It's Been A While!

Hello!
It's been quite some time since I last posted, so I thought I'd take a minute and write something today.
We're in the third quarter now and that means that the school year is already more than half over. It's amazing to think that we've been together for more than 100 school days! We've been working on story elements and have learned about plot, conflict, and Pourquoi Tales. The class has been writing their own Pourquoi Tales (Pourquoi means "Why" in French) and then they're going to be putting them into Movie Maker. It should go quickly now that they've had some practice with MM.
We're almost ready to track out. A week from Tuesday is our track out day and I can't wait! When we return in February we'll only have 15 weeks of school left.
Well, that's all I can think of to post for now. Check back again soon and see if I thought of anything else!!
:)
Mrs. Walker

Happy Holidays!

We made it to winter break! Even more exciting than that, we're 1/2 way through the year already! Can you believe it? It's gone by so quickly!

We are doing so many wonderful things in our classroom! I hope your child has come home and told you all about their Wiki and their Movie Maker Projects! I've added some of the completed Movie Maker Projects to my website so you can see several in one spot.

I am so proud of the class for their hard work on the MM projects. They worked very hard to get the writing completed, to create the pictures with CoreFx, and then to narriate their movies. If you haven't had a chance to view them yet, please be sure to do so!!

We are always looking for Frog-Tastic Mystery readers... if you're interested in signing up for the January/February spots, please let me know!

Have a wonderful holiday!!
:)
Mrs. Walker

The Last Frog-Tastic Mystery Reader??

We had the pleasure of having Carleigh's grandma come to read "You Can't Rush A Cat" to us on Friday. Carleigh was able to guess that it was her grandma based on the clue that she was little, she walks all the time, and she drives a red car.

Unfortunatley, there aren't anymore readers signed up to read to the class. I sure hope that this wasn't our last mystery reader! The kids really do love it and look forward to seeing who'll be reading to us each Friday. It'd be ideal to have someone for each child come, since they get very excited to see grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, parents, and siblings! They get to be the star and share the moment with someone they love. It's really a wonderful experience!!

This week we have our second field trip of the year! We're going to the capitol building and legislative building. After our trip we'll be going to Pullen Park for lunch and to play. It's supposed to be in the upper 50s on Thursday, so hopefully it won't be too cold for everyone! Personally, I think that upper 50s are beautiful! And, considering that it's snowing in Michigan, I will take upper 50s anytime in November!! :)

I am very excited for the first Ecology Club meeting this week. We'll have our first meeting on Thursday from 4:00-5:00 in my classroom. There was a nice level of interest, and fortunately, all the fourth graders that had a positive teacher recommendation were able to join! YAY!

:)
Have a frog-tastic week!

Mrs. Walker

Welcome Back!

I hope that everyone had a wonderful track out!! I had a nice three weeks, but I was very excited to come back and see the kids! Today was a great first day back and it went by so quickly! I wanted to post pictures of the new room. Our room is a little bit larger than the old room, and there seems to be more room to walk around. The kids also like the view!

I am excited to have tomorrow off and be able to sleep in a little. I'll be going to school to work on some things and organize a little more, but I do plan on enjoying my day off. Hopefully you'll enjoy the day off as well! Be sure to have your child study the study guide tomorrow!! The social studies test is quickly approaching!!

:)
Mrs. Walker

We're Tracked Out!!! Whooo hoooo!!!

This last week we had our first field trip of the year! We went to Oak View Historical Park in Raleigh. We all wore our field trip shirts and looked super cute!

The kids learned about making butter, washing clothes, keeping food without refrigeration, and then they went to the field of cotton and were able to pick some. They went inside and learned about the five cotton B's: Boring, Back-breaking, Bloody, Burns from the sun, and Bugs. They saw a cotton gin and were able to use it, and then they were also able to see how much cotton a slave would have to pick each day.

After learning about cotton, they went to the barn and learned about the various artifacts used in the 1800s. They had to guess what each item was used for. The kids really enjoyed all the hands-on things this field trip offered. They also got to see the three resident goats at the farm, Boyd, Napoleon, and I can't think of the other one's name.

The kids ate lunch there and then we came back to the school for the remainder of the day.

The rest of the week went by really quickly. I was very fortunate to have so many helpers stay on Thursday and help me with the classroom. Thanks to them and some parents, we were able to get everything taken down, cleaned, and put in Ms. Allen's room in 40 minutes. That's a record-breaking time!!! Now I just hope I can get it all put up that fast (not likely).

I hope that over track out we can get together to see the new Madagascar movie that comes out November 7th. Maybe that weekend.

Anyway- have a great track out and I'll see you all on November 10th in room 600!

:)
Mrs. Walker

Track Out Week!

What a great week! We had TJ's mom come to read to us on Friday. She read T is for Tarheel (even though she's a Wolfpack fan) and the kids really enjoyed the book. We have readers for October 17th and then two Fridays in November, but then no one else is signed up. If you haven't signed up yet, please think about it. I wish you could see how excited the class gets right before the mystery reader is introduced. So far we've had one dad, two grandmas, and two moms. I'd love to get a few grandpas, and maybe some aunts and uncles! Older brothers and sisters would also be a great surprise!

On Wednesday, Carleigh's dad came to the classroom to talk to the kids about fire safety. Last week was Fire Safety/Prevention Week. Make sure your family has a plan in place in case of a fire. It's also great to have a meeting spot and to practice what you'd do in the event of a fire. No one wants to have to experience a fire, but it's better to practice and have a plan in place, than to wish you had.

The Book Fair is here! I spent about 30 minutes on Friday looking at the books and creating a "Wish List." I can say that there are a lot of really great books and the prices are really good as well. Thursday night is the Book Fair Safari and you can come to the school from 6:00-7:30 and see all the great things planned. There are going to be live animals!! The great thing about the Book Fair is that some of the money helps Oak Grove. Our class preview day is Thursday from 2:00-2:30. If you'd like to send money to school with your child, that would be a great day. You could also come to school that day and look with your child. They do take credit cards as well as cash and I think checks.

Check out the website for pictures from Fire Safety Day. I created a slide show that's located on the main page.

Have a frog-tastic week!
:)
Mrs. Walker

A Frog-Tastic Week!

What a frog-tastic week! We started the second quarter off with a bang! Wednesday was my 32nd birthday and we had a celebration with the cutest frog cupcake cake (pictured above). I received many cards that I loved and then some very thoughtful gifts. I have to admit it, I was definitely spoiled!! Thank you to all the students and parents that sent something in for my birthday- you really did not need to send anything!!!

Our fourth Frog-Tastic Mystery Reader came and read to the class on Friday. The class was able to narrow down the possibilites to two moms. Danny's mom played the part by showing up in a trench coat, wig, and a mask to hide her identity. Fortunately, Danny was able to identify her right away! She read two books to the class. The first was "You Are Special" by Max Lucado and then the second book was "Parts!" by Tedd Arnold.

I cannot express how much the kids really enjoy seeing who the Mystery Reader will be each Friday. I'm so glad that so many family members have signed up to come in and read!!

:)
Mrs. Walker