Please don't eat me for Thanksgiving!

We have been studying author's purpose in reading and writing. We have learned a saying to make it easier to remember what the author's purpose might be. It's as easy as
P- persuade
I- inform
E- entertain

We have not had a lot of experience with persuasive work so we decided to write a persuasive letter. The assignment was for the students to pretend they were a turkey and try to persuade people not to eat them for Thanksgiving.
We did this as a center rotation and the students typed them up themselves in computer class today. I am copying and pasting directly off of what they typed.
Since most of them did not sign the letter with their name- I wrote the name of the author below the letter.

Dear Armes and Johns family,
Please do not eat me! Eat chicken! It’s way better than me. I’m just rotten old turkey. Eat something else like pumpkin pie or cranberry sause. OR MAYBE SALAD JUST DON’T EAT ME! I’m not as good as anything of the things I just said. Go to Chick-fill-a. They have chicken. Just don’t eat me.
Sincerely your friend, Terriffic Teresa the Turkey.
[Aubrey Armes-Johns]

Dear chef,
Don’t eat me for Thanksgiving. Or I will slap you on the side of the head personally. But if you do don’t cook me with butter. But please not with stuffing.
Sincerely,
Super Turkey
P.S. I taste bad
(Alex)

Dear peoples,
Don’t eat turkey for thanksgiving.
I don’t like the taste of your mouth!!
“ewwwww!!!”
I don’t the feel of the gun.
I love being alive and free.
From Bob the turkey
(Jack B.)

Dear caperini family,
I don’t care!
I do not I repute do not want you to eat me! Eat bean soup, Pumpkin pie, or cranberry souse! Anything! No turkey here is 8 reasons why;
1 I have 1, 00000 kids and 8 wife’s
2 I have no food
3 I am rotten
4 chickens is better
5 I have 1, 00000 kids
6 8 of my wife’s died
7 I have no other good reasons
8 I am really skinny all of the feathers are feathers 36 inches deep.
Please I’m rotten I stink I’m skinny
Yours truly (sniff)
Bo- Bo Turkey
(Josie)


Dear people,
Never eat turkey for Thanksgiving or ever.
And don’t shot us!
And don’t hunt us down!
Or are mom will eat you up!
So don’t eat turkey eat chicken!
From,
Turkey
(Jake)
P.S. Never eat TURKEY!

Dear peeps,
Do not eat me for Thanksgiving, go to chick filet and share your chicken
With Santa . Don’t eat me because you need fruit like steak or beef.
Don’t eat me because I do not taste good, I taste like dirt. Do not eat me
because the gobbletairy will get you. Do not eat me because you need
Gatorade.
Gobble yo,
T turk
(Kinsey)

Dear Richter family,
Please do not eat me for Thanksgiving. I am a kind Turkey. I want to live. Here are two reasons. I have ten wives. Ten of them are dead.
Sincerely,
Ryan Turkey/
(Ryan)

To the Losee’s family.
Don’t eat me! I have one kid and one wife! I also taste like a frog on a log in the
Bog with a hog in the fog! Eat something else! Like a chicken or something.
From turkey chicken pig.
(JACK L .)

Dear Yoyo’s,
Or…. Well, whoever you are! Don’t eat me! Because I’m haunted and I taste horrible. Please , I’ve got 8 wives and 2 beautiful children. I’d hate to die! Please, eat chicken! I don’t care if he’s my best friend, eat him! Uh-oh! Here he comes now!
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Signed ,
Terrible Turkey
(Sammie Losee)
If you eat me I’ll peck you until you die!

Dear people,
Do not eat me for Thanksgiving if you do I will smack you across the face.
I have 96 daughters and 1 son . Eat something else for Thanksgiving like pumpkin pie
Or some chicken from chick fill a . Don’t eat me because its against the gobble
Law or if you eat me I will call the gobble turkey cops.
Sincerely,
Goble gobble turkey
(Hailey)
p.s. I taste bad


Dear somebody,
Please don’t eat me I taste gross. I have one wife and 200 kids. If you eat me my 200 kids will attack you. Oh and did you know that I taste horrible. I tasted my self today and I am yuck. Please don’t eat me! Please don’t eat me! I repeat please don’t eat me! It really hurts when you shoot turkeys!
Sincerely,
Theadore the Turkey
(Luke)
P.S. Please don’t eat me!

