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

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

End of the 1st Quarter...

We have made it through the first quarter! That means only three more weeks until our next track out!

Friday was a busy day for us, because we had our third Frog-Tastic Mystery Reader! Will's grandma came to read "There's A Map on my Lap". She made a few different things to show the class that went with the book and then each child was given some graph paper to take home so they could make a blue-print of their bedroom. She ended her reading with the poem "There's A New Kid on the Block" by Jack Prelutsky.

This next week we'll be starting our Tuesday Homework Club from 4:00-4:30. I think it'll be a great way for the kids to get homework done and to have me there to help (if needed). It's also a great time to do Frog-Tastic Student tests and earn more points!

Have a frog-tastic weekend!

:)
Mrs. Walker

Frog-Tastic Friday!

Skylar's grandma came to read to the class on Friday. She was our second Frog-Tastic Mystery Reader and the kids absolutely loved hearing her read Make Way for Ducklings. I think Skylar was really surprised to see her as well!


This whole week the class has enjoyed having Mr. Peacock come and teach us some new strategies with our writing. The class listened to music and wrote, they
looked at pictures and wrote and then they were able to dig deeper and really work on character development.

As a treat, the class was invited to go outside on Friday and listen to Mr. Peacock holler. He was the National Hollerin' Champion in 2006. I was able to go to the 40th Annual Hollerin' Championship in Spivey's Corner, NC this past June and watch him compete. He came in 3rd place this year. Hopefully some of you will go to the 41st contest and watch him!

Friday was "National Talk Like A Pirate Day" and the kids were invited to dress up like a pirate for the day. Many of the parents were excited for this because they attended ECU (East Carolina University) and the ECU Pirates are taking on the NC State Wolfpack this weekend in NCAA football.

Next Friday is the end of the 1st Quarter. I can't believe how quickly the quarter has gone by! It seems like we just started the year and we're already about to start the 13th week!

We'll be spending the entire second quarter learning about non-fiction reading strategies. I think the kids will really enjoy this because some of their most favorite books are expository!!

Have a frog-tastic weekend!

:)
Mrs. Walker

It's Been A While...

I'm so sorry that it has been so long since the last post! We recently traveled to Michigan and Indiana to see family and as a result I wasn't able to post anything last week.

I wanted to post two pictures from the first Frog-Tastic Mystery Reader (Friday, September 6th). The kids absolutely LOVED it! Our guest reader did an amazing job and really got the class excited! He read two books, one was the Blue Day book for kids and the other book was the Star Wars Clone Wars book. I enjoyed the part about the hutlets (yes... apparently Jaba the Hut has babies!).

We're eagerly awaiting our t-shirts. I am really excited to see what they look like in person! Our first field trip is coming up shortly and it'll be awesome to have everyone wearing the same shirt!

This week the kids have had the enjoyment of working with Mr. Tony Peacock as our writer in residence. Mr. Peacock played music today and the class had to close their eyes and "go where the music takes them." Then they were to write about what they saw, felt, smelled, heard, and tasted in their "place." The very end of their session with him brought them to begin writing. Tomorrow should be even better! They're slated to listen to him holler on Friday. It should be a real treat for them!!

It's time for me to head to bed. I've got so much to do at work- a week worth of papers and things to go through. I did get a lot of writing graded while driving up to Michigan and I was able to get the 3-5 Narrative Literacy tests graded. I was very impressed with how well some of the kids did!!

Until the next post... take care!!

:)
Mrs. Walker