Multi Cultural Day

We ended the year 2008 with celebrations. We studied traditions of various holidays. We learned about Hanukah, Kwanzaa, the Legend of the Poinsettia, Christmas, and Las Posadas. It was fun learning about different cultures and doing fun seasonal crafts. We began with Hanukah. We played the dreidel game. Each side of the dreidel bears a letter of the Hebrew alphabet: נ (Nun), ג (Gimel), ה (Hei), ש (Shin), which together form the acronym for "נס גדול היה שם" (Nes Gadol Haya Sham – "a great miracle happened there"). Our crafts included making a weaved a mat, called the mekeda, made on the second day of Kwanzaa. We made cards with poinsettias. Poinsettia is a species of flowering plant indigenous to Mexico and Guatemala which is also referred to as the Christmas star. We made traditional Christmas stockings and finished our day with decorating piñatas in honor of Las Posadas. It was an incredible learning experience for all.
We ended the week with Auntie Claus visiting from the North Pole to read us a story and enjoy chocolate milk and cookies. We are looking forward to what is ahead at Chets Creek in the New Year. Happy Holidays!

Polar Express

We enjoyed a great pajama day with Mrs. Meissner’s kindergartner class. We enjoyed the story and the video of the Polar Express. The story is about a boy who’s faith in Santa Claus is rewarded when the Polar Express stops by his house on Christmas Eve to take him to the North Pole to meet Santa. While enjoying the movie we had yummy homemade donuts and hot chocolate.

Chet with the Miami Dolphins

The Miami Dolphins hosted their annual alumni weekend and Mrs. Lankford took me along. It was so exciting. This year they were honoring two famed Killer Bees players, Bob Baumhower and Doug Betters, the anchors of the defensive line throughout the 70’s and 80’s. I attended a pre-game tailgate party and the Honor Roll Induction Ceremony at half-time. The national anthem was sung by American Idol contestant Syesha Mercado and I felt as if she sang right to me. There was a flyover by Navy P-3C jets of the War Eagles of Patrol Squadron SIX-TEEN (VP-16). The flyover was so exciting and very loud. I got to meet the Miami Dolphins cheerleaders who performed for us wearing Santa suits. I also met two players from the only undefeated NFL team and Superbowl champs of 1972, Jim Klick and Mercury Morris. The honorary captains were all members of the pro football Hall of Fame: Head Coach Don Shula, linebacker Nick Buoniconti, quarterback Bob Griese, guard Larry Little and center Dwight Stephenson. It was so much fun. We had the best view from our private box. As you can see, I was held by Mr. Koslowski, another alumni Dolphin player, for the group picture. They all knew my name. The Miami Dolphins, lead by coach Tony Sparano, beat the San Francisco 49ers 14-9. It was a weekend to remember.

Diagnostic Testing

We will be reviewing for and starting our Diagnostic Testing this week. It is very important that your child comes to school on time and rested. Please remind your child to think about the strategies they have learned in Math and Language Arts. We are sure the students will do great. :) Good luck boys and girls! School Rocks!

Thank you for all the goodies for our cast party. Our play was a huge success and so was the cast party. It was a great way to end our week!

Have you checked our our school's lobby? Each class has decorated a holiday item for our silent auction. The auction will be open through 6:00 pm on Tuesday,
December 16th. Please be sure to check it out!

Will it Sink or Float?

We have been busy the past 2 weeks exploring and sorting objects in Math. Using a collection of common objects, the students explored, identified and sorted them into groups. Their work focuses on similar attributes, and developing and defining categories based on physical attributes.

Then we used that same collection of common objects to find out which things sink and which things float. The students had to find out as much information as possible about each item. Does it always sink? Does it always float? Does anything else happen to it? After their experiment was over the students had to draw a pictures or a graph to show what they found out about their collection. Each group were able to share their Representing Sink-and-Float Data.

Functional Writing

The students are currently working on Reading and Writing in the genre of Functional Writing. In other words the focus is on types of writing that tell you how to do something. In Reader's Workshop we are focusing on strategies that help them to read "How To" writing. They are reading directions on Map Quest, recipes, directions on how to build something. The students are also working on creating their own "How To" pieces of writing during Writer's Workshop. The sloppy copies are now almost complete and the children are working with Rubric's to assess their work and see how to take thier work to the next level. The next step is for each child to complete their own published piece.

Chet's Adventure With The "W" Family

Greeting from the most Magical Place on Earth (besides Chets Creek).
Seven and her family took me on a trip to Disney World. Our weekend started off with a side trip to Chets Creek Fall Carnival.
Where I got to go trick or treating with Seven and her brothers. Don’t tell anyone but Seven snuck me a piece of candy or three. The next day it was off to Disney World. Here I am ordering room service from our Hotel room. Seven and I are relaxing on the couch waiting to go to dinner at our hotel. We had dinner at The Turf Club, where I got to be a JR. jockey (the person who rides the horse) for the day. The next day we went to Chef Mickey’s for breakfast. I got to cook with Mickey and all his friends. I loved the Mickey waffles they had there. We rode on many rides at the Magic Kingdom. My favorite was the Buzz Lightyear ride, there I was captured by the Evil Zorg, and thankfully Seven saved me! Afterwards I got to meet a cute and furry blue alien by the name of Stitch. Seven then took me to find Pooh bear and gave me a smackerl of honey. As We made our way to Toon Town, I got to take a ride with Dumbo. In Toon Town I was a special delivery for a very special mouse (can you guess who?) After that I was tired so we headed back to the room for a nap. The next day I got to attend a very Un-Happy Birthday Party with the Mad Hatter, Alice and Mary Poppins. We a lovely time. Then it was time to head home. I had a blast at Disney World with Seven!!

Roll Tide Roll!

Wow! Thanks to Mrs. Lankford I was able to visit and meet some new friends in Alabama. I went to the homecoming game of Alabama and Arkansas State.
The University of Alabama Crimson Tide football team is unbeaten. Alabama's football program is widely recognized as one of the best in the nation.
During my visit I heard the sounds of the University of Alabama Million Dollar Band and I was able to watch and take a picture with one of the Color guards. They are the girls that twirl the flags.
After getting in on the parade floats I decided that I needed to take a rest and tailgate.
The weather was perfect and the leaves on the trees were orange, red, and yellow. I don't usually get to see those colors in Florida. It was so beautiful.
It was a Homecoming to remember!

To finish our study of Matter, we made ice-cream. After adding the ingredients (milk, vanilla, and sugar) we poured the liquid into small Ziploc bags. We then put those bags into a larger bag with ice and salt. The students had to shake the bags of liquid for about 10 minutes. To their surprise, the liquid turned into a solid which was ice-cream, YUMMY! As you can see, they were all engaged in this fun activity. During this activity, we discussed measurements and the properties of Matter. It was a great way to end the unit and the week.

Fall Festival