Carving Up the Mountain!

Today we went snowboarding up to Crystal Mt! It was so much fun! The day was perfect with the fresh snow falling and getting to be there with so many people. Even though some of us fell multiple times it was still a blast getting up and trying again. After our yummy lunch some of us got to go up to Downhill and take a few runs. It was hard, but after the first time it got easier. Altogether, it was one of the funnest snowboarding trips ever. We definitely want to make more goals to go again! Next time we'll have to get more pictures and video for the Seasonal Video.

A Very Fun Writing Class

In writing, we are writing about fables.  Here are some examples of our writing class:

  

The Wind and the Sun

            The Wind and the Sun, who was very hot, were arguing about which was stronger. Suddenly they saw a sad, weary, plump traveler coming down the road, the Sun said, "I see a way decide our dispute. Whichever of us can cause that traveler to take of his tattered cloak shall be regarded as the stronger." The sun slowly and steadily retired behind a cloud, and the wind began to blow as hard as he could at the traveler. Because the wind was blowing so harshly, the traveler wrapped his cloak around him even tighter. The wind gave up. The sun came out and shone his light upon the traveler and the scene was as pretty as a picture. Blazing hot, the man soon found it too hot to walk in his cloak so he took it off. Happily, the sun thought, "Kindness is better than turbulence.” - Joe

Two Cocks

       Once upon a time, there lived two cocks that fared in the same farmyard. But these two cocks detested each other so that they flew as far up as they could to fight. Ashamed that he had lost so terribly, the loser crawled of to a little corner. The victorious flew to the highest peak in the farmyard and after singing and announcing, spread his wings and crowed with every strain of his vocal cords. But then, a great eagle was mightily yet gracefully circling overhead. Annoyed with the crooked cock's crowing, he quickly and swiftly, looking and aiming, came down, down, down on the cock to carry it off to its nest.    -Robyn

The Wind and the Sun

            The wind, which thought he was the strongest in the world, and the Sun were arguing over which was stronger.  Suddenly, they saw a tiny, little, wee, itsy-bitsy puny, runty, short child sadly, solemnly, and soberly coming down the road. The sun suddenly and smoothly stuttered, "I see a way to decide our dispute. Whichever of us can cause that traveler, who is as stubborn as a mule, to truly take of his coat shall be the winner.” So the sun brightly and briskly went behind a cloud while the wind blew as hard as he could. But the harder he blew, the more closely the traveler wrapped his coat around himself. The wind gave up. Then the Sun, who was as wise as an owl, shone in all his glory upon the traveler. Clinging no longer to his coat the man found it too hot to walk with his coat on. Triumphantly the sun thought, “Kindness works better than harshness.”    - Tim M.

Farmer Fred's Golden Goose

      Adorned with yellow and gold, was an egg that Farmer Fred found.  Heaving the heavy egg, Fred was carelessly going to toss it away, thinking a trick was played on him.  But he carried it home, plopped it on the table, and discovered that the egg was pure gold!  Every morning the same super thing occurred and he became rich.  Happily as he grew rich, he quickly became grossly greedy.  Slaughtered, the goose golden had not one egg left, and discontentedly and disconsolately, he tramped to his house, kicked open the door, and slammed it shut.  -Juanita

The Wind and the Sun

The wind, which was not very smart was disputing with the sun about which was the stronger. Suddenly they saw a serious, drowsy, and panicked traveler running swiftly down the road. The sunny side up sun said, “I see a way we can decide our little dispute. Whichever of us can cause that hysterical and hilarious traveler to take off his cloak shall be regarded as the stronger. You begin.” So the clever and cautious sun retired behind a cloud, and the wind began to blow as hard as it could upon the traveler. But the harder he blew, the more closely did the traveler wrap up his cloak round about him, (because as we all know wind is very cold.) Finally the wind gave up. Then as bright as an angel the sun came out and shone all his glory upon the traveler. Getting cooked, the man took off his cloak. Suddenly the sun thought, "Kindness works better than madness.”  - Tim K.

