Multicultural Fall Festival

This Saturday, the Multicultural Fall Festival will be held in Downtown Jefferson City.  I believe it runs from 10:00 - 3:00.  There will be lots of activities and food!  What a great way to spend a beautiful Saturday!

Also, don't forget about the TLT performance of The Crucible and MU's Homecoming in Columbia.  I heard they are giving tours of the MU library following the Homecoming parade.

Poetry Class Update - October 13

The kids are doing a super job with their acrostic poems.  I have been really impressed with their willingness to revise their word choices.    I think having the computers with the thesaurus program helps with this process.  It is easy to use and they love it whenever they can get their hands on a computer.

I am beginning to introduce concrete poetry and onomatopoeia and we are moving into that new assignment.  Except for the Wednesday class, students should have completed their acrostic poem by now.

History Mystery Update - October 10

We are all working on research.  For the third graders, it is a difficult process, but they will catch on.  I have sent home calendars with the due dates for the rest of the term.  Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday students will bring home research next week unless they finish in class.

Poetry Class Update

We are still working on our acrostic poems which we are writing in couplets.  I really put a big emphasis on word choice.  I have shown the kids how to use the dictionary app. on the computer and they are utilizing it for the thesaurus.  We are taking words that are over used such as "nice" or "pretty" and finding more interesting words as substitutes.  Sometimes, this will throw off the rhyme and requires that a couplet be rewritten.  It is my hope that all this revising and attention to detail will spill over to their other writing.  If you have a chance to reinforce this with other writing assignments at home, that would be great!  The poems we have been analyzing at the beginning of class is "The Ballad of William Sycamore" by Stephen Vincent Binet.

History Mystery Update - October 3-7

It is taking longer than I expected to determine the responsibility of Captain Turner of the Lusitania.  We are continuing to finish up debates and summaries.  Next week, I'm going to set aside each day for research.  The Tuesday students will need to complete their debate next week, but everyone else should have the whole period to get a solid start on their projects.

The Little Theater in Jefferson City is performing The Crucible by Arthur Miller October 13 - 15.  It has been quite a while since I've seen it, but it is about the Salem Witch Trials. I seem to recall that the play was written as a response to McCarthyism. Some of my students are researching the Salem Witch Trials and might enjoy seeing the show!

Scottish Highland Games in St. Louis - October 1

If you have extra time this weekend for a day trip to St. Louis, the Scottish Highland Games will be at Forest Park near the tennis courts.  If you have never been to a Scottish Games, you might want to consider going.  The athletic competitions are unusual (caber tossing, for example), the food is great (haggis, fish and chips...), and there are many things going on including bagpiping, highland dancing, children's activities and Scottish animal parading.  It is truly fun for the whole family.  There is an admission fee and it closes about 4:30 pm.  You might look for me at the Gunn Clan tent because my husband is the regional commissioner.  Just for the record, though, my clan is Ramsey!

Wednesday History Mystery Class 9/28/11

Today we finished our debate on the guilt of Captain William Turner of the Lusitania.  Because the Wednesday students arrive at 9:30, our time is short.  We did not get a chance to look at our research project today.  Next week, I will hand out the packets and make time for writing the thesis question and the supporting questions.  In addition, students will write their conclusions stating their opinion on Captain Turner's competence.

I think the students enjoyed debating.  They made some spirited and creative arguments.  Debate points are kept by the amount of supporting facts used by the team.  By this method, Captain Turner was deemed incompetent by one point!