!

We're in this gold rush together

It's tough out here in these gold fields. We're tryin' to keep our claims. You never know when some group is just gonna come up and steal your claim away from ya.

Mrs. W is givin' us a pep talk...tryin' to give us some pointers on how to keep our claims.Carlo is tryin' to get his group rallied up... 'come on men...and women!'
Danielle is thinkin', This ain't too difficult. Ole' Carlo can hold us together.'
Carlo wasn't happy when he heard that. He knows how tough the gold fields are...and he needs his group to pitch in. There's some rotten old folks out here in the gold fields...
Now Edin and his group were trying to decide what to do next. Edin was thinkin' pretty hard...
Elijah was reading the instructions...

Ahh, looks like camp justice is taking over with Edin's group. Looks like a vote to me...
Ah, rats! This looks like a dejected group. I wonder if some ole' group came up and stole their claim away from them?
Whew...lots of hard work going on here.

There's lots of nuggets to be found...

We learned more about the Yuroks

Each of the fourth grades went on our field trip to learn more about the Yurok culture. First Room 8 listened to our ranger tell us a little about what we were going to see.
Notice the doors are round? In their culture, the men went in head first...
and the women went in 'backwards.'
This picture below is Emily going in... even though it looks like she's coming out.
After visiting the 'family homes', we toured the sweatlodge. Normally, women would not be allowed in one. This, however, was a model of a village, so our sweetheart girls were able to go inside. Here is Amber coming out the exit.
Then Emma came out...
After touring the village, we went on a hike - well, sort of. We definitely walked, but our guide didn't have quite as much knowledge as she would have liked. (I was the guide hike...even the park service has budget cuts!)

Since I was preoccupied with the trees, shrubs, wildlife, etc., there were no photos taken!

We then all broke for lunch...and then our third activity which for us was making necklaces.
Macey models her necklace...as does Amber and Austin.

It was a great day...even if the weather was a bit cool!

Great Parents = Great kids

For our field trip, look at all the support Room 8 had from their parents/grandparents!
Actually, by the time I took this photo, Jacob's dad and Macey's mom had already left! Nine parents...that's greater than 1/3 of Room 8's students!

Thank you so much for all the support you give to us! .... and what a fun field trip this was.