We Have Moved!

Hello Friends,
We have moved our class blog for 2013 - 14 school year to: mrstharpsclassblog.weebly.com
We hope that you will visit us there. Our student blogs are linked to that site as well.
Thank you for visiting us.
Mrs. Tharp's Class

BE INSPIRING

I have the amazing opportunity to share a couple thoughts with you incredible bloggers!

As teachers we seek to inspire you to love learning, to grow, to dream, to wonder, to question, and to become greater than you thought possible. However, there are things that you may not know (Pernielle Ripp). You inspire us!  

You inspire us to do things we never thought we’d be brave enough to do (Mrs. Vilas's Fabulous Fourth Grade Writers)! You have all become fabulous writers! Now, how will you lead fearlessly?

You challenge us to think more than we ever thought we could! Will you remember to THINK (If Only the Best Birds Sang)? We are reading Wonder by R.J. Palacio. We like the precept “When given a choice between being right and being kind, choose kind.”  Will you remember to “be kinder than necessary”?

You remind us how special we all are. We are all unique (Welcome to the Jungle: The Lions Learning Den)! What are you uniquely gifted to do?

 Most importantly - You are important! How will you make a difference in your school, community, and the world? Please read the The YOU MATTER Manifesto at the bottom of the post (Angela Maiers).  What contribution will you make?  What gift will you give? What impact will you make? How will you choose to matter?

You are an amazing group of young people! Thank you for allowing the world to witness your learning.  Keep writing, creating, and connecting! You are an inspiration to us all.

Thank you,
Mrs. Tharp

Our Digital Footprint - Challenge 6

We have spent a lot of time in class talking about how to be safe on line.  Here is our list of things to remember:
1. Keep your private information private!
     *Don't give out your last name.
     *Don't give out your phone number.
     *Don't give out your address.
     *Don't give out your birthday.
     *Never share your passwords.
2.  Check your privacy settings.
3.  Only go to sites your teacher or parents say are okay.
4.  Be nice and say kind words.
5.  Be yourself.
6.  Be truthful.
7.  Think before you post.
8.  If you see something bad online turn it off and tell your parents.
9.  Remember not everything on the internet is true.
10. Once you put it online it is there for good.

We hope this video makes you think about your digital footprint.  

Are you leaving a positive mark on the world?

The Forest - Challenge 5

We created stories about a forest for Challenge #5.  

Many students used Storybird to tell their stories.  

You can check out their stories on their individual blogs.

Here is Madisyn's story.

Using an Image in a Post - Challenge 4

We learned how to use a picture legally in a post in this challenge.  We learned how important it is to give the photographer credit.  

Do you use pictures legally?  

You can check out more of our pictures on our blogs:  Shaun, Byron, Mike, Andrew, Madisyn, Carlito, and Noel.

This one is by Makayla. 

I like Baseball! How do you think he jumped so high? Do you think he caught the ball? I think this is a cool picture!

Baseball

Photo Credit: Tom Clifton via Compfight cc

Creative Writing - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - Challenge 3

Student Blogging Challenge 2013

Challenge #3

The challenge this week was to get creative and write about reducing, reusing, and recycling.  Mike wrote a great story!  

There was a  boy named Bob he likes to go swimming, and play soccer in the summer but  his favorite thing is to make art. He got inspired from his art teacher and he started to make art when he was 4 years old. One day there was  nothing to do he was bored. But suddenly! Bob got an idea he was going to make a art project. So he went upstairs to his room he grabbed all of his art supplies. Then he went down stairs he looked for some things he could used for his art project he found popcans, water bottles, plastic, and glass. Then he started on his project he threw the extra stuff in the recycling bin. He glued the pieces together finally he finished. Next day he tooked the project to school he showed it to everyone. One kid said  how did you made this ? thats a very good question Bob said. I used popcans for the eyes, some newspapers for the body, water bottles for the arms, and glass for the mouth,  and a cap for the nose. the art teacher said can I bring this to the museum Bob thinked about it then he said sure! So every year he would visit the museum  even when he became a adult he would still remember that  day working on it.

