Funny "History"

Students were given the following two images and told to incorporate them both into their writing.

This was my favorite take on the writing prompt, by Cody. 

" Did you know that back in Abraham Lincoln's day that everything was black and white? Then why, do you ask, is everything in color? I can tell you, my friend, why. Not many people know this, but Abe Lincoln was not just a president, but an inventor as well! He invented the 'Painter 3000!' Well, his invention got out of hand, and he flew around the world on his out of control painter, and the world finally had color. Everything and everyone was happy with the change except for Abe's sheep, which head butted him in the stomach like billy goats until he painted every one of them white , except for the black sheep because he ran out of paint, and then went to the theater that night. That is why we have color, and why some sheep and white and some sheep are black, but most are white. 

ADOPT US!

     It's no secret that I volunteer for the local animal shelter.  My favorite volunteer duties are photographing & naming the animals. Then I post them on Facebook with adoption ads that are then often published in the local newspaper. I love sharing this part of my life with my students. In fact since I've started volunteering several of my students have adopted shelter animals. This warms my heart. Currently 4 of my 23 students own a shelter dog that was adopted since last October when I started volunteering. Some of these kids were in my class last year, some of them heard about the animal shelter at the assembly I put on for the school.  Friday I had them write their own adoption ads for 2 dogs that are currently available for adoption.  This is Rascal & Scout, a pair of brothers that is currently available at Holbrook Animal Control (9298-524-6828). These are the two best adoption ads from my kids.

RASCAL & SCOUT

"I am going to talk about two dogs named Rascal & Scout. These two dogs are very very cute. That's why you should adopt them! Do you want a companion? How about two? Scout and Rascal are very good dogs and they're lots of fun! If you just get one you should get another one to double the fun! So come on down if you're lonely to get these good, cute, fun, border collie dogs! But there's one condition if you want them... you don't want to split up 4 month old puppies, so please take both puppies, and bring home a cuddly pair.

More Info: Adoption fee $70. Includes rabies shot, you also get them fixed so they can't have puppies, and a city license. They are boys and brothers."  BY LILY

ADOPTION FOR $ALE! 

"Do you have a dog? Do you want a dog? Do you know where to get one? Well, then come to the Animal Shelter in Holbrook, AZ (on Route 66). We do have different animals, but you can buy Scout and Rascal. They are male dogs and they are brothers , so that means you should by them both so they do not miss each other. They are 4 month old Border Collies. They cost $70 each. You think that's a bad deal? This is an awesome deal because it includes shots, and getting them fixed, + a city license! They are so cute, you can not let them stay in the shelter. So come to the Animal Shelter in Holbrook, AZ." - BY ARACELI

Cell Models!

Back in 5th grade this year, & starting out with a bang. This extra credit project was a huge hit, though I think we all had too much cake to eat! The directions were simple: make a cell model (plant or animal) out of whatever you want. My students are so creative! Here are the cell models of the people who had blogger permission slips signed. (Don't see yours? Get that green slip back to me!) 

Cell cookies, by Kyan. 

Bella's Cell Cake

Jeremiah's Cell Cake 

McKenna's Cell Cake 

MorningRain's Cell Cake! 

McKenzie's Cell Jello

Cody's Lego Cell 

Araceli's fondant topped Cell Cake 

Anahi's Cell Cake 

Sara's Playdough Cell 

Thanks for  participating kids! 

National Dog Day

Thanks to all the kids who participated in the National Dog Day poster contest! The winners were...

Araceli (Grand Prize!) 

Laraina & Nadine ( I can't show your work until you bring back the green blog permission slips!) 

Cody's was my personal favorite ( Mr. Ferguson was the judge) and I shared it on the Animal Control Facebook page ( with his mom's permission) . I love the message in it! 

Even though she turned hers in too late for the contest & it had no words on it, I loved Morningrain's cute dog too! Enough to feature it here! 

Go have some fun with a dog today & everyday! 

AZ MERIT SAMPLE TEST LINK

Here's the link to the sample AZ MERIT TEST ITEMS.

To view/practice the math items click the math tab and then the link to the student version of the test.
It's a good idea to practice the 3rd grade test as well, since they only give us 5 sample items per grade so far. If it's on the third grade test those skills will probably also be on the 4th grade test.

If you want a challenge try the 5th grade test too!

The website says they will be adding more sample test items soon.

Haunted House For Sale

I've been a bad teacher-blogger this year. Chalk it up to additional stress both at home & at school, plus a new volunteer gig at the local animal shelter. I try to be a good example for my students and show that being an active community member is an important thing. My shelter volunteer work is an amazing experience, one I've shared with my students. In fact just last week I had them write about one oft he shelter dogs, Rocket, in their journals. A few days later, Rocket had a new home, with one of my students! She was so touched by his story that her family adopted him! I am so thrilled for them! 

