MARCH 1, 2011

Awesome work done in Core English! Students in grade 3-6 have completed some fine projects commemorating the Black Inventors. Work will be showcased soon on the stage in the gym. I hope to get it all set up in the next few days for the rest of the school to view. Students in Mme Bell's class have an extension until next Monday, March 9 due to insufficient time given in class to research their inventor.

Last week we began an anti bullying campaign with Pink shirt day. Emma C and Fiona have continued the work through daily announcements about the role of the bystander. We will continue this work at this month's Character Assembly on Friday. Students in the junior grades will be doing an anti-bullying presentation.

Junior grades have been working on poetry and examining poetic techniques used in writing. Mme Bell's class continues to work on the Chapter book Stone Fox. They have been presenting chapter summaries to the class using various presentation techniques. They will continue their work diving into the text more in depth and responding to questions regarding the text using the EASY method of responding to questions.

Primary grades worked on short plays using sight words, as well as continuing their work reading the story of Harriet Tubman. Students then learned a 'Sound Off' song about question words (which I will send home with their homework folders) and they developed a list of questions they still have regarding Minty and the Underground railroad. This week they will continue respond to the text by comparing their life to Minty.

Finally congratulations to Grade 3 students Abby and Tommy for being the first in their division to read and record their reading for over 100 days. These students have been rewarded with the first of the DAK bands. These bands are deliberate acts of kindness bands. They are linked to a website which has a number to register their act online. These students have received 4 bracelets to kick off this initiative. One is for them to keep for their hard work reading and acting as role models to inspire others to read. The other 3 are for them to give away to someone they recognize that is doing a good deed or act of kindness. I have registered the bands at http://www.deliberateactsofkindness.com. This is a website that tracks the bands. Students can register their act of kindness on this site, then the bands can be passed along to someone else. I will continue to reward students throughout the school with these bands and hopefully it will begin a chain of good deeds throughout the school. Watch for these bands on the General Lake community!

Homework

Grade 1 Reading A-Z Printing Worksheet

Grade 2 Reading A-Z Printing Worksheet(spelling words)

Grade 3 Home reading incentive program

Grade 4 Home reading incentive program

Grade 5 Home reading Incentive program

Grade 6 Home reading incentive program

DEADLINE EXTENDED

The deadline for the Black Inventor Project has been extended for Mme Bell's grade 3/4 class, as many students did not have the same amount of time working on the project and accessing the inventor site during class time as the other classes. Most students have chosen their Inventor and if they do not have internet access at home, I will provide time to print off some information to use in their projects. Some students mentioned that some information is limited on several of the inventors so we may need to duplicate several projects.
Some helpful sites include:

http://www.blackinventor.com/
http://inventors.about.com/od/blackinventors/a/black_inventors.htm
Thank you for your patience with this project. I look forward to displaying the students museum in the front entrance of the school.

Poetic Devices Definitions

Poetic Devices

Definitions

Tone

feelings or meanings conveyed in the poem

Not so much what is being said but how it is said

Stanza

a grouping of two or more lines of a poem in terms of length, metrical form, or rhyme scheme.

Provides order and an expectation of closure

Simile

A comparison between two unlike things using like or as.

“My love is like a red rose.”

Metaphor

A comparison between two unlike things without using like or as. Something is something else

The doctor inspected the rash with a vulture's eye.

Personification

Giving human qualities or characteristics to animals or inanimate objects

My shoes are killing me.

Alliteration

Repetition of initial consonant sounds in a group or words close together

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

Assonance

Repetition of a vowel sound

The eagle lived free and easy.

Hyperbole

Overstatement or exaggeration

I will just die if I do not go to the party.

Symbol

On object or idea that stands for something else.

Common symbols for love are roses and hearts. A dove is a symbol for peace.

Onomatopoeia

The use of words which imitate sound

Buzz, tweet, ping

Imagery

Words that appeal to the senses.

Creates vivid mental pictures (sight, smell, taste, touch, and sound).

Speaker

The voice in the poem (not always the poet).

Provides focus.

Oxymoron

a seeming contradiction in two words put together

Jumbo shrimp

February 21, 2011

February 21, 2011

Pink Shirt Day on Wednesday!!

On Wednesday, February 23, 2011 of this week students at General Lake are encouraged to wear something pink for an anti-bullying awareness day. This idea comes from two incredible Nova Scotia high school students and their friends who organized a high school protest in support of a grade 9 boy who was being bullied. They distributed pink t-shirts to all the boys in their school. Here's a part of the Globe and Mail article describing their idea:

“David Shepherd, Travis Price and their teenage friends organized a high-school protest to wear pink in sympathy with a Grade 9 boy who was being bullied…[They] took a stand against bullying when they protested against the harassment of a new Grade 9 student by distributing pink T-shirts to all the boys in their school.

‘I learned that two people can come up with an idea, run with it, and it can do wonders,’ says Mr. Price, 17, who organized the pink protest. ‘Finally, someone stood up for a weaker kid.’

So Mr. Shepherd and some other headed off to a discount store and bought 50 pink tank tops. They sent out message to schoolmates that night, and the next morning they hauled the shirts to school in a plastic bag.

As they stood in the foyer handing out the shirts, the bullied boy walked in. His face spoke volumes. ‘It looked like a huge weight was lifted off his shoulders,’ Mr. Price recalled.

The bullies were never heard from again.”

Congratulations to all the students who participated in the Legions's Public Speaking Event on Sunday February 20, 2011. In the Primary division we were well represented by Skye, Mitchell Jeremy and Keira. In the Junior division we were represented by Tiana, Emma, and Miranda and in the intermediate we were represented by Melora, Annie and Mikayla. Many people commented to me what a great showing General Lake made this year. Special congratulations to Jeremy and Miranda for placing second in their division. Well done General Lake!!

This week the Grade 1 and 2 students are working on their plays, as well as reading the story of Minty: A Story of Young Harriet Tubman by Alan Schroeder.

The grade 3 students have been reading a novel called Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner and they are working on a group presentation of their assigned chapter. Students have chosen a variety of ways to present their work including making models, acting it out, creating a stick pivot animation and making a picture. I am looking forward to seeing the wonderful presentations.

The grade 4, 5,and 6's have been working on an anti-bullying presentation for Wednesday, poetry work, as well as beginning their Black Inventors museum. For the inventor project, at this point most students have an idea of who they will be studying. I will provide computer time for students to print out information about their inventor. The due date is February 28. Students are asked to have a picture of their inventor (if possible), a prop as well as a short write up about their person. I modelled what I expected in class using the streetlight and the inventor Garrett Morgan. I will leave my model on display outside the classroom for students to look closely at. The write up should include who they are, when, where, what they invented, why they invented it. It should be a paragraph including a topic sentence, supporting details and a concluding sentence. I look forward to having the work on display in the school for other students to view.

