Thinking & Writing Wrinkles

Author Pat Street says your work is the cat's pajamas!

Hello Wrinkles group!

 

Guess what! We have heard from Pat Street! She is the author who wrote the wonderful book, THERE'S A FROG IN MY THROAT.  Remember how much fun we had the day we read and discussed the book. Here's her message:

 

Hi Mrs. Davis, and all the kids who made the ABC Blook on Blogging!

 

I think your work is the cat's pajamas! I love the way you used sayings and words starting with each letter of the alphabet. You used so many great idioms-- I collect idioms myself, so it was fun to see all of yours. I was glad to see that you even used some of the animal sayings that are in my book.

 

I was especially impressed with your artwork. Every picture is wonderful! It was hard to choose my favorites, but I especially liked the pictures for A, Q, S, and W.

 

I don't know very much about blogs, but now I'm going to try to learn about them. Maybe I'll try making one of my own!

 

My next book is going to be about "human body parts" sayings, like "green thumb" and "nosy" and "it's right on the tip of my tongue" and "I have butterflies in my stomach." If you think of any more like that, let me know.

 

It looks like you are having a terrific time writing. It makes me wish I were in your class!

Have fun, and keep being creative!

Pat Street

Isn't that a wonderful message! It was so nice of her to take the time to respond to us. What a nice feeling it is to have someone enjoy what you have written. I wish we were back in class so we could have a ball brainstorming a list of idioms for her new book. Be on the lookout for it to appear!

I hope you are enjoying your summer. I miss you bunches!  Drop me an email if you get a minute to give me an update on what you are doing!

No Good-byes!

Last year as the NewsQuest group came to a close, saying good-bye to such a terrific group was not easy, so I opted not to say good-bye. Same goes this year.....there will be no good-byes to this fine group. 

 

Our combination group of ESL students and native English speaking students has been a good learning experience, for the teacher as well as the students! I am so proud of all of you.

 

I would also like to extend a special thanks to your parents. Your children have been an absolute pleasure to teach.

 

I wish you all the best next year in middle school. I expect to see your names in the news and maybe even in weblogs, or the next "newest media". My hope for you is that you read, read, read this summer and then think about all that your are learning.  Then, remember the power of the written word. Take your thoughts, reflect a bit, think some, muse a little, and then start making connections. Keep on writing! Build those brain wrinkles! As Lucy said last year, "Mrs. Davis, I just love my weblog.  My brain is getting lots of thinking wrinkles!  This is so much fun."  It has been great fun."

 

I just spent some time browsing through your weblogs. What a joy! I'd like to close with the power of your written words from your weblogs.

Jacqueline.......

Weblogs are very important to me because they have changed my writing life.

 

Derrick.......

We think we have gained an understanding of what it takes to be a good writer. There are more ups than downs and we are united in our thinking that weblogs rock!

 

Luz.......
I have being thinking about my and others weblogs. I have being thinking that what the others are writing is wonderful because they have good thoughts. I like the way they express their feelings because they put all their heart on it. I love the things that they write about. On the first time I was in here I felt so happy because I had a lot of friends here. I am going to miss my weblog but I am going to write.

 

Jerry.......

This is the last blog ever in elementary school. But I hope next year we will be able to blog in middle school. When we were filming yesterday me and two other boys made up a rap about blogging and it goes like this. "To the computer, to the keyboard, to the keyboard www.weblogs, I'm always bloggin on my weblog, blog, blog, blog, blog, blog, blog, blog all blog, blog, I got, I got, I got comments. Weblogs are off the chart, YEAH!!!"

 

 

Cristian.......

Blog - This is a new verb for me. It means written words in the computer. I like to blog about basketball. I like to blog about my passions. I like to blog about things that happen in my family. I was excited when I start to blog in my first weblog in the United States.

Emily.......
I Love Blogging! Blogging has allowed me to express my feelings, hear what other people have to say about my work (which I dearly love) and finding out how good of a writer I was. I'm telling you, I cannot go through a Thursday (The days I work with Mrs. Davis) without blogging. Taking away writing in my life, I would be nothing. Never think you're no good at writing. Some day you might be the next Dr. Seuss. But you always have to try. Blogging allows you to have people point out mistakes, or give praise to your work. So, if you have a webblog, keep working on it. Who knows, only time can tell.

Yoceline.......

We also got a friend. Her name is SuperThinker. I am down in the dumps when she does not write to me. I want every Tom, Dick, and Harry to write to us. Wrinkles is the best of the four corners of the earth.

 

Jennifer.......

I hope that our future bloggers can help us make a better world. I think I will be a future blogger in the years to come.

 

Noe.......

I think weblogs are neat because you can communicate with a friend or a relative. It is a better way to communicate with another people. I like this web log because. I can communicate with another student.

