MARKET DAY @ TCE!

Okay, fifth graders, I need your help in a BIG way! My husband, Mr. Walts, is retired. He is thinking about starting his own business. I don’t think this is a good idea because we don’t know about all the things we need to do before starting up a business. Mrs. Stone told me that you have been learning all this in order to get ready for Market Day. Can you give us some advice?

What are the things we have to decide on? I think we need to decide what kind of a business we want to have first. Is that right? Then, what about location? How do you know what is a good location? Also, don’t we have to decide on what we will be able to sell? How do we figure out the supply and demand? What about customer service? Is that important? Oh, my gosh! I didn’t even think about the pricing! How do you decide how much to charge? Is quality an important thing to consider? He’s not very artistic either; do we need to worry about presentation of the product?

Good grief! I’m worried! He has a lot of work to do before he starts. Please respond to let me know what we need to do before we start.

Check out Mrs. Aspinwall's WAY COOL Podcast! Learn how to subtract with regrouping from her student, Daniel.

http://maspinwall.podomatic.com/entry/2009-11-17T04_26_23-08_00

Click above. Let me know what you would like to Podcast about.

FACES

Don't you just love it when someone smiles at you?

Smiles are like the bubbles in a soda - they make a face sparkle! When someone smiles at me, I just automatically smile back. And then, as I walk away, that happy feeling follows me. Look at the slideshow below to see some of the faces that smile at me here at TCE. (Click the sound button to hear the music.)

Now, take a moment to write about someone who smiles at you and makes you feel good.

I have reviewed the results of our blog poll, and 78% of the students who answered the poll said they wanted to blog about something they were good at. Hmmm…that’s a hard one for me.

I can think of so many things I’m not good at. I’m not good at soccer, baseball, volleyball. I am especially bad at field hockey; it was the worst!!! I am pretty horrible at all sports, come to think of it. I’m not good at grocery shopping. I hate to go to the grocery store. I always find myself wandering all over the aisles. I’m not a good dog trainer either. My dog is a mess and doesn’t behave very well most of the time.

So, I will have to think pretty hard to come up with something I am good at. Okay, I’m thinking… Well, the thing that comes to mind is painting. I love to paint. I don’t know if I’m really all that good at it, but I really enjoy it. Painting makes me happy. When I paint, I relax and I smile more. I look forward to getting home on the weekends to paint. I like to paint snowmen the most. Snowmen make me smile too, which I don’t get. They’re cold, but they make me feel warm.

Okay, now it’s your turn. Write about something you’re good at. Describe it to me. Tell me why you’re good at it and why you like doing it. I can’t wait to read what you have to say. I bet we have LOTS of talented students here at TCE.

Take the Poll

SEASONS

What is your favorite season of the year? Mine is absolutely, positively, without a doubt, definitely AUTUMN!!! I LOVE Autumn!


I've never been sure why I like it so much. I think most people like summer because it is warm, they go to the beach, they swim in their backyard, they take vacations. Summer is great. A lot of other people like Spring. That's when the Winter is over and the flowers begin to bloom, the weather warms up, baby birds hatch in their nests. Spring is great too. Then there are the people who like Winter because they like to go to the mountains and ski or ice skate. Winter is when we celebrate holidays like Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, New Year. Winter can be fun.


A lot of folks don't really like Autumn because the days are shorter and it gets dark earlier. Autumn tells us that Winter is on the way and the Earth is getting ready to hibernate during those cold winter days and nights. But in spite of that, Autumn is my favorite. I love watching the brightly colored leaves fall from the trees and pile up on the ground in crunchy bunches. I feel warm when I see the colors of Autumn: browns, oranges, reds, yellows, and dark greens.The flowers of Autumn are rich and vibrant with warm golden and amber colors. I love Thanksgiving, the harvest time. After the hot summer days, I enjoy the cooler weather. I like snuggling up in front of a fire place on a cool Autumn evening. When I was a kid, I had fun jumping in piles of leaves, listening to them crackle under my feet. Back then, people would burn their leaves after they raked them up and you could smell the smokey air for blocks around. We would take hayrides. I am allergic to hay, but I didn't care. I would sneeze all the next day and it was worth it.


