Joe's Update

In Social Studies, we currently have a project where we have to research one of the original 13 colonies. I am doing Rhode Island and I have learned a lot of new things, like RI's economy during colonial times was influenced by farming and whaling, as well as fishing and shipping.
Our projects are due December 15th and will be presented to the class before winter break.

Other news from Linda: The second payment for the Florida trip was due last week. Please send in $125.00 ASAP if you are going. Language Arts homework will need to be finished over vacation if the paper is not turned in on Thursday. Students should be reading and taking notes.
Have a wonderful holiday and vacation time! Classes resume on January 3rd.

Reading Buddies at Westside Elementary School by Sarah L.

On Friday, November 19th, the Reading Buddies Friday Group read Goldilocks and the Three Bears. After reading the book, the big buddies helped the little buddies make oatmeal. Then the children made their own versions of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Many of the children made stories of how Goldilocks apologized to the three bears, while others had more creative ideas, like Goldilocks just getting out of jail. It was a fun time for everyone!

Reminders from Linda: Thanksgiving Luncheon is 11-1 at Hollins. Don't forget to bring an entree and side dish to share. We are also collecting nonperishable food items for the Salvation Army. We look forward to seeing everyone.

More Fall Festival Fibs & Other News

I
Rode
Up to
Marlinton
Droop Mountain Tunnel
It was hard to ride the way back.
But when we got back to the campsite, it was worth it.
The best part about getting back was hanging with my buddies and resting my sore buttocks.
-Cole-

Gold
Brown
Gooey
Delicious
Make a marshmellow
Nice,warm, and melts right in your mouth
But they are only good if they are golden and brown.
-Cecilia-

Rain
Falls
On me
Through the tent
Why I chose this spot,
I have no idea. Silly me!
Just my luck, I suppose, oh why
does the world hate me?
-Sarah-

Now that the Fall Festival is behind us, we are planning our next trip.
The Spring trip information was sent home last week. Please send in a deposit of $100 to reserve a spot.

Conferences are Tuesday, November 9th. Please check your time and let me know if it needs to be changed.

Fall Festival

Our Fall Festival at Watoga State Park was great. We divided the middle school into a hiking and biking group. While hiking, Bill shared his infinite knowledge of botany and helped students identify the trees along the trail. Celine and I were discussing how patterns in nature often followed the Fibonacci Sequence(0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13...) and she commented that people were using the sequence to write poetry with each number representing the syllables in a line. I thought that was a great idea, so my class wrote Fall Festival Fibs to reflect on their experiences at Watoga. Here are some of them. I will post the rest next week.

Fall
Fest
Was great
We had fun
We hiked sixteen miles
I am very proud of myself
Next year's Fall Festival might be better than this year.
-Harlee

Me
And
Bucky
Went biking
And I fell behind
I accidently went to sleep
And came back to the campsite twenty minutes later.
-Zhenya

Leaves
Are
Falling
We try to
Catch them as they fall
They are the colors of autumn
Brown, orangy, gold, maroon, reddish- a tapestry.
-Joe

Push
Pull
Riding
Very fast
Ten miles an hour
Destination of Dairy Queen
Richard Amstutz and his crew made it to Marlinton.
-Rocky

The
Fast
Bike group
Had to go
In the drive-through at
The Dairy Queen in Marlinton.
Everyone in the fast group pedaled to the tunnel.
-Garrett

Tales
Told
Around
The fire
Bring fear into minds
Ghost stories and scary stories
All these shared in the dark around the campfire tonight.
-Madison

Me
And
Junior
Playing chess
All day long we play
Until I took his queen and rook
He yelled "Vomit!" therefore swiping the pieces off the table
Then we packed up the pieces into the box, shook hands, and went to have a lovely night.
-Christopher

Trip to the Science Museum by Garrett

Yesterday, the middle school went to the planetarium downtown to look at the autumn sky. It was really cool because on the soundtrack, they had an Indian telling the stories of the constellations. We are studying Native American culture in social studies and writing myths based on the stars for language arts. I'm pretty sure everyone, except for the teachers maybe, learned a new constellation. My favorite one is the Big Dipper, because it helped the slaves escape. We learned that it points to the North Star.
Next week when we go camping, we can look for some of the constellations.

Class Skits by Madison

Last Friday we had name skits and there were many wonderful class names and class skits as well. The Middle School class names were: The Herd of the Epic Ninja of the Green Squirts (Seminar), The Amazing Thread (Linda), The Elements (Emilie) and the Woof 'n Warfs (Katrina). I personally thought the best skits were done by Seminar and Emilie's class.


P.S. from Linda

We have had an exciting first few weeks. We hope that everyone is settling into the school routine and making time for homework. Our class will be beginning a social studies project next week on Native American tribes in the Southwest. Project details will be discussed on Monday.
Gathering is Thursday, September 23rd at 7 PM. We look forward to seeing parents at that time. We will be discussing curriculum, homework, and the Fall Festival.

New Beginnings

The blog is under construction. Students will be designing the layout and posting information when the school year begins. Welcome back!