Christmas In The Air

Can you feel that magic in the air? We have definitely felt it in our classroom. Our tree is up with our precious "froggy" ornaments, silver bows and lights.

Students performed their Christmas music program, not once, but twice today! For the past few weeks there's been a little bit of concern because students only had 6 days of practices on the stage before their first performance. I was able to attend two of the practices. Each time I watched them practice, the students were working hard. Today, I was blown away by their performance. The did unbelievably well. I was so proud of them. I know that on Monday night, parents will be astonished with their program.

Also today, we put our ornaments on the school Christmas tree. Our Social Studies curriculum is based on Texas history, so our class made Texas ornaments with our pictures on the back with lassos around our picture.

Native American Weaving Project

During October and into November, our class participated in a unit about Native Americans. The students studied Native Americans that lived in Texas. During this time, they put together a Native American journal of all the activities we had done. At the end of this unit, we created weavings using materials such as yarn, animal fur, felt, leather, grasses, feathers, fabric and jute. Our weavings were about 8 inches by 9 inches and took us several hours to complete. Makes you think about how difficult it was for Native Americans to make all their rugs and clothing when all they had were natural resources! All our materials came from a store. It was time consuming, but we all thought the weavings turned out beautifully!

Thanks to the parents that came that day to help...it would have been so tough without your help.

Wildlife Refuge Field Trip

On November 16th we went to the Wildlife Refuge for one of our field trips. The day was beautiful but very cold and windy. All students were extremely well behaved. A fantastic time was had as well as learning a tremendous amount.

The bus was a few minutes late, but we were ready to get on board.



 There was a gentlemen teaching us about water. He told us that there's never any "new" water. The water we use is the same water that's been on the Earth since the beginning of time, and there won't be any new water. The kids were quite disgusted when he explained that the water they drink is the same water that dinosaurs peed in! Ewwww!

 Students had the opportunity to hold a baby alligator and touch a snake.

 Practicing casting may have been the highlight for many students. You can't see them, but there were fish on the far end of the field that the kids were aiming for. A couple students even caught a few of those fish!



Red Ribbon Week

Red Ribbon Week is a week in October when schools educate students on the effects of drug and alcohol use, as well as a time to encourage them to stay drug free. Through the week, students are given mini-lessons on these subjects. Also, each day is a specific day that kids can wear something special or fun.

Monday: Red Day-Wear Red.

Tuesday: Team up against drugs-Wear your favorite team jersey.

Wednesday: I'm a "jean-ius" because I'm drug free-Wear jeans.

Thursday: You won't see me doing drugs!-Wear camouflage.

Friday: Put a cap on drugs-Wear an interesting hat & school shirt.



Clowning Around

Here's one of Greene's Gorillas who LOVES to "clown around".

It's no wonder she received a 2nd place ribbon at the fair! So proud of you! Way to go!

C.H.I.C.K.E.N. Club Rally

Ney Knight Fourth Graders had a fabulous time at the C.H.I.C.K.E.N. Club rally today at the high school. The band played, the colorguard presented the flag, we pledged and sang the national anthem, the cheerleaders cheered, and the drill team danced. For those who don't know, the C.H.I.C.K.E.N. Club is the anti-drug program in our district for our fourth graders. It stands for:

Cool

Honest

Intelligent

Clear headed

Keen

Energetic and

Not interested in drugs

The LJ Optimist Club donates chicken t-shirts to all our fourth graders as they pledge to be drug free. The students were encouraged to get involved in extracurricular activities in school. The superindendent even spoke to students about the importance of staying drug free.

Very soon you'll see your child bring home a pledge card. Students are encouraged to make their pledge now to be drug free. Once they do this, they will be the newest members of the C.H.I.C.K.E.N. Club! Throughout the year, members of the C.H.I.C.K.E.N. Club will be participating in activities to make our school the best that it can be.

We even won BEST DANCERS!

First Squires

Accelerated Reading is a program we use in school to increase students' fluency and accuracy in reading. When students read in their reading range, they will be reading at an instructional level. For this reason, we encourage students to read and test on books within their range. Each nine weeks students are given A.R. goals. These goals are based on their own personal reading levels. Therefore, goals vary from child to child.

In fourth grade, the teachers have created a challenge for students to motivate them to go above and beyond their minimum goal. As students are working toward their goals, they are Pages. When students earn their goal, they are Squires. If they double their goal, they are Knights. Finally, as they triple their goal, they become Royalty. (I also buy a giant candy bar for each student who becomes royalty.) Each student can earn points for their class. Squires earn 1 point, Knights earn 2 points, and Royalty earns 3 points. At the end of the nine weeks, we tally up our points. The class with the highest points wins the first place trophy. We also have second and third place trophies. These trophies get to sit on the shelf in the winning classroom for the entire nine weeks.

Proudly, my class was able to keep the first place trophy in our room for three out of the four nine weeks last year. It appears that this year may be the same if not better! It's only the third week of school, and we already have three Squires. Way to go guys!

Enjoy The Ride

The Brazosport I.S.D. theme of the year is, "Enjoy the ride!"  With the beginning of school, there is always a tremendous amount of excitement. New clothes, new supplies, new friends, new teachers, new classroom, new beginnings. There will be tons of learning and immense fun to be had on our way through the school year.

Since this is my first year using a blog with my classroom, I ask for your patience, comments, suggestions and thoughts along the way. The purpose of this blog is to encourage better communication between school and home as well as helping you, as parents, to see into our classroom with a bit more clarity.

So...presenting "Greene's Gorillas"...here are the students on the first day, and let's buckle up and enjoy the ride!