The criteria for marking will be as follows:

Included an effective, interesting prop and photograph (if possible) 1 2 3 4

Writing includes all details (who what where when and why 1 2 3 4

Overall presentation is visually effective and appealing 1 2 3 4

Grade 4,5,and 6 students will be reading the poem I Rise this week by Maya Angelou and discussing the various poetic devices used in her work. Here's the poem we will be discussing.

I Rise by Maya Angelou

Out of the huts of history's shame

I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

Homework

Grade 1 Reading Printing

Grade 2 Reading Spelling

Grade 3 Reading at home program Inventor project

Grade 4 Reading at home program Inventor project

Grade 5 Reading at home program Inventor project

Grade 6 Reading at home program Inventor project

Have a great week everyone!

Grade 6 Adventure Stories

The Missing Voice by Mikayla

One day my friend and I went for a walk. Then all of a sudden a door appeared in front of us.

"I wonder where it goes?" said Morgan.

"Maybe we should go through it."

We stepped through the door. First thing we noticed was we were under water. Then a shark was in the nearby distance. The shark said to follow him, so we did!

Right in front of us was a giant palace with sea horses, sharks, sea turtles and fish. Pearl, the Queen of the mermaids, gave us a scroll.
It said, "Please help me! I lost my voice and I can't find it."
So we told the Queen we would help her find it.
So we set out on our journey. We were swimming for hours, then we saw a bright light and heard someone signing. We saw a giant octopus. She had Queen Pearl's voice. Morgan tried to grab it. What a surprise she got it! We swam as fast as we could. Queen Pearl thanked us for finding her voice and she granted us a wish and we were home. The End




Farkles by Sydney

One day My sister, Scribble and I were walking in a tropical forest when we heard a loud roar behind us. We turned around and saw a pink sparkly dinosaur!

"Run!" yelled Scribble.

Scribble and I started running really fast, but the dinosaurs legs were longer than ours and it caught up to us easily.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" we yelled.
"Shut it, please" yelled the dino.

Then we got quiet. We heard the big roar, but it was coming from the dino's tummy.

"Sorry," said the dinosaur, "I'm very hungry. Do you happen to have something to eat?"

"Nope," said my sister, "We didn't know that we would meet a hungry dino." "Who are you guys, anyway?"

"I'm Doodle," I said.

I'm Scribble." said my sister.

"Cool!" said the dino." "I'm Jube-Jube. Pleased to meet you!"

In the following days Jube-Jube, Scribble, and Doodle became good friends.
The End

The Cookie Saviour by Jada

One day my friend Julia and I went on a walk. We decided to go in the forest. We didn't really know where we were going because we hadn't been there before but we didn't have bread crumbs. We just kept walking. We went pretty far and we were both tired and hungry.

"Julia, do you know the way home?" I said.
"How am I supposed to know?" complained Julia.
"Of course," I said, "All you have been doing is facebooking the whole time!"

"It's not my fault. I'm trying to update my Farm on Farmville!!"
"Whatever!" I said "Let's just try to find our way back home."

"I think we're going the wrong way."said Julia.

"Well , sorry. I didn't bring a map, but there wouldn't be a way of..."

I cut her off. "I know Julia".

It had been hours and we were both tired and hungry.

"Julia...Julia? Julia wake up", I said.

"Huh cookies." said Julia.

"What?" I said.

"I smell cookies!"said Julia.

"Ow!" I screamed, "You bit me!"

"Sorry", said Julia.

"Hey, I see somebody. OVER HERE!!!" we both screamed "It's Taya and Maria!"

"Are you guys lost too? Julia asked.

"Yep, we can't find our way out," said Taya.

"I smell cookies!"said Maria

"I told you," said Julia.

"Follow the scent", said Taya.

"I can see the light," I said.

"Grandma!" Julia and I screamed

"A way out, we found a way out by cookies," said Maria.

"Yum..."said Julia.

"Hi Grandma, we're all starving. Can we have a cookie?" I said.
" Of course but what happened?" said Grandma .

It's a long story" we all said.

And we all fell asleep on our plates of cookies.

THE END



Forest Adventure by Taya

One day Sydney and Jada were walking in the forest and they started to hear noises. They met Julia and Maria. Then it started getting dark as the four friends walked.

Then Jada heard some freaky noises and then she asked Sydney, "Did you just hear that?"

Jada looked around and then Sydney said, "Yes I did!"

The four girls kept on walking through the forest. Maria stopped walking and turned around. Julia said, 'RUN!"

All four of the girls screamed and ran.

Sydney said, "OKAY, I think we can stop running now!"

"But I'm still scared!" Sydney and Jada were very scared!

Then Jada screamed, "Maria!"

Then Maria says, "WHAT??"

Jada said, "CELLPHONE! Where is your cellphone? Call for help!!!!...You do have your phone don't you????"

"Yes..ohh yeah. Who do you want me to call?"

"I don't know call anyone who would know what to do or how to help us!"says Sydney.

Maria says "Okay, well ummmm. How about Erin? She might know."

They are calling Erin. Erin picks up the phone. She says sleepily, "Hello, who is this?"

"It's Maria, Sydney, Jada and Julia", they all say.

Erin says "Okay, well where are you in the forest?"

Jada says, "I don't know!"

Sydney says, "Near a hole!"

"Okay I'm coming!" Erin says.

They hear footsteps.

"Hey! I told you I would be hear soon!"says a familiar voice.

"Thank-you Erin. You came super fast!"

Then Erin saved them. "You know you should have put out bread crumbs!"

"Whatever Erin!" says Sydney.

Then they all walked out of the forest. The End

The Monster Tummy by Erin

Once upon a time Popcorn, the butterfly was flying with her friends in a rain forest. They loved to play tag.

One day they were playing tag and they saw a dinosaur. "We better stay away from that Dino,"said Popcorn.

"Well I don't care," said Jada, "Come over HERE YOU FAT DINO!"

The dino saw and heard Jada and came over and snapped her up in his jaws and as a dessert he snapped up Tub too.

The rest of the butterflies flew away and hid in a hollow log.

"We have to get Tub and Jada back", said Marty.

"Yeah, we should" said Taya.

"So we should feed him something nasty," said Buttercup.

"Good idea", said Popcorn.

So they all went and picked a green mushroom. We took it to the dino and said, "We brought you a green butterfly!"

The dino ate the mushroom. He started to say "this butterfly is nasty, what is...."But he never finished because he started to puke up butterfies. Finally we saw Jada and Tub come out. "Woah, that was nasty." they both said and they rushed off to the river to wash off all the dino puke.
"Well that teaches you not to call a dino fat,"said Popcorn, as they rushed off to find Tub and Jada.




Will you be my friend? by Kyle

Once upon a time there was a twelve year old boy named Mr. K. He's been looking for friends for his whole life. This story started with a walk in the park, and like always Mr. K was looking for a friend.

Then he saw someone leaning on a tree. Mr. K decided to ask him if he wanted to be friends. But right before he was going to ask him, he knew that person.