Now to share some Halloween writing & art by this year's crew. They were asked to write a descriptive advertisement to sell a haunted house, then we made some cool haunted house silhouettes in art. 

            Advertising an exciting new house. Non living vampires, if you're out there I suggest you pay attention because this house is perfect for you! It has pitch black bloody coffins for beds. Also, a big exciting pool of slimy red blood. If you like to boogie this house has a fun and cool exciting party room with a shiny, sparkling disco ball. And plenty more! If you are interested please call ... It's only $729.00 a month. 

By: Alex

          Haunted , spooky house for sale! This big, funky house is perfect for werewolves! It has disgusting, flowing blood and a creaky open window perfect to see the full, white, spooky moon! It is scary and full of funky stuff! It also has a deadly, bony graveyard! It is also disgusting! 

By Cody

  This amazing, scary house would be perfect for a crazy mad scientist, because there is an evil dissecting lab where he or she can do their cool, gooey experiments. There is a gross meat filled room where you can put your huge ugly monsters and a deadly killing room where you can put the big dangerous monsters you do not want. 

    There is a moldy old storage room where you can put the extra monster parts you are not using and a scary dreadful bring to life room where you can bring your monsters to life! Of course there is a webby bathroom and a fizzy potion room. There is a spooky dark arena for giant angry monsters to battle and of course there is a little slouched Iror to help. 

 

By Cade

This is a cool house for a mad creepy scientist because it has scary experiments and a smelly old Frankenstien. This spooky house has a dark scary laboratory. It also has a cool lab coat and people to test awesome experiments on. This amazing laboratory has scary animals to test on too, like scary apes! It also has an invisible King Kong, so please by it! 

By Loren

** The artworks selected do no go with the writing. I choose the best samples of each. So the artist and writer do not always match up in this article. I will edit this post with the artists names later. 

Miss Jaster's Adventures: Part 2

Check your mailboxes, I sent you all postcards today! :) 

Before heading to Scotland I visited the ruins of this old church, Wenlock Priory. It was built in the 1100s! 

I ventured up to Scotland all by myself. An hour by bus and  4 more by train to Edinburgh. 

This statue called "Greyfriar's Bobby" is famous. It's in honor of a dog who sat outside the cemetary where his master was buried for years. The cemetary is behind the pub, also named after the dog. 

Here's the cemetary, I thought it was pretty cool. It's supposedly one of the most haunted places in the world! I didn't see any ghosts though. ;) 

I also visited the place where JK Rowling wrote most of Harry Potter. Here's the view from the window where she sat. That's Edinburgh Castle on the hill. I visited that too! 

I went to this cool museum called Camera Obscura. The top of the building has a room that is a camera (an old camera) that you can stand in and see the city. Each floor had cool exhibits about illusions, and there was even a mirror maze. My favorite was the view from the roof. 

Then I went up to the castle. There were guards in kilts. Like the Queen's Guards at Buckingham Palace they are very serious, but I did see a few of them smile... So maybe not quite as serious. 

The castle is still used by the military today. Here are some pictures inside the castle grounds. 

This was a cemetary for soldier's dogs. 

After Edinburgh I took another 4 hour train trip to Fort William, which is the most beautiful place I have ever been! I took a boat ride around the loch (lake) here & yes, I ate Haggis!! It was really good, like peppery sausage. Ben Nevis, the tallest mountain in the UK is found here. It's the one with snow on it. 

We even saw some cute seals!

Haggis looks pretty gross... I really liked it though. 

The next day I took a ride on the steam train they used in the Harry Potter films. I even crosses the viaduct (bridge) in the movie. More pretty scenery! 

The train stopped in the tiny town of Mallaig, on the coast. 

Then I stayed one more night in Fort William before heading back to London. (9 hours by train!) 

Back in London I caught the sunset. 

The next day I went to the top of the tallest skyscraper in Europe, The Shard. You can see it in the left of the sunset photo above, it's the pointy one. 

It's 800ft high, you could see all of London! 

Tower of London. 

St. Paul's 

The London Eye & Big Ben. 

Then I rode a boat down the Thames, under the Tower Bridge... and walked in the foot path tunnel under the river! 

We hiked up the hill in Greenwich, to stand in two hemispheres at once. 

On the flight back to Arizona I took this picture, over Hudson Bay Canada. That's ice! 

I can't wait to see you in the fall, and share more pictures with you at recess ( if you want to come in & see them). If you have any questions, leave a comment below!