Dear china boy,
PLEASE DON’T EAT ME! I’m very small and wouldn’t fill you up. You can eat a rooster. Also I just ate raw octopus. If you eat me I’ll poke you with my sharp beak.
Sincerely,
Turkey
(Trey)

Dear dudes and dudettes,
I am mad because you are going to eat me for Thanksgiving!
Because I have a wife and 8 kids. Chickens are much fatter they don’t have any kids. Also because I have space issues and will make your tummy explode. I am wealthy so I will give you 1,000 dollars. So please I’m begging you please don’t eat me.
Love,
Chicken turkey
[Casey]

Dear people of earth,
Please do not eat me! I have 50 kids!
I won’t make a meal either! That big
Fat chicken over there is much
Much better me! Beside’s I’m skinny! I’m
Slimy too! Even though I’m juicy I’m
Bad!
From,
Cameron Turkey
(Cameron)

Dear peoples,
Please do not eat any TURKEY!!!!!!!! Turkey tastes horrible/gross. Have some salad instead. Or have some pork. Or have some hot dogs. Have a pie. The cows at Chick Fil A say eat more chicken.
Love,
Tommy Turkey
(Thai)

Dear somebody,
PLEASE DON’T EAT ME! Because I tasted my self and I tasted like poop! So I tell you
Don’t eat me! And even if you don’t listen to me you won’t even kill me! And I will also
Slice of your head!
From: Speed the turkey
From: U.S.A
(Follow chick-fill-a to eat more chicken not turkey! P.S)
(Michael)

Dear everybody
Don’t eat me! Because I have 100 children and 500 wifes. I roll in slime so if you
eat me you will be full of slime. Start listening to the chick-fill-a cows they say eat more
chicken not turkey! It is against the gobble- gobble laws to eat me! So I will smack you
and you will fall down and break your head. Or I might shoot eggs at you and you will
break your legs and arms. If you try to eat a cookie I will peck them up.
From,
Gobble Slime Turkey
P.S. I’m Discusting!
(Nathan)

Dear people,
Do not eat me I taste like a rotten egg. Do not eat me because it is against the gobble law. I have 5,000,000 kids and 5 wife’s 2 got eaten. Eat chicken because I’m too old to die so eat chicken. Because the cow at chick filet says eat more chicken. Or he will smack you in the face so no turkey. Or I will give you a hard attack and eat you for dinner.
Sincerely, super tom slime turkey.
(Ian)
p.s. if you eat turkey I will call the gobble gobble police.

Dear cook,
DO NOT EAT ME because if you do I will peak you into pieces with my beak! I roll in mud! Start eating chicken at chick-filet EAT FROGS IF YOU ARE A VEGERTARIAN!!! I have1000 daughters and 0 son’s! If you eat me I will call the gobble-gobble cop’s!!! And gobble-gobble sensation!
Sincerely,
Gobble-Gobble cops
(Mikayla)
P.S.I stink for Thanksgiving!!!

Dear American civilization,
Please don’t eat me for Thanksgiving! I am your Bud. I roll in mud. So eat something else for Thanksgiving. What about a frog that lives in a bog? Just do NOT eat me!
-Sincerely, Turkey Lurkey
(Eli)

Gracias the Thanksgiving Turkey

Happy Thanksgiving!
We read a book called "Gracias the Thanksgiving Turkey" and spoke about what it meant to be thankful.
After reading that book the children wrote letters to their parents/caregivers to thank you for what everything that you do for them.
Here are those letters:

Dear Mom and Dad,
Happy Thanksgiving! Thank you for caring for me and my sister. Also thank you for feeding and buy stuff for me. For an example when you bought tons of Webkinz. You are the best Mom and Dad ever!
Love,
Aubrey

Dear Mom and Dad,
Happy Thanksgiving! Thank you for buying me all of my legos. Thank you for feeding me. Thank you for buying my room. Thank you for taking care of me.
Your son,
Jack B.

