Great News for Christmas

My 24 students each performed a random act of kindness over the last 24 hours. That is their Christmas gift to the world! Enjoy this holiday season and start off 2010 with spreading joy and kindness to others!

Make a Smilebox greeting

Merry Christmas to all!

Make a Smilebox greeting

Meet our friend Elfis

Do you know about Elf on a Shelf? Of course you do! Our classroom elf is named Elfis, the children picked this due to their love of the King of Rock. They also have a love for sideburns and fried peanut butter sandwiches, and so does Elfis! He watches over our class full of children and reports back to Santa each night on our behavior. He doesn't text, email, or IM with Santa...he actually flies to the North Pole EACH AND EVERY evening. He has left notes and candy on our desks, watched us in the hallway, played in the snow, climbed our Christmas tree, and today he was planted in our poinsettia! The rule is that children can not touch their elf, or he will not fly home each night. Poor Alani bumped into him the other day and was MORTIFIED! She wrote him a sincere apology!



Where will you be tomorrow Elfis?

Happy Bill of Rights Day!

Today we had some guests to help us celebrate Bill of Rights Day. What an important portion of the U.S. Constitution and I know I'm one American that is quite thankful for the part that these rights play to govern our society. Our special guests included Florida Supreme Court Justice Fred Lewis, Judge James Wolf from Florida's First District Court of Appeals, Annette Boyd Pitts who serves as the executive director of the Florida Law Related Education Association, and a team of lawyers. We had a lot of expertise for a LOT of questions posed by my fifth graders. After thoroughly reviewing the Bill of Rights, students were able to participate in a simulation. It got a little heated, but in the end I think they came out with a new understanding and respect for our Constitution including the Bill of Rights.

Judge Wolf explains some basic rights to a group of students.



Judge Lewis helps this group of students prioritize their rights.


So, what's your favorite right?

Happy Hanukkah!

We had such a special Hanukkah treat from the Byrne Family on Friday. Mr. and Mrs. Byrne came in to our classroom to share about their heritage and the magic of Hanukkah. Mrs. Byrne taught us the dreidel song and answered all our questions!
Happy Hanukkah Byrne Family!

A Job Well Done!

Congratulations Reid for representing our class so well in Friday's Tropicana Speech Contest. It's a hard task, but Reid has taken on the challenge for two years! He is a great speech writer, and I wonder if the White House is in his future some day! Teachers around school kept commenting about how much they related to his speech topic. Well it was about surviving five principals in six years!

It's the most wonderful time of the year, and we have no great news to report. Be on the lookout and email us at great.news.grizzlies@gmail.com. We know you are doing great things!

On another note, we are quite happy that our Elf on the Shelf, Elfis, is watching our kind deeds. He reports back to Santa each night, so we are minding our P and Qs!

The Cow Jumped Over the Oreo Moon!

We could have really used a cow today during science to supply us with some nice cold milk to go with our Oreo moons. My science students had to create the eight phases of the moon by doing a little Oreo creme sculpting. Make sure to ask your child to point out the different lunar phases!

Our Snow Day!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Forecast: Snow Day at Gilchrist Tomorrow

Wait, wait, wait. Don't tuck yourself in bed for a long winter's nap quite yet. With snow blanketing much of the country, we don't want to miss out on the fun. For my Floridian children, snow days are quite a possibility. However, tomorrow we will be celebrating all things snow with our science buddies in Ms. McKnight's 3rd grade class. Stay tuned for our weather report!

The Lost Colony of Roanoke

I don't know about you, but I am captivated by U.S. history. I have a few students that are too, and I am trying to convenience the others that it's a pretty cool subject. For the last week we have been discussing early colonization of North America. Our topics have been far and wide, but today we discussed the lost colony of Roanoke. What a fascinating story to read, teach, and contemplate. Today student groups had to work on a simulation that put them in the position of colonist that was commissioned by Sir Walter Raleigh to make the voyage from England to the Roanoke colony. They were only able to choose some of the people listed on their sheet to make the trek with them. It was quite interesting to listen to my students debate with one another about who they thought should be able to make the trip.

Great News of the Week!

Our great news of the week comes from Phoenix, Arizona. We received the sweetest email from one of the ladies at the Arizona Humane Society. They have received our package and were so grateful for our generosity. We'll keep you posted to see if we get some pictures of the animals enjoying their toys and sporting their bandannas!