 

Amber.......

I like to blog because I like to talk about current events. Earlier this year my writings were not so good. But now being in this group, my writings have improved big time. It also helped me expand my vocabulary. I will be sad when I have to leave, but I will be webbloging in the future.

 

Angelica.......

I love to blog because it is something I am good at. I like to write about the news because it keeps me informed about what is happening around the world. Right now we are trying to make a book. It is so much fun because I like to draw and I like to blog. I hope we get to finish the book before we go to middle school. We also are going to make a presentation. I wish this year would never end, but we only have one day left.

 

Serious & Silly

I promised to put a picture up of the finalist plaque that the school received. We had fun with this - first serious, then silly. I promised the kids that I would post the silly picture too, so here goes!  Mrs. Hooper is on the right, I'm on the left and the wonderful Wrinkles group is in between!

We are very proud of being recognized for technology innovation! The finalist plaque has a special place in the front office and everyone entering gets to see it!

Taking away the Spotlight!

This is Jenny, Derrick and Emily. We took the spotlight from Mrs.Davis and we are going to tell you about the wonderful story that we all wrote. Throughout the year,  Jenny Derrick and I(Emily) have written this by ourselves, with no help from Mrs. Davis. It has taken us a LONG time to write this, but it was worth it! Well, here it goes!!! Mrs. Davis was very proud to let us post this on the website.

 

          Where Art Thou Music and Art?

     Who would be De Vinci without art? Beethoven without Music? We only now ponder these questions that the school system might take away art and music in our curriculum. Without art and music, there could be a billion De Vincis and Beethovens walking around, not knowing their true talent.

     Music can give you your dreams. It will teach you hard work. It will break your heart and make you so happy, you can't stand it..."I don't think I'd have been president if it hadn't been for for music." Those words came from former President Bill Clinton in 2001. Those are truly inspirational words for us.

     If music and art were your favorite subjects, would you learn to have another? My favorite  subjects are art and music. If I were not taking art and music, I wouldn't like anything else besides P.E. One reason I think art and music is essential, is because it helps you read better. Plus, you get to do plays and other neat things. I think art should stay because you get to do projects with other people.

  If you take away art & music, you would be wasting costly materials. It would be like burning money.

Taking away music & art is like burning the past and making a new future.         

Please think of the children!

"Doot duh doot duh doot doot"......

We did make it to the final 5 but did not win the Spirit of Endeavor award Tuesday night. There were around 10 schools in the competition and I believe we were the only elementary school! We were proud as peacocks to be in the final five. When I find Mrs. Hooper, I will show you the beautiful finalist award J.H. House took home! Jim Flowers wrote on his blog about you being in the final 5. He said Wheeler High School took the top prize but went on to say that the efforts of the students (yes, you!) speak for themselves. That is quite a complement. And you know I agree with him - you guys are what it's all about. You are the best!

Today you really put your shoulder to the wheel, and got the job done! I can't wait to assemble the blook! Yes, our ABC book on blogs which Derrick has named the blook! Thank you one an all for all your hard work and extra effort! You always come through!

I look forward to next week but have mixed feelings. It's sad for this year to come to a close. I don't think I could find a better group to work with than students from J. H. House.

You have great ideas for our little presentation we are going to work on next week. "Doot duh doot duh doot doot"...... Get those creative juices flowing and put together the words for your little skits. Our last day is going to be a blast!

I saw some of your writing scores from the test and I was tickled pink. Jacqueline wrote a nice comment about her writing scores which I shared with all of you. I hope we have enough time next week so that each of you can blog on my blog! I heard some of you talking about wishing you could do that too so let's have it! Blog, blog, blog! Looking forward to next week.....

Blooking not Blogging

What a great picture!  I just had to show off this good looking group. We spent all day Thursday working on our ABC Weblog book. Derrick came up with a great new word. The word is blook. He said we were making an abc book on blogs so the name should be blook!  Makes sense to me. Derrick is so creative! We have so many creative minds in our group- yep, no doubt about it, we have a smart group and you all work so well together. Great team!

So we worked hard all day on our blook! We didn't get to blog but we will blook and blog next week!  See you then!

Nearing end of the year- let's blog!

Last week was another one of those crazy days! I'm so glad you got to hear the speaker from World War II. That was a great experience for you. The bad news is that our time was cut short but the good news is that I am going to be able to spend the whole day at the school the next few Thursdays! I am really looking forward to that. Testing is over......hooray!  Special activities abound..... hooray! There are lots of ups and downs when closing our school year, right? I get really sad when I think that you won't be at J.H. House anymore, but you will be in middle school next year! We'll figure a way to keep in touch!