So write and tell me about your favorite season. Tell me what it is and then tell me why you like it. Use good desriptive words and imagery so I can paint a picture in my mind of your favorite season.

FALL FESTIVAL 2009!

Join our TCE Safari!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

CURIOSITY SHOP IS NOW OPEN!!!

FRIENDS...

I think I know what a friend is. A friend is a person who likes you “just because”. A friend likes you when you’re having a bad hair day, or when you’re sick, even when you wear shoes to school that don’t match (by mistake, of course). They just like you no matter what. I’m lucky to have some friends in my life.

What about you? What do you think a friend is? How do you decide who is a friend? How do you think a friend picks you? My grandmother always said, "It takes a friend to have a friend." What do you think she meant?Tell about a time when you were very happy to have a friend.

The GOOD, the BAD, and the UGLY!

Wow! What a day! No air conditioning at TCE.

The BAD thing is that I am very, very hot! Like really perspiring hot! Being hot makes my clothes soggy and me grumpy. I don't like to sweat.

The UGLY is my hair! Goodness, it is all limp and wet and sticking to my head. There's a lot of ugly hair in the building today. We just don't look good when we're this hot, do we?

Whenever there is something bad, there is also a good side. Today, the GOOD thing is that spending a day without air conditioning makes me appreciate it when I have it. For example, when I go home today and sit in my house, I probably won't complain about anything! This also makes me appeciate the pioneers who were living like "Little House on the Prairie" with no air conditioning ever. How did they do it? If they could do it for their entire life, I can do it for part of one day, for sure! Right?

So, now I want you to think of a time when things went wrong for you. Were you able to look at the other side and figure out something good that would come from the bad? Write about how you had a positive, "can do" attitude.

Making a Bar Graph - Fourth and Fifth Grades

Students in fourth and fifth grade learn about making Bar Graphs. Click on the word VIDEO to watch a quick movie about making a bar graph.

When I was a teacher I used to make a bar graph every year to show my students' AR points. Write about something you think you could make a bar graph about.

Happy blogging!

LOST WITHOUT A ROSE - For 3rd Grade

Okay, third graders, help me out here! When I was in school I must have been asleep when the teacher taught about map skills. I am trying to find my way to a meeting this Saturday in Mount Vernon, Georgia. I don't know whether I have to drive north, south, east, or west. I called the man in charge of the meeting and he told me to use the compass rose that was on my map. Now, I have looked all over my map, I even used a magnifying glass, and I don't see any flowers at all! There is not a single rose anywhere on my map.

Well, I was talking to Mrs. Townsend this morning and she told me that the third graders were learning all about maps. Can you help? Where do I look on the map for a compass rose? What is a compass rose? How will it help me? I need some help here, guys!!

Oh, and while you're at it, will you see if you can find Mount Vernon, Georgia on a map and let me know if I have to go north, south, east, or west? I am seriously LOST!

HOAX BUSTERS: The Algebra Conspiracy!

Okay, I confess. When I was in fifth grade my teacher stood up in front of the room and announced we were going to begin learning algebra. I didn't make a sound, but on the inside I was groaning - BIG TIME! Like, who ever uses algebra in real life? You know, I just couldn't imagine that I was going to have to figure out the "value of x" at the grocery store. As far as I was concerned, it was a big waste of time. Well, as long as I'm in the mood to confess, I might as well tell all. My grade was a big waste of time too. Yup, you guessed it, I discovered that X = F when you don't listen to your teacher during algebra class.

So, here's the problem. I am in charge of a weekend activity for a group of scouts. I have $100.00 for food and 23 hungry teenagers. I called the deli to see if we could afford to get them each a box lunch for the Saturday workshop we're having. Each box lunch costs $5.99, but I can have a 10% discount since I'm buying 23 lunches. Well, before I can find out if I have enough money, I have to (oh no, say it isn't so) do ALGEBRA!!! AARRGGHH!!!

