Flat Stanley- Blacksburg (Group 1)

On our adventures south we went to Blacksburg, VA. 

Home of Virginia Tech.

Our school is all about being ready for college and we say every day,  "WE ARE COLLEGE BOUND. NO EXCUSES!"

Our adventures in Blacksburg were exciting and tested our party and guest manners. Sadly, some of us just could not remember our manners and repeatedly put our flat feet in the drinking glasses! We wrote some apology letters and hope we will be invited back. We went to a birthday party and all got wonderful party favors. We ate chocolate sauce on ice cream while staying in a cabin in the woods. How lucky are we?

It would take 31 hours to get from Riverside Elementary School to Blacksburg VA. That is 2,120 miles away!!

Flat Stanley- South Carolina (Group 2)

 South Carolina

The kids went wild for this package!! They have studied a few of the places we visited and just glowed when talking about how our flat selves had been there. They also loved the gifts that arrived for each of them. We loved the massive amounts of pictures of us in all of these fun places.

The highlights:
USS Yorktown and Patriots Point- I wish you could have seen the students when they heard we went here! "I know that ship!" "I studied that!"
Fort Sumter- "Whoa, we just learned about that place!" Civil War history comes to life!
Megalodon- "Is that a Megalodon tooth!!! Is it? Is it real??!!" (shh don't tell, but I didn't know what that was until now. But the kids sure knew what the teeth were from. So, I now have a fossil Megalodon tooth and my husband is so jealous!) Everyone was ecstatic about having their own tooth.
Isle of Palms Beach-we did wear our swim suits for this trip.
Charleston Historic District
Aquarium!!

Why we borrow- A great explaination via showme

Thank you Sam!!

Flat Stanley- Las Vegas (Group 2)

Our host in Las Vegas, Nevada really showed us the sights. She kept us very busy with the greatest activities!

1. Yuma AZ Renaissance Fair
2. Movie party to see The Hobbit
3. English Country Dancing (We did this!!)
4. Knighted in the Kingdom of Coreathea
5. We learned what Steampunk is

The highlight for one of our class members was a ride in a pirate hat! Although my favorite was being knighted. Everyone loved our gift..an amazing necklace and great photo album of our adventures.

Flat Stanley- Chicago (Group 2)

We visited Northfield, Illinois in Cook County. This is a small community on the north shore of Chicago. According to our host, sites nearby are Lake Michigan, Willis Tower (the tallest building in North America with 110 floors), and O'Hare Airport. The community loves sports, arts and politics. Home to the famous Chicago Cubs (we now have our own class cards) and Blackhawks(who are currently 22 and 3 right now)!! Broadway shows sometimes start in Chicago before they go to New York.

Did you know that President Obama is from Chicago? We just learned that!

We got to go to library story time with Mrs. Debbie! We went to a card making workshop where we sat on card makers shoulders. We went to a benefit dinner.  We also went to a birthday dinner for our host's son.

The elementary schools are a little different from here in Utah. The classrooms are small 12-15 per class. Most kids walk to school and everyone brings lunch from home! Wow, that is different.

Flat Stanley- Ogden Utah (Group 1)

We are coming back home. 

Our flat classes are slowly returning. This is our second one to return. Now the fun begins. We have organized our world map and are ready to learn about different places.

We are planning to read all about our adventures. In Ogden, Utah we went sledding in a Frisbee!! We made cookies and enjoyed hot cookies and milk.

We have also started learning letter formatting and are writing letters in our writing workshops.

Writing Prompt- Mona Lisa

I saw this fun idea on pinterest (Thanks JennaLee!). I love being able to introduce a famous piece of art..and then write about it.  We wrote about places that make us happy and why Mona Lisa would love it there.

Where would you go...and would you bring friends?

Our main focus with this writing prompt was staying on topic. When writing about someplace fun it is sometimes difficult to remember that we are trying to make Mona Lisa happy.

Our assorted groups would take Mona Lisa everywhere to make her smile again after being cooped up in a frame for so long. "Anywhere is better than being in a frame" was the consensus!!
The biggest success was a student who did not want his work on the wall in the hallway. After he saw his finished product, he said, "I guess it is okay to hang it." He had a huge smile on his face!

Create a slideshow

Hermit Crabs - Changing Shells

I have a student who loves hermit crabs. He shared this video with the class.

Math Skills Create your own problems

When students can create their own questions...then the learning can begin!!!

Quotation Marks

Sometimes a lesson just comes together.  The students loved this activity!

1.  Pair Students
2.  Each pair gets an envelope that contains a whole sentence-words only and individually cut
3.  Students work together to create a sentence that makes sense

When they have their sentences finished....

4.  Ask students to give you five! (Capital, Subject, Verb, Makes Sense, Punctuation)  What is missing?

PUNCTUATION

5.  Give them all sorts of punctuation marks and see what they come up with.
6.  Play Video if they need help with quotation mark placement. Or play it just for fun!!

7. As a follow up lesson or review, play feet punctuation. Students are given a giant words and must build a sentence with correct punctuation using their feet.

And after a fun day using quotation marks... we say goodbye to our class Punctuation Mascot!!