One Great Homecoming

      O.k this is how my story begins. My friend Emma, Kelsey, and I walked over to the brand new looking Waukee Stadium together on Friday night, that was the night of the Waukee homecoming football game.  As we approached the line for tickets we saw the bleachers beginning to fill up by all the Waukee fans.  We could feel the excitement and tension start to get more and more intense just like you would feel before a surprise party.

      Then, once the gate was in our site, we noticed that the line was about as long as a school bus so we ran the rest of the way to make sure that we didn't risk the chance of having the line getting any longer before we got there.  After waiting in line for about 15 minutes we got to were we thought we would never be, the front of the line!  I handed four wrinkled up one dollar bills to the ticket holder and in return received one ticket to get into the game.

      Next we went to go and find seats in the middle school section.  On our way there, to me, the crowd looked like a school of  fish with lodes of Waukee spirit!  Once again we all felt a rush of excitement.  Somehow my two friends and I got through our crazy cluster of  fans and made it to the middle school section, then mingled with our other friends from school and sports teams.

      After that Emma, Kelsey, some other friends of ours, and I got board, like you get when you're doing homework, and decided to go over by the concessions and hang out while waiting for the game to start.  Then when we got over there I smelt the salty popcorn, sweet candy, and greasy hot dogs and hamburgers and knew that I would, at some point, end up over in that line waiting to buy something to snack on.

      Before we headed on back to our section we scurried on over to the concession stand, which didn't surprise me one bit.  At that time the aroma of the salty popcorn, sweet candy, and greasy hot dogs and hamburgers came back to me and we all took our places in line.  On the way up we stood still but steered clear of the bubble gum on the concrete.  Emma was in front of me and she got a sizzling hot dog.  Then I stepped up and got a container of salty, unhealthy, but definitely delicious popcorn to share.

      Finally we took our seats on the bleachers just in time to see the start of the game.  The field was packed with players, cheerleaders, and all of the coaches.  I don't really remember any plays but I do remember how loud the middle school section was.  We were cheering, jumping, and even dancing!  As we were watching the game I was eating my salty popcorn when Emma turned around sending my container of fresh popcorn air born and then plopped to the ground.  Anyway the game went fantastic, we won 49 to 9!  What a great homecoming don't you think! 

Miranda W.

the first time I rode a dirt bike.

When I was ten I went over to my friends house. They had a huge yard. In the garage in their yard they had a dirt bike. I asked if I could ride it, then I hopped on and it felt like a cheetah going full speed. The motor was like a lions roar. The bugs were like pebbles against my face. I could feel the adrenalin pumping through my vines. Then I could smell the burgers so I got off and let someone else have a turn.

Cody M

 

Fun On A Jet-ski

Got to get my swim trunks on because I'm going on a jet-ski. I hope me and my brother have tons of fun. Suddenly I feel kind of nervous because I don't know what its going to be like. Then we get on and take off. Going fast as lightning we cold barely stay on. We were going really fast. While on the jet-ski I could smell the lake water. It smelled as bad as my brothers feet. I also noticed my brother screaming loudly I wanted him to stop. We were going so fast the water came into my mouth. I had to spit it out because it tasted as bad as guacamole. Then I got to drive. I got it up to 50mph. I was going crazy, doing donuts and getting wet. After that we finally got off the jet-ski. I stunk so bad from the water I had to take a shower.


Tanner G.

The Campout

The day before my two friends came over for a campout in my backyard was fun!!! My parents took me and my sister out for a surprise. We kept bugging them to try and find out what it was! First we drove to Pizza Hut and got some food. It wasn't a long wait. Once again, we were all back in the car, the windows were open and we could feel the crisp wind on our faces. In about 15 minutes we found our way to waterworks park, where we chose a nice, shady spot and parked the car.

Later that day, I was sitting in the shade of a tree a staring at my phone. One of my friends and I were texting each other, talking about what we were going to do the next day when she and her twin arrived for the backyard campout. About 5 minutes later my friends were on their way down to my house to have fun and make plans for the coming day.

BOING!!! "Catch it! Catch it!" I yelled. We were on the verge of catching a grasshopper! We had it for sure, but then it slipped out of our reach and on to the ground below. We ran down the deck steps, jar in hand. It took awhile, but we finally had caught the hyper, green grasshopper! Shortly afterward we began to pitch the tent- with my parent's help of course! Sadly after we finished helping with the tent, it was time for my friends to go. We exited through the front gate and started the walk home. All to soon we were in front of my friends house. But then we saw it, lurking by a plant. We yelled to their little sister to get a bug jar and quickly scooped it up. I walked back home with another grasshopper in hand.

The next day my friends came around 2:30. Immediately we ran to the tent and began setting up our sleeping arrangements. I was in the middle! Then we went inside and played with my cat, Belle, and my two kittens, Kamie and Kayia. Later we got some snacks and sat in chairs listening to music and talking. We had loads of fun! Eventually, my dad called us up to eat a delicious supper of mac + cheese and food on the grill! After supper, we changed into our PJ's and sat eagerly around the fire pit. As soon as the orange fire was glowing, we started to make some s'mores. Chocolaty goodness! Almost an hour had passed so we took a very bright flashlight and went to go look at the creek behind my house.

Once we came back we became astronomers and found constellations like Cygnus and Pegasus. It was so cool to see the bright lights in the purple sky. Afterward, as soon as my sister and her friend had gone to the tent, we sat around the dying embers of the fire and told creepy ghost stories. We finally went back to the tent to go on pictochat on our DS's. Soon we decided we were tired and tried to fall asleep. Only one out of the three of us succeeded. Me and my friend stayed up until 2 a.m. when we finally decided we were sleepy. The next morning the three of us trudged groggily up the deck steps for breakfast. The fun didn't stop 'till 11:30, when my friends had to go home. It was such an AMAZING weekend!!!

Anna R.

Horse Camp

Once we got there, I saw a cabin, the horses, and a dog. The lady that owned the horses and the dog said the horses names were"Sue" and "Smokey". But then i saw another horse and she said that's Patrick and they were very hungry, then i got to clean sue, and then they put a saddle on her, and the horse smelled like hay. Sue was brown and her mane and tail was black. Then we played a game called horse show, I was the snotty rich girl with Sue, and steelie and me were competitors . Then my grandpa came over to the stables and lifted me up on Sue. I was riding bareback. We rode for three hours. I got jumped off of smokey, then we all had marshmallows, and we all went to bed, but mom told me to come outside when i got out there i sat down and lit my stick with the fire. then i heard my mom say there was bats, I looked up an saw what looked like birds but they were bats.

I woke up and had toaster pastries, then we all said good bye to sue, Patrick and Smokey.

I will miss that farm.

