Happy New Year!

I've added a little color to our classroom blog in hopes that our 2009 is full of colorful memories! I hope that each of your families is enjoying this time off and that you are looking forward to a new year! Remember to read, relax, and read some more. It wouldn't hurt to practice your mulitplication facts too! See you real soon!

This is a picture to pretty much sum up my Christmas. My almost two year old niece being silly, silly, silly!

It's Better to Give Than Receive!

We have heard the saying before, but today we saw it first hand. We had our Christmas Party today and dedicated our party to the children and families that are guests at our local Ronald McDonald House. We stuffed goodie bags, decorated place mats, and sent holiday cheer! We also treated ourselves to some cookie decorating, and top secret Christmas crafts! We definitely learned that it fills your heart with joy to give to others, especially at this special time of year!

They Earned It...

Yesterday was our Citizenship Day! Their rings have hit the ground and they chose the schedule, which included a pet show and tell! Thank you parents for bringing a wide variety of great pets. We had lots of four legged friends, including a horse! What a treat for our Monday!

It's Rainy, It's Snowing...

Well it was raining in Tallahassee today, but in our classroom another form of percepitation filled the skies...snow! We had a snow day, a rare treat for us Floridians. We made Borax snowflakes, used our math skills to construct a snowman, felt Insta-Snow, made original snowflakes, and snowman pancakes. We had a great day, and it made us wish for a white Christmas!

SEC Champs!

Due to all of my loyal fifth grade students (minus a few die hard Seminole fans, and I'm proud of them for not being fair weather fans!) the Gators won the SEC Championship last night! Being the daughter of a coach, I fully believe that the necklace I wear or doing the Gator chomp each Friday, allows our team to win! My husband assures me that I have nothing to do with the victory (can you tell his is a UGA graduate!). So we will continue to cheer on the Gators! Go Gators!

Artwork done by Jack Taylor and Will Rasmussen (who calls himself a Nole!)

The Race Is On!

Thank you to the families that were able to support our Fun Station Share Night on Thursday. We had a great time and I even competed in a go cart race! Michael had to say a few prays that I wasn't going to kill him, but we were a great team! Gilchrist Share Nights allow students and their families to enjoy some leisure time together, as well as generate valuable dollars for our school to use in a multitude of ways. I have said it before, and I will say it again, I believe Gilchrist is a dynamic school due to the generosity of our families' time and contributions!

Young Engineers!

With the help of our third grade science buddies, my fifth grade students recreated the Mars Pathfinder. They didn't have all the advancements of technology on their side. They did have a cereal box, a couple balloons, an egg, some string, and a parachute made of newspaper. They did a great job constructing the Pathfinder and getting the egg (i.e. the Mars rover) to the ground safely!