Well, yesterday was a surprise snow day, and just think - no school on Monday either.

We just finished a fabulous story about a family that spent their life sailing on the high seas.

ER thought the story was terrific: "My class and I just read about a girl who has been out at sea her whole life. I loved the story, especially the part when there is a storm and the ship was tipped over on its side and they all thought they were going to die. I am glad the ship stood back up!"

AG wrote; "I can't believe some people would live on a boat. That would be hard, because I would not have a single Slim Jim at all! Another bad thing would be that I get sea sick, plus the kids had to go to school six days a week instead of five. I would hate that (no offense.)

Not everyone loved the story. DF gave it two stars: "There was nothing that interested me."  GC thought the parts about the kangaroo falling off the boat and the pig diving into a hot tar pot were unnecessary.

Now we are reading about life in tidal pools ... something Maine children know a lot about.

We ended the year with a Readers' Theater piece. All the students got to act out roles in different plays. One group even had to build shock resistant containers for a 30 foot egg drop.

What did the critics think of our plays?

"We kind of acted it out and actually pretended that we were there. There were a log of different types of acting. You really had to act it out to understand the plays."  C-

"As I scan through the crowd, I spot one person who stood out. That would be G- as Chef Rudy. He was so good. I thought he was Chef Rudy!. Amazing job, G-man.    J-

"I like watching people do plays. Our class did an awesome job! I can't wait for the next play.!"  GL

We tried something new for our robust vocabulary words. Here is a comic strip by one of our writers:

Have a great vacation. See you all in 2011!

Hi all, and welcome to Mrs. Wilson's class blog.

We have just finished a story about Charles Dent, an airline pilot who devoted his life to building a 24 foot bronze statue designed by Leonardo da Vinci.

What did the students think? Here is what they have to say:

"I enjoyed this story because I like learning about famous people from the past. I love how Charles Dent made the horse because Leonardo didn't get to. I also love how they continued working on the horse even after Charles Dent died. This story made me want to learn more about da Vinci." AL

"Leonardo's horse is a great story! Art! Dreams! Inventions! It is spectacular. It's about a man's dream to complete what Leonardo da Vinci couldn't finish ... a 24 foot bronze horse." JC

Mr. Wilkinson, a literacy specialist, has started working with our class. He helped the students create comics with their robust vocabulary.