Shelby,w

Wrestling Camp

Once I walked in the wrestling room I could hear the kids talking and the mat cleaning smell. I went to the coach and met him he told me what we were going to do and wright then I knew I was going to have fun. Then we had to pick partners and I had to pick Nate my brother. On the second day we got to play dodge ball. When we started dodge ball I was thinking no fair because all the big kids were on the same team. I was really scared just thinking about it. I felt so good because we learned so much stuff I can't even list them all. We got to play dodge ball again but we had a medic and if the medic got out then we would be in so much trouble. Finely at the end of the camp we got to eat POPSICLES it was awesome!!!!!!!

Nick V

2nd day to lost island!

It was a damp misty morning.  No birds chirping or cars speeding.  But today was supposed to be a joyous day.  For I was going to Lost Island.  Lost island is a water park 2 hours and 30 minutes from my house.  So i was going there for the second time!  The plan was simple I was going to the place with me, my mom, my dad,  my uncle John, and my cousin Jenny.  The first time  i was there was a huge success!  we had tons of fun.  Like one time two lifeguards wrestled each other into a tubing slide!  I was hoping for some awesome stuff to happen like that to this time.  But of course I was horribly horribly horribly wrong.  So we were driving in my dads grey car when it started raining.  Now i know what your thinking oh boohoo its just a little rain hows it going to ruin your fun.  Well just keep reading and ill tell you.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  We drove about 20 minutes from our house when it started pouring! And I mean huge thundering rain drops were pounding on the ground like it was drums.  The wind started howling and the trees started shaking and shivering like they were doing a disco dance.  Eventually we had to take shelter behind a big building with a red brick roof called Casey's.  Well we were listening to the news in the car when we heard the ear pericing tornado siren.  I usually don't get freaked out by tornadoes unless their heading straight towards me so I wasn't really that worried.  Like I said we were in the car but now it started pouring and not just rain but hail.  Pretty darn big ones to about the size of a half paper crumbled up.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Eventually the storm passed by and my mom wanted to go home.  But my Uncle John really wanted to go and said some scientific stuff.  Well anyway short version we kept driving.  Yeah so it was a long ride but hey you'd think it would be worth it.  Yeah well....no.  OK now we made it, made it to Lost Island that is.  But then when we got in the water we'd known we'd made a big mistake.  The water was freezing!  It was so cold it could have been fit for a penguin.  But we still went we could survive the cold!  We started to go on two tubing slides called jade and emerald adventure.  They are two green twisty turquoise slides that are two of my favorites.  Oh no those weren't all the slides though and we all went on the bright as sun huge ginormous yellow slide!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 We waited in line for about 30 minutes when a huge menacing black cloud came.  So sadly we had to get down.  We ran for shelter as the big look like it would've been in  an end of the world movie dark menacing cloud came.  We took shelter under one of the tiki with straw roofs. huts so after 20 minutes we got back in.  You'll hear and feel these things when you go on it.  Swish,  swoosh,  scream, splash.  So I had a quite a big of fun and I think everyone else did to.  We rode the other twin slides that I completely forgot the names of but I remember that they are pink and purple.  Those were extremely fun but John wasn't satisfied.  He wanted to go on Lost Soul Falls.  Last time I went here I was the first to go on it but with the weather and all I didn't really feel like it.  So when he went on it and came down we all started to go on the racing slide!  It was a dark red and dark purple slide that was made for racing.  You go on a blue pad and slide on your stomach.  Its a dark tunnel in the beginning and you go out of the tunnel and go down some lumpy stairs they'll tell you what your time is.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    The next slide was kiwi Journey.  That was one of my favorite slides to.  You are inside the tunnel for a lot of the time but then you go out and then in an then out and then in and then you get out and splash into the water.  Well ill go by saying we rode some of the same slides again and it was fun but I was freezing.  I really wanted to go home because it was cold windy and really I preferred a heated house or car any day.  So we eventually left and yes it got worse from there by a lot.  We were in the car enjoying some delicious snacks we brought and drunk thirstily as the cool drinks ran down our throats.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     That's when we started driving.  Again it started raining and get this,  the first storm was actually the easy one we were facing the second wave and the harder one right now!  Sure enough it was true.  The rain started thumping and the wind started moaning the trees were shattered and flying everywhere.  Again we had to go take shelter but that shelter didn't last very long especially since there was a tree right next to us.  Now after a long time we finally made it home on our way though we saw broken trees and broken houses and even a few dead cows.  So I got home and I'm not saying you shouldn't go to Lost Island.  I'm just saying don't go to a water park on a stormy day.

Brandon B

My First Air Plane Ride

My first plane ride was to San Diego, California.  It was to go see my brother, who had just become a Marine and was training in San Diego.  I was so excited to see brother because I hadn't seen him in months!  My mom ad dad didn't want to go to the Des Monies Air Port because it was more expensive so we were going to drive to the Omaha Air Port instead.  The ride to Omaha was long and boring.  We were going to stay at a hotel and go to the air port in the morning.  When we got to the hotel it was midnight and we were all tired and ready for sleep.  As my dad checked us in we got our bags.  When we got in the lobby I noticed that it was a nice hotel but not the nicest hotel I've ever seen.  In our room now we were all changed and in bed.  At 3 in the morning on the dot we woke up.  Once we were in our clothes and in the van, and we were off. In the air port I was feeling strange about going on the plane . But when they called us on to the plane I was excited again.  The plane was really cool.  It was really easy to find my seat.  I was happy to have a window seat. The seats were really nice.  I can't put my finger on the smell but it smelled like an air plane. Once in my seat next to my mom we waited , it wasn't long before the pilot came on. I was asking my mom what it was like on take off.  I was getting more, and more excited about take off, it sounded like it was fun.  Finally lift off time.  As the pilot went off the loud speaker and was ready to go. I could feel and hear the engine. Then slowly but surely the plane started to move. My ears were popping and I was sick to my stomach.  But when the plane was in the air that was just the past.  I got to watch the ground get farther and farther away.  The ride was long and boring I was mostly watching out of the window.  After hours I could feel the plane get lower and the pilot said we were landing.  Finally we were in San Diego!         

By: Grace

How I Got My Dog

        It was the cold winter morning of December 19. We were tired and getting closer. But then the longest train ever stopped us. We were waiting for about 5 minutes. We then kept driving, and cold here sleigh bells from a distance. I was looking out the window, and saw exactly 7 male deer in a field. 

       After a while, we got to our Grandma's house, exhausted, and heard whimpering. We darted into the backroom. Right i the center was a big cardboard box. My mom looked inside and slowly and carefully picked up a puppy!!!!!!!

       Once everyone got over the shock, we began to play with her. I could feel her soft fur. After a while, we found a note on the side of the box. We opened it up and found that she was 7 weeks old and her name was Lucy.

       Then we began the feast. The mashed potatoes smelled like they had just come out of the oven. The turkey smelled like it was just bout and cut. I could feel the spoon in my hand, just ready to dig in and find what to eat first.

       Now, we have had Lucy for about a year. Her real birthday is somewhere in October, so that is coming up. She has been having tons of accidents in the house, but at least we have her. 

Olivia W.  

