What We Did on Mother’s Day

Mrs. S:  My daughter drew this in chalk on our patio! Cinnamon buns for breakfast, handmade cards, sunshine, and gift shopping with my girls.

Jaime:  My sisters and I bought a Pandora bracelet for my mom and made grilled shrimp and spaghetti so she didn’t have to make dinner!

Jillian:  My sisters and I bought pink hanging flowers for my mom and went shopping and had a cookout with my family and hand-made cards.

Sydney:  I gave my mom a necklace. We had a big lunch!

Genny:  I went to a cookout and tonight (May 11) I am taking my mom out for dinner at Friendlys.

Laine:  My mom came to my lacrosse game and I shot my first goal for her. At the end of the game one of the LAX moms brought roses for all the moms.

Jackie:  We brought my mom out to breakfast and bought her an electronic picture frame.

Ady:  My dad and I made my mom French toast and then gave her very pretty flower earrings.

Kenaz:  Coupons, poem, cards and plan to buy a flat screen TV.

This year the Chinese New Year began on January 26, 2009. Would you like to hear the legend of the Chinese Zodiac? Here it goes:

“According to Chinese legend, the order of 12 signs was determined by Buddha, upon celebration of the Chinese New Year (which falls on different dates, from mid-January to mid- February). The Buddha invited all of the animals in the kingdom together for a meeting, but only 12 creatures attended.

The first animal to arrive was the talkative Rat (who was aggressive enough to jump off the Ox in order to be the # 1 arrival). Next in  place #2 came the serious, enduring and hardworking Ox with the honorable Tiger #3 and cautious Rabbit #4. The outspoken Dragon #5 joined the others, along with the philosophical Snake #6. The physically active Horse #7 arrived with the artistic Goat #8. The spirited Monkey #9 and the showy Rooster #10 came as well. The last to join the others was the watchful Dog #11 and the meticulous, resigned Pig #12.

Buddha gave each animal a year of its own, bestowing the nature and characteristics of each to those born in that animal’s year. As the Chinese say, ‘This is animal that hides in your heart…’ Have Fun!”

Shelly Wu

This is the Year of the Ox (also 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009). People who were born in the year of the ox are dependable and calm and they are good listeners and have very strong ideas. Guess who this describes?

Me, Mrs. S, and President Barack Obama!

~ Jillian

Tomorrow is Veteran’s Day. Every November eleventh we honor the veterans who fought in wars for the United States. And we get school off this day for the many families who take this holiday very seriously.

At exactly eleven o’clock every November eleventh people lower their flags to honor those who fought. My neighbor lowers his, too! Last year I went to the Veteran’s Day parade. There were girl scouts and boy scouts and people on horses in uniforms.

I appreciate having a day that I can remember the special people who helped this country. Every morning at school we have a moment of silence to think about important things like this. I hope everyone takes a moment tomorrow to remember the veterans.

~Sarah

Photo courtesy of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.

Here at our wacky school on Halloween we don’t dress up like ghouls or ghosts. Instead we decorate our foods with faces. Right now you must be thinking we’re crazy, but don’t think so!

This marvelous project began by reading a book called How Are You Peeling by Saxton Freymann and Joost Elffers. It was about different fruits and vegetables that were created to show different emotions. Next we could take some beans and try to turn them into eyes, ears, mouths or any other body parts we could think of. Then we had a week to find a fruit or vegetable and give it a food face. Last at the end of the week, on Halloween, we would guess what emotion it was.

Sorry for you parents who like seeing grades on projects. This was only a fun Halloween project. Well, that’s all I can write for now, so goodbye and goodbye to October. ^.^

~Nick

P.S. If you see a rock trick-or-treating tonight it’s me! I am going as a rock because my mom is paper and my dad is, you guessed it, scissors.

Hello. Let me introduce myself—I’m Mrs. S, and I am a teacher assistant in Rooms 246 and 249. I had some free time this fine, long Columbus Day weekend and wanted to get our classroom blog rolling by modeling a couple of posts for our students.

Don’t get me started on revisionist history, but I must admit that having been back at school since the last week in August, we are all most deserving of this Monday holiday commemorating the voyage of Columbus. In social studies, we are currently studying the early exploration of the New World so I think it’s relevant to include this quote from our Harcourt Brace history text:

“Christopher Columbus never knew that he had not reached Asia. Believing he had reached the Indies, he called the people he met Indians. Until his death in 1506, Columbus kept saying that he had found a new water route to Asia. Other explorers, however, proved him wrong.”

So, did Columbus “discover” America? He couldn’t have, since the native Americans were already here!

Photo Courtesy of NASA.