THAT WAS THE COOLEST PERSON IN HIS SCHOOL! It was Russell.

Mr. K started to shake. It looked like he had guts in his pants. Russell had no interest in being his friend.







Walk in the Woods by Dominic

One day my friends and I went on a walk in the woods. It started getting dark so we headed home.

"It feels like someone is following us", whispered Liam.

"It is just the wind" I replied.

As we walked home Liam and Russell noticed that someone was walking toward us pretty fast! A couple of seconds later he started chasing us.

"Run", I yelled.

We hid for awhile after ditching the man and we left Liam running away from him. When we got home we told our parents and we went looking for Liam.

"Whoops!"I said in my head. After three hours we heard his voice.

"No,no, let me go!"

Liam was in a hut deep in the woods trapped by the hobo.

"Call the cops!"said Mom

No, we shouldn't. He'd probably run away,"I said. to myself and after constantly filing the rope with my Mom's nail file, Liam was free and we ran home!




Spots and Dippie by Zoey

One day Jada, Maria, Sydney and I went to the pink sparkly caves in Africa. We walked into the cave. When we walked in a cheetah jumped out.

"Halt, who goes there? said Sydney.

"My name is Spots," said the cheetah.

Then all of a sudden the cheetah fell through the floor of the cave.

We all looked through the hole and we yelled "SPOTS!".

"MEOW!"yells Spots.

"Oh no, Spots fell down the hole", said Jada.

"Are you okay?" I said.

"Yes," said Spots.

Spots was okay. The girls all jumped down the hole to save Spots.

When they got down there, they saw the most amazing thing ever...

"DINOSAUR! we all yelled.

"AHHHHH HUMANS" yelled the dinosaur.

They ran away. Then Spots ran after the dinosaur and told her to stop.

"What's your name?" said Spots.

"My name is Dippie", said the dinosaur.

"Well, its nice to meet you" said Spots as we caught up to them.

"Hi, Spots, it's good that you made a new friend, but we need to get you out of here," said Sydney.
"I know", said Dippie, "Climb on my back!"

"Okay", we all said.

"Finally home", I said. The End

Park Adventure by Russell

One day my friends and I went on a walk in the park. We saw these guys that were drunk. Kyle got really scared because they started walking towards us. So we ran away and we got lost.
We didn't know where we were. Kyle got so scared he wet himself. The guys that were drunk were catching up to us. So Kyle climbed a tree and waited until the guys walked by. Then we got out and ran the other way which scared me even more.
Then they said that I was drunk but I said no. I called the cops. They were on their way so I made a trap to catch the guys that were drunk because they looked like the robbers that had escaped from jail and were never seen again. I climbed a tree but they saw me, so they were waiting for me at the bottom of the tree. But the cops came and they hit the trap. It was to make them hit a bench and fall down and that's what happened. Then the cops came and took them away. I went home and told my parents what happened. They didn't believe me one bit. I wonder why. The End

February 15, 2011

February 15, 2011

Dear Parents/Guardians
Another great week in the Core English. Students practised and performed their storytelling and speeches. So many students did such a great job. It was a really difficult task to pick only three from each class to participate in our school-wide public speaking events. COngratulations to the following students who will present in the gym on February 16 at 9:30 am: Komal, Gbolu, Lauren, Skye, Breaelle, Emma M, Mitchell St, Rebecca, Tanner, Angelina, Jeremy and Farati.

In the Primary grades 1 and 2 you will notice we have returned to the reading program. You should receive 2 books in your package, along with a different format for recording the reading. I am trying to get the students to think about the strategies they are using during their reading which include sounding it out, looking for smaller words, looking at pictures, and reading on then going back. Students should be able to articulate what they do when they come to a word they don't know. Also the Grades 1 and 2 students have completed all Primer and Pre-primer words. I am sending home a copy of our word wall with all of these words to assist the students when they are creating their stories and sentences in the homework. We are beginning our level 1 words this week in the homework assignments.

Special thanks to Mrs. Kernaghan for volunteering her time to make some new A - Z books. Hopefully the new titles will inspire some of our beginning readers.

Please continue to send in those pennies for the Pennies for Peace as well as your canned tabs for wheelchairs. There is a drop off jar at the front entrance to deposit these items.

February is Black History Month and as part of program the junior students will be creating a mini musuem of artifacts invented by people of African descent. Students chose their inventor/invention this week and next week they will prepare a short write-up about the inventor, as well as some information on the invention. Watch for the framework, as well as the criteria I will use for marking the work. The due date will be the end of February.

Homework
Grade 1 Printing worksheet Reading Program
Grade 2 Printing worksheet Reading Program
Grade 3 Cursive Writing Home Reading Program Black History Invention Project due Feb 28
Grade 4 Cursive Writing Home Reading Program Black History Invention Project due Feb 28
Grade 5 Home Reading Program Black History Invention Project due Feb 28
Grade 6 Home Reading Program Black History Invention Project due Feb 28

February 8, 2011

February 8, 2011

Dear Parents/Guardians,

After much thought and deliberation I have decided to maintain the paper newsletter. Thanks to everyone for their feedback. It's really important for me to be communicating with parents especially in the Core English program. I have the students with me for such a short period of time and many forget a lot of the information or activities. At least with the newsletter and the blog everyone gets two opportunities to peek into the classroom.

This week we are carrying on the work begun by Ms. Bernardin in 'Pennies for Peace', which was founded by Greg Mortenson. For those who may not know, General Lake is collecting pennies to provide educational opportunities for students in Afghanistan and Pakistan. We have/or will be (depending on the class) reading the following books and the students will be/ have been involved in various activities to develop awareness for the cause. I encourage everyone to bring in their pennies. More information about the program is located at http://www.penniesforpeace.org/

A penny in Canada has little worth, but in Pakistan and Afghanistan a penny buys a pencil and opens the door to literacy:

1 penny = one pencil

2 pennies = one eraser

15 pennies = one notebook

$2 or $3 = one teacher’s salary for one day

$20 = one student’s school supplies for one year

$600 = one teacher’s annual salary

$5,000 = support for existing school for one year

$50,000 = one school building and support for up to five years

(Source: Central Asia Institute)

Students in Core English have been busy practising their public speaking. Students in Grades 1 to 3 have been practising and presenting their storytelling. Students in Grade 4 - 6 have prepared a speech on their own individual topic. Official presentations will begin on Friday. Good luck to everyone. Most effective public speakers in the primary division will be asked to present in the gym on February 16 at 9:30. I will let individual parents know if their child is selected. On February 17 the speeches will be presented at 2:40 in the gym. Again I will let individual parents know if their child is selected. Thanks to everyone for their help.

The Peer Mediators have just begun their duties on the kindergarten and primary playground this week. They voted on their name and they are now officially the 'YARD PATROL'. The grade 5 and 6 students are very excited with their new role. Any feedback is welcome as we are always trying to improve. I will be training another group of students after the March break. I already have a huge list of interested applicants. Thanks to everyone for being so enthusiastic and working so hard to learn their mediation skills.