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: The Battle Scene

The battle for Hogwarts and the rest if the book is very sad and/or scary for some readers.

"Prefects! Please escort your houses to the Great Hall." This is a line from the book. Chapters 31-36 are the most exciting for me because it has nothing to do with everyone's life. But I don't see this stuff in my life UNLESS I'm reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Everyone 16 and under are waiting in the Great Hall waiting for the endless fight to end. On the other hand everyone 17 and older are going to the fight.(If they want) They are trying to defeat the most dark and powerfull wizard of all time, Tom Riddle or now more commonly known as Lord Voldemort and his army ,the Death Eaters.

"YOU HAVE TILL MIDNIGHT TO GIVE ME HARRY POTTER!!" Voldemort screams. But Harry wasn't listening to Voldemorts FINAL warning. He was in the Room Of Requirement looking for Roana Ravenclaw's crown. Or as everyone refers to it as the Lost Diadem.

Harry only has so little time. In the Room with him are Ron, Hermionie, Draco Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle. Crabbe and Goyle are holding Harry down when Malfoy has his wand raised.

Then a spell out of nowhere stes Goyle on fire!! It was Ron!! So while Malfoy and Crabbe are cooling him off or trying to anyways, Harry grabs his wand and shouts, "AGUAMENTA" Then out of the tip of his wand comes out so much water that everything (well almost everything) starts rising with the water! Harry sees the Diadem and trudges toward it. Just as he approaches the Diadem, Malfoy grabs it.

"I'm going to turn you in to him." Malfoy  says. But Harry takes the Diadem and runs out of the room with it and Ron and Hermionie. They run to Albus Dumbledore's office and grabs the sword that belonged to Godric Gryffendor. He stabs the sword into the crown and once again destroies another Horcruxe. Sadly I can't tell you what that is. But he hears Voldemort scream, "I'm sending my men in and they're not coming out till they bring me Harry Potter!!!!" So then, there's a huge BANG!!!!! Then people in masks made out of gold, swoop in and bring out their wands.

"Avada Kadavra" Belltrix Lestrange. She is the only female Death Eater actually commited to do what ever it takes to serve the Lord. She is probally the most dangerous Death Eater. Meanwhile the water in the Room of Requirement was all drained out. Ginny, Ron, Hermione and Tonks are in the room waitng for Harry to return. Harry returns and says he destroied the Diadem. Everyone cheered.

Tonks is married and her husband, Proffesser R.J. Lupin is at war with Ron and Ginny's brothers Fred and George. Earlier in the book George gets his ear blown off. This is all I'm going to tell you. I decided  that you should read the book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling.

      Sara L

The Moment

"Hoooooonk!" The cars were honking like never before. Why I was looking out the window, my brother was eating a fruit roll up. I could smell the fruityness. It made me starving. We were just coming from church. I asked, "Where are we going?" I had no idea where we were going. All I knew was we weren't by home. "It's a surprise," my mother said eargly. I was eager too, so I rolled down the window so I could feel the breeze. I heard a cling of the head phones as my brother dropped them on the floor. I junped in surprise.

"Cling, cling!" The doors made the loudest noise when we walked in. I shouted, "No way!" I couldn't veleive that we were at the Animal Rescue League. My parents said we weren't getting a dog, but I thought that maybe thay would change there minds. "Know we are here to look so don't fall in love with a puppy," he soaid in a weird voice. The place was very clean. You would think that with all the animals it would be really dirty. There was not a lot of people like there usually is. I could in the back room a lot of whining. It made me feel really sad. I couldn't bare it!

We started walking back to the room. It was sad looking at the innocent dogs. "Can we please get one," my brother whined. He is only four and really would die for a dog. We started walking. I could smell shampoo in the back from the dogs. The dogs were yelping. I felt so bad for them. It was like they were saying,"Help! Please!"

"O my goodness! he is so cute," I yelled excitedly. I could here his claws scraping against the tile floor. He was black and white. he was pretty small. And he had the cutest face! He had a little tennis ball in his mouth and it was covered in slobber. The dog loved to lick nonstop. It felt really weird to me. When I stroked the dog I could feel is ribs. He was really skinny. I wanted him so bad. I could not stop stroking him. My parents could not say no. So my dad said excitedly, "We can get him!" I started bowling. I could taste victory. And that's how I got my dog Chester! 

CassieC

The day I got hit with a shovel

Two years ago in January, on a Sunday one of my friends invited me over. So I went to his house. It was a cold, snowy day. The day before it had snowed. As I walked up to his front porch I noticed two HUGE snow banks. So I went back to the car, and grabbed my snow gear. Twenty minutes later we went outside. The garage smelled like wet snow. Puddles from snow were all over the place. He didn't have any snow shovels so we used metal shovels. The shovels were dirty. But we used them anyway. We decided to make tunnels in the snow banks. The snow banks were as cold as standing in the freezer for days. When I was digging I smelled the shovel. It smelled rusty. My friend was trying to get a clump of ice out of the tunnel. I put my face next to the ice. I could hear the shovel hitting the ice pretty hard. Then the shovel slipped and hit my face. It hit me right next to my nose. I instantly stood up.I had fast reflexes. I just stood there. My friend had a scared expression on his face. I ran into his house. He followed me in. I was crying as hard as I could. It didn't really hurt that bad. I was just scared.

His mom made me sit down at the kitchen table. She told my friend's dad to get the first aid kit. He got it. My friend's mom put a bandage over my nose. I got SO dizzy . Then I threw up on a wash cloth that was lying in front of me. My friends mom called my mom.

My mom came and took me to the doctor's office. There was barely any one there. The doctors didn't know what to do so they sent me to the hospital. The hospital smelled like cleaning supplies. My mom took me to the emergency room. Instead of getting stitches I got glue on the side of my nose. The glue made my eyes water. The glue smelled like plastic and wax! When I left the hospital the glue had tried. It felt like it was pulling my whole face together. At school I couldn't participate in any sports or any physical activities. It stunk. But there is just a scar left on my face. On the side of my nose.

Alyssa R.

Mount Rushmore

The first thing I saw was all of the excited people to get a good look at Mount Rushmore. It was breathtaking and amazing. The flowers were beautiful. I could see little kids running to see it. The air smelled fresh with wilderness. My parents took my brother and me to get a closer look and I was holding my moms hand my other hand was on the wooden rail. I was looking at all of the flowers . Once we got close enough everyone was crowding around to get a good look and they were talking about the presidents. It was a hot day so everyone was all sweaty. On the way out my hand glided across the cold railing . The last thing I saw was people taking pictures. It was amazing. It was a great trip I had loads of fun!!!

Ashley D.

My First Tackle Football Game

   I just left from a scout camp out at a shooting range. The truck I am riding in has leather seats. I just hate the smell of leather. We are about 45 minutes away from valley stadium for my first football game.

  

   We arrived about an hour early. It felt like we were on a griddle sitting in the sun waiting until about 15 minutes before the rest of the team is supposed to show up so we can change into our football uniform. We got out right when coach arrived.