Top 10 Jobs We'd Love to Have - Challenge 2

Student Blogging Challenge 2013

Challenge #2

The challenge was to write about our top 10 jobs.  10 of us each gave our top pick to develop this list.  Check out our individual blogs for our complete lists!

1.  Train driver - Andrew

2.  Fix trains - Carlito

3.  Work at a funeral home - Madisyn

4.  Auto mechanic - Byron

5.  Work as a model - Noel

6.  Be a pop star - Brianna

7.  Take care of dogs - Brooke

8.  Movie actor - Shaun

9.  To be a Doctor - Makayla

10. Designing video games - Mike

Top10 People We'd Like to Meet - Challenge 1

We are participating in the Student Blogging Challenge 2013.  

This is challenge #1.

Here is our class list of the top 10 people we'd like to meet, and the questions we would ask them.  Some of us have complete lists on our individual blogs.  Feel free to visit us.
1. Billy West (voice actor for Ren and Stimpy) Did you hang out with friends when you were younger? - Mike
2. Ringo Star (voice actor for the old Thomas the Train and a Beatle)  Why did you go from drumming to narrating? - Carlito
3. Kelly Clarkson - How did it feel to win American Idol? - Makayla
4. Justin Bieber - Are you coming to Buffalo for a concert soon? - Brooke
5. Kendall (from Big Time Rush) What is your favorite song? - Shaun
6.  President Andrew Johnson - What was your favorite food? - Andrew
7. John Deere - Why did you pick the color green for the tractors? - Byron
8. Alice Green - Is there going to be another Twilight movie coming out? - Brianna

9. Big Time Rush - Can I have a backstage pass/ - Dannielle

10.   Ben Roethlisberger - What does it feel like to win a super bowl? - Noel

World Read Aloud Day

March 6^th was World Read Aloud Day.

We learned that 793 million people cannot read!  We spent extra time reading that day.  We also thought of some ways that we could help people that don’t know how to read.  Here are some of our ideas:

We can read for them.

We can read to them.

We can help someone when they get stuck on a word.

We can give them a book that’s easier to read and then keep pushing them with harder books.

We can show little kids the pictures in a book..

We can give books away that we don’t read anymore.

 We can teach someone how to read.

We can be a good friend and not make fun of someone who can’t read well. 

We can record a book for people to listen to.

We can do a lot of things to help, what can you do?

Dignity For All

Here is our class project from February.  We hope you enjoy it.

Rock the Presidents by Shaun, Andrew, Noel, and Makayla

We went to Sheas in Buffalo to see Rock the Presidents.   There were 3000 people there so it was a loud audience.  We liked the show.  They sang 28 songs!  The songs were all about our presidents.  They led us as we waved our arms back and forth, did fist pumps in the air, and other fun motions.

The Cast was just 3 people:  Yolanda London, Eric Boudreau, and Colin Ross.  They had cool outfits, nice shoes, lots of energy, and good voices.  The 2 young men ran out into the audience 2 times.  They ran to the back of the auditorium and then back to the front giving high 5’s along the way.  Two of our favorite songs were: They Got a Dog,, and Hail to the Chief.  We also liked Are You a President-to-Be? 

They taught us some interesting facts about our past presidents.  We played a game called Presi-tron.  They described a president and we had to try to figure out who they were talking about. 

Here are some facts we did not know:

Ronald Reagan once tried stand-up comedy.  Gerald and Betty Ford were fashion models.  Ulysses S. Grant got a speeding ticket on a horse.  President Obama collects “Spiderman” comic books.

After the show, we picked up a pizza at Marks Pizzeria on our way back to school.  It was a long ride.  We all ate in the cafeteria before going home.  It was a really fun day.