Finally another young group of General Lake leaders have demonstrated initiative by proposing a canned tab collection. The idea was originally proposed by former student (Morgan), then Brianna, Zoey and Mikayla have quickly taken on the cause. Watch for more details, but for now please start collecting your pop tabs. The tabs are converted to money to buy wheelchairs. The girls have investigated this idea and more information will follow. Until then, Save Save Save!

Homework:

Grade 1 (No reading books have been distributed) Printing practice; Storytelling (Something From Nothing)

Grade 2 (No reading books have been distributed) Printing/Spelling practise; Storytelling (Something From Nothing or their own story)

Grade 3 (No reading books have been distributed) Cursive; Storytelling (Individual books)

Grade 4 Cursive; Speeches

Grade 5 Speeches

Grade 6 Speeches

Have a great week!

Something From Nothing

Summary:

When Joseph is a baby, his grandfather makes him a wonderful blanket. After a while

his mother tells him that the blanket is worn out and should be thrown away. Joseph

does not want to give up his blanket and tells his mother that his grandfather can fix

it. Grandpa turns it round and round. His scissors go snip, snip, snip. His needle goes in and out,

in and out, in and out. Sure enough, Grandpa has “just enough material” to make a wonderful jacket.

Over time, Grandpa uses the material to make a vest, then a tie, then a handkerchief,

and finally a button. When Joseph loses the button, his mother declares that even

Grandpa cannot make “something from nothing.” The next day Joseph goes to school

and starts to write. He realizes he has “just enough material” to make a wonderful

story. This warm story was adapted from a Jewish folk tale and offers a loving portrait

of shtetl life in Eastern Europe.

February 1, 2011

Welcome to the last hard copy version of the class newsletter. Next week the newsletter will only be posted on the blog, unless I hear otherwise. So far I have been hearing only positive responses to my paperless proposal.

Students have been busy this past week preparing speeches and storytelling. Students in grade 4, 5, and 6 chose a topic for their speech and they were given time to write. They should now be practising their speech memorizing as much as possible. They should be working on adjusting their speed; using gestures effectively; and making eye contact with the audience. The speeches are expected to be 3 - 5 minutes. Students will be given opportunities this week to practise their work in front of the class, if they want. Beginning on Friday, I will start the presentations and I hope to pick the top three from each grade level. School-wide presentations take place on February 17th in the gym.

Students in grade 1-3 have been working on storytelling. Grade 1 students prepared a story board of 'Something From Nothing'. I have posted the story online for those that would like to help their children and are not familiar with the story. I encouraged the students to retell it changing the details to make it their own. Grade 2 students had a choice of 'Something From Nothing', 'Anansi' or their own adventure story. A framework went home but all completed primary stories should be posted on this blog. Finally grade 3's picked their favourite story (Lots of Robert Munsch) and they began to practise these. Students should now be trying to retell their stories adjusting their speed and voice; using gestures and making eye contact. Stories are supposed to be 3 to 5 minutes but no points are taken away in this division if the story is too short. Storytelling will take place at 9:00 am on February 16th in the gym. Winners from this division will be attending the Legion's Storytelling event.

This Thursday is the Chinese New Year and to mark this occasion we will be reading and working on activities related to this event. On Friday students are asked to wear red (another reason) and bring a noisemaker as we parade through the school in a dragon parade.

Thanks to all the grade 3, 4, 5, and 6 students for submitting their inspiring person poetry and writing. I will be submitting many of the pieces for the contest. I was quite impressed with many of the works. I learned so much about many of the students and the wonderful things they do. Hopefully I will get to publish these on the blog in the future. It is just so uplifting to know about the truly important things our kids are doing and how special they make someone feel.

Finally I am extremely pleased to announce that the Peer Mediators have been completely trained and they are ready to start their duty. They will be visiting the kindergarten and primary classrooms on Friday to introduce the program. Then next Monday watch for their bright yellow vests, as they make their presence known. Peer Mediators have been trained to work with students to assist with conflict mediation. They are not their to judge or punish, just to help students solve their own problems.

Homework: (Please return all white A-Z books when you are finished reading)

Grade 1 Practise Storytelling; Sight word worksheet

Grade 2 Practise Storytelling; Sight word spelling

Grade 3 Practise Storytelling; Cursive writing

Grade 4 Practise Speech; Cursive Writing

Grade 5 Practise Speech; Practise individual spelling list (Most common misspelled words)

Grade 6 Practise Speech; Practise individual spelling list (Most common misspelled words)

Finally I am running out of the beloved white Reading A-Z books and I am looking for some volunteers to come in replenish my supplies. Let me know if you are available.

Thanks

Gung Hei Fat Choy

Ms. Legault

Storytelling: Anansi and the Moss Covered Rock

ANANSI AND THE MOSS COVERED ROCK

Once upon a time, Anansi the spider was walking, walking, walking through the rain forest, when something caught his eye! It was a strange, moss-covered rock!

"How interesting!" Anansi said. "Isn't this a strange moss-covered rock!"

KABOOM! Everything went black & down fell Anansi, fast asleep!

An our later Anansi woke up, his head was spinning. He wondered what had happened!

"I was walking along the path when something caught my eye, I stopped and said "Isn't this a strange moss-covered rock"

KABOOM! Down fell Anansi again! But this time, when he woke up an hour later, he knew what was happening.

"Aha!' He said. "This is a magic rock! And whenever someone come along and says the magic words, "Isn't this a strange hmm-hmmmmm hmmmmm?" down they go! This is a good thing to know." said Anansi. "And I know just how to use it!"

So Anansi went walking, walking, walking through the rain forest until he came to Tiger's house. Tiger had in front of him a nice variety of food! Anansi loved all the food he saw before him, but was always too lazy to find them himself. Anansi said to Tiger, "Hello Tiger! It is very hot today. Don't you think so?"

"Yes, Anansi," said Tiger. "it is terribly hot!"

'I am going for a walk in the cool jungle," said Anansi. "Would you like to come?" "I certainly would!" said Tiger.

So Tiger and Anansi went walking, walking, walking through the rain forest. After a while Anansi led Tiger to a certain place.

"Tiger! Do you see what I see??'

"Oh yes Anansi!" said Tiger. " Isn't this a strange moss-covered rock!'

KABOOM! Down fell Tiger! Anansi ran back to Tiger's place and made off with all Tiger's food!!

An hour later, Tiger woke up, His head was spinning! Anansi was no where in sight. And when he got home, he found that every single bit of his food was gone! Tiger was very sad!