   When pre-game warm ups started it started it felt like we were in a steamer, it was that warm. We started off with our pre-game warm ups jogging, stretching, form running, individual time, team time, and coaches speech. They were making nachos for the game. I play on the line.

   We started out on defense. We did not do well on offense neither did the other team. The score board at the end of the end of the quarter Giants (us) 0, Packers 0.

  

   Once we got the game in the second quarter we Scored even though the crowd was small it sounded like a NFL game. Once more the crowd went wild when we scored again. The score at the end of the first half was Giants 13, Packers 0. I was really glad that we had the lead.

   No body in the third quarter scored.

   We scored in the fourth quarter for the victory.

   Our coach gave us a speech on how proud he was with us. We finally got to go and get snacks.

Matt B.

The Waukee Ankney game

"TOUCHDOWN WARRIORS!" As the announcer says. As the crowd goes wild with ten seconds remaining. As they kick off the time dropped down to no seconds it has gone into overtime! Ankney gets ball first and they score so we get ball at the 20 yard line. So then when we get the ball i was  drinking my pop and they and the person next to me jumped up spilled on me and I smelled like Sprite. So it went in to double overtime. As I walked over to the concession stands I could all the amazing foods like pizza popcorn. When I was at the bleachers everyone started jumping up and down and I noticed the T.V man was there and everyone was yelling like when some one notices there is a bug on their food. At the beginning of the second overtime Waukee got the ball first and they missed a field goal from 20 yards away. Now it is Ankneys ball they tried for a touchdown but failed they are 40 yards away 4th down and go field goal and the kick is...'GOOD THE ANKNEY HAWKS WIN!' As I walk out I thought they should have made that field goal.

Zach S

My Guinea Pig

The day I got my guinea pig, Polly was one of the most thrilling days of my life. I saw Polly and I knew she was the one for me. When I picked her up I could feel how soft her fur was. I went to the counter with my brothers and paid for Polly. When we got home I put her in her cage and bolted to the refrigerator and grabbed a carrot for her. I gazed at her while she nibbled on the carrot. I played with Polly for a little while. The next day I gave Polly a treat and I heard her squeal in excitement when I gave her the treat. When I was playing with her I felt her tiny feet on my leg. After a couple of days I could smell her waste in her cage. I could taste the fun and joy tingle in my mouth. I love my guinea pig, Polly!!

Aly M.     

Jacob and the 4th

It was about time. Jacob will be here in a few minutes. I was outside with my dad and my dog Abby. My dad was working on the lawn.It felt like Jacob would ever arrive. The I heard the roar of the engine. A car was coming down the street. I couldn't wait till he got here.

Then they pulled up into the drive way. Him and his mom got out of the car. I talked with them for a while. Then his mom left and me and Jacob went inside and put his stuff away. After that me and him went down stairs and played video games until my mom got home.

After my mom got home we had my dad take us up to the mall. We went  to Game Stop to get a game. It feels like heaven when you walk in with all those games.I got a video game with some money I had. It was a wrestling game. After we got the game we went to get something to eat.

When we got back we went to an amazing 4th of July parade. We got so much candy and it was delious. My favorite was the bubble gum flavor candy.The parade was so much fun.When we got back we played some more video games watched a movie and then went to bed.

The next morning when we got up we eat breakfeast and played some more video games.Then my dad got back with the bounce house for the 4th July. We set it up so we could jump on it before people start showing up for the 4th of July party.

After a while of bouncing I stared to feel sweet on my face. I was getting tired. So we went I side and got some awesome lemonade.It was sweet just like a lemon. We were getting excited about the block party. We couldn't wait for it to start. So we did something to pass the time.

It was almost 4 so we started to help set up. By about 4:30 every one was in the street. We started the kids Olympics. Every thing that had to do with partners me and Jacob were together. The funniest thing was the water balloon toss. We did the best, we got really far back and then the balloon exploded on me.I had to go change.

After that it was time to start the fight. We filled up water balloon. It was goin down tonight. Before long it was an all out war between the kids. It was a blast. We had so much fun.

We were starting to get hungry. So we got something to eat.I got a hot dog. It was freshly made so it was awesome. i love hot dogs. After we were done eating.It was dark. So we lit the sparklers we were running around messing with them. The colors were so cool.

After the sparklers we sat down ad watched the sky.Then Boom the sky exploded. Colors were every where. It was amazing. Then they ended it was the best 4th of July ever.I couldn't wait until next year.

Aaron S

Waukee Marching Band

           When I'm entering with the band I am hearing the crowd roaring in the stands. Kids banging the fence . I see the Waukee side filled with parents and kids. The new football field ready to go. At half time I sure can smell the food. When I smell the food it feels like I can taste it. During the Waukee fight song I here stomping and clapping. I here the loud and roaring instruments playing. After the band is leaving I here the crowd roaring and see the football players coming. All while I am leaving.

Noah B.

HOMECOMING

Homecoming in Waukee was great! Let me tell you about it. Before the game we had a party. When I walked into the room, I could smell the pizza from pizza hut. I could here the music,ringing in my ears. Just as my friends came in the party was a blast.

       It was about an hour so we decided to leave ,and walk to the game.I walked with a few friends. When We were walking i could here my friends saying "come sit with me, come sit with me".When we got our tickets. i could smell the popcorn , it smelt like Butter. SO us 6Th graders. have a section So we went to go sit there.So wile I was at the game I did as usually. Got popcorn,(because it smells so good), and walked around ,with friends And of course watched the game.

       All of a sudden I heard YAAAs and WOOOOOs Then someone next to me said WE WON! Then that was the game. SO this is what a Waukee Homecoming is like.

Emma G

Halloween

I'm going to write about Halloween,because its my favorite holiday and its coming up. This year I'm going to a lot of haunted houses. Just like last year,to me haunted houses are the best thing about Halloween because there creepy and exciting and smell old and you never know when some one is going to pop out. Also going around at night trick or treating is always fun. I also like decorating my house with pumpkins and other Halloween stuff. This year my mom is letting me decorating the house however I want.

Why I like Halloween is because its in fall and scary . I don't know what I'm going to dress up like this year I usually like dressing up in something funny or scary. I like carving pumpkins. Haunted houses are fun and smell like old stuff.

Tommy S

The Day I Got My New Puppy!!!!!

Two weeks after my family came back from Alaska,we went looking for a dog. Me and my sister were so happy to look for dogs so we went to the animal rescue league. I had a good feeling about getting a puppy that day. My mom tried to to talk use into a cat. But me and my sister said ''no deal''. Because we rather have a dog because a dog is way more fun. I like cats and dogs too but I rather have a dog. We saw a cat room and a dog room. There was about 7 dogs in the front but we only look at one dog and her name was Runtie we looked at her to see if she was a good dog. But the people at the animal rescue league but she had allergies. But we didn't know what they were so we didn't get here. After that we looked at one more dog and my sister thought her name was piper so we got her out. She smelled like a garbage can I think she had her bath yet. So we messed around with her for about 15-20 minutes and then we came to a decision We begged my mom for the dog. So we got the puppy for 125 dollars which wasn't a bad price. We took her home and called her Miss Piper because she need a m for the first letter in her name. But on the way to petsmart she had little yellow accident in the car. So we cleaned it up. Then we went to petsmart to shop for her. Then we went home.