Comets, Asteroids, and Meteors, Oh My!

Last week we were busy learning about all the planets our solar system has to offer, but this week we've moved on to other objects out there in space. We've learned that a comet is much like a dirty snowball, a asteroid is a minor planet, and that meteors come from meteoroids and can turn into meteorites. Here are a few great sites to visit on your journey through the asteroid belt and beyond!

Asteroids and beyond

Information about NASA's Stardust Mission

Do you have what it takes to be a colonist?

Tomorrow we will begin to explore a period of time in our nation's history that is pivotal to the later success of our young country. Students will act as historians and research topics like the French and Indian War, agriculture in the colonies, Jamestown, etc. A very useful website can be found here.

Put yourself in the shoes of a Jamestown colonist by playing the Jamestown Game here.

Great News of the Week

We are thankful for so many kind things as we just finished our Thanksgiving meal and we move on to December, and this special time of year! We don't have any emails highlighting random acts of kindness, so please be on the lookout and email us. However, we are appreciative of those family members that welcomed our Flat Stanleys into their homes, and sent them back to us! If you haven't yet, please do so soon!! We love mail!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

After the pilgrims arrived in Massachusetts, they relied heavily on the Native Americans in the area. The natives taught the newcomers to hunt, make shelter, fish, communicate, trade, and most importantly farm. Squanto, of the Patuxet tribe, taught the pilgrims to use fish as fertilizer. We followed Squanto's suggestion and planted corn seeds with fish emulsion as fertilizer. Yes, I know you are wondering how it smelled, and yes it was HORRIBLE! My students are observing their corn plants over the next couple days.

Enjoy this season of thanksgiving!

Our Generosity Journey - A Furry Feast

Our class chose to make our pit stop in Phoenix, Arizona. They also chose to help the Arizona Humane Society while there. Students did a great job of collecting items, making bandanas for the animals, and cards for the staff!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

4th Annual Vocabulary Parade!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Great News of the Week!

Each of my students made a special effort this week to recognize and reflect upon a random act of kindness that they witnessed.

Here are a few...

JamarriA saw Cole help a girl pick up books in the hallway.
Rachel saw Seyeon put up her chair for her.
Alani witnessed her mom stopping to help a friend during a car accident.
Alejandro had a man hold the door open for him and his mother at the store.
Henry's sister's brownie troop donated items to soldiers and collected canned food.
Connor's mom saw him do the dishes and take out the trash without being asked.
John's dad gave food to the Second Harvest Food Bank.

We also had someone email and tell us about a group of ladies that volunteer their time at the Ronald McDonald House. Remember you might not have wealth to give, but we can all lend our time and talents.

Game Day in Gainesville

Our family ventured down to the Swamp on Saturday to partake in some game day fun! I have fond memories of cheering on the Gators as a child, taking friends to the games as a teenager, and being so excited to sit in those bleachers as a student and yell "Go Gators" in college. This was a chance for our youngest family member to go to her first game!



I heart Albert and Alberta

They're Talkers Alright!

Today we had our much anticipated Tropicana Speech Contest. The students were nervous, but they did a great job! At the end of it all we ended up with FOUR winners! First place goes to Reid, second place goes to Brooks, and third place goes to Henry and Emilee! Great job boys and girls!

Family Joined In!

Do you know where Roosevelt, Texas is? Just west of San Antonio, and our fifth graders are already there on their Generosity Journey. Yes, over 1,000 miles these youngsters have walked. Today some family members joined in and helped us along the way.

Moms who are runners, walked...



Moms know that every mile counts...



Moms know that little brothers are too tired after all that walking...



A BIG thank you to all the family members that helped us on our Generosity Journey today! We will be spreading our generosity to the Arizona Humane Society on Tuesday. Please encourage your child to bring in a cat or dog toy, and $1. Our furry friends are in for a special treat!

Well Isn't That Somethin'!

Who knew you could use toilet paper to measure planetary distances?? We did just that in science today. Students played the part of planets as we counted out toilet paper sheets. Mercury hangs out real close to the sun (just 3 toilet paper squares away), but Uranus was a lot of toilet paper later (approximately 230 squares away). Now it's not hard to tell why planets have warm and colder climates, and why our years are so different in length.