But Anansi was very happy! He couldn't wait to play his trick again! Once more Anansi went walking, walking, walking through the rain forest. This time he stopped at Elephant's house. At Elephant's feet was a great pail of bananas! Anansi loved bananas, but was always too lazy to pick them himself. So he said to elephant, "Hello Elephant! Isn't it hot today!" "It is!" Elephant agreed. "I am going for a walk in the cool forest" Anansi said "Would you like to come?" "That sound nice," aid Elephant "Tank you for inviting me Anansi!"

So Anansi and Elephant went walking, walking, walking through the rain forest. After a while Anansi led Elephant to a certain place. "Elephant! Look! Do you see what I see?"

Elephant looked. "Yes I do Anansi! Isn't this a strange moss-covered rock!" KABOOM! Down fell Elephant. Anansi ran back to Elephant's house and made off with the bananas!

An hour later Elephant woke up, His head was spinning! Anansi was nowhere in sight. And when he got home, he found that every single one of his bananas was gone! Elephant was very sad!

But Anansi was very happy! He couldn't wait to play his trick again!

He played it on Jaguar

He played it on Snake.

He played it on Fruit Bat.

He played it on Turtle.

He played it on every single animal in the rain forest! But all this time, watching from behind the leaves, was Little Spotted Deer. Little Spotted Deer is small and shy and very hard to see. She watched Anansi play his wicked trick again and again on all the other animals. Little Spotted Deer decided it was time for Anansi to learn a lesson!

So Little Spotted Deer went deep into the rain forest to where the coconut trees grow. She climbed a coconut tree and threw down a great many coconuts. She carried the coconuts home in a basket then she sat down beside them to wait.

In a little while, along came Anansi. Anansi's eyes lit up when he saw Little Spotted Deer's coconuts! Anansi loved coconuts, He loved to eat the tender while coconut meant and drink the sweet coconut milk inside. But he was much too lazy to gather the coconuts himself.

Instead he said "Hello Little Spotted Deer! It is so hot today!" Little Spotted Deer smiled, "It IS very hot, Anansi!" "I am going for a walk in the cool rain forest, would you like to come?" "Yes I would!" said Little Spotted Deer.

So Anansi and Little Spotted Deer went walking, walking, walking in the cool forest, After a while Anansi led Little Spotted Deer to a certain place. "Little Spotted Deer! Do you see what I see??" Little Spotted Deer knew all about Anansi's trick. She looked. "No Anansi, I do not see anything!" "You must see it. Look very carefully!" Little Spotted Deer looked. "No I still do not see anything' she said.

Anansi began to get angry. "You must see it! Look over here! Look right where I am pointing. Do you see it now?' "No, Anansi," said Little Spotted Deer. Anansi stomped his legs "You see it!! You just don't want to say it!"

"Say what?" said Little Spotted Deer. "You know!" "Is that what I am supposed to say?" 'Yes!" said Anansi. "All right. Then I will say it to make you happy. 'You know' " said Little Spotted Deer. "There! I said it! Are you satisfied?"

"NO!" Anansi shouted. 'You're not supposed to say 'You know!'"

"What am I supposed to say?"

"You're supposed to say, 'Isn't this a strange moss-covered rock!'"

KABOOM! Down fell Anansi.

Little Spotted Deer rain and got all the other animals. Together they went to Anani's house and took back all the good things he had stolen from them.

An hour later Anansi woke up. His head was spinning. Little Spotted Deer was no where in sight. And when he got home, he found his house was as empty as it was before.

But if you think Anansi learned his lesson, you're mistaken. Because he's still playing tricks to this very day!

Grade Three Adventures

Portal to the Secret Place by Angelina
In the park near my house I found a map. I followed it and it led me to a portal and I transformed into a mouse. I had a name tag, My name was Cheezy. I was in school in room 23. At the end of school I went on the bus. I got off and started running, I fell in a hole and got stuck. I saw a light and I thought I was dead. It touched me and I was back at the park. I ran home and said, “Can you come to the park with me next time?”“My Mom asked why. “Oh”, I said, “I had a pretty big adventure.”“What happened”, said Mom.“Oh, I can’t tell you. It’s a pretty big secret”, I said.
Lost City by Tommy
When I was at school in the playground I found a shovel. So I started digging and I found a map. So I started following the lines and it took me to a desert and I found a dragon.
The dragon was scared at first but when I introduced myself he relaxed. I started to follow the map again and I found army men. I asked myself,"Where am I?" because I didn't actually know where I was. I started walking and I found a map. It took me back to the playground but they were inside, and I was outside. So I got in big trouble, but I was okay.

The Hot Air Balloon by Tommy
I found an air balloon with tons of holes in the balloon. I went to Home Hardware and I got some patches. So I went back and started to patch all of the holes with a sewing machine and some patches. When I finished I just remembered that I had to have fire to make it float, so I made a huge fire in it. So I started to float but I wasn't in it, so I jumped really high and I got in. I was really scared because I hadn't ever been in one. When I got really high, it took me to a starnge mountain. So I got off. There were aliens. When I got off I found Mario. He took me to his own den and gave me some juice and said,"Don't let them see you or they will kill you!".
I said "Why are you here?"
He said, "I'm here to kill the aliens. He said,"Do you want to go home?"
"Yes," I said.
He said, "Come with me".
He took me to a ship that could float and he hopped on and I followed him. He started the loud engine and it was really fast and took me back home where I found the air balloons. The End

Pirate's Gold by Farati
It all starts when we're all at the playground. We're digging in the sand. Emily M. finds a map.
"What does it say?" asked Emily N.
Emily M says, "It leads to a cave".
After we're on a pirate ship with gold.
"We're going to be rich," says Rabab.
We start following the map.
"We're at the place", I said.
"Are you sure?" says Tommy.
"It's the place, on the map. There is an 'X' and we're standing on the X", says Emily M.
"Lover!" we all say, with some joy. "Now we're on the pirate ship! Yay!"
"We get gold now", says Rabab.
After awhile some pirates come out ,"ARRRRR! You want to steal our gold. Are you nuts?"
"NO, we're not. We want to fight for the gold".
"Bring it on", says the pirates.
"Okay, bring it on", says Emily N.
Then Rabab kicked the pirate. And then we get the gold. The End.

Mario by Connor
Mario went to the castle but Bowser just attacked! Mario had to get all six worlds. He gathered 120 stars and beat Bowser! Then the 120 green stars appeared. I got most of them. The End

The Pokemon World by Jeremy
I find a map. I touch it. I'm in the Pokemon World falling from the sky. Rayquaza flips. I fall off. I'm knocked out. I wake up and a Pikachu is on me. I push it off. A voice calls out 'Pikachu'. I see the famous Ash, Ketchum, Dawn, and Brock.
Ash says, "There you are. I want to battle you".
"I don't have Pokemon", I say.
Dawn says, "Then go to Prof Roan."
I go to him. I choose Chimchar. I find two fire stones. I give them to Chimchar. He is infernaee. I go to Mt. Cornet. I stop Cyrus. A map pops out. I'm in the real world, falling from the sky! I grab a bird and say "Fly birdie fly". I land on a gymnastics mat thankfully. They were doing gymnastics outside.