Matt S

WDMSC soccer in Omaha

I arrived in Omaha at around 7:00 am. Our first game was in about an hour against an Omaha team. I went over to my team and we went to the fields. We started the game. We heard the whistle and started the game. The Omaha team scored about 4 in the first half. After half time we ran on the field. The whistle started we did a little better but still got beat 10-2. The whistle blew in my ear. The other team parents screamed. That was the end of the game. It was a bad way to start a tournament. We lost very bad but we had time to rest. The next game was in about 2-3 hours. We drove around Omaha until we had are next game. We came to the fields about 1 an 30 min later. We started the game. This team wasn't ranked as good as the other team so felt more confident. We played hard the first half they came out on top. So we got ready for the second half. The whistle blew we were hanging with them this half. From the first half we still did a little better than the first game. I had to come back to Iowa for a football scrimmages. We won both of are scrimmages and I went home. I woke up the next morning and went to Omaha. We played a very good team they were huge compared to us. The first half we scored about 3 goals. We played pretty good but still got Beat. That was the end of the tournament we didn't advance. We still have a tournament next weak hope we win.

Nick H. 3

the first crazy game!!!

Are first Waukee games are crazy and fun you would want to come! This was are first Waukee game for 2009 and the first game is always wacky like a monkey!

     I'm going with my best friend . We went to the game at 7 because it starts at 7:30 so we go, There is a line all the way out to the street. We go to the other line  it is way longer so we go and wait at the other line. Then we finally get up where we by are tickets and go in.

We can't find any of are friends the we walk around like we where lose in a big city. Then a teacher came and said, " you can't walk around you have to go and sit".  We have a 6th grade area we go there it is crazy with everyone cheering and going nuts! It is a really close game on the score board. We cheer and dance a lot of people are crazy and my hand hurts like some on stepped on it because everyone gives hi-5s . We look over at the 7th grade area right by us they were just watching like they where in a movie!

Its double over time ! We are singing are school song , and its over we lost by double over time . We went to find my mom in the stands we could only see purple and yellow are school colors. Then went home and thought that was a awesome game can't wait for the other games!!!!!!!!!!

GO WAUKEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

macy m

My Dog Chasing a Squirrel

        One day it was excruciatingly hot when i let my dog out. She saw a squirrel she was going to go chase the squirrel . Then my dad jerked my dog back and my dad shouting out loud saying no . Then my dog jerked out of my dads hands .

          She instantly raced at the squirrel lake a speeding race car .It sounded like a herd of elephants that are in a stamped. Every time she tried to catch it in her hands the squirrel speed up and climbed to a three.

           Then the squirrel went to check if the monstrous dog was there. After that the squirrel tried to get ton a tree . But my dog Madi cased the squirrel.

 When my dog came in I felt a vibrating dog trying to get water.

Dmitriy H

A day at the i-Cubs game

A day at the I-Cubs game is very entertaining. They shoot hot dogs out of canons, t-shirts,and all kinds of merchandise. I am going to talk to you about a time I went to a game.

First, I walk into the game on the hard-as-rock concrete, excited for the game. After that, I see some friends and buy some salty, buttery, warm box of popcorn. Soon, I've fond myself taking pictures in the baseball machine with a few friends.

20 minutes later...

STRIKE THREE!!!!!! The Cubs pitched a lead-of strikeout! So after that, there's two more outs, and the Cubbies are up to bat. The lead-off batter is up,the pitcher throws the ball and...BAM!!!! The ball flies over the center fielder's head and everybody is quiet. "Where's the ball?"says a curious fan.All of a sudden the crowd JUMPS out of their seats and cheer for the cubs!

(5th inning)The Cub are down 4 to 3 from a well hit grand slam in the 3rd inning.

(9th inning)the Cubs are up from a bad inning. The Isotopes are up to bat. There's 2 outs, bases loaded,with a 3-2 count. Carlos Zambrono throws the pitch and...THE CUBS WIN!!!

Philip g.

CyHawk Game

I was at the big game, the CyHawk game I was so excited. I was thinking cyclones are going to win this. My dad was acting like the head coach for the cyclones. I was wondering how much people were at the game, I was thinking like there was like over 20,000 people. Before half time me and my mom went to go get some food, I got funnel cake and pizza the the funnel cake, it was amazing,the pizza was good to it was homemade pizza YUM!

3 quarter was boring because cyclones were losing so I just looked around, a lot of people were smoking witch surprised me that they let people smoke in the stadium. There were lots of sports advertising.  After the cyclones lost 35-3, we went straight home after the game.

                                           Alex H

 

My Colorado Vacation

My family went to Colorado in a car. It took forever like waiting in line for a football game. Finally we arrived at my aunt and uncle's house. The first day I saw a lizard. It was spiky and rough. I chased it down the driveway until it was trapped. I picked it up and put it in a jar. Then I loosened the cap and rolled it down the street and it jumped out and ran away. The next day I went hiking with my uncle. We went up the hill and it smelled bad like a rat in the sewer. It turned out that it was Elk turd.

By Lachlan A

My Phone

So it was the day of my birthday and my parents are letting me pick a new phone. My first choice was the razor which was like any normal phone but instead it was really skinny and it had a camera on the outside. Then I saw the Envy Two. It flips open on the inside and has a full keyboard. On the outside it had a small screen and half keyboard. Then finally i saw my number one choice, it was the VOYAGER!!! It was the perfect phone, it tasted like plastic, it smelled like plastic, it looked beast it sounded like a beeb-beeb-beeb when i touched the screen, and it felt warm and awesome. But most of all it flipped open sideways and on the outside it had a touch screen!!!

Drake B.                                   

Weekend Bike Ride

          Do you like going on bike rides?  Well, I do I go on one almost every weekend with my Dad.  Here is one specific time that I really remember.  I really love the Greenbelt Trail so we drove to Cindy"s (co-worker) house.

          Now we all get onto the actual trail after trail after missing a couple of street turns.  The Greenbelt Trail is very curvy and loops all over the city.  This an old trail so nature and buildings have grown around it.  It is a natural habitat for birds, snakes, and other small animals.

          I just love all the noises I can hear , and how there are so many new parks that I can hear the laughter coming from.  Today we are headed Downtown to Greys Lake.  My favorite part is going over and under a bridge.  It descends very fast and then I zip back up the hill amongst the old Oaks again.  Luckily there are metal fences under the bridges on both sides.  It would not be good to run over a hobo sleeping in the mud!!

Finally we get to Water Works Park where the water treatment center is located.

