Donuts with Dad

Dylan and his dad

Isabella and her grandfather

Dayjha and her daddy

Canaan and his dad

Taylor and Sophia with their daddy

Jacob, his younger sister and dad

Austin and his dad

Jacie and her dad

My Thanksgiving in Chicago

I was so excited to be in Chicago

at the Thanksgiving Day Parade! 

A real live ghostbuster!

I saw Santa driving a jitney!!

This was a life-size gingerbread house in our hotel.

Don't you love hearing the drums in a marching band?

I love this man's hat!  Everyone was trying to keep warm in the freezing temperatures.

 

The best part were the giant balloons. 

Wheel gymnastics, anyone?

I love to go to Macy's and see how they decorated their windows.  Here are a couple of elves in Santa's candy factory making fudge.

This was another parade watcher!

 

Check out Taz before and after the parade!

 
Me and Jillian catching a quick nap during Black Friday shopping....12:00 midnight!

Pet Ambassadors' Trip to the Shelter

Thursday, November 21

Promote-a-Pet

As part of our "Walk on the Wild Side" unit we are planning to "Promote-a-Pet" at our local Humane Society.  After a visit by the shelter's manager, Ms. Ingrid Norris, to each of our 4th grade classrooms, we thought of a way we might be able to help. We chose two classroom pet ambassadors.  Two students that could meet at the shelter, representing their classroom, and pick two dogs, not to actually adopt, but to become their marketing agents for 30 days in order to find them their "forever homes." Those lucky students were Taylor and Dylan!

In the process we will be learning all the ways we can get the word out to as many people as possible about our wonderful dogs. Blogging, social media posts, power points shown to our friends at school while they are eating their lunch, commercial ads played on our school's news show, posters made from using a "Pic-Collage" ap, flyers and brochures handed out in our neighborhoods and to our circles of friends and relatives.  We even thought of making some placemats for local restaurants.  So, let's start by introducing you to a couple of wonderful dogs:

 

Awwww! Everyone wanted to hold this little baby and it's easy to see why!!  We should really apologize because we woke her up just so we could hold her!

But, after looking over more than 30 hard-to-resist dogs we chose  two that we wanted to free from their cages immediately.  We want to introduce you to Mary!! She looks pretty in these pictures, but you have to see her in person to understand why she needs to be in your life.

Mary was friendly from the start. But, not the" jumping up and knocking you over" kind of friendly. Someone had already taught her a lot of manners as you can see here.

And check out her healthy, shiny black fur.

 

 

                                   She asked if we could take a "family portrait" right away.

Don't worry Mary!  We'll find you the perfect family.

Another great thing about Mary was that she was not camera shy.  She seemed to know that the more pics we took, the closer she was to finding a place to call home.

She even loved Sophia, Taylor's younger sister, who talked to her in a kind of high voice the whole time.  : ) So, young kids won't be a problem for this great dog!  She stayed calm even when two of us wanted to reach out and touch her.

Take a look at those gentle, big, brown eyes.  She will be your BFF for LIFE!!

 

If you would like Mary to greet you like this when you get home from school or work, rush to the Humane Society right away and tell them Oakland Elementary School sent you! 

Mary will be waiting for you!!

 

 

Our second dog is Lima.  She was so happy we picked her that she even stood still for a few pictures before we played with her.

 

 

Lima told us she was a little worried that she would stay at the shelter forever.  She's been there for over 60 days!  

You have to admit, Lima has a lot of character in that face!

 

 

Look at this "between the leg" trick she learned.

 

Lima also knew the word "treat".  Mrs. Johnson surprised her with a banana and chicken treat and she came running! 

 

It was sad to leave Lima, but we promised her we would do our best to find her the perfect family before Santa came, so she could have her own special stocking filled with treats this year.

Cat Condo Projects in Progress

 

 

 

 

Walk on the Wild Side

 

One of the projects included in this unit is to build cat condos for the kitties at the Humane Society.  We couldn't wait to get our boxes and start planning our designs.  Wait!   We have to make blueprints first?  Six elevations?  To scale?  7 days later we were ready!

 

 

Well, we did it!  All blueprints are finished.  (2 doors, 8 X 8, front and right side....windows are extra!)  Now to copy those plans precisely to match the front, back, bottom, right side, left side, and top sides of the box.  This may take a while... 

 

Here's Kam, Destiny, and Austin trying to get the measurements just right:

 

Sometimes these projects are frustrating!

 

Isabel and Aaron really got into a fringed yarn doorway.  Too bad they had to dismantle their idea after we checked on whether it would be accepted at the shelter.  Ms. Norris said cats loved yarn so much that they may eat it and then get sick!

 

Amber Fawn and Sam were sure that duct tape would make the condo last forever.  Check out that triangular window:

Carolina Gamecock tape?  Gotta have it!  Just because some members of the cat family don't like Gamecocks, this one might.  Thanks Joseph, Dayjha, and Dylan....good work!

This is serious work.  Isabella and Kenzie have a plan to make their condo the best ever.  Stay tuned for the finished product!!

 

Dominic, Cameron and Taylor were determined to entertain their cat with a toy hanging down from the doorway.  Hopefully, this will pass the safety test.

Well, the roof is finished...who can we borrow more tape from?  Mrs. Johnson is all out!

 

Stay tuned for our finished products.

 

Historic Brattonsville field trip

Cotton! I'm going to take this home and make a t-shirt!

There's enough here for all of us!

Since Jacie shared her earmuffs I'll share my cash crop.



We couldn't convince this Loyalist to change sides!!

I cannot believe this morning was a normal day in Spartanburg and a few hours later I have time traveled to this place and I'm in a field picking cotton!!

I want you to know about this brave slave named Watts that lived on this plantation.  He volunteered to fight for the Patriots in exchange for his freedom...and we all know how that turned out!

I think I can imagine how the soliders felt in Valley Forge with General Washington when the temperatures dropped to freezing, but they couldn't give up; they had to keep fighting.  I need to toughen up and pretend these boots are keeping my feet warm!  :  )