The Sky Pavillon by Jeremy
I find a hot air balloon. It took me to the sky pavillon. I saw Mew! He gave me an infernape, and played chase and relaxed. It was awesome. But it got dark and I was going home...But Mew said I could go if I wanted! I went home. The End.

Dumb Prince by Seth
Once upon a time, a Prince was playing on baby swings and fell off. Oh I almost forgot, it is in a playground. Well let's get back to the story. He found a map. It led him to the under surface, where the dragon and princess lived. But when he got there, he well died because the dragon beat him. Then the Army comes out of nowhere and throws a bomb on the castle and kills the princess. But the Dragon was there too. So don't worry. Then they dealt with the dragon.

Supper Time by Ryan
Me, Weiny and I were walking in the park. All of a sufdden I saw a map. I went to go and pick it up. When I touched it, I disappeared into a Stickman world. There was thousands of stickman, but I had to get home to supper time. But maybe I could just stay for awhile. A guy came up to me and asked, "Are you lost?"
I said "Yes I am. Can you help me get out of here?"
He said "No one knows how to get out of here".
So I just walked around for a bit. I went to have a snack at a snack bar. Then when I turned around I saw an Exit sign. In a blank space I opened the door. I was in my room.
My Mom yelled "Supper Time."
I was just in time for supper and I ate it up really fast. It was delicious. The End

Sarah's Life by Connor
One day Aunt Yvonne gave me a phonecall. She asked me if I would like a cat. We went to meet her and my Mom said I could have her.
We named her Sarah. She was a domestic short haired Tabby. We loved her very much. When my Mom brought out wet cat food, Sarah would start meowing. I had to clean her litter box, and feed her dry food and water.
Then one day when I went to school she ran out and never came back. We loved having a cat. I learned to be responsible. We are getting a new kitten this spring. The End

Nickleback Going Back in time by Ridge
Nickelback was a group of kids that were friends. They grew up together and they said "I think we should start a band. I will play lead guitar and sing. You play a guitar. You play drums." They grew up and called it Nickelback and became my favourite band. Rock on forever,

Hot Air Balloon Adventure By Owen
One day Mario was walking around. He saw a hot air balloon and got in it. He took off the sandbags sandbags and started slowly floating away past California, San Francisco. Then when he got to Las Vegas there were some people who were not just civis. They had guns and grenades. He tried floating away but they shot down his balloon. There were no parachutes so he had to try and get away. Then when he was running they threw a grenade but he threw it back. Then it killed three out of fourof the people. There was one more left so he started running at him. When he passed him he stole one of his pistols and shot him. He got back in my air balloon and floated away.

Ella and Sarah by Emily N
One day me and my sister Sarah found a map in the snow at school. "It leads to the Arctic!" said Sarah.
"Wow I always wanted to go to the Arctic" said Ella. "I heard that penguins, puffins, polar bears, arctic foxes and snowy owls live there."
"Wow! that's a lot of animals!" said Sarah. "Hey I know, lets follow the map".
So we made a plan to go to the Arctic. When we got to the Arctic we met a girl named Bobbi. She lived in an igloo. She wore red snow pants and a pink jacket. We asked her if we could have some food for the trip ahead of us. She said Yes. So she packed up my backpack with some mugs, hot chocolate and hot water. When we got out of there we had some hot chocolate.
Right then we saw an X. We dug up a treasure chest with chocolate chip cookies. We brought some in the igloo and me, Sarah, and Bobbi had them.

The Trick Adventure by Rabab
Another ordinary day doing school work. After lunch we went outside playing soccer with my friends and other people.
When I was passing the hole on the corner of the fence I saw an old piece of paper. There was pictures. Farati called me. She came here. As soon as she came I picked up the paper. It was a map of a treasure, but I left it.. "Cool!"
"Who said that"
"Boo"
"Ahh You scared me Farati", I said.
Why are you leaving that map? Farati said.
"It's fake" I said.
"Okay leave it", said Farati.
After the whole soccer game, I went to the hole with Farati. "Are you really sure about this?" said Farati.
"Yes", I said.
But recess is over.
I will use magic to freeze everyone.
I got my wand. Then suddenly every one stopped.
We took the map and followed it.. It took an hour. It took us to a desert. It was sandy and the other side had cakes and chocolate. It said the same thing on the map.
Farati said, "I'm tired." She got her water bottle out of her backpack and put it in her mouth.
I said, "Come on". When I went closer I saw an X on each side. The map said one of them has the golden key. But you have one chance. So I went to the person in front. So I asked her. She said,"Choose one for the golden key." So I used magic to get two shovels. Then Farati and I started digging on the other side. I started digging. I saw Emily N. I said, "Boo!"
She got scared. "I got you!" I said.
Emily N explained she made this whole thing up to trick us. "I knew it was fake", I said to Farati in an angry face. It wasn't me!

Pirates by Madison
It all began one day when a little girl named Elizabeth went to the beach. She was collecting seashells but the she saw something in the water. She looked closer. It was gold! She went to show her Mom but her Mother said it was just sand. So Elizabeth decided to go in the water and she saw a boat. Well at least she thought it was a boat. Elizabeth came out of the water and took a nap. She was dreaming of being a pirate.....When she woke up she was on a boat with PIRATES!! She was scared because they looked mean but she saw that they were looking for buried treasure. Then she asked them where they were going and the boss of all pirates said that we were going to Whale Island. Then two minutes later the boat crashed into an island. Then Elizabeth saw a big X marked where I was standing. There was also two shovels. She took one of them and she was digging. Finally she found a BIG treasure box. Then she opened the treasure box and found a map. She followed it and it brought her back to the beach. Her Mom asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up and she said a PIRATE!