Dear Dad,
Happy Thanksgiving! I'm thankful for the things you do for me. Heres an example: You get me food and supplies for school ext. I love having you for a parent. Hope your Thanksgiving is wonderful.
Sincerey,
Josie

Dear Mom,
Happy Thanksgiving! I'm thankful for the things you do for me. Here's an example: you keep me healthy, you take care of me, ext. I love having you for a parent. See you soon!
Love,
Josie

Dear Mom and Dad,
Happy Thanksgiving. I am thankful for you buying me video games and legos. I am also thankful for shelter. I am also thankful for food and water. I am also thankful for dessert.
Love,
Jake

Dear Parents,
Thank you parents for what you do like feed me and love me. You also tuck me in and let me sleep. Another thing is you give me drinks and drive me to many places. You also had me and let me play. You also care for me and let me watch TV.
Your daughter,
Kinsey

Dear Mom and Dad,
Happy Thanksgiving! Thank you for caring for me. Thanks for tucking me in at night. Thanks for buying me video games. Thank you for being a good help to me.
With love,
Ryan

Dear Mom,
Happy Thanksgiving! I am thankful for the house and you. I love you so much for everything. I am thankful for you and my pets. You will make Thanksgiving great!
From,
Jack L.

Dear Mom and Dad,
Happy Thanksgiving! I love you both alot! Thank you for all you've given me! You give me food, you give me cholthes, you do my laundry, you give me shelter, and you're there for me when I'm hurt. You're the best parents any kid would want to have!
Love your daughter,
Sammie

Dear Mom,
I love you and Happy Thanksgiving! If I didn't have you I would be broken hearted. Your the one who holds me together. Thank you for all you have done. I can't wait to spend time wiht you on Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving!
Your friend,
Hailey

Dear Mom,
Happy Thanksgiving! I am thankful for when you buy me clothes. That is why you're the best mom in the world. I am also thankful for shelter, toys, and food. That is why you're the best mom in the universe.
From,
Luke
P.S. I really mean it.

Dear Dad,
Happy Thanksgiving! If I didn't have you I wouldnt go to football games. Thank you for my room and video games. If I didn't have you I wouldn't have Xbox 360. Thank you for food and drinks.
Love,
Trey

Dear family,
Happy Thanksgiving! I am so grateful to be with you today. I am thankful for shelter. Also I am thankful for food, water, and clothes. I am happy for that you bring me to disney world, etc. I love you as much as the world.
Love,
Casey
P.S. I love the animals in my family too!

Dere Mom and Dad,
Happy Thanksgiving! I'm thankful for having awsome parents. Thank you for all the toys you buy me too! Also, thank you for my bed! That must have been 100 dollars!
Love,
Cameron

Dear Mom and Dad,
Happy Thanksgiving! I am thankful to you because you give me things that I need. One thing is food. I also thank you for shelter. For example, my room and our house.
Love,
Thai
P.S. I love you.

Dear Mom,
Thank you for making our dinner and doing important stuff. Thank you for being nice to me. You're the best mom ever. I hope you have a happy Thanksgiving day. For making dinner and doing nice stuff, I'm going to give you a flip-o-rama and a card. Happy Thanksgiving!
From: Michael
From: U.S.A

Dear Mom,
Happy Thanksgiving! Are you excited about eating turkey? Well, I'm not because I don't like turkey! I think you should be thankful for getting me a room to sleep in. I thinkthe pilgrims would love you because you make good food. So you should eat the best turkey.
From your son,
Nathan

Dear Mom and Dad,
Happy Thanksgiving! I love you because you bring me to Avetchre Landing. Youa re nice when you buy stuff. I will never forget what nice things you do for me. You are the best parents in the world.
Love,
Ian
P.S. I love you.

