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Bone Collectors

2/28/2018

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​We have come to appreciation Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark (veterans, by the way) for all that they achieved on their Corps of Discovery expedition.  One task at which they excelled was chronicling their scientific discoveries.  Lewis and Clark took extensive notes about the flora and fauna of the West.

Yesterday, we devoted some time to exploration and discovery of our own.  I introduced the class to owl pellets.  We began by learning about owls (and other birds) and their digestive tracts.  This information is presented in a colorful way in the Owl Pellet Essentials Guide, but not ever as colorfully as the actual hands-on dissection that followed.  Each group was provided an extra large pellet to explore, along with some extra scientific observation tools which included a bone identification sheet, toothpicks, and a magnifying glass.
This class didn't have any apprehension at all.
​Students quickly dug into the materials and recorded their experience along the way.
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Math + Attitude = Mathitude

2/27/2018

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I often tell my class that even if they can't do a problem, they should at least approach the problem.
If they are not willing to approach it, they will never be able to conquer it.
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Meaningful Quote:  Encouragement

2/26/2018

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"It takes a whole ocean
and the moon
to erase your mere footstep
from the sand"
(unknown).
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"One Life to Lose" (September 22, 1776)

2/25/2018

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(LIBERTY) BELL WORK

How many candles should be
on Nathan's cake, ​this year?

Birthday: 
June 6, 1755,
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How many words can you make
from the letters in his name?
​
N A T H A N   H A L E
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Mood Music

Bring Him Home
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Art Appreciation

Analyze the famous painting shown below.  Check out the details.
  • What do you notice?
  • What do you think is happening?
  • What caused the scene in the painting?
  • What might happen after the scene shown?
  • What does this piece make you wonder?
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Liberty's Kids

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Hale:  Nathan Hale

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His name was Hale.  Nathan Hale.  And he was a spy for George Washington.  He worked closely with a former classmate - Benjamin Tallmadge - the man who would oversee the famous Culper Ring for General Washington,  The famous spy ring was key to Washington's strategy to win the Revolutionary War.

Hale is well-known for two things. First, he was captured by the British and convicted for espionage against the king. Second, before he was executed on September 22, 1776, Hale said something memorable (his last words):  "​I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."

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Conviction

Nathan Hale literally died for his country.  He never wavered in his conviction. 
  • Why would a person be willing to die for a belief?
  • How dedicated to a cause must a person be to die for it?
  • Were the results worth Hale's life?
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Music Appreciation

All of Me
​
Brave
Don't Look Down

​One Voice
​
Wake Me Up
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Second Intern to Observe Our Class

2/24/2018

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We should be flattered that the principal has asked our class to be observed by another teacher-intern.

​In addition to our intern from MSU (See yesterday's post.), we have been asked to host another young lady pursuing a career in education.  Our second intern, Christina Fairlie, is expected to spend about 20 hours in our classroom as she progresses toward teacher certification.  She comes to us from Crowder College.

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Teacher-Intern to Join Our Class

2/23/2018

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A few weeks ago, Principal Bozarth asked if I would be willing to host a teacher-intern from Missouri State University in Springfield.  Next Wednesday will be the first day Mrs. Friend will visit our class - the start of about ten weeks of her observations of our classroom management and instructional skills.  Her clinical supervisor will also visit a couple of times to observe her teach a lesson.

Not only is Cheyenne Friend going to intern in our class; she actually attended our school a years ago, and she substitutes here.  In her first email to me, she flatters us (and mentions she knows a couple of my former students):

I received the news this morning and I simply cannot thank you enough for taking me under your wing and letting me be in your classroom. I am so excited about being placed in a class that has such a wonderful reputation and (as my younger sister and husband remembers) a fantastic teacher! Really, thank you. I am there to support you in any possible way that I can and I hope that you will take advantage of having the additional support. ​
The class and I are excited to help Mrs. Friend in her studies and development as a future teacher.  
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We're Zearning

2/22/2018

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As we continue to move forward in our fraction lessons using Eureka Math, the class has also sampled an online resource.  The resource is called Zearn, and it correlates quite well with Eureka.  Students feel like the earliest lessons have been too easy, but as they advance and Zearn catches up to our lessons, students should start to feel more of a challenge.  With their usernames and passwords, students can feel free to work with this resource from home, as well.
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Dismissal Duty and Moderately-Extreme Weather Rescues

2/21/2018

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The principal calls me a weirdo.