I have gotten wind of an important ceremony for Ms. Leonard, our fantastic former principal. She is going to be honored for all her contributions to the school. There is a special place in her heart for each and every one of you. I know that because I get to see her from time to time. You know what....she talks about all of you and how smart you are and what caring students your are and how much she misses you! After her portrait is unveiled and then placed in a very special place in the entry way, we will meet. We need to post about her and all the good memories you have of her time at J. H. House.

I have other special news for you. J. H. House is a finalist in the category of Technology Innovation by an Educational Institution for the AeA's (American Electronics Association) Southeast Spirit of Endeavor Awards. I have a good friend in the weblogging world. His name is Jim Flowers. He called me a few weeks ago and said that I really should answer the 4 questions they were asking schools to submit in order to be considered for this honor. Jim Flowers thinks the weblogging work you students do is really good. He thought of us right away for this. I sent in the answers to Jim,who then nominated us for this award. Here's a peek at the award....cool! The awards will be presented next week at a banquet in the Egyptian Ballroom of the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia. Wish us luck! We consider it an honor just to be nominated. Mrs. Hooper and I will be attending this special event. Isn't that great? I talked about weblogs, Biz Pals, Mrs. Anthos' art/technology creativity, Mrs. Goode's Yamaha program, and many other things. House is # 1 in technology in my book! J. H. House students are A#1 in my book!  See ya in the morning.  Let's blog!!!!!!!!!!

All Ears!

Here's a preview!  This is going to be so good!

Amber says that we are "all ears when it comes to the Wrinkles group!"  Don't you love her picture? Ears galore!  Wonderful illustration!

I can't wait to see all of you in the morning.  I know you are glad to be finished with your tests and I'm sure everyone did well. Isn't it going to be good to get back to blogging? OK, are you "all ears" for our agenda tomorrow?

We'll meet in the instructional lab for some great dialogue.  We need to finish our pictures and our sentences for our books.  That's top priority!

We'll answer any comments we have on our blogs. We'll also post - will discuss the topics tomorrow.

I would like for us to write to Yoceline on her blog just in case she gets to read it. For those of you who didn't realize it, Yoceline moved and we miss her so much!  We're happy that she moved to a nice place but we miss blogging with her!  Let's hope she checks her blog.

Also, we have heard from Lindsay!!!!!!!!!! Emily, Derrick and Jennifer will remember her from last year!  We will write her. Plus, Dane has made some comments on a few blogs.  Wow! Isn't it grand to hear from our webloggers from last year? I know they miss weblogging and boy, do we miss them!  Keep on writing, Lindsay and Dane.  Tell the others we would love comments from them, too.  The more the merrier!

We'll try to get to our idioms blog for some closing comments. Then we have the evaluation questions to think about.  Whew! As usual, we won't get to finish everything but we sure will give it a good try, right? I  am always amazed at the effort you guys put forth.  It is paying off for you! I don't like thinking about the end of the year coming up soon!

I leave you with some quotes to think about......

All words are pegs to hang ideas on.
Henry Ward Beecher

The difference between the almost right word & the right word is really a large matter---it's the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.
Mark Twain

A day to celebrate our very own guest blogger!

Emily was a guest blogger on Super Thinker's weblog today!  Be sure to check it out.  She did a fabulous job! I even turned my blog over to Emily today. Again, she did a terrific job.

All of you worked very hard today.  Our blogging book is going to be special!  It will take a little while for us to finish but what a product we will have!

Today was one of the few times when you could just take the time to blog about whatever you wanted - yeah, I know, we only had a few minutes left at the end of the session but I noticed you got a lot posted!  Proud of you!

Derrick is going to draw Murphy. I can't wait to see that as he is loose in our lab lots of times! Derrick describes Murphy as a blue virus with red and orange hair who has the power to  destroy computers! I love that description and yes, I have seen him zip through our labs from time to time.

I know testing begins next week so I will sure miss seeing you! I'll be back the following week! Your illustrations today were very good.  Work on some more  before next class.

Remember write, write, write! Think, think, think! It was a great day!

 

A little help from our friends!

We're in the lab now and everyone is blogging away!  I didn't get a chance to write on this weblog last week as our server was down.  Weblog nightmare!  Even if I couldn't blog, I was thinking about all of you!

Today everyone brought their second drafts of the stories about what you are passionate about - much better. Everyone is busy typing.

Next, you will spend time commenting on each other's weblogs.  Remember to bump those comments up!  No more, just simply, that's good writing, that's great, etc. Now I know, you love to hear that! You can still complement.  Of course, you can, but do it on something in the story. Do it in a way that lets your friends know they are improving.  Make it more specific on what exactly could be better. What a help that will be to your friends. Remember, that's what it's all about - a little help from our friends.

You were really warming up to our discussion about our special project.  Great job- our room was just buzzing with lively discussion.  Then we zoomed down to the lab to become busy bees writing our hearts out!