The Goose Which Laid the Gold Egg

 

A happy countryman went to the nest of a goose and found a yellow egg.  The man sighed, heaved, and tugged the heavy egg and was going to throw it into the river.  But he took it quickly and quietly to his house and found out that it was gold.  Every morning the same tame goose laid a golden egg and the man became rich.  As he grew quickly but steadily rich, he became greedy.  Being not smart, the farmer quickly but greedily wanted all the gold the goose could give so he killed the sad goose and there was nothing. - Michael

Who Was Stronger?

            One day the sun and the wind were debating about which was stronger. Suddenly they saw a tiny, peewee, short little traveler coming down the road, and the sun suddenly said, “I see away to decide and debate our dispute. Whichever of us can cautiously cause that traveler to take off his clunky, clean, cloak shall be regarded as the stronger. You begin.” So the sun quickly, reassuringly, and contently retired behind a cloud, and the wind began to ferociously, frantically, frightfully, and furiously blow as hard as it could upon the traveler. The traveler wrap his cloak more closely to him because the wind blew even harder. The wind gave up in despair. Then the sun came out and shone like never before in all his glory upon the traveler. Finding that it was too hot to walk wearing his cloak the man took it off. Joyfully, the sun thought, “Kindness works better than being unfriendly.”  - Beth

Battleship!

Over the last several weeks, the 5th & 6th graders have been learning Excel.  They are learning how to create charts and writing using formulas (functions).  Because they have been doing an excellent job during computer lab class, I had them follow multiple steps on Excel without telling them what they were going to make.  Voila!  They had created their own game of battleship.  For the following 1/2 hour, they battled each other on the computer.

Snowboarding!

We have a goal to go snowboarding!  The students are defeating Parkinson's Law by accomplishing more work in less time, and still doing it excellently. 

Here is a writing project that they are currently working on.

The Beauty of Skiing

       Rushing down the glossy slope, white snow was falling down.  Skiers were going down, down, and down gliding, jumping, and racing.  Happily, I went over the hills and down the slopes.  Across the hills, the sun was shining and I slid happily, gracefully, and silently.  As I slid, I saw my friend who has come to a stop, and was walking up the mountain to slide yet again.  I gladly decided to take a break, and thought, "What a wonderful day this is."

Written by Leanne

For First Timers

     Snowboarding is exciting, which is why I enjoy it greatly.  As I thought I would like it my first time, I wanted to go.  But the first time I went, I lamented that I would never go snowboarding again; but I did.  In 2005, I willingly got my snowboard and gear ready and headed up to White Pass.  Although I thought it would be fun, it was tragically horrible.  I fell on my head 7 times, on the ground 3 times, and snowboarded into 3 ft. high snow drifts, but luckily I made a jump into the air.  So don't think snowboarding is only swerving gracefully and beautifully down hills.  It is hard and fun at the same time. 

Written by Michael

Have you ever been snowboarding?  Unfortunately and tragically, I have not.  But multiple sources have informed me that snowboarding is amusement to the max.  I have longed for a long time to go to the mountain, Crystal is its name.  Just imagine, flying down the bunny slope, attempting a 360, failing to land; falling down hill on downhill.  But it's only my imagination.

Written by Joe

Henry V

The boys are working on memorizing the Shakespeare speech that Henry V gives right before the battle at Agincourt.

Video Lab

     On Mondays, we have computer lab.  During this time I have been teaching the students how to run the basic Microsoft Office programs.  For the last few weeks we have been making graphs, charts, and inputing functions into Excel.  During this time, Mrs. Jane Kirk comes in videos with the students.  This Monday, the kids took turns going back into the studio and filming each other saying the "Preamble to the Constitution" in front of the blue screen.  Jane chroma keyed out the students (in 1 afternoon) and placed them in front of some very creative backgrounds. 

     Enjoy!