          Our destination is just across the busy 4-lane road.  In Water Works there are a lot of noisy bugs chirping around the ponds.  All the leaves are falling off the trees and it's only September!!

          Greys Lake is so beautiful because there is a long bridge made partly of colored glass that shines like a diamond.  I can see a sandy beach across the lake but we aren't  going that far today.  I can sill hear the the music halfway across the lake.

I love going on weekend bike rides with my Dad, but it's disappointing when we have to go back home.

Ian C    

  

Sailing Schedule

Ahhh..... just got out of bed.  Which way is the wind coming from today i ask myself as i get ready in the morning.  I go look out on the water.  I am up at 8:15 AM ad get ready to go sailing which includes putting my swimsuit on, putting clothes over top of it, putting my hair up, and brushing my teeth.

At 9:00 I go to the sailing school and see that there are lots of waves and it is rough on this side of the lake.  I walk on into the Yacht Club, and hear all the sailing kids laughing and talking.  I go up to the loft to join them.  Our head teacher, Nate, tells us what we are going to be learning today.  At about 9:30 we go out sailing on the X-Boats.  Do you know what and X-Boat is?  An X-Boat is a sailboat that is not huge but not small either.  The size of the entire X-Boat is about two bathtubs long.

We rig or set up our boats and take them out.  Like I mentioned earlier, it is really rough today so u feel the water to see if it is cold in case we tip over because it is really bumpy and windy.

I am the skipper that's my favorite job.  We leave the dock.....Oh No!  We are in a puff.  A puff is when the wind is super strong and the water turns darker in a small area.  We turn out of the puff and continue sailing.  I usually sail with 2-3 other people. WHOOOOSH!  A huge wave just came over the bow or the front of our boat.  The boat keeps filling with more and more water so I go to check to see if we closed the ballards.

We continued sailing.  "Pull in the main sheet," i say.  A main sheet is a rope that is attached to the sail that pulls the sail in.  "Everybody come back and dock the boats," Nate says.  Okay lets tack (or turn around)  " Everybody ready to tack?"  "Tacking!!"  Boom the sail goes over.  We are about 2 feet away from the dock."  Throw the rope over to the instructor on the  dock to tie the boat up."  I throw the rope and we take the sails down.

It was a great day sailing!  I love to sail and I wish every 11 year old in the world could have the experience.  If you get the chance to ever sail, take it you will love it!!

Molly A.

Cat's Galore!!!

                                       When I was on my way to get my two cats, my favorite song was on the radio. It made me feel happy and exited like every time I heard it on the radio or on my iPod. On our way, we were thinking up names for the small creatures that were about to be held in our family's possession. We thought about naming them Chocolate and Chip, Bingo and Sassy, Fuzzy and Fluffy, Sweet and Sour and many more.

                                       As we walked through the mystified air to the woman's garage, I saw the most dainty adorable little kittens in the world! Just like the song, you can always find something new.  I opened the cage that the cat's were in and the small gray one crawled softly on to my arm, then on my shoulder, and right on top of my head! We should name her Sassy and the Other one Bingo! So that was that, their names' are now Sassy and Bingo, and have been for the past four years.

Maddie W.

The Big Game

One cold day, it was time to go to the Cyclone and Hawkeye game. It would start very soon, we would tailgate for a couple hours before. But what I love the most is the game.

Some of the things I see are steam coming out of peoples mouths. The players on the football field running around , the big monitors on the side showing all sorts of things. But most of all, lots and lots of camera's watching the game.

Some of the things I heard are screaming fans and cheerleaders rotating for there teams. People on the microphone taking about the game and the stuff you can get behind the bleachers.

Some of the things I can feel is the football while playing catch, the crowded crowd. Also my warm hot dog and my very cold drink.

Some of the things I can taste are salty and crunchy popcorn. The hot ketchup on my warm hot dog.

Some of the things I can smell are lots of popcorn. All the hot dogs too.

So those are the things I saw, heard, touched, smelled, and tasted at my day to the big game. Who, I should say, the cyclones won!

Maddie R

Incredible Pizza

When we first arrived at Incredible Pizza I could smell the fresh air. As I walked I a little bit farther I could smell the pizza. It smelled like a bunch like a bunch of flavors put together. When I looked around I could see a bunch of people laughing and enjoying the fun. It was very noisy when I got closer to the games. Then I went to go eat, while I was  eating I could hear people screaming. When I was done eating the first thing I did was Go Carts. I was in first place the whole race. As I was driving the Go Carts I was a little bit scared that I might hit something or someone. If  I would of did that then I would have to get out of the Go Carts and my race would of been over. But luckily I didn't as I was driving I could feel the breeze. At the end of the race I was still in first place and I got ribbon. After a while I played a game it was very fun. You have to pull down this red thing  and whatever it lands on that's how many tickets you get, I got 250. I heard lots of kids yell as they won games. It was someone's birthday and everyone was shouting.

Chelsei T.

JIMMY BUFFET

Jimmy Buffet is awesome.  His concerts are so big that people from all over come.  They tailgate like it was their job and dress up so different.  He sings about everything.  My favorite songs are chesse burger in pardice, fins and margiartaville.   Our hotel had mostly Jimmy Buffet fans.  They had a before party at the hotel.   It was so much fun and the food was good.  A lot of guys wore coconut bras over their shirts.  I wore jean shorts a white cami and a red and white flower shirt.  All the cars had writing or shark fins on them.  

We finally went to bed at 11 o'clock but I couldn't sleep I was to excited.  In the morning I put on my stuff right away.

Rachel b

Snorkeling In Hawaii

   When we went to Hawaii it took three hours in a plane to get to Arizona and nine hours to get to Hawaii from Arizona. But two days after we got there we snorkeled. We all went to a store to rent gear to snorkel. I got a size four, black flippers and blue goggles and the mouth thing was blue too. That took us about  twenty minutes. Then we went to this place that was supposed to be really good for snorkeling. Then getting ready took us about another ten minutes. I was the first one in the water. It felt good. The first time I went under my mouth thing filled up with water. So I came up and saw people crowding around so I went to see. There were two big sea turtles. They big and green. After I went back in the water. This time I saw a bunch of fish. All different colors too, then I saw a pufferfish, it was yellow with needle like prickles on it. I tried scaring it, but it didn't blow. Ten someone told me the state fish. It was thirty-two letters long! Nobody could pronounce it. That was the end of my snorkeling experience.

Noah T

Jumping Paris

I get on Paris, then I go into the arena I look at the jump and start a canter. Then I do a big circle and head for the jump. I watch to see if I have the right lead, I do!! yeah!!

Next I look straight forward, and (BOOM!!!) Were in the air I feel like a bird! Then I feel the wind hit my face. Then I notice how smooth Paris took that jump. (BAM!!) we hit the ground I see if we got the lead. I look up at the next jump. paris starts to get faster I can hear the ground shaking. (BOOM!!) once again were in the air. We land it was great!! Then I give paris a tap and say "good girl Paris, good girl". She's breathing hard so I ned to cool her down with some cold water. She likes it so I take her to her paster and put her and hug her give her a carrot and say "bye baby girl" and get in the car. 

