Sauceless, Crunchy KFC Wings

The commercial begins with a young lady chomping into one of those wings and expressing surprise! "Wow! I didn't expect that!"

Well, rock essays were turned-in, today. My Rock Opera wall, outside of my classroom, features the works of those who attained a 20-out-of-20 on the essay. I must say. many of our children are talented writers, but, some . . . "Whew! I didn't expect that!"

For weeks and weeks they have been practicing restating the prompt in the introductory statement of any writing assignment in language arts class. Even writing for science is not new! So, why did some children refuse to restate the prompt, or even write an introduction that states they will be discussing the three types of rock?

Apparently, no one told some of these children about plagiarism. Some blatantly copied information directly from the internet, a book, even my background information.

Some kiddoes did not bother talking about the sedimentary rocks they made in class. Some did not mention the rocks I have on display on each table. Some did not reference the appearance, texture, feel, or color of the rocks on display in the room.

Some sufficed to write a single, three-sentence paragraph. Some never even got to mention the types of rocks, but, rather, discuss the sandstone, shale, conglomerate and limestone, they made in class.

The skill is there. Orally, they communicate, quite well. The written language is a difficult skill to master. It is something that must be practiced over and over and over, again. Parents! Insist your child use a graphic organizer before writing. Encourage use of a dictionary for the pesky spelling of words. Read your child's assignment and comment accordingly. Do not let them give up or whine about writing. It is a skill that will benefit them -- FOREVER!!!!!

I love these kids -- they are fantastic!!! I must, however, be the taskmaster and insist on quality work!

Have a great weekend .

Writing An Essay

How would you compare the three types of rocks found on Earth? There's sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic. The munchkins have been working on this assignment since Tuesday. It is due TOMORROW!!!!!

Have a good night

Aaaarrrggghhhh!!!!!!!!!

Shovel the snow, then go back three hours later, and shovel again. Then, this morning a layer of ice that needed ice melt and a good scraping. Then, more snow. On top of that!! The silly furnace burps. Kudos to Montour Oil. They were here within the hour. Heat is back on, and I just scraped and shoveled the last of the snow.

Time for coffee.

Have a great night.

Early Dismissal

Snows a'comin'. Does not excuse you from science work. You were given a writing assignment, today. The packet, "Building Rocks, From the Ground, Up," explains your prompt and the rubrics.

The assignment is due on Friday.

Early dismissal: 12:45 p.m.

Have a good night.

Dr. PappaZ Is In

My dentistry office has opened! Yep, today, it was like pulling teeth.

Sedimentary rocks were made and displayed, today. Observations were made and comparisons were made to igneous and metamorphic rocks. Little dialog in the groups. They made it seem like a dreary task, rather than a chance to examine first-hand how sedimentary rocks form. Today's theme was making stones -- of course, I popped in a Rolling Stones CD.

Ho hum. BASE ended-up being an SSR time. No one seems interested in archaeology. Too bad. There is a plethera of fascinating stories floating around this old town.

Social Studies was about the freedom of religion. Only problem is, the munchkins were praying for class to end.

A very disappointing day, indeed.

Good night.