Day 50, Candace Clark-Red Ribbon Week Coordinator

Red Ribbon Week 

Our school honored Red Ribbon Week in order to raise awareness about staying drug free. We had many activities and theme days to try to reach as many as possible. We got to kick things off with a pep rally that included the Championship Katy HS Tiger football players, cheerleaders, Bengal brigade, and drum line as well as a mascot dance competition and teacher games.

Each day during the week, we had a different theme as well. On Monday we wore our pajamas as we “Put Drugs to Sleep.” After school we had a “Homerun, Drugs Aren’t Fun” Staff Kickball Game. Our Cheetah families came out to watch the teachers play kickball. A great time was had by all!

On Tuesday, we said “Peace Out to Drugs” and wore our best tie dye and bright colored clothes. Wednesday, we wore our silliest socks in order to “Sock it to Drugs!” and on Thursday we showed that we are “Crazy About Being Drug Free” with crazy hair day. We ended the week on Friday by wearing our best 80s gear to show that “A Drug Free Life Rocks” ! It was totally rad! 

Throughout the week we also participated in door decorating with fun drug free messages, signing class pledges, wearing our red ribbons each day, and talking about the importance of a drug free life. We had a great time this week! Check out our slideshow.

Day 49, Courtney Gunn & Diane Litchauer, PTA

Candy Land

The aroma of sweets filled the teachers' lounge on Wednesday as it quickly was transformed into a Candy Land!  Generous donations from families and the PTA made today's special treat possible for the teachers and staff.  From chocolates to taffy to everything in between, there was no shortage of delicious treats.  The teachers and staff were very appreciative and enjoyed seeing the names of families on the "gumball" wall. 

Not only were they treated with sweets, they also got to drop their names in a drawing for some great door prizes!  A candy cane wreath, a harvest wreath and fancy FALL mantle letters were created by a crafty PTA mom.  Another yummy door prize was donated by a new "all natural" candy store, MarMar's Candy Jar.  The winners of these awesome prizes were Kathy Ramirez in PreK, Tami Boltz (her wreath is now displayed on the Music door), Principal Bell, and Ms. Fellers.  Congrats to all the winners!  Thank you to Emily Eichhorn, Kim Black and all of the parents who helped make the buffet possible.  Our cheetah family 

is the best!

Day 47, Melissa Nored-Librarian

Book Spine Poetry

During the last nine weeks 5^th graders have been studying poetry of all kinds.  They’ve discussed various forms of figurative language, rhyme patterns, and rhythm.  Ms. McVey and Ms. Harmon borrowed lots and lots poetry books from the library in order to expose their  students to great variety – from Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost to modern poets like Shel Silverstein and Jack Prelutsky.  I decided to help wrap-up their study of poetry with a fun activity in the library.

Students were instructed to pick eight books at random from pre-selected stacks of books not knowing how they would use them.  Then we reviewed the definition of free verse poetry: no rhyme, no rhythm, and often has irregular lines.  I shared a couple of my favorite free verse poems including this classic by William Carlos Williams:

This Is Just To Say

I have eaten

the plums

that were in

the icebox

and which

you were probably

saving

for breakfast

Forgive me

they were delicious

so sweet

and so cold

         Next, I told students that they were going to work in small groups of 3-5 students to create a free verse poem.  But here’s the guidelines – you can only use the titles of your group’s eight books.  In other words – produce a poem from the words on the spine of the book:  book spine poetry.  They were able to add articles, prepositions or be verbs if needed to help make the poem flow smoothly.  That’s it!  The amazingly creative minds of our 5^th graders went to work, and the results were phenomenal!  Take a look and enjoy the poems.