Malorie H

Swimming at Midwest Regionals

  When my team and I swam at regionals in Minneapolis, Minnesota. During the two day period my team members and I were ranking really high. Since we had a big team we had a lot of relays and if you get 1st place you get 40 points for your team my relay got 1st so we got a lot of points for our team. In the end of Regionals my team had won by over 100 points. It was the first time my team had in history. We had gotten second 3 times and third five times, so it was a  big accomplishment. Since it was in the beginning of April it was near my birthday so we went to Rainforest cafe at Mall of America. When we got there it was misty with a lot of bird noises like hawks. So that was ow my spring break went.

Brett H.

Mrs. Scholl's Classroom

When you walk into Mrs. Scholl's classroom you see neat and nice rows of smooth and shiny desks in neat rows. You also feel warm air brush your skin with warmth. If you turn to the left you see a overhead and a whiteboard that smells like multiple smells of exp markers. If you turn back around to the right you see cupboards with nice, and neat stacks of paper. In and on the cupboards are critical thinking games, math books, and stacks of homework. If you feel the carpet it is rough and rugged. As you walk through the desks they feel silky smooth, oily, and you can see your reflection. They smell like expo markers. As you get to the back you see Mrs. Scholl's desk. It has many neat stacks of paper and pencils, pens, and pictures. Behind it is filing cabinets and books.
When class has started you hear talking and whispering, writing, and rustling of papers, books, and writing utensils. Half way through class you hear questions being asked and answered. Most of the time you hear Mrs. Scholl speaking with a firm but nice and helpful voice. When you walk out of Mrs. Scholl's classroom you take one last glance. Then enter the hall to start new adventure!

Noah S.

Going to the lake

Boring, boring, yawn, I am so tired! "I hate this three hour trip."

   We pulled in the drive way, there was a bunch of cars, I saw. We got our bags of clothes, our laptops, and everything else out of the car. We walked in and their was my cousins grandma, she showed us around the house. Then  Lauren, Hannah, and I put on our swim suits, we ran down to the beach and swam 75ft out to the raft, there we saw, her aunt Angela and her son, Conner. Here comes her other cousin, Kyle, in the paddle boat. I hopped in and drove it around. Before I drove it back to the shore, I looked at the view of the lake, and saw a bunch of boats and people behind the boat tubing.

             The next day, we woke up and ran to the house (because we slept in the trailer outside in the woods) had breakfast and jumped in in our swim suits and ran o the water. Couple minutes later we were getting ready to go tubing. We had three tubs, one-one person one, one two person one, and one flat one for two people. I went with on the flat one with my cousin, Lauren, Hannah and Matt went on the double one, and Kaitlyn went on the one person tube. We went really fast and of course I fell of first because my cousin was taking up all the room and my swim suit bottoms were slipping off. 30 minutes later we parked the boat and us three,  ran into the shower and stood there getting warm.

           The next 2 days we did the same thing but tonight we did something extraordinary we did karaoke at midnight! Before we went to bed Lauren's uncle, Chris, told us about the "Swam Monster" because there was a swamp by the drive way and the camper was some what near it. Half an hour later we were watching movies on our laptops. Then all of a sudden we here knocking on the camper door. 2 minutes later, Lauren yelled,"stop or else I am going to rip your head off!" so they stopped.

     The morning were the same and that morning I went skiing. Then after that I buried dead fish that I found on the shore.

            Fourth of July! We went tubing, the wave looked like it was going to sallow you up . No one fell off the tub until I did a flip off my tube it gave me a huge headache. That night we connected 2 pontoon boats together we sat and watched fire works.

      The next day we packed up and said our good byes. We packed into the car and drove off.

                          Fun, fun, fun I don't want to leave!

Jenna K.

The Funny Car Experience

When I went to Cordova, Illinois for the World Series of Drag Racing, it was pretty mild until the funny cars. When the funny cars would start up in the pits you could smell and taste the nitrous fuel. It was terrible. It would make your eyes water and your nose and throat hurt. Surprisingly, a lot of people like it.

When these monstrous cars would race with 2 daring drivers going 260 MPH. Imagine the intensity in the car and the wind coming  in the stands. The cars look like 2 fast moving flames. In the night it is the best. You can go to any IHRA or NHRA drag racing event. You will love it!

Ty S.

Courage articles

Please leave a comment on this post telling about the article you read and your thoughts about the article.

If you found your article online, you can copy and paste a link to the article in the comments. Do that by highlighting the web site address (URL), going to your edit menu, clicking "copy," clicking into the comment box, going into the edit menu again, and clicking "paste."

Here is a picture show how you should fill out the comments box:

Tips for commenting on MrGoerend.com

This weekend, I will ask students to comment on a blog entry. A couple of tips and ground rules for commenting: the commenting system I installed on the blog will ask for a name and and email address. Remember that for your name, students need to use first and last initial only followed by your period number. For example, Scotty Jones in my 3/4 block, would sign his comment SJ3. When the form asks for an email address use student@mrgoerend.com. This is a dummy address that does not actually work, but it fills the requirement for an email address.

Parents are encouraged  to comment and can use any form they'd like. One idea could be Mom of SJ3 or Dad of SJ3.

I hope that helps avoid any confusion.

Students blogging their descriptive writing pieces

We are beginning a descriptive writing piece. Today, students worked on choosing a topic. We will be focusing on using details and sensory words in their writing to aid the reader in painting a mental picture.  We will also work on organization.

Students will be blogging their descriptive writing pieces on this blog -- MrGoerend.com -- which was created and is moderated by me. All comments to the writers and posts by the writers are moderated by me before they show up on the blog. We have discussed in class the safety and privacy issues surrounding a project like this. Students know they will sign their blog posts and comments with their first and last initials only. If you have any questions, please talk to your 6th grader about our classroom blogging discussions, and feel free to contact me. We hope that you -- parents -- will participate in our blogging experience as well, not just by reading, but also commenting on our students' writings to share in this positive experience for our students.

Students need to be writing for the authentic audiences they will experience for the rest of their lives. We live in a world that is getting smaller -- in a good way. As you can see in the visitors map on our blog, we have people from all around the world visiting our blog. This "small world" is something we as educators need to embrace. A recent article in Wired magazine has this to say about the freshman class at Stanford University:

The fact that students today almost always write for an audience (something virtually no one in my generation did) gives them a different sense of what constitutes good writing. In interviews, they defined good prose as something that had an effect on the world. For them, writing is about persuading and organizing and debating, even if it's over something as quotidian as what movie to go see. The Stanford students were almost always less enthusiastic about their in-class writing because it had no audience but the professor: It didn't serve any purpose other than to get them a grade.

from: http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/magazine/17-09/st_thompson 

A little late, but better than never

Some great ideas here for starting off the year on the right foot.