Dear Mommy,
Happy Thanksgiving! I am thankful for all the food you give me! Thanks for doing my londrey. Thank you for helping me with my homework. I'm very thankful for you trying to get us a house so we can live in it alone!
Your daughter,
Mikayla
P.S. I love you!

Dear Daddy,
Happy Thanksgiving! I am very much thankful for taking me out to dinner. Thank you for letting me have, ok, share a tv in me and Brucie's room. Thanks for making us food. Thank you for all the books you buy us.
Love,
Mikayla
P.S. I love you.

Dear Wende and T.J.,
Happy Thanksgiving! Thank you for everything! I love you from the deepest ocean to the highest sky! You are truly the best! You wonderful parents you!
xoxoxoxoxo
Sincerely,
Eli
P.S. I think the turkeys are having a bad day!

Think Tank- President

Time flies when you are having fun! This is the third think tank that we have done and shared. It was about Presidents- past, present, or imagining you were Presidents- this lined up with the elections that were going on. There are 6 total activities split between two postings! Happy reading and watching!

Aubrey and Hailey attempted this activity. They didn't do it exactly right, but even so, they found out good dates of important events that happened during several presidents lives.

In the videos below, the girls explain what they would do if they were president of the country.

Think Tank- President cont...

All of the students below participated in theis activity. Under that I have written a few things that each student has included as "important" for the President to have.

Eli- 4 lawyers, bowling alley, pool table

Luke- picture of the first president, bathroom

Jake- restaurant, ice cream place, plasma TV

Cameron- pet, bathroom, laptop, slide that turns into stairs

Sammie- bounce house, movie theater, spa

Josie- bathroom, library with books to read, hall for shortcuts, big round table

Mikayla- eagle rug, dining table, desk

Alex- desk, computer, ceiling fan

Ian- cupholders, robots to clean his table

Nathan- pencil sharpener, triangle table

Casey- bathroom, room to stay overnight, hair place (for a girl president)

Here is a picture of Cameron's Oval Office complete with slide!

Here is a picture of Casey's Oval Office from an aerial view.

Below is a picture of all the students who particpated in this activity. Below the picture is one question that each child asked.

Mikayla- When were you born?

Luke- Would you like to be President again?

Eli- How many electoral votes did you win by?

Casey- Why did you want to be President?

Kinsey- Was it fun being President?

Below is a picture of all the students who participated in this task. For each child, I wrote a few things that they included in their "perfect school."

Nathan- Healthy food is free, junk food costs 75 cents.

Aubrey- Breakfast, lunch, and dinner will be served.

Sammie- Books in a baggie so when you press a button it shrinks to fit in your backpack.

Jake- The school would be guarded.

Luke- A smaller janitor room so there is more space.

Casey- Robots to clean the classroom, robots teachers too!

Jack B- A buying lunch robot with a kitchen inside of him- so you don't have to wait in long lines.

Ian- A robot cafe where the robot has 6 arms to do lots at once.

Alex- A secret passage way to get to the principal's office- you drop down into it. If you are bad there are spikes down there.

Thai- A smaller track then we have now.

Eli- Fresh Food and Smoothies!

Alex had a great drawing of his school's floorplan.

The students were able to make a business card in any shape that they wanted. Eli specified on his business card of exactly what he was sworn into doing as President.

Here is a picture of all the children that participated in activity #6- creating a business card.

Fun With Yekttis

In math we met these adorable creatures called Yekttis.
We are sorting them depending on certain attributes.
The shapes of their heads varies from square, triangle, diamond, and hexagon. They have either 1, 2, 3, or 4 antennas. They have either plain eyes or ringed eyes.
We are playing a game called Guess My Rule with these Yekttis. To make it a little more complicated we have played this game with two rules. Some of the Yekttis fit in both of these categories, so we needed an appropriate place to put those cards. We have also learned about the word "outlier" which is applicable when a Yektti fits neither rule.
We thought a Venn Diagram would be a great place to sort this information!
Here are a few pictures from our games today. Notice how some groups are using the labels, which are hard to see, that say rule 1, rule 2, both rules, or outliers.