​The other teachers think I'm strange.

I have a unique duty at Cecil Floyd.  This duty comes at the end of the school day, when I play the part of the Speed Bump at the end of the pickup line out front.  I stand between the two lanes of vehicles and guide students safely to their cars.  The purpose of the Speed Bump is to keep traffic from trying to subvert the line and drive down the center while students are crossing and loading.  Knowing that the adults are more easily seen than the kids, we step in front of cars before allowing students to cross, .

Some parents make the effort to thank me, every day.  Some recognize that this is a safety issue.  Some recognize that, like the postal carrier, we are out there in rain, sleet, and snow - every day.  I've come out of this duty soaked to the skin.  I've been confronted by wind, heat, rain, snow, and varying combinations of these.  Somehow I enjoy the extreme days.  Fighting an umbrella through needles of water, splashing through puddles to safely load our children into their warm cars invigorates me.

And that's when the principal calls me a weirdo.

Yesterday, it was cold, but we've seen colder.  The threat of ice was in the air, but we've seen worse.  Still, for some reason, I was reminded of a severe weather event that I experienced several years ago:  before I started teaching, I held another job - in an outdoor recreation area and fish farm in El Reno, Oklahoma.  On this particular day, we had a mediocre crowd on the property, fishing around our 10-acre lake and another small pond, picnicking along the covered bridge, petting animals in the barn, and admiring the wildlife we had on display.

It was another time when the weather quickly changed.

A wind blew in from the northwest.  The temperature suddenly dropped.  Rain began to fall.  And hail the size of golf balls pummeled anything that was outside.  The ground was white with hailstones.  People ran for cover, mostly in the little admissions building where I was working.

Then I remembered the paddle boats.  Earlier, people had rented paddleboats for fishing in the larger part of the lake.  Through the storm, I counted the boats at the dock to discover that we were two short.  One was easily located on the shore line, but the other was harder to locate.  At the far end of the lake, I barely made out the boat, half sunk at the far end of the lake against the earthen dam.  This was bad - about the worst thing that could happen.  The boat had been blown to the south side of the lake, and a man and a woman were sitting on the sharp incline of the dam.

I couldn't stand in the building at the top of the hill, knowing these people were fighting for their lives being bruised by balls of ice.  I prayed that all the people had made it to the muddy shoreline anyway.  How many were on the paddleboat to begin with?

I sprung into action (I was much younger and lighter in the 80s.).  In a back room I found a surplus olive green military jacket, threw it around myself, and told the people in the admission building I where I was headed.  Without any other protection, I plunged into the rain, barely noticing the hail, still the size of golf balls, that bulleted my head.  I made my way through flooding creek beds and swampy reeds until I finally reached one end of the dam.  Water swept over a low spill way built into that location.  I crossed the rushing water forgetting that such a current could easily sweep me to my death - a rescue attempt gone bad.

Once across the "river", I now faced a six-foot tall barbed fence with the strands too close and too tight to climb through (The fence was in place to keep the buffalo herd from crossing into a different area of the property.).  To cross the fence, I removed the army coat (By now the hail was subsiding to the thick rain.) and threw it over the top strand of barbs. Climbing the fence with the coat in place, I didn’t have to worry about avoiding the barbs. Once on the other side, I recovered the coat and climbed the muddy incline to the top of the dam.

I didn’t think those people would be able to go back down the slick mud or cross the rapids I had just faced, let alone climb the fence as I just had, so I made the decision to take the “long way home”, opting instead to go forward across the dam and into the other pasture. We still had to cross another fence and ended up sliding in even more mud along the rail bed that had been prepared for a train the property owners had purchased. This turned out to be a real pain as we slid along the treacherous route, finally coming through the gate into the barn area.

I'm still impressed that I was able to spring into action so decisively.  I probably couldn't do it today without ending my life at some point along the way.  But I still remember that cold, wet afternoon, with hail bombs raining on me as I saved a man and woman from what could have been tragedy for them, as well.  I got them off of that dam, onto higher ground, and to safety...just in time for the sun to break through the clouds.

I guess that's what I remember when someone thinks I'm doing something special by standing in the gale-force winds of the school parking lot.  That's the battle I recall when someone thanks me for braving the curtains of winter rainfall, when the freezing rain soaks into my socks, and when my hands feel like an elephant is standing on them because of the cold.  Perhaps I picture myself reuniting children with their families during even more extreme conditions.  Suddenly I am a first responder - serving my community with pride, integrity, and guts.