10 Tips to Start the School Year off Right

Here's one I really liked:

3. Don’t ask your kids about grades, test scores or homework.  Instead, focus on the content of the subject. (Instead of “What did you get on the test?” say, “What are you learning in science?” If you are connected to some school communication tool (like Schoolloop) you can look at homework assignments and grades privately. Benefits: you are teaching them to take ownership of their own schedules. You are letting them manage their own time. You are taking the focus off scores and putting it on learning. You are alleviating stress in their lives.

I'm a believer in this tip. We need to stress to our students that learning the content, concepts, and skills is what's important, and that when the content, concepts, and skills are learned, the grades will be where we want them to be.

I encourage you -- parents -- to contact me about your students' grades. I understand that grades are the quantifiable measure of their learning. But I also want you to engage the content, concepts, and skills they are learning. That engagement is truly what I hope this blog can be for you. I would also encourage you, though, to take the information I give you and focus the conversation with your students on the content, concepts, and skills.

As always, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me. If you're feeling adventurous, you can leave a comment on this post and get a conversation started!

Courage Wordle 3rd period

3rd period visited the library yesterday, so we did their courage Wordle today.

Social Studies test tomorrow!

It should be in your students' planners, but if not, there is a Social Studies test tomorrow. Studies can use the study guide we checked over in class today to study.

Courage Wordle 5th period

I've been putting up grades on PowerSchool

Parents and students,
Please realize that overall grades will fluctuate wildly these first few weeks as I'm putting up more grades. My suggestion would be to focus on each assignment at this point -- actually that's a decent suggestion to stick by all the time. If you focus on each assignment, your overall grade will be where you want it.

Mr. Goerend

Journal Topic 9/4/09

Any big plans for the long weekend? If not, what do you wish you were doing?

Have a great weekend!

Description mind map

Today we used Bubbl.us to create a mind map of our discussion on description. This map would be something worth going over with your students tonight after school.

I just realized that one of the "easy" bubbles was covered up when I exported the mind map. Unfortunately, I've already closed the map so I can't retake the picture. Sorry!

Magazine Sales

Magazine sales started yesterday. You can find out more information on Ms. Graham's wiki .

Journal Topic: 9/2/09

In one paragraph, describe a scene from any sport. Include these words:

• bounced
• struggled
• spied
• roared
• collapsed
• giggled
  

From: Unjournaling: Daily Writing Exercises that Are NOT Personal, NOT Introspective, NOT Boring!

Descriptive Writing

Today in Language Arts, students wrote descriptive paragraphs about something in our classroom. The goal was for them to be specific enough that the the "something" could be guessed, but vague enough that we wouldn't be able to guess it on the first few guesses. Because of shortened schedule, we won't have time to guess them today, but you can ask your student to read it to you and attempt to guess what it could be yourself!

Journal Topic 9/1/09

How many ways can you find to say no? Write ten sentences that say no in various ways, but without using the word no.

From: Unjournaling: Daily Writing Exercises that Are NOT Personal, NOT Introspective, NOT Boring!

Tour of MrGoerend.com

A quick tour of this blog:

The first thing you should do is subscribe to get updates sent to your email. You can do that with the Subscribe gadget at the top of the sidebar to the right. As the year picks up and we quickly move from procedures to content, I will update more often with what we're doing in class.

I don't plan on updating this blog with a planner-like list of daily homework assignments. One of the expectations I have of my students is that they keep an updated planner for themselves. I give them time at the beginning of class to copy from the white board each class's agenda. Parents, this is something we can both work on to hold our students accountable. As I take attendance each class period, I walk around to make sure students are writing in their planners. Ask to see your student's planner at night.

Next on the sidebar is Search This Blog. Use this if you can't quite find something you know you saw on our blog. It only searches this blog.

After that are the Blog Archive and Labels. These are two ways to navigate and find things on the blog. The archive organizes blog posts by date. The labels organizes by the labels I put on each post. You can think of labels as folders. I'll put a couple labels on each post. For example, I'll label this post "tour" and "blog." As this blog grows, more posts will be added to each label. So, if you want to see all posts about this blog (new features, etc.) just click the label "blog."

Double click any word! is my favorite little toy on this blog. If you double click on any word, it will give you the definition of the word. As a Language Arts teacher, how could I not love this!

Last, but definitely not least, in our side bar is Call for help! If it hasn't been made obvious yet, along with a love of reading writing, I have a passion for technology. When I got my Google Voice account, I was extremely excited for the possibilities it held. If you ever have a question for me, click on that gadget, put your number in, check the "keep my number private" box if you'd like, and hit call. Within seconds, you will get a phone call. Answer it and it will connect you with me. I want to be accessible to students and parents, but I'm not ready to give out my personal cell phone number to all my students and parents. This gadget gives me the opportunity to open up that accessibility, while maintaining my privacy and yours. Use it when you need it!

That's it for this tour. If you have any questions, leave a comment!

Toy Paragraph

Students in Language Arts (I think their schedules call it English, but I must be old school; it'll always be Language Arts to me) have been writing Toy Paragraphs these last few days. It is a combined personal essay/comparative essay. I use "essay" loosely as most of the writings are a paragraph or two long. This is just what we're looking for at the beginning of the year. We would like to see where our students are as writers and this essay gives us a bit of a pre-test.

So far, students wrote a first draft, then shared it with partners using "pair-share" to find out what their readers felt were their best comparisons. After that they wrote a second draft emphasizing more detail on those comparisons. We're now working on getting rid of dead words, and students will hand in a final draft on Monday. The final draft should be either typed or written in blue or black in. Cursive or print is fine. In a final draft, I'm looking for a student to take pride in submitting their best work. I hope this pride translates into few if any punctuation and grammar errors and writing they have spent time polishing.

Ask your student to read their Toy Paragraph to you!

Wordles

As part of our classroom decor, I put up these "Dead Wordles." I used the website Wordle.net to create them. The biggest word is the "dead word," a word that is so overused it has nearly lost its meaning. The smaller words are "live" synonyms. Students can refer to these while writing.

Today, students created their own with paper and pencil. Look forward to pictures of their additions to our Wordle Wall soon.
The Wordles students created should be in their writing folders in their binders. If they brought their binders home, ask to see their Wordles!

Scribble Maps

Today we did an activity in Social Studies using a wall map and the website Scribblemaps on the LCD projector. Students discussed two locations: their favorite they've traveled to, and their dream destination. On the wall map, students put a blue sticky on the place they want to visit and an orange sticky where they've been. On our Scribblemap, I put a blue placemarker where students want to go and a yellow one where they've been (orange wasn't an option.)

Toward the end of the period, students shared that they learned about their classmates and also about where places are on the map. Success!

Here is a picture of the wall map:




Here is the interactive Scribblemap. You can drag it around to see the whole world, zoom in with the + and - in the upper left, and click on the placemarkers to see the first names of the kids.