A Big Surprise By Emily N
One sunny day I found a map in the playground. So I followed it. First it led me to my house in the backyard where my dog Miley was. I remembered I had a bone in my pocket, so I gave it to Miley. He ate it up very fast. So I played a little with her for awhile and then I followed the map again. But I brought Miley with me. I took her for the treasure hunt. So we could both see what it was. Then the map took us to the little farm down the big hill where there were free apples. I found Emily waiting. So I asked her what or who are you waiting for. She said "Somebody said, I would find you here and they were right! I did find you here. So do you want to go somewhere or something because they said you wanted to go somewhere when I found you." I said, "Well I'm following this map and the next place is in the restaurant, that's about a five minute walk from here. So come on let's go to the restaurant."
When we got to the restaurant it told us to sit down and have a bite to eat and it was the day that the food was free so we both sat down to have a bite to eat. Emily M chose pepperoni pizza and I chose alfredo pasta with shrimp on the side. When we were done eating, the map led us by the beach and into the boat. None of us knew how to drive a boat so we had to go home and get Mom or Dad. So we went home and it was about a twenty minutes walk to get back home. So when we finally got home I made my Dad drive us down so we didn't have to walk all the way back to the beach. So when we got to the beach my Dad drove the boat to the beach. There were lots of people from where I llive that like to go to the beach. It's nice and relaxing going to the beach. You can have time to yourself just alone or maybe with a friend or a boyfriend or girlfriend. I like to have ice cream. There my favourite flavour is cookies 'n' cream. It tastes so good with those little oreo bits. So anyway back to the map. After that it took me to my aunts and uncles cottage where they were making hot chocolate, social tea squares, and wonderful goey chocolate chip cookies. My Mom was there too. After they were done baking, they asked me, Emily and my Dad if we wanted to try them. I had a social tea square first. Second I had the hot chocolate and then chocolate chip cookies. They were very very good. Emily ate her chocolate chip cookies, then her social tea square, then her hot chocolate. My Dad ate his chocolate chip cookie, then his hot chocolate, then his social tea square. Then we followed the map to the water where a canoe was. We got on the canoe and put on the life jackets so we didn't drown. The map said to canoe to the other side of the island where the island was like a jungle. Then the map told us to move to the middle of the jungle where there was a big X. We didn't bring any shovels so we had to dig with our hands. When we finally dug up all the sand we saw a treasure chest. We all had butterflies in our chests so when we opened it there was some packs of cupcakes, some streamers and some candles. Right then I knew what had happened. I said I forgot my birthday? Then all of my friends jumped out of the bushes and from behind trees and said 'Happy Birthday". I was so happy. Everybody remembered my birthday. But the wierd thing was I was the one that forgot my own birthday. We put up the streamers and had cupcakes and I made a wish. My wish was that all my birthdays were this exciting. The End!

January 25, 2011

January 25th, 2011





What a great week full of school spirit at General Lake! Students were excited and showing off their various costumes for the various Spirit Days. It is really a great time to be in school with all these fabulous activities taking place. Congratulations to all the students who took part and made this event a resounding success.


In Core English students were busy preparing either their story telling (Grades 1-3) or their speeches grade 4-6. I have enclosed a copy of the rubric I will be using to mark the students. All students are expected to complete this assignment. I would like all students to present in front of their class. I will make special arrangements for students at recess if they are absolutely unable to do this, but I am hoping most students will feel safe, secure and comfortable in the classroom to be able to present. Speeches are to be completed by Feb 11 when we will begin the class presentations until Feb 15. Student chosen to go to the school speak off will present on February 17. I haven't got the final dates for the grades 1 -3 school wide event, but I anticipate it to be before the junior/intermediate event. Students will begin bringing home their storytelling and speeches so the can practice as much as possible before the event.



Rubric for Public Speaking grade 4 and up Name:___________________________

Delivery:

Appearance Suitable 1 2 3 4

Gesture natural unaffected 1 2 3 4

Manner natural sincere 1 2 3 4

Material

Worthwhile suited to topic 1 2 3 4

Organized in logical order 1 2 3 4

Suitable in keeping with age and background 1 2 3 4

Originality, thought and presentation 1 2 3 4

Language and Literacy Form

Words effective and clear 1 2 3 4

Fluency easy to follow 1 2 3 4

Grammar correct usage 1 2 3 4

Pronunciation correct with good enunciation 1 2 3 4



Rubric for Grade 1-3

Delivery

Visual Appearance 1 2 3 4

Contact with audience 1 2 3 4

Voice, Quality/Dramatics 1 2 3 4

Material

Suitability 1 2 3 4

Introduction 1 2 3 4

Organization 1 2 3 4

Creativity 1 2 3 4

Language 1 2 3 4

Fluency -easy to follow 1 2 3 4



Finally I would like to make a proposal to help move towards using less paper. I would like to propose that I post this newsletter on the blog only on Tuesdays, rather than photocopying over 100 notes. If you would prefer I continue sending the letters, please let me know with a quick note. I feel its very important to have regular communication between school and home and I don't want to make a change if its going to be detrimental. I will continue for the next couple of weeks with the same paper format to give everyone time to respond. If I don't hear from anyone I will move to the online forum. Also thanks to all for the positive comments you left on the Blog. I really appreciate hearing from you.



Homework

Please return all paper reading a-z books when you are finished using them. I will exchange them for new ones when you return the others. Also don't forget to let me know how the reading is going (too easy, too hard or just right).

Grade 1 printing / Storytelling practice: Students have learned a story at school and they have prepared a sheet to help remember their story. Students should practice telling their story as much as they can to prepare for the contest.



Grade 2 spelling/Storytelling practice: Students have learned a story at school and they have prepared a sheet to help them remember the story. Students should practice telling their story as much as they can to prepare for the contest.



Grade 3 cursive/ Storytelling practice: Students have learned a story at school and they have prepared a sheet to help them remeber the story. Students should practise telling their story as much as they can to help prepare for the contest.



Grade 4 Cursive writing/ Speech preparation Due Feb 11



Grade 5 Speech preparation due Feb11



Grade 6 Speech preparation Due Feb 11

Finally many students in Mme Spencers class indicated an interest in becoming a Peer Mediator at General Lake. These students have completed the Peer Mediation Training program. These student have been trained in effective strategies to help students solve problems on the playground. These students will be visiting classes in the near future to introduce the program to the rest of the school and begin their regular patrol on the playground.

January 19, 2011

January 19, 2011

Dear Parents/Guardians,

A busy week as we finished up writing our adventure stories. I have started posting the stories on the blog. I hope to get all of them posted in the near future. I will post them in booklets on a bulletin board outside the classroom. Also there is an up and coming contest with the Young Writers of Canada. I hope to enter some of the stories in the contest. As I mentioned many of our poems were selected to be in their up and coming anthology entitled 'Under the Pumpkin Tree'. It is very exciting for the students to have their work published. Watch for the students photo to appear in The Observer. Many of the poems are posted on a previous blog post entitled GREAT POEMS.

I am changing the direction a bit for this week as I was just informed about an up and coming public speaking contest that is sponsored by the Legion. (I will return to the poetry unit at a later date) Students in grade 1 - 3 have begun preparing to tell a story. I have introduced one of my favourites 'Something from Nothing' by Phoebe Gilman as a model for the Primary students. Students in grades 4, 5, and 6 will be involved in writing a speech about a topic of their choice. As we all know the ability to speak in public can be learned and it improves with practice. Once we have our stories and speeches I will be encouraging students to practise at home.

Thank you to all the parents who sent in some pencils. We should be well equipped for now. When I run out I will let you know. Thank you so much.

Also I need to make a correction on last weeks newsletter. I had neglected to mention the name of some of the junior students who had completed their 25 days of reading. Once again for 25 days of reading congratulations to: Rabab, Abby, Seth, Emily M, Dante, Emily N, Connor, Ryan, Jarod, Emma, Farati and Owen

For 50 days congratulations to Tommy, Abby, and Ryan. Keep up the excellent work.