Somehow, I enjoy the rush that comes in those situations.  No, I'm not facing down an EF5 tornado or some kind of sweeping tsunami, and no, we're not evacuating because of raging wildfires, but I'm happy to be out there nevertheless.  While others may moan about that duty taking too long...while others may think it is a thankless job...while others despise having to stand in the middle of the street while the rest of the staff stands inside a heated cafeteria, I kind of get a little thrill from the change of pace.

Maybe I am a weirdo for enjoying the hardships of dismissal duty in the school parking lot.  While that may be true, I think l will wear that badge with pride.

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Music Appreciation:  One Voice

2/20/2018

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Students are often called upon to read "chorally".
That is, they read together simultaneously
as a group.


Repeating this practice assists young readers
with reading fluency - the speed, accuracy,
​and inflection of  oral reading.


Why not, since it's called "choral" reading anyway, actually read the chorus of a song? ​​​
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Motion and Design:  Technical Drawings

2/19/2018

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On Friday, we finally got around to making the technical drawings of our vehicles.

​Students returned all cars to their standard designs and then used rulers and colored pencils to create drawings that could be used as patterns to mass produce the vehicles.  Some, obviously came out better than others, and we quickly discovered that drawing technical sketches is a lot different from drawing creatively.
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What Does the Fox Say?

2/18/2018

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There's Trouble in the South

There are, of course, many accounts of the Revolution in the South.  One part of the story is described in the Liberty's Kids episode (below right), while another is the account of the Swamp Fox, Francis Marion.
His is a story that gets skipped in many American history courses.  Francis Marion is considered by some to be one of the originators of the Army Rangers and the Special Forces (Green Berets), two very prestigious groups within our United States military community.

Marion was given the nickname Swamp Fox when he repeatedly eluded the British in the wilderness of South Carolina, often attacking the British in unusual and unexpected ways.

Discussion Quote

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Read more about The Swamp Fox and be ready to discuss his exploits with the class.
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Art Appreciation

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Analyze the painting shown here.  Check out the details.
  • What do you notice?
  • What do you think is happening?
  • What caused the scene in the painting?
  • What might happen after the scene shown?
  • What does this piece make you wonder?
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Music Appreciation

What Does the Fox Say?
Have It All

Terrorist, Guerrilla, or Hero?

With the short introduction to Francis Marion, one might classify him as a terrorist.  More likely, he fits the category of guerrilla.  Or might we call Marion a hero​.  After viewing this brief video, be ready to discuss this topic.
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Random Attacks of Kindness

Marion's Men often staged sneak attacks on the British army in South Carolina.  Let's turn that concept around and ask, what kind of sneak​ attacks of kindness might we be able to enact in our school, this week?  Maybe the Positive Behavior Conversation entitled 22 Random Acts of Kindness will give us some ideas.
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While We're On the Subject

For more information
​and some interesting reading, check out ​these topics:
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What Is a Swamp?
​
Are You Sly as a Fox?
​
What Is the Real Sound that a Fox Makes?
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Welcome to the Wetlands

There is a lot to be said for swampy areas, otherwise referred to as ​wetlands.  Some explore these lands in much the same way as Francis Marion and his men, avoiding snakes, alligators, and leeches, fighting mosquitos and stagnated water.  Others skate across the surfaces of swampy waterways by means of an airboat.  Yes, there is much to be said for our wetlands.

As we transform our classroom into this ecosystem, we will need to study the flora and fauna through a series of activities.  The ​Ducks Unlimited Teacher's Guide to Wetland Activities will provide us with some projects for this study.
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Working together

Marion's men had to work together to maneuver the swamp.  You will be divided into teams.  The goal for your team is to get to the other end of the swamp without being chomped by the gators.  Stay on the newspaper provided, or your team will have to start over.  Note:  I will give you one less newspaper page than members on your team.
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Gullah

In the early 1700s, a different culture was brought to South Carolina shores.  The Gullah culture still exists in pockets, but their unique experiences with slavery and survival are present in much of today's African American culture.  It has been said that the Gullah people are the nearest link to Africa we have in the United States.

