Today I asked you to fill in the blank:  "It's the last day of school and I feel _____!"

Some answers included:
1.  Free to sleep in and play video games
2.  Happy
3.  Excited
4.  Sad
5.  Boooooness and
6.  Mixed emotions. 

I am feeling the last one!  I'm very happy to start vacation (like most of you are) and I know everyone who comes back this fall is going to love their fifth grade teacher because they are both smart, fun, and amazing teachers.  However, I'm also very sad to say goodbye to 3 students who will be going to different schools for fifth grade, even though I know they will love those schools.  Although we will miss them, they get to look forward to some beautiful places and unique learning opportunities.

I feel like we had a wonderful year, learning and laughing a lot and I hope you think so too.

I have decided to keep this blog here at the same address for as long as Weebly will let me, but since I'll be starting a new blog for next year's class, there will be just a few changes:

1. The link from the McCarthy website will not link to this blog anymore; it will link to the new one.
2. Now that your fourth grade year is over, comments are closed.  This is so new students can't get onto our old blog and make the comment lists so long that you can't find your old ones.
3. If you want to leave a comment after comments are closed on these posts, please comment on the Guestbook!  I will leave that available for all your comments from now on. 

Comments will be open on all the posts until the end of August, so keep playing those math games to help you remember everything you learned, and leave a comment so I know you're still doing your best.  I hope you have a wonderful summer and keep in touch on here. 

Have fun and stay safe!

--Mrs. Thomas 

We had a Memorial Day Ceremony to honor those who fought for our country

To keep in touch with what's going on outside of school with everyone in our classroom, we've all come to enjoy sharing and hearing "the news."

Since almost everyone has something to share nearly every day, we decided that in order to save some time but still hear from everyone, we will share on our classroom "Twitter Board!" 

It can be challenging condensing our news to fit on a single sentence strip, but of course it's only meant to be a conversation starter.  Follow up with friends at lunch and recess about any news you want to hear more about!

 I hope you all stayed safe during the blizzard and enjoyed your days off.

Here's what my street looked like!  Like a big tub of Cool Whip with houses stuck in it.

We had a lot of fun during Penny Wars!  And even though we didn't win:

1.  We learned how to use negative numbers (they take away points from our total, so we subtract them).
2.  We learned negative numbers are related to owing money.
3.  We learned that -1,000 is actually less than -10, because it means we owe more.
4.  We raised a lot of money for our school!  This means more field trips, books, cultural events, and supplies to use in class. 

So actually, in a way, we DID win!  :D

Do you remember how to make a snowflake?  Fold a paper like the first figure and cut off the top to make a square.

Fold this in half twice to create the second figure.  Tilt it like the third figure, making sure the top is open like a snow cone.  Then cut off the top, and cut out a V shape so you have a symmetrical figure, kind of like Star Trek. 

Finally, you are ready to cut small pieces out (I like to cut out triangles) in a unique way to make the designs below!

Our holiday concert was a lot of fun!  Everyone got to be part of the audience for part of the show, and everyone got to be part of the performance for part of the show, because we were seated around the perimeter of the cafeteria! 

What was your favorite song sung at the concert?

This morning we worked on all the regular routines that help keep our work at school running smoothly.

1.  We take out our homework, notes from home, books, and lunch money.
2.  We put away our bag and coat, then get a paper for Morning Work.
3.  We read the front board and do our best work by ourselves to complete the Morning Work.
4.  We pledge the flag, do exercises for 2 minutes, and listen to the birthday announcements.
5.  We correct math fact practice in small groups.
6.  We greet each other in Morning Meeting.  This week we said, "Happy Holidays."
7.  We share (every Monday) our nominations for Student of the Month, as well as books we are reading at home.  Today some of you also had questions about the sad events in Connecticut on Friday.  We talked about how we know you are safe at McCarthy School.
8.  For our group activity, instead of a game, we opted to create a group art project to demonstrate support for the families at the Sandy Hook School and that love and compassion is the way we move forward.
9.  We got our snack and math journal, met on the rug, and learned more tips on how to tackle math problems as the start of our academic day.

Let's continue these routines this week and finish 2012 strong before having a nice winter break!

I received an Email from ThinkCentral.  They are updating their system so that their website will be faster!  

In order to do the update, they have to shut down their website.  You won't be able to log on between today, Friday December 14, and Saturday afternoon.

They have had SO many students using their website that they want to speed it up right away.

 

The rules are simple.  Add, multiply, subtract, and/or divide, as much as you need to.  The challenge:  it has to make 12!

How do YOU make 12?