The planets chatting before they get in position.

Spelling Bee Boys!

Two of my outstanding spellers represented us well in the fifth grade spelling bee on Friday! I was very proud of both of them! Great spellers are hard to come by these days, so I greatly appreciate these two!

Great News of the Week!

This week I am going to take the opportunity to point out three things that I saw this Sunday morning. First, the front of our church was filled with shoe boxes full of goodies. These Christmas treats will be sent to children all over the world just in time for Christmas. As much as my students would love a box of treats, I know that these children will cherish them more than my students could ever imagine. We had a fun time filling our box full of little girl items for a precious child to enjoy.

The second act of kindness that I witnessed today started at church, but quickly filled the aisles of Publix. The congregation was asked to take a brown paper bag and fill it for our food pantry. It was almost like having a scavenger hunt around the store to make sure that we got everything on our list. Although, times are very tight, we know that a family is going to really feel blessed to have these items for Thanksgiving. The great thing was that we saw other families doing the same thing, and teaching their children about giving.

The third thing that made me smile today was also at Publix. After we finished unloading our cart, a nice older woman came up to us. She quietly took our cart and pushed it to the front for us. What a pleasant surprise! Remember to keep an eye on those around you...you never know what you can do something nice to catch someone off guard!

Let's Make Veterans Day Everyday!

A day off of school, a day of freedom! I hope that you really put thought into the word freedom today. How we go through our lives, running errands to Target, getting on the school bus, eating dinner as a family, and we rarely stop and think...who provided and sustains this freedom for us. We were blessed to have over 70 veterans join us for Take a Veteran to School Day on Tuesday at Gilchrist. We paraded them through the hallways (thanks to Ida), asked them thought provoking questions, and celebrated them with a reception. One question that was asked by a student was, "Do you think Americans take freedom for granted?" The group of men and woman said, "YES," in unison. I've learned that it takes very little to make a Veteran happy, just a simply "thank you."

Be grateful for, pray for, and make scarifices for those who are and have protected our freedom.

To see pictures of the day, visit www.stacycarlton.com

I am sharing my words from the day because my grandpa checks our blog and I want him to be able to read this!

So by now you probably have figured out why our campus is overflowing with Veterans. A veteran by definition is simply a person who has served in a military force; however, we know that being a veteran is much more complex than that. It means sometimes giving up your youth, missing holidays and birthdays, it means being miles away from loved ones, it means protecting school children just like the ones that sit in front of you. But most importantly, it means sacrificing your own goals for those of our country.

As you can see, a lot of us have a special veteran in our lives. I am fortunate to have two that helped mold me into the American that I am today. My paternal grandfather, Col. Arthur Witters served loyally in the Air Force for over three decades. He was a fighter pilot in WWII and even has a model plane made after his infamous Duck Butt (named affectionately for my Grandmother). He also advised U.S. presidents at the Pentagon, and was the man in charge when it came to building portions of the Air Force Academy. And this year at the ripe old age of 90 he published a book chronicling his years of service.

My grandpa McKnight, my maternal grandfather, served this country in the Philippines during WWII as a Navy lieutenant. He fought on the U.S. Key and even had a pet monkey! Growing up we loved to hear stories of his days at sea and the adventures of his mischievous pet. I have no doubt that he would have done anything for the men on his boat; it is just the kind of man he is.

My grandfathers shaped my perception of civic responsibility. If they could head into the face of war as a young 20 something year old, than what would I do to serve my country? Long before I knew that John F. Kennedy spoke the now famous words, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country,” I knew this to be true because of my grandfathers’ direction. They taught me to say GO GATORS, to give back to others, and to proud and honored to be an American.

I hope that you enjoy your morning here at Gilchrist. We are so thankful to have you here and so appreciative that you stepped up when others sat down.

Our Great News of the Week!

The great news this week involves my own students. They were so gracious to one another on Friday at Agrirama. They lent each other money for ice cream, or covered the difference if they didn't have enough. They also emptied the change from their pockets into a donation well. You see, Agrirama has a wonderful steam engine train that they can't afford to run at this time. This historical treasure is funded mainly by the state of Georgia. With these tough economic times, their budget has been cut drastically. We are grateful that they are still open at all! If you would like to know more about Agrirama read about them here.

Our Trip to Agrirama

Make a Smilebox photobook