Now here I sit with two problems. First, I have to do the algebra to figure out if I can afford the box lunches so the 23 hungry teenagers don't walk out on me. Second, I have to apologize to my fifth grade math teacher for ignoring all the important algebra he tried to teach me! Don't you hate it when that happens?

So here's my advice. Pay attention to algebra so you won't have to apologize to Mrs. Edgington later. Now blog back to me about some real life times you can think of where knowing algebra will help you. Oh, and you might also want to help me out by letting me know if I can afford the lunches with my $100.00 budget. Can't wait to read your blogs!

FOURTH GRADE RATS

In the book, Fourth Grade Rats by Jerry Spinelli, Suds thinks about growing up. He says, "I started thinking about the important things in my life. My Disney World T-shirt. My bike. My Klondike bars. My Matchbox car collection. Heavenly hash ice cream. Sliding boards. Spiderman. Spikerkid. Winky, my one-eyed teddy bear, my oldest friend in the world."

What are the important things in your life? I still have my teddy bear from when I was a little girl. What do you think you'll still have when you're grown?

CLASS PRESIDENT - For Fifth Graders

Every year when I was in school we had an election for Class President. People would get up and give their campaign speeches about how they were going to get us longer recess or less homework. Now really, did those things ever happen? NO!

I figured out that these kids were making big promises about things they couldn't do. I mean, think about it, are the teachers going to change the schedule or stop giving homework because the Class President says so? Not happening, is it?

So, here are a few of my questions. How do I decide who to vote for for Class President?
Do I just vote for my friend?
Do I vote for the popular kid?
How about the kid with the best campaign slogan? Should I vote for him or her?
One year some kid's mom came in with a bunch of red, white, and blue cupcakes. Should he get my vote?

What makes a good Class President? How will you decide who to vote for? Share your thoughts! That's what a democracy is all about!

Something is the MATTER!!! For Second Grade

Okay, I need help understanding what's going on at my house! For example, I filled up a glass with some ice. I went to talk to my friend on the phone and when I came back, my glass didn't have ice in it, it had water! Something happened to my ice, and everybody in the house said they didn't touch my ice. Hmmm....is someone playing a joke on me?

That's not the only weird thing that happened either! My dad was going to make us noodles for dinner. He filled up a pot with some water and put it on the stove. He forgot about it because he was watching some baseball game on TV. When he remembered it, he went to the stove to put the noodles in the hot water and the pot was empty! If this is a joke, it's not funny because I was really hungry!

So, what do you think is happening at my house? Can you explain it?

MANIAC MAGEE - FOR 5TH GRADERS

In the book, Maniac Magee, the author says, "This, of course, was the infamous address of Finsterwald. Kids stayed away from Finsterwald's the way old people stay away from Saturday afternoon matinees at a two-dollar movie."

Write about what you think the author meant by this. Why do people avoid Finsterwald's property? Why do old folks avoid the matinee?

Write your thoughts in complete sentences. Give details. I can't wait to read and share your blogs!!

THE CHOCOLATE TOUCH - FOR 4TH GRADERS

Long ago there was a legend about a man named Midas who had a golden touch. Everything he touched turned to gold. Sounds great, right? It wasn't. When he picked up his sandwich, it turned to gold and he couldn't eat it. Actually, his life was pretty terrible.

What do you think about the chocolate touch? Would you want everything to taste like chocolate? Tell why or why not. Use complete sentences.

I can't wait to read what you have to say.

SUMMER BLOGGIN'

Tell us what you did this summer. Did you take a great vacation? read a good book? visit friends or family? Share the fun here at the BlogSpot! Use lots of adjectives to make your writing come to life. Use complete sentences and tell us all about it

DREAM~BELIEVE~GIVE~EXPECT 100%

Write about a time you GAVE 100% to something you dreamed about doing.

Knowledge is something to ROAR about!

Write a paragraph about something you are especially interested in learning this year. Give details. Let your teachers know what you want to learn more about.