This culture was well established and still developing in the cotton and rice fields of South Carolina while Francis Marion was mounting his surprise attacks on the British during the latter half of the 18th century.  Brought to the U.S. for their expertise in the rice fields, these people continued to survive in the islands for many years, but slowly the culture is dying out.
Interested in learning more about this incredible culture?  Check out the Ultimate Gullah website.
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More Data from Predictive Tests

2/18/2018

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Principal Bozarth has compiled some grade level data based on the latest predictive tests our classes took.  You will hear us refer to these tests as NWEA testing.  It's important to note that the information Mr. Bozarth brings is compiled from grade level results and not solely from our class.
This group of students also took the NWEA tests in third grade.  Here is their progression so far (sans the fall 2017 scores).  This percentages here indicate the percentage of students who scored at the Advanced or Proficient levels.
Winter 2016
Math           43%
Reading      61%
Language   44%
Spring 2017
Math          33%
Reading     53%
Language   51%
Winter 2018
Math          46%
Reading     58%
Language   47%
We can look at this data from a different perspective, comparing the last couple of years of our fourth grade team.  Looking at the information in this way means we are no longer comparing the same group of students (as in the numbers above), but that we are comparing three different classes.  This still has value as we look for trends.
​December 2016
Math          30%
Reading     53%
​Language   35%
January 2018
Math          46%
Reading     58%
Languag    47%
We are pretty confident that our scores would increase if we were to take the NWEA test again in the spring.  If that holds true, our fourth grade team looks to raise our scores once again, this year.

We offer our thanks to Mr. Bozarth for paying attention to the results of our classes and providing us leadership and respect along the way.  He will deliver this information to Superintendent Moss.
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Dear Mr. Hoggatt

2/17/2018

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I recently received a pair of letters - on separate days from different students.  I share them here just because they warm my heart.  Sometimes a little gesture can lift the spirits of someone in your life; these demonstrate that idea.

I love your class.  It is so fun.  I love my classmates and all the fun things we do...I like the way you teach, and how you talk about stuff that happened in your life.  You helped me get confidence.
...When I first heard I was getting a male teacher, I was a little nervous, but you ended up being my favorite teacher.

Cecil Floyd is an amazing school!  The kids are amazing too.  Someone has to teach them that you are the best teacher at that school, and I hope you know that.  You are an amazing teacher you teach an amazing class, and you work in an amazing school.
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1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

2/16/2018

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That's the address of one of the most recognizable building in the world - the White House.  Some very important people have lived here, starting with the second president of the United States.  That means George Washington never lived in the White House.

Mood Music

​Allow this sweeping music to transport you into a scene that has yet to be written.  Sketch the scene quickly as you listen.  Then write, using all the visual imagery you can muster.

WhAt's In a Name?

At various times in history, the White House has been known by different names.  Read about The White House Building, and find out more.
  • Who selected the location for the White House?
  • Who was the first president to live in the White House?
  • In what year did the British burn down the White House?
  • What did James Monroe add to the building?
  • Which president oversaw the addition of the West Wing?
  • Which president oversaw the construction of the Oval Office?
  • How many doors are in the White House?
  • How much paint does it require to cover the outside of the White House?
  • By what other names has the White House been known?
  • When did the White House start getting called The White House​?

Flip This House

By the time Missouri's Harry S Truman was elected president, the White House was falling apart.  The building was getting old and desperately needed maintenance and updating.  When the piano leg fell through the floor, President Truman made a difficult decision:  gut the whole place and start over.

Letters to the President

What can you say to the president?  Let's write informal, respectful letters, telling the current president about our class and school.  We will begin by brainstorming.

Make sure you follow conventional letter writing and standards and address your envelope correctly, explained in the video (right).

Go back and edit your letter for misspellings and punctuation mistakes before rewriting a final copy.

Moving Day

Imagine you are John Adams, the second president, getting your first look at your new house.  It wasn't the most glamorous of lives at the time.  In fact, Mr. and Mrs. Adams hated the place.

Open House

The White House has been expanded since the Adamses first moved in.  Use the image below to explore the White House and get your bearings.  After you have had some time, we'll test your memory.
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Fire!

During the War of 1812, the British enacted some revenge on the patriots for winning the Revolutionary War.  Strangely, most people know little about the War of 1812, even though the British burned the White House.

While We're on the Subject

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Learn more:
How Many Rooms Are in the White House?
What Was the War of 1812?

Draw the House

Get to know the People's House a little better by drawing it.  What aspects of the White House's "curb- appeal" stand out to you?
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Valentine Party

2/15/2018

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Our room parent (and helpers) turned out another high energy and organized party for this school year.  Students played a relay game, guessed the number of Kisses in a jar, played musical chairs, and opened their valentines. Whew!
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