Our "Special" work
Look for artwork, stories, poems, and other items that students and teachers think should be displayed on the classpage. Individual students can not be identified as being the producer of this work, but they will be identified by initials, so that the class , their friends, and their family will know they did it.
Kim Kierans Newspaper Articles
While teaching grade five at Astral Drive Elementary School I was always looking for interesting ways to encourage spelling and grammar. One Sunday I noticed a spelling mistake in an article in the newspaper (No well actually my wife pointed it out to me), and I decided to center a Spelling lesson around this article. I showed it to the class, giving everyone a copy, and asked them to find the error. It took awhile, but congratulations to Brian for finding the spelling mistake. For homework on Monday night, the class were asked to write letters to Kim politely pointing out the mistake.
We received a speedy reply from Kim's editor, Paul O'Connell who took credit for the error, and then Kim herself replied with a suggestion that she come visit the class to talk about Journalism, Newspapers, accuracy in writing and other issues.
Kim and Paul spent the entire afternoon visiting with the class, talking about their jobs, discussing journalism, and answering questions. Everyone enjoyed the visit.
We were going to write her a letter thanking her for the visit, but when it was discussed in the class, we decided that it would be much more relevant for everyone to pretend that they were a "Reporter" writing a news story about her visit. The stories were edited by an other student, who also did the "Editor's" job of writing a "Headline" for the story.
These are the completed "Articles". As you can see, not only did everyone enjoy the visit, they also learned a lot!
These stories are finally ready. The finished book was 28 pages long, and contains a story written by almost everyone in the class. They turned out very good! Take some time to read these stories by our talented readers.
Read about some of the interesting gifts that we got, gave or saw over Christmas 2003.
On Sunday March 21, I noticed a spelling mistake in an article in the newspaper (No well actually my wife pointed it out to me), and I decided to center a Spelling lesson around this article. I showed it to the class, giving everyone a copy, and asked them to find the error. It took awhile, but congratulations to Brian for finding the spelling mistake. For homework on Monday night, the class were asked to write letters to Kim politely pointing out the mistake. Here are the letters that were written.
Life
Life is like a summers day
It warms my heart in every way
If my life decides to change . . .
It won't be as good as yesterday.
By A. S.
After Christmas vacation 2003, students were asked to write a paragraph about some gifts they got, gave or saw over the holiday. They were asked to think of these gifts in the following categories.
Their favorite gift.
The gift they most enjoyed giving to someone else.
The most appropriate gift.
The most humorous gift.
The oddest gift.
One other interesting gift. It could be the "Worst", the "silliest" or just the most interesting.
Included here is one paragraph from each student in the class.
Christmas Gifts - By 5-H/S
My favorite gift to give was to my Uncle Phil, he’s a teacher. I gave him a mini Air-hockey Table. He loved it; that made me feel good. We picked it because he used to play hockey but he got backchecked. It was great.
The most appropriate gift I saw was my books that I got from my sister, my Mom, and my aunt. I think it was a really good gift because I enjoy reading.
I enjoyed giving my sister two frog necklaces because she loves frogs. One of the necklaces are two frog heads and it is in the shape of the heart. It is so adorable. The second one was a gig fat frog on a Massage table. It is also one of the funniest gifts.
The worst gift I got was clothes, because you can’t play, watch, build or listen to clothes.
The oddest gift that my mom got was a big exercise ball. I thought it was odd because you can’t even balance on it. The exercise ball was even hard to blow up.
The oddest gift I got was a spatula, and apron, and a pack of sausages. I though it was weird because I don’t need a spatula. My brother got one too.
The most appropriate gift I saw was an egg holder. My step mom cooks eggs a lot, so she can use it a lot. She always has trouble holding the eggs.
I really enjoyed giving my Mom a snowman made out of mixed nuts cans. I really liked giving it to her because I love making things for my mom, and she loves snowmen, and she loves mixed nuts. I made it by stacking three cans of mixed nuts on top of each other. I covered them individually with white felt, and made a hat and head. Then I glued each bottom to top so she would only have to take each lid off and it would still be a snowman.
The oddest gift was the Bobble-head that Ron got. It is a Jeff Gordon one. He tells it stuff, and then he shakes it up or sideways.
We got a Barbie for my dad. He acted “Calm”. But I think he hated it!
The most appropriate gift I got was my cordless phone. It was cool.
The most humorous gift I saw was my Grandmother’s. The guy that brings her shavings, sometimes doesn’t come, so she used paper shredded up once. He gave her some shredded up paper.
My most appropriate gift was PJs from my dad, because I needed new ones since my old ones were up to my knees! My PJs are now Hockey- the word hockey is on my shirt, and players are on the pants.
The worst gift I got is a computer. The reason I don’t like it is because my brother will be on it all the time. At least they got me a jacket. (My parents gave the computer to me)
The gift I liked giving was my best friend Sam’s, because I gave her a sweater, and a MOOSEHEADS ticket. She really liked it, so I liked giving it to her. We are going to go this Saturday with my mom, dad and my brother.
The most humorous gift is my Dad’s massager. Because he has been complaining about his smelly feet for weeks, and he got a foot massager.
The most humorous gift was the jam we got. From our relatives we got jam. They said they made it themselves. When we got it there was no label. We didn’t know what kind it was. It was very funny.
A gift I liked giving was wine charms. I gave them to my mom, but I told her I was giving them to my Grama. My Mom was really happy that I gave them to her.
The oddest gift I got was a really loooong puzzle. It was a big long thin box taller than me. It’s the oddest gift I‘ve ever seen.
The most appropriate gift was pots and pans for my brother, because he just moved into his apartment.
My favorite gift that I received for Christmas this year was my Diary, now don’t think that it’s just an ordinary diary because it’s not. You have to press this button that is on the outside of it, than that is the place that you say your password, and it doesn’t even matter if someone else knows your “secret” password, because it only lets you in if it recognizes your voice. When I get into it, then it tells me how many intruders there were (trying to break into my diary), and it has a reading light. It tells you the date and you also make your own cover.
My favorite gift I gave was a remote control truck I gave to a homeless family. The truck can go in every direction and can go on different terrain. I have one but from a different company.
The oddest gift was these slippers. They were odd because they smell like strawberries. That was bad because my dog loves to eat them.
The gift that I liked giving was a new kettle. It was my favorite gift to give because she will use it 365 days, and plus it is automatic shut off.
The most appropriate gift I gave this year was two tools I gave my dad, because he fixes and makes everything. He said he will use it the most.
The oddest gift I saw was a card that my sister gave me. She wrote something, but I couldn't tell what it said. Then I saw a picture and Megan said i t was a picture of me and her by the tree.
The most oddest gift I saw was a watermelon seed shooter. I was wondering “What is this?” The guy told me it was a watermelon seed shooter and I said “How odd!”
The gift I enjoyed giving was a little house. It was my favorite gift to give because it was so hard to keep it a secret.
I think the most humorous gift was some Tylenol given to my dad, because of his broken leg, and my mom always makes a joke of pain.