SOCKS discussion 1

You are nearly one week into your summer vacation, and I hope you have had fun so far. Let's start talking about our book:

As the book opens, Debbie and George are trying to sell a box full of kittens. They are only asking 25 cents for the cats. When was the book written? How much do you think the kittens would cost today? We then read about the family that comes by wanting a kitten, and Socks gets stuffed into the mail box to save him. Near the end of the chapter we meet Bill and Marilyn Bricker. Why do you think that Debbie was willing to sell the cat to the Brickers but not the other people who came by? Finally what do you think happened to the other kittens?

Post your responses and ask questions of your own in the comment section. To do that, click below where it says "# comments" Then type your reply in the box including your name and click the dot next to "anonymous." Then you can click on the orange "Post comment" button. I look forward to hearing from you. (Chapter 2 discussion will go up on Friday.)

Welcome Summer!

Well, about 90 minutes ago I sent you all home for a well earned vacation. Enjoy your time away from school, but don't forget everything you've learned. You have your homework assignment for reading, and we'll start the Socks discussion first thing next week. I loved seeing so many of you already reading it! Remember that you need to read at least 1,500 pages to earn the pizza party this fall. (That's ten books with 150 pages.) Also keep working on those multiplications facts. You'll have a 100 question quiz on our first day back!

I will be sure to thank you each personally, but I wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you for the very generous gifts you gave me today. I wish you had not gone to such trouble, because I truly do not need gifts to know how special you all are. You share your children with me, and that is gift (and at times, punishment ;-) enough. I just don't have the words to express how inadequate I feel to accept such a thoughtful collection of gifts. A simple "Thank You" will have to do for now. And to your ringleader--I owe you at least this much:

Have a great Memorial Day and summer. I'll talk to you here on the blog in the coming weeks and see you right back here in room 108 on August 13! It'll be here before you know it, so go on--get out there and have some fun!

Field Day and Other Ramblings

Can you even begin to believe that tomorrow is our last full day of school? I feel so ill prepared to end the year, but not because I haven't had a blast. The teachers have a ton of paperwork stuff to do before we can start our summer vacation. On a list of about 50 items, I am probably on number 3 right now. That leaves me a busy, busy, busy last few days of school! But that's okay; I will get it done!

Remember that our book discussion will begin sometime next week. That information will be sent home on Thursday. Make plans now to check in here at least once a week!

While I am thinking about it, here is a link to Mrs. Ward's blog. She hasn't posted anything yet, but I figured most of you would be interested in seeing what our looping buddies are doing over the summer. Plus, most of you are proud members of the Mrs. Ward fan club. Now you can talk with her over the break, too! Now that I think about it, I guess she is the real reason most of you are in my class this year--I bet you're regretting that decision, aren't you? DON'T ANSWER THAT!! All I can say is "Blame Mrs. Ward!"

On to Field Day. As I mentioned in a previous post, it was so awesome to see so many of our parents out helping last week. When parents are active in the school family, the students truly benefit. It's just another reason why Paideia is great! Anyhow, I am going to post a few pictures that you might enjoy.

Getting started, none of you were too excited about the hats, but I think they grew on you as the day progressed. Next year you will like the hats a little better. I promise!

Here is the station that was a little bit dangerous! Plus it was by the dumpster, so it didn't smell all that great either!

And just a few other shots of our crew! What a great day!!

We Survived the LL-I (part 3)!

Okay, it has taken me a week to get up this final post about the LL-I and then I have to start thinking about getting some of the Field Day pictures put up. I can't believe how little time there is left this year! I did want to say how wonderful it was seeing so many of our parents there at Field Day. It means so much to the students (whether they admit it or not!)

On we go with the last portion of LL-I photos and stories:

Our first game was a clothing relay. Students were divided into their teams and given a pile of clothing they each had to put on. (Thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Cuffman for the donation of Mr. Cuffman's wardrobe!) Once the socks, shoes, shorts, shirt, belt and hat were on, the student had to run to the other side of the gym and take them all off so the next player could repeat the whole process. I have never seen so many children lose their shorts in such a small amount of time. The game was a big hit with the students! (FYI:As my students were quick to point out--Mrs. Ward seemed to be cheating for her class an awful lot! What do you think about that?!) Love those socks!!

Then we played "Chubby Bunnies."

You can see and read more about that in parts one and two which are found below. Next I challenged the students to another clothing game. Since they had so much difficulty and fun putting on the whole outfit, I asked them to try again--only this time all they had to do was put one t-shirt and one sock on one player. Easy, right? Did I forget to mention that the t-shirt and sock had gotten a little wet and were accidentally left overnight in my deep freezer? Ooops! What a hoot to watch the students try to think about what helps to melt something. Kaia had an interesting idea, don't you think? (Once again, Mrs. Ward cheated, but I don't think it helped much!)

The last game we played was called "Tube Sock Tag." Students had to pull a sock onto one of their arms, tuck the other arm behind their back, and then do whatever they could to pull the socks off of each other. It was a good way to get them nice and tired right before we turned in for the night!

We found that the students were tired and getting more tired as each second passed. In fact some were falling asleep during our group photo!

Then it was time for all students to hit the bed. I am amazed at how mobile some of our boys were during the night. We saw feet on heads, legs wrapped around other people, and then this:

Mrs. Sharp and I kept telling Mrs. Ward to "Leave the children alone," and "Don't touch them!" Did she listen? As if the picture doesn't say it all--of course not.

