Sunday Punday

February Quick Writes!

With President's Day and our busy schedule, we finally got to our Quick Writes this week!

First, here is our February Brainstorm to get the creative juices flowing...

 

[click on the image to enlarge]

Here are our prompts for this month.

Remember, you only get 3 minutes to write!

She carefully opened the heart-shaped box, when suddenly…

 

General Washington turned toward his men and shouted…

The groundhog woke from a sound sleep when something…

Our post wouldn't be complete without a couple of student samples!

She carefully opened the heart-shaped box, when suddenly…  a genie popped out in cloud of pink dust and said in a thundering voice “Greetings you who is master of the box, I give you 3 wishes, and the kibosh on even more.” Elizabeth was quite surprised to see a mystical genie, then she regained her voice and said in a timid tone “r-really, you are a genie?” “Yes, I am,” replied the mountainous genie…                         By Cian

She carefully opened the heart-shaped box, when suddenly… a fake snake jumped out at her. RICKY! She knew it was him. he had done so many April fool tricks on her, he had put goo on her apple, he had put a rubber band on the sprayer on the sink so it sprayed her, he had drew a mustache on her last night, he had put toothpaste on her cookie sandwich, and she had had enough of it. She decided to do something back at him. She put red food coloring in his milk so he thought blood was in it, she put fake puke on his sandwich, and then he declared war on pranks. She got her friends together and told them all about. Her friends,The Pranksters, they now called themselves got very even with Ricky and he never bothered them again.                                   By Darla

Nice job Cian and Darla!

If you would like to share one of your Quick Writes, type it up and send it to me!

President's Day

President's Day is a federal holiday in the United States and is celebrated on the third Monday of February. This holiday was originally designated in honor of George Washington's birthday and is still legally called "Washington's Birthday." 

Washington's Birthday has a history as old as our country. It was celebrated publicly for the first time in the late 18th century, while George Washington was still president! Washington's Birthday became official in 1885, when President Chester Arthur signed a bill making it a federal holiday.

Here is a short movie about The Life of George Washington. To watch it on the Scholastic News site, click here. 

If you would like to become an expert on all things George Washington, check out the links below!

• Did you know?

• George Washington Facts

• George Washington's Portrait: A Mystery

In honor of President's Day, I made up a list of US Presidents

in chronological order...

Can you memorize all 44 in order?

You can print a copy here on our class website.

Lastly, here is a fun video with interestinf facts about many of your past (and present) presidents!

Happy President's Day!

Happy Book Giving Day 2015!

Happy International Book Giving Day

to all of my book-lovin' friends out there!

Click here and here for more information and fun Book Giving Day ideas.

Click here to download the official poster for 2015.

Click here for a book gift tag.

Click here for free bookplates.

Three cheers for books!

Hip Hip Hooray! 

Hip Hip Hooray!  

Hip Hip Hooraaaaaaay!   

Text-Based Response Rubric

ELA Recap!

First things first.

Here is our latest Word of the Week...

"glower"

Can you use this word in a sentence?

Eek! Those are some glower-ful sentences! 

Here are a few of our classmates glowering into the webcam...

Yikes. DO NOT mess with them.

Next up... 

Read the passage below. According to the author, how did people feel about the pandas? Can you find evidence in the text to support your response? (click to enlarge)

Here is a rubric to explain what a 4-point (100%) answer should include:

Now check out this response. Is it complete? 

What score would you give to this student? Is it worth 4 points? 

Why or why not?

Click on the movie below to listen to Miky's feedback:

What about the response below? 

What makes it a 4-point answer?

 This week's assignment is to read the "Hot Chocolate" article from last week.

Then, score the sample student's response.

If it's not a +4, what improvements can be made?

(click to enlarge)

Please send me your assignment before Friday, if you haven't already.

I will post a few student samples this weekend!

Enjoy your 4-day weekend!

100th Day!

When we are 100 years old, we will be awesome.

Check this out...

Photo slideshow generated with Smilebox

Punxsutawney Phil's Prediction!

Today is February 2nd...

Every February 2, thousands of people from all over the country gather in Gobbler’s Knob, in the town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, to witness a famous groundhog's prediction.

When Phil comes out of his house, the first thing he will do is check for his shadow...

because that's his job.

His shadow (or lack of one) will predict the fate of our seasons.

Here is a handy chart to help illustrate the strenuous task 

of being Punxsutawney Phil on February 2.

Makes perfect sense to me.

What did Punxsutawney Phil predict this morning? Watch this video to find out.

That's right! It's official! SIX more weeks! Come on snow!

[click to enlarge]

When the first settlers arrived in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, they brought with them a German tradition known as Candlemas Day.

If the sun shone on Candlemas Day, the hedgehog would cast a shadow which they believed meant another six weeks of winter.

When the Germans first arrived in America, no hedgehogs were to be found. Another similar animal, the groundhog, was here. Believed by the native Indians to be "a wise and sensible animal," the groundhog became the new season predictor.

So it is, that the tradition was born.

Want more? Check out these links!

The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club

Send a Groundhog Day Postcard

National Geographic: Groundhogs

Groundhog Day Crafts

What do you think Phil likes to do in his spare time?

Click the image below for a free printable!

Thanks Phil!

Happy February!

Here is our class calendar for February.

Click on the image to enlarge it and check your k-mail for a printable version.

Our first semester ends on January 30. Try to complete 60% of your courses by the end of the month! 

Report cards will go home this week..

Sunday Punday

For my little Seahawks fans...

You're welcome.