As you prepare for the science test on matter, why not take a few minutes to earn some extra credit points? Try to come up with a fun riddle using the vocabulary words you are studying. Select any science term used in this unit and post your riddle here for THREE PERCENTAGE POINTS on your test. 3% extra can turn a 72% into a 75% (a D to a C) and an 89% into 92%

If a word has already been used, you’ll have to pick another. Only clearly written riddles with appropriate spelling will stay on the blog for extra credit. All riddles must be posted by the start of school on Wednesday, December 16 to receive extra credit.

I’ll start off with an example. Notice I didn’t use the vocabulary word in the riddle. Do you know the vocabulary word I’m discribing?

I’m an element, yes I am.

Rare, beautiful and useful  am I. 

I don’t rust or tarnish,

The bling, bling am I!

 What am I?

 Thanksgiving is a great time to reflect and consider why each of us are thankful for the things in our lives. Pretty obvious things instantly come to my mind; my health, my family, my job, living in the south, my home, having time off to enjoy the Thanksgiving Holiday. But this is just a “laundry list” of ideas and doesn’t really show the true reasons why I’m thankful for them.

This blog entry is not just for my students, (past or present;) but I want parents to get involved and leave a comment as well. This Thanksgiving season, share with us why you are thankful. Feel free to express yourself in a poem, letter or short essay…..just not in a “laundry list”. Show the children that adding details, examples and explanations make for an interesting read. Share your ideas in English or Spanish. Perhaps we’ll even read some “celebrity” posts, so come back and read or add to them often!

If a student posts, “Gobble, gobble for you!” but if you can get a parent or family member to post too, you’ll beable to add 5 bonus points to any subject. All comments must be posted by the end of Thanksgiving Day to earn bonus points

As we are reading The 6th Grade Nickname Game by Gordon Korman, I began to think of the nicknames that I have been called throughout my life.  Some are good and some are not so good.  Most nicknames are given because of something you are good at or go along with your personality.  In this post, share with us some of the nicknames you’ve been called by family and friends. Here are some prompts to help you organize your paragraph.

What nicknames you have been given?

• Why were you given those nicknames and what do they mean? 
• Did you like them? 
• If you could give yourself a nickname, what would it be? 

In science class, we’ve been learning the difference between mass and weight. We’ve learned that weight is the measurement for the amount of gravity needed to pull an object down. We also learned that the pull of gravity has different strengths on different planets. We’ve calculated our weight on Earth and what our weights would be on other planets. Using your background knowledge about planets and what you learned about weight on these planets, which planet would you most like to visit and why? Support your reason using information found on the graphing weight activity we did in class. Be creative!

Did you have fun visiting the Southern Museum of Civil War in Kennesaw this weekend? Seeing all the Civil War artifacts and learning about the General was a great way to end our study on the Civil War and Reconstruction.

As we stated in class, if you want to earn extra points for social studies, tell us what new things you learned on your trip. Be sure to read each other’s posts and piggy back off of their comments but don’t repeat their ideas. You’ll have to think hard and remember something new that you learned to get your points.

Also remember to pay attention to the standard writing conventions. Any post with too many errors will be deleted and no points awarded. All comments need to be left by Monday at the end of the school day in order to receive extra credit.

Thanks to Ms Hacker at Frey for setting this special day up for us!

Several times throughout the year we wil be reading from the historical fiction genre. Currently our oral read is historical fiction, No Mans Land, which is set during  the Civil War. One of the elements of historical fiction is that readers are able to learn things about that period of time that they might not learn from reading a social studies book.

So this post is dedicated to sharing things we’ve learned about the Civil War from No Mans Land or one of the other Civil War historical fiction books you are reading. Share the title of the book you are discussing and the information you’ve learned.  As you learn more things, come back and share so we can learn them too! Remember to read each others’ posts, no repeats on information and try to piggyback off of classmate’s comments if you can.

In social studies, we have learned that slaves just before the Civil War resisted or fought against slavery by running away or rebelling. Harriet Tubman escaped slavery using the Underground Railroad, and then returned to the South as a “conductor” on the railroad. Nat Turner led a slave rebellion that resulted in 60 men, women, and children being killed. In the end, all the slaves who took part in Turner’s Rebellion were caught, tried, and hung.

The actions of Harriet Tubman, Nat Turner and people running the Underground Railroad were breaking the laws of that time. Think about and respond to three or more of the following questions. It may be a good idea to draft your thoughts on paper before typing and posting them on the blog. Pay attention to paragraphing, punctuation, spelling and capitalization. Students who post a well planned, thoughtful comment can earn extra credit toward their lowest social studies grade for the quarter. You have until the end of school on Friday, October 9 to earn this extra credit. You will also earn extra points when you read your classmates comments and reply or “piggyback” off of their thoughts.

*If you had been a slave back in the 1850’s, would you have joined Nat Turner’s rebellion? Explain why you would or would not.

*If you had been a slave, would you have tried to escape to the North? Explain how you would or why you wouldn’t.

*If you had lived in the North and found a runaway slave, do you think you would have obeyed the Fugitive Slave Law and returned the person to slavery? Explain.

*After the Fugitive Slave Law was passed, would you have continued to run a station on the Underground Railroad? Explain yourself.

*Is it ever proper to break a law or use violence, even if you are fighting for a good cause? Explain yourself.

Remember, only well thought out and well written comments will earn extra credit.

Wow! I hope everyone is safe and dry! I’ve been watching the news reports and can’t believe all the damage around our county. The picture on this post is of Clarkdale Elementary, an elementary school here in Cobb County. Imagine the damage and the clean-up that it will take to make this school operational again. We are very lucky that Pickett’s Mill survived this terrible storm with such little damage.

So how are you and your families doing? What have you experienced at your house and in your neighborhood?

Stay safe, dry and we’ll see you all hopefully on Thursday!

Mrs. Thompson

You’ve met the good ole’, imaginative, fun-loving, country boy, Harris, and his cousin Gary. Don’t you just love Harris’ imagination and how he seems to have fun with very little? Didn’t you love hearing about them playing war with the sows and catching mice?

On the farm, they entertain each other in very different ways then you do today. They did not have video games, TV or team sports. Sometimes I wonder how the technology of today affects our imaginations…

Let’s go back to simpler times and try to imagine what life on the farm would be like?

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  • What kind of fun do you think you would have if you lived on a farm? Have you been on a farm? What did you do?
    
  • What type of imaginative games would you play with friends?
    
  • More importantly, what do you think Gary thinks of the farm life?

If you have any family or friends that live on a farm or in the country, ask them to blog so we can see what they have to say about country life. We’ve already had one “guest blogger” so let’s see how many others we can get! You may have to teach your parents or grandparents how to blog!

I can’t wait to read your comments….who knows, maybe even author Gary Paulsen will find our blog and read what you’ve written about one of his most popular books!

Remember, in order to get your comment published you must be detailed, descriptive, and check over your comment for appropriate writing conventions (spelling, punctuation and capitalization).

You may want to visit Mrs. Gurski’s blog also to read what her class thinks about farm life. http://gurskiclassblog.wordpress.com/

Hello pirates! Thought I’d upload this quick post just in case there are a few of you out there that want to share what you’ve been doing this long weekend. It’s been good hearing from former students and finding out how middle school is going for them.

Since the weather is kind of icky today, I’ve been on my screened porch reading. I’ve also made another round of Cash Cab questions for Tuesday. I can’t wait to play  it with you all!

Be sure to “sharpen the saw” this weekend, because we have a busy week planned!

See you all Tuesday,

Mrs. T