Finally parents of students in grade 1 and 2 should have received some feedback regarding reading level and sight words in last weeks homework. If you did not receive information or if you were missed please let me know.

Homework

Grade 1 Printing Reading

Grade 2 Printing spelling words Reading

Grade 3 Handwriting Reading at home program Poem/Story Assignment from Jan 11

Grade 4 Handwriting Reading at home program Poem/Story Assignment from Jan 11

Grade 5 Reading at home/ Poem/Story Assignment from Jan 11

Grade 6 Reading at home/ Poem/Story Assignment from Jan 11

Grade 1 and 2

Ask us about 'New Business'

Hello, my name is Joe.

And I work in a button factory.

I have a dog, a house and a family.

One day my boss said, "Hey Joe, Are you busy?"

I said "No!"

He said, "Turn the button with your right hand."

Grade 2 Adventures

Catching a beautiful butterfly by Emma M.

Once upon a time there was a girl named Samantha. She saw a beautiful butterfly and she wanted to catch it. But when she went to go catch it the butterfly went into a dark scary cave. She was too scared to go in but she had to go in so she could catch it so she went...and she stepped on one of the star steps and something flew down at her. She wondered what it was...then she ran all the way out and a bat was looking right at her and he said "Hi". What!!!!, a bat can not talk. Well I can but get out of here. It is too scary over here. But before she could go a bear was there. And said with his big loud voice GET OUT OF HERE!!!! and she ran all the way home. But the butterfly followed her all the way home and she followed him and she caught it and then she had to let it go. She did and she went home. The End.

The Bad Safari by Samantha

A long time ago there was an old cave. Three girls got caught in the rain so they went into the cave and dried off then a bear came and chased them to Africa. In Africa it was so hot the girls went to a tree and sat in the shade until a monkey went crazy and they went to the sea. In the sea a big catfish was guarding her nest. The girls went past it so she bit one. So the girls went home. At home their Mom gave them a towel and some hot chocolate. After they had lunch and watched TV on the computer for the rest of the day. The End

Iron Man's Great Adventure by Mitchell St

Once upon a time Iron Man was flying in the sky, then there was trouble. There was an enemy Iron Man said "Die" and the enemy surrendered. He said No! No! and then War Machine shot a bullet. The enemy died. Iron Man said Finally. THe End.

Lilly's Jungle Park Adventure by Bethany

One day Lilly went to the park with her Mom. And she wanted to go to the monkey bars but it was scarier than you think. So she went to the slide. and she thought to herself "This is scary too." And then she thought I will go to the swings?! And theree she sees a monkey. And they learn to be friends. I wonder if monkey can come home but that's another story. ANd that's what happened. THE END

6312 By Cole

Crackey was looking for birds in the tree. And then he found money behind the tree. And then Crackey brings the money home. There's the cops! AHHHHH!!! And then the cops brought him to jail. Crackey was in a big cage with a bed. The Cops went to Crackeys cage and said, "You can come out."

Magical Door by Madison

I found a map in my backyard. It led me to a magical door that led to a magical land. It had magical creatures. ANd a magical castle which an evil king takes over. So me and the creatures have to find the real King. And we travel through the forest and towns that had no people that lived in them.

Snowflake by Rebecca

Snowflake's owner was going on a trip. But Snowflake didn't want to be left behind. And then she saw the suitcases. She climbed in one. And then her owner went on a airplane and Snowflake crawled out. And looked around and then she crawled back in. And then after a couple minutes she poked her head out again but it looked different. Snowflake knew that this was the place her owner was coming to. She saw lots of water. Her owner was going somewhere too. She followed her until she got to a big boat. Her owner told her it was called a ferry. Her owner went on . She followed. When her owner went on and left. Her owner junped off and swam back over. She followed. When she got back she climbed back in and they went home.

3102 by Tanner

The robber robbed the bank. THen the cops came. Two criminals got arrested. One got away and the swat team came and it was a fight in the bank. One robber jumped out the windopw and went into a dark alley. He got away with a map to every bank in the world. The End

The Zombie Map by Hunter

I found a map. It was a Zombies map and I didn't know what to do with it. So the Zombies got shot. WHOOOOOCH! I shot the Zombies.

Blacky's Great Adventure by Sydney

Blacky told his sisters that Blacky, Wingy, Fangy and Zangy were going on a great adventure. Blacky, Wingy, Fangy and Zangy were off into a forest of Doom and it didn't make Blacky not even one bit scared. It made him bored. But Blacky saw two animals that looked like a Yoshi and a Teradacto. Wingy, Fangy and Zangy stood right behind Blacky. And then Yoshi and the Teradacto saw Blacky. Blacky walked up to the Yoshi and Teradacto and asked them if they wanted to go on another great adventure with Wingy, Fangy and Zangy. The Yoshi and Teradacto said "Sure!" In the foggy forest it was very quiet. Blacky knew something was going to jump at them and something did. It was a Dino! Blacky said, "ANOTHER DINO!!!!!" The Dino said, "Run for your life! There's a stampede of T-Rexs!" So Blacky and his friends flied as fast as they could and the Teradacto cornered Yoshi and they did a sharp turn into a cave. Blacky and his friend were safe now and also the Dino. The End

Yoshi by Erin

Yoshi was walking along with nothing to do but then Yoshi had an idea. I'll go for an adventure. Then Yoshi went. First Yoshi went through the haunted forest. Yoshi was scared but still bored. Next Yoshi went through the piranna sea. It was scary but Yoshi was still bored. Next Yoshi went through the lava ocean. He was scared but still bored. Next Yoshi went through the mini mushrooms dome. He was scared but still bored. Last but not least was the bog. When Yoshi saw it his eyeballs popped out and he was not bored anymore. He was freaked to death!

Who Dies by Sam

Once someone found a map. His name was Aran. He was in war. He got caught by two bad guys. They ordered a tank to come and shoot him. THe people were sad. The map was not seen again.

Jungle Adventure by Lauralei

I find a map in my backyard. It leads me to a jungle and I find a hidden door that leads to a haunted house. It has a secret room. I read hieroglyphs and I do some research on my phone. I go home and take a nap. I wake up and it was all a dream. I get up in the morning and I heard a voice at school and it was nobody....or was it?

Cat and the Map by Faith

I go to the cat. The cat goes to the map. I followed the map. The map leads to the pond. I jump over the pond. I run and run and run. I go to the blue zoo. I go to the little dragon. I attack the dragon. I go to the monkey, then I go to a haunted house. I see the haunted house. I see a ghost. The ghost said, "Go to the zoo!" I go to the zoo. I find the treasure.

Rudolph Going to the North Pole by Sydney

Rudolph said, "I'm going to the North Pole!" Rudolph flies up into the air. Rudolph says, "I'm going to the North Pole!" Rudolph was standing right in front of the entrance to Santa's Workshop. And finally he's at the workshop.