Quarterly Parties!

I can not believe how fast 

                                                                            October

has flown. I have so many things to post so I am hoping to keep them in order so not to confuse people each day.  The end of our first quarter of school was October 10.  It has been so much fun working with my set of "SMARTIES" this year.  They are such a great group of students but some need some work on learning how to be responsible and respectful to others.  They are great with me in the classroom but when they leave my room, a few think the rules don't apply to them anymore.  I am sure that some of the teachers and parents out there know what I am talking about. Anyway, our second grade team decided last year that we would have Quarterly Parties for those students that showed responsibility and respect throughout the school day, including the bus rides to school and home.  Here were the requirements for them making it to the party.



·         Homework was completed (80%) for the whole quarter.

·         80% behavior in the classroom and specials.

·         NO office referrals

·         In class assignments were turned in on time and done to the best of their ability.

  What a difference we saw with homework being turned in, behavior in specials improving and no office referrals.  SO on October 10, 2012 we had our first quarterly party of the year.

Out of my 17 students that I have in class, only 3 of my students could not participate in the activities. It is a hard thing to have them miss this fun day (and sometimes it is hard on the parents too) but on the other hand it is a good life lesson.  They need to learn that there are consequences for the actions that they choose.  I will tell you that two of the students who missed the party this last time are on track to make it to the next party.  They are both working really hard at getting their homework turned in. :)  So anyway, that is how we decide who gets to come and who does not. On with the show!!!

As the students come into the classroom, the music from ToyStory was playing in the background.  Some of the students dressed up as cowgirls and cowboys for the day and others wore their normal clothes which was perfectly fine. As we started our day, the students made their own cowboy hats.  They cut them out and decorated them and then we fit them around their heads with cut sentence strips.  They looked adorable on them.

                              

 

After we were done making our hats (about 30 minutes), we headed outside for the hoedown activities.  We had three stations that the children would participate in: 

1) Barrel Racing  

2) Steer Roping   

3) Hay Hauling

Each station was about 30 minutes long.  We were at the Barrel Racing first.  Each student was able to pick the color horse they wanted to ride. I was the official time keeper.  I showed the students how to go around the barrels and how to follow the spray painted lines so that they did not get any points taken off their time for going the wrong way.  What fun!  The student with the fastest time won a belt buckle from Pretty Prairie's Largest Night Rodeo.  Here are some fun pics of the students.

This is me giving instructions for the barrel racing.



                                      

Isaiah was the winner of the Barrel Racing.

    

After that event, we went to Roping Steers. This was fun to watch because none of my students this year have ever swung a lasso before.  Last year, I had a couple of boys who did very well and helped the other students learn how to do it.  It was a learning experience for them all this year. 

   

                           

Angel was the only student who roped the steer!

The last station that we had was the Hay Hauling activities. I put my class into two teams and they had to move the hay bales from one side to the other side.  It was kind of like a relay race.  They had so much fun cheering each other on.

                    

We were busy, busy, busy that morning.  The students went to lunch.  After lunch, we started making our homemade Rootbeer.  That was a lot of fun and a little eerie. These are my teammates. They made the homemade rootbeer and I took the pictures.  It was very good and the dry ice made it even better.  The kids loved it.

                    

After making the rootbeer, we had to let it brew for about 30 minutes so the students moved all the desks and put down their sleeping bags or blankets and pillows and we began watching the movie "Toy Story 2".  The kids were so ready to relax and eat some popcorn.  They so deserved this day.

We are now working on the second quarter of school and last year we did a quarterly party with The Polar Express.  This year we decided not to do that because kindergarten and first grade did the movie.  We are working on having a quarterly party with a Grinch Theme. We are so excited about that. If you have any ideas or know of a site that has great ideas, pass it along to me.  We already have an adult costume for picture taking.  Can't wait!!

What do you do to encourage your students to do their homework or to be good citizens outside your classroom?  I was going to try and do a Linky Party but after reading the information about it, I'm not sure I understand how to do it yet. So if anyone would like to email me how to do a Linky that would be easy to understand, that would be fabulous.  Thanks so much!

Until Next Time,

        Happy Blogging