Owl Pellets

We dissected owl pellets today. Don't worry, we wore gloves to protect our hands from germs. All the kids got their own owl pellet and got to examine all the interesting animal bones that were not able to be digested by the owl. We got out our hand lenses and observed all the neat things we found. Below is a close up of Josie who found the remains of a skull! I took pictures of all the remains the kids found. There is even a picture of the sheet we filled out after we completed the activity.

I enjoyed it when we found bones because I found a skull and I want to do it again. By: Josie

I think this activity was awesome. I found 13 bones. I think the inside of the pellet was really stinky. But all of my bones were really small.

By: Nathan

I like it when we found the bones. It was really stinky.

By: Mikayla

I didnt like it because it smelled like poop and looked like poop!

By: Michael

I liked to see the bones because it looks cool.

By: Alex

I thought it was fun and I want to do it again.

By: Kinsey

I found really cool bones and fur and feathers. It was awesome when Josie found a skull. The activity was the coolest in the world.

By: Luke

I thought it was cool. I want to do it again but with more bones.

By: Trey

I liked doing the pellet activity because we got to see bones inside the body of a wildlife animal.

By: Hailey

I liked this activity very much. I liked it more than anything else..

By: Eli

I loved the owl pellet but it smelled. I would totally do it again! It also looks like a stinky old fossil!

By: Casey

I think it was really cool because it was black. The bones were really small too.

By: Aubrey

I liked when I found all the bones.

By: Jack B.

I didnt like it because it smelled like poopy.

By: Jake

I thought it was gross plain gross it was fun though it was fun! (chuckle, chuckle)

By: Sammie

I thought finding bones was cool.

By: Ryan

Puzzling Squares

Another activity from Tin Man Press was done this week. It was called Puzzling Squares. It was another activity where the kids had to listen and follow directions that were said orally.

This was called Puzzling Squares because at first they didnt realize what the squares were going to turn out to be. In the end, they turned into different types of people. Square 1 was a clown, 2 was a boy with a baseball hat, 3 was a man with a beard, 4 a girl with a bow, and 5 was a robot.

After we were done, the kids were able to add any other additional details that they wanted to the pictures.

Art Poem

For morning work one day this week we worked on an activity called "Art Poem."

They were given a poem that read:
Here is a creature
That has just a grin.
Give it some hair
And some lumps and a chin!

The only part that was drawn in on the picture was the squiggle of the monster's grin. This activity worked with originality and creativity. Here are some that I thought were the most original and creative! As a whole they all did a great job with this activity.

This creature was drawn by Josie.
These creatures were drawn by Ryan and Cameron.

This creature was drawn by Eli.

Election Day 2008

This has been a very exciting time in school. We have been covering America's Government in Social Studies and learning a great deal about the upcoming election.

During class last week we got to fill out our very own voter registration card. Mrs. Anker even brought in her real one for us to see!

Here is a close up of one of the voter registration cards.

The cafeteria was our voting precinct. We came in and the ballots were waiting for us with a pencil. We also made sure that we had privacy during the voting process.

After voting we went to turn in our ballots and collect our "I Voted!" sticker. The fifth grade student council members helped out with the election.

Here we are sporting our "I Voted!" stickers after voting.

Fall Festival

We were able to celebrate our Fall Festival on Halloween. We got to play a fun skeleton game, circulate throughout 5 neat centers, and bounce eyeballs into a cauldron also! We had a great time and can't wait until our next party!
Here are a few pictures of what we did at all the different centers.

We made cute bats using our hands at this center. You can always remember how small our hands used to be!
This center consisted of making slime using corn starch, glue, food coloring, and water. We loved getting our hands dirty!

At this center students created candy necklaces.

At this center the students created scary cookies and got to decorate them!

At this center the students rolled marbles around in paint to create spider webs. The paint even glows in the dark!