Autumn Adventures

Today, during science, we took a walk to enjoy the autumn colors.  Each of the students took a picture of the leaves.  After picking out two leaves for a contest (biggest, most colorful) we went to the studio.  There we looked at everyone's pictures and applied a few Photoshop techniques.  These are a few of our photos.

Science & Latin

Today in science, we were learning about mass and wieght.  The students made balances to measure mass and spring scales to measure weight.  Also, we began a new lesson of Latin.  They are trying to get a class average of 90 or above to qualify to make short Latin stories and play fun Latin games at http://www.headventureland.com

Adding wieght to the spring scale

Trying to make the balance

Trying out the balance

Ellen teaching the Latin lesson

5 in 4

Today, the entire school had a fun day!  This is because all the students completed 5 days of work in 4 days.  We broke up the school into groups and had skits (with skit bags) and played Wii, XBox and many other exciting games.  Also, today many of the students began learning how to double dutch.  Mrs. Ketron showed many of the students how to do it.  Also, the boys played football with Mr. O'Connor.

Mrs. Ketron giving a demonstration

Telling Juanita when to jump in

Jesse giving a demonstration of his own

Beth joins in the fun!

Mr. O'Connor showing how a running back plays.

Playing football.

Beethoven's Fifth Symphony

The students are learning Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.  Enjoy!

Preamble to the Constitution

Memorize the Preamble and be ready to recite it to the class by Thursday.  Check out future blog posts to see the students reciting it.

Video of Computer

Creative Day

Today we had the most fun day in school. We did exciting experiments. Thrilling music. And we learned amazing things about computers and videos from Miss Williams and Mrs Kirk. All these things are fun in school. I think my teacher is the best one in the world.  -Michael

Music Class

The students had a lot of fun in music class today.  They are learning to play Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.  Mrs. Hier plays the dime and quarter game with them.  The fastest ones to respond & listen get lots of credits! 

Each part is clapping out their rhythms

Clapping out their parts before playing on the synths.

The students get to play on the synths!

Waffles!

We made our goal! Because we completed 5 days of math in 4 days, we got to have waffles during math today. Thanks to Mrs. Frost, the waffles were cooked perfectly. Of course, waffles would not be complete without butter, maple syrup, whipping cream, and strawberries piled high. We are now looking forward to making another goal for next week.

Sensational Science and Typing Times

It was a thrilling day, as we learned the scientific method. We had a hypothesis that sugar would blow up the ballon the most. We put yeast and molasses, yeast and sugar, and plain yeast to three different bottles with warm water. We wanted to know which let off the most gas. Next, we placed balloons on top of the bottle to see which balloon would be blown up the most. After we conducted our test, we realized that molasses lets off the most gas.

Finally, we got to do computer lab. We brainstormed on what we could do (that would be fun) during computer lab.

We got two lessons done in math, so that we could qualify for our goal! It was very hard to do, but we were persistant in our work so we completed it.

Electives

Today the students had electives for the first time. The girls had physical education with Mr. O'Connor and the boys went to the audio studio with Mr. Martucci.

Today we wrote about our fantastic summer. I wrote about going to my grandpa and grandma's. Also, I had reading with Mrs. Hicks. Today was very fun. -Tim M.

It was an exciting day today, doing P.E. with my Uncle John. It hurt my side running so much, but it was very fun anyway. - Juanita

I really had a lot of fun with my Uncle John doing exercises! First, we did stretches in the big building, then we went outside and ran around the track. After that we came in and did jumprope and talked about goals to do!   -Ruby

My dad came in for P.E. today. We did track running and jumprope. It was so exciting. I am looking forward to next week. -Rose

Today we went over to the studio to talk about fun, exhilarating songs to record with the 8th and 9th grade. If we quickly record some good songs, we will get pizza and slurpees! - Tim K.

The Gettysburg Address

The Gettysburg Address was given by President Abraham Lincoln to the people at Gettysburg November 19, 1863.  It was given at the Gettysburg cemetery after the battle had taken place.  Click the picture for a larger view.