That is the end of our Looper Lock-In 2007 recap. I truly believe that everyone had a good time. Even some of our "Incredible" parents ended up forgiving us for keeping their babies over night. This has been an amazing year, and I am very grateful to everyone who has helped to make it a good one. How funny is it that at this point last year, I had only just decided to move down to third grade and attempt this "looping thing?" (Of course I was bullied into it by another teacher, but we won't rehash all of that, right Mrs. Ward? In fact, I might even be able to forgive you!) In the next few days, I'll add some Field Day pictures, and then we will start our summer book chat. I hope you are planning on joining the conversations and discussion here on our blog. Look for information about it this week!

Don't forget our I Am Somebody Awards on Tuesday when we get to donate the $200 toward Baptist's chapel. If at all possible, please wear your looper shirts that day!

Enjoy this cool Spring weekend!

We Survived the LL-I (part 2)!

For the activities portion of the night, students were in the play room. They had some free time at the beginning and then the pizzas were delivered. Before the students ate dinner they had to wait for coach to sink a basket. How long could that take, right? Well, you can tell from the look on their faces that the students were relieved when he finally sank a shot around 8:10!

I had to post a few more "Chubby Bunny" pictures. What a funny game! I think we now know for certain who has the biggest mouths (as if we didn't aleady know!) Of course it wasn't any of these dear children, right?

How often can a 1st or 3rd grader say they truly had a midnight snack? Okay, technically it was around 12:15 by the time they got this round of food, but it was close! The auditorium was way too hot for us, so for both eating breaks, the students ate in the hallway between the play room and stage.

How about a silly picture taken right at midnight?! (Click on it for a close-up--if you dare to see the funny faces!) Darius and Kaia had similar ideas about what a crazy face looks like!! Scary!

Later this week I will post some pictures of the clothes relay, sock tag game, t-shirt race, and other various photos. Check back in a few days!

Times Line Week 5

With the LL-I, I did not have a chance to update the Times Line. Here are last week's results:

MIMers:

• Caveman
• Big Butter Bean Banana
• Lil Raptor
• Pink Lady
• Quiet Mouse
• Mimi
• Fall Girl
• Momo
• Big Trouble
• Incredible Handy
• DA
• Pink Princess
• Ohio
• Diva

And still above the TIMES Line:

• Hoody
• Erykat
• Idol
• Bubblez
• D’Off
• Garbage Man
• Money Bags
• Rememberizer
• Fuzzy Pants (aka Gavinator)
• Incredible Handy
• DA
• Big Trouble

A second page of LL-I pictures will be posted later tonight!

We Survived the LL-I (part 1)!

I bet there were many groggy soccer and baseball games played yesterday! The Looper Lock-In came and went, and I think everyone involved, except maybe Mrs. Cuffman who got sick, had a fun time! (Click on any photo to see it close-up!)

From chaos:

To calm and quiet (except for the snoring):

Perhaps you heard about some of the activities like "Chubby Bunny?" Even a few of the teachers tried their hand (or was it their mouths?) at that game!

And who was the mystery guest? You may have already guessed that it was none other than little Oliver! He was quite a hit and loved all of the attention. Isn't he adorable?

A great big THANK YOU goes out to the students and especially Mr. Davis, Mr. Hood, Mr. Trotter, Mr. Gallon, Ms. Greer, Coach, Mrs. Cuffman, Ms. "Queen Bee" Hunt, Ms. Gould, Mrs. "Book Goddess" Sharp, and Mrs. Ward (my partner in crime and the one behind this whole deal!) for everything they did to make sure the evening took place and went off with no problems!

I will post additional photos and descriptions of the evening's events later this week! Stay tuned!

LL-I Four Days and Counting!

I can't believe that this Friday is the big LL-I! Mrs. Ward and I have a lot of things to do to finish getting prepared for all of the fun, but we'll be ready by Friday. Just remember that check in starts around 7:00 Friday night. At that time you will be given your team number and color. Then once we have all arrived, the games and competitions will begin.

Please remember to get in your movie slips by tomorrow so that we can let our friends know what movies to bring. If you do not return the form, you will not be able to watch any of the movies. Get that in ASAP!!

Here is a question for you to try and figure out. One of the adults who will be attending the LL-I has recently been given the nickname "Queen Bee." Can you figure out who the "Queen Bee" is before Friday night? Post your guesses here on the blog!! Also we are looking for suggestions for Mrs. Ward's nickname. Post those ideas here, too!

TIMES Line week 4

Well we have reached an important place. Half of the class is above the Line this week!!! In addition everyone has at one point been on the board as a MIMer, 100s Club or "Above the Line." Keep up the hard work!

Additions to the 100s Club:

• Money Bags
• The Incredible Handy
• Big Trouble
• Mimi

MIMers:

• Mimi
• Momo
• Pink Lady
• Big Butter Bean Banana
• Lil' Raptor
• Caveman
• Ohio
• The Incredible Handy
• Big Trouble
• Fall Girl
• DA
• Diva
• Garbage Man
• Rememberizer
• Quiet Mouse

Above the TIMES Line:

• Hoody
• Erykat
• Idol
• Bubblez
• D'Off
• Garbage Man
• Money Bags
• Rememberizer
• Gavinator
• The Incredible Handy
• DA
• Big Trouble

Well done!! If this rain clears out of here, I'm going to do my best to make it to the ball game this evening. I hope to see you there! Oh, yes, have I forgotten to mention that it is only six more days until the LL-I?!?! Start getting your rest now! (I know I am.)