What do you want to be when you growup?

Career Day was such a success! Each class had about 3-4 speakers from the community come talk to them about their career, so all of the students heard about several different career options. We had Presley's mom (a journalist/radio commentator/blogger/owner of a tour bus company) and Luka's mom (a physical therapist) visit us along with a counselor and a computer tech. I wish I had someone come talk to me about all of these neat careers when I was younger!

Roberts Recycles/Earth Day

I've never been a part of such a wonderful group that is so into recycling. Our school did many different things to help us remember that we need to be good to our Mother Earth. In honor of Earth Day, the third grade hosted a book exchange between all of the classes. All of the kids that participated were so excited to get their hands on the books that their friends just got finished with reading.

 Mrs. Combs' group has worked so hard on heading up our recycling program that we have gained national attention for it! You can click here to see what other states are participating as well (http://wecanchange.discoveryeducation.com/elementary-school/about-challenge/2011-challenge-winners/2011-elementary-school-finalists/). My kids were in charge of decorating the recycling bin. Little did I know that it was actually the size of a dumpster when I volunteered to help. Thanks to the Gornattis, Mrs. Martin, and Mrs. Lashbrook for donating supplies and your time! The weather really made it hard for us to finish decorating it in a timely manner. But the bin turned out beautifully, don't you think? I think everyone needs a gold dumpster in their backyard. ;)

After all of their hard work, Radio Disney came to our school to help them celebrate their hard work for Earth Day.

Presley was chosen to share a speech about the Recycling Project. She did a great job!

Camp ACTAAP

Wow! I'm so proud of Team Dees for doing such a great job on the Benchmark test! They all worked soooooo hard during this week while testing as well as the week before when we got ready for it!!! We kicked off the Benchmark Test with Camp ACTAAP.

Dees Stadium was transformed into our very own camping grounds.

We had Eagle Scouts visit us to give us pointers about camping and nature.

No camp-time would be complete without S'Mores. The funny thing, though, was that the chocolate melted due to the heat and the marshmellows didn't. Either way, it was all still delicious!

Then we let the kids be kids that afternoon and get out all of their energy. It was fun to watch my kids interact outside of the classroom. I love how they all play with each other!

After they got all warm and toasty, we met the 4th and 5th graders in the Gym for a Benchmark Pep Rally. We made "rain" with our hands, watched the cheerleaders, and had a special performance by our own rock band! ;)

The Monday before Benchmark started, we drew names to give out prizes to all of our hardworking students. These were just some of the lucky winners.

Because of Winn Dixie Celebration

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Who says that reading is boring? Not my class! Look what can happen when you throw yourself into the story! What a great way to play an April Fool's joke, too. The class didn't think that we would get to watch the movie like the other 3rd grade classes did. Ha!

The room was transformed into the party scene from Because of Winn Dixie while my Team was in Music class. I wish I had a camera to capture their faces when they walked into the room...total surprise. Thanks, Robbin and Mom, for helping!

 The kids got to enjoy Egg Salad Sandwiches and Litmus Lozenges while watching the movie.

I know Taylor loved them since he always tells me how hungry he is. :)

Abby said that Egg Salad Sandwiches are her favorite food.

Carter was NOT a fan of the Litmus Lozenge.



Skylar and Machiya loved the Litmus Lozenges. Machiya said that she felt the sadness (you have to read the book if you don't know what she's talking about).



Cole thought the Litmus Lonzenges were real good, but he didn't taste any sadness. Luka said they were "a big fat taste in the mouth" (in other words, he loved them!).

Taylor, of course, loved the lozenge, becuase it was something else to eat. Camryn thought they were very tasty!

Bennett said that they were the best candy in the whole world!



Mystery Readers

Jason's mom introduced us to The Paper Bag Princess.

See how much joy you can bring to a child's face just by reading? They were listening to Presley's dad read When the Relatives Came.

We have loved having our Mystery Readers come visit us nearly each week. The kids have been so close on figuring out almost all of our readers...they are good about narrowing it down to about 2 different people each time. Thanks to all of you who have already come and we can't wait to see who the next reader will be!

We went to the Historic Arkansas Museum for our field trip today. Thankfully, the rain held out until we got back to school! The kids had a blast learning about what life was like back in the 1800s. I think a lot of them were shocked to find out how Americans lived back then (i.e. used old corn cobs as toilet paper, had separate buildings for kitchens, and slept on pillows filled with corn shucks).

Coreyuna learned what it would be like to get a drink of water back then. She prefers the way we do it now...go to the water fountain.

Some of the group learned about the clothes back then. Did you know that the shoes didn't have a left or right foot? Most of the students were in agreement that they like today's clothes way better!

Some of the group learned how "weird" school was back then. Bennett didn't like that the boys had to sit in the back and that they had to use tablets instead of notebooks. However, Maggie thought that the use of a feather pen was AWESOME!

One of the groups got to try on clothes from back then. Luka is modeling a pretty cool pair of pants. Most of the group decided that he looked like Mario from Super Mario Brothers.

Taylor got to model a jacket from back then. It looks similar to a pullover nowadays. Some of the kids thought he looked like Dracula.

Is Abby wearing a chef hat from today or a ladies' hat from back then? She's actually modeling a hat and a shawl from back then.

Each of the groups got to see a house from back then. In this picture, the students were identifying objects that could have either kept them warm during the Winter (the bed, rugs, hot drinks, and fireplaces) or cool during the Summer (tall ceilings, covered the fireplace, opened the front and back door to create a breezeway).

Davidson discovered what the pillows from back then felt like. The only soft pillows that were around were filled with cotton and those were for the more wealthy people. Most of the pillows, however, were filled with either dried corn husks or feathers.

Carter thinks that he'll just save up his allowance to buy a nicer pillow rather than sleep on a corn husk pillow. :)

Need a place to stay and don't have any money? Well, back then people would trade things for a night's stay at a hotel. The students got to feel this real bear that someone traded in to stay the night.

The kids had an extraordinary time at the museum. I think you can tell by their faces.

Instead of going to Burns Park because it might have rained, we came back to school to eat lunch in the Flex Space. The kids loved getting to eat in the Flex Space then playing on the playground until it rained.

Thanks for a fun trip!!!!

Are you recycling?

The 3rd grade GT students have been researching information about recycling. I have learned a bunch of interesting facts about how much "stuff" we waste daily! The kids have started a recycling program here at Roberts and I know I have personally become more aware of what I am throwing away.

Remember that we are still participating in a recycling contest for digital cameras, cell phones, and ink cartridges. As of last week, we were in 1st place (BUT BARELY)! Please remember to recycle and help out Team Dees!