After May 7th Look for Google Finalists, if one of the is below:

WASHINGTON NEEDS YOUR HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


The Week of May 12 - 18, 2008 we will need the public to vote for our ART ENTRIES on the Doodle for Google website. This is our opportunity for students to win a college scholarship and our school to win computers.
Here our 5 entries:

Anniversary of the Trip to the Moon by Robert Vial
John Deere Tractors by Hayden VanMeter
Celebrate Art by Yulissa Ramos
Honor Our War Heroes by Sophie Kundson
Heelys Speed you Along by Zack Thomas

The website is www.google.com or www.google.com/doodle4google

PLEASE VOTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Washington Intermediate Newsletter April 2008

From the desk of Mr. Doug Barry:

All students in grades 3rd through 8th will be taking the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) during the week of April 7-11. These tests are very important for giving parents and teachers feedback on the progress students make. During the first full week of April, I will be talking to every student about why we take this test. We will take a look at their scores from last year and set goals for this year’s test.
To help us out, please make sure your child gets plenty of rest and eats a nutritious breakfast,. Help them to realize that much information given on the test can be understood if he/she tries hard and does his/her best. We want our scores to reflect how hard we have worked and how much the students have learned. These tests are very important.
Please avoid scheduling doctor and dentist appointments during the morning or early afternoon hours.


Any parent or business
interested in providing a class, grade level or all the students with a healthy snack during testing week should contact the school today. We also have a need for ‘brain-awakeners’ like
lifesaver mints (spearmint, winter fresh, etc.). J Please call or email Stephanie Ehmke (ehmkes@roschools.com) today! Thanks!


To help children prepare adequately for tests, you can do several things to provide support and create a positive test-taking experience.
1. Make sure that your child is in school during the testing sessions. Do not plan any doctor or dental appointments on test dates.
2. Make sure that you are aware of your child's performance and that you can help interpret the results when they become available.
3. Remember to keep well-informed about your child's tests. Know how test results are used, and how they will affect your child's placement in school.
4. If there are major differences between standardized test scores and school grades, find out why.
5. Encourage your child to listen carefully to all test-taking directions given by the teacher and to ask questions about any directions that are unclear.
6. Encourage your child to read the directions carefully and to go back over the test if they have time.
7. See that your child gets his/her regular amount of sleep before the tests and is well-rested.
8. Make sure that your child eats his/her usual breakfast on the day of the test. Hunger can detract from a good test performance.
9. Encourage your child to do his/her best.
During testing week, ask your child how they did on that day’s test.
Celebrate each night or at the end of the week by doing something
special as a family (read a book, play a game, make a special dinner, etc.)

These 3 students (Leatha Bennett, Donnie Torbett and Brenna Craig) are going with me April 7th to do an interview with Jerry Dietz promoting National Library Week April 13-19. On April 18, our school will be hosting a community-wide readalong party in Fountain Square Park from 11:30-12:30. Sack lunches will be served to the students and we will eat for 1/2 hour and then read a book for 1/2 hour. We are inviting the businesses, parents, community, etc. to join us for a fun-filled hour to honor the importance of reading in our lives.


April 2008 Calendar
Week of 7-11 ITBS Testing
18th 2 hours early out
Professional Development
16th Young Writer’s Conference
@ Graceland College leaving early-returning late to school be aware of time changes
21st K-5 Science Fair at Inman 3:45 PM
21st 5th grade Vocal music at ROMS
Week of 21-25th ICAM Testing

My Kind of Flower
My kind of flower has pink and purple petals, blue leaves, and an orange stem. My kind of flower has a yellow middle. My flower says “Bubbles” on it with green splats of paint on it. That’s my flower, what’s yours?
Leatha Bennett 4th grade


Parents support the arts education in Iowa. This organization is for all covering music, art, theatre and dance for students. I’m sure they will be here to support Red Oak when our new fine arts center is open. Visit the website below...

http://www.smartz.org/


Red Oak is the only Iowa school with an exhibit in the “Feast for the Eyes” in New Orleans ! Check it out on artsonia.com


Trip to California, Mexico and Florida
When I was nine I went to California. It was so cool! After that I went to Mexico to visit my brothers and sister who live there. My mom said this summer I am going to Florida by myself with my cousin Megan. I haven’t seen her in a long time. I am so happy that I’m going to Florida. It is going to be so cool.
Corrina Budka
4th grade


The Black Pony
Once there was a little girl named Zoey. She went camping with her mom, dad, brother, sister, and her dog. She built her tent. It was a Barbie tent. She didn’t like Barbie so she traded with her big sister because she loved Barbie.
I know it was weird, but Zoey got the big tent. She set up her blow-up bed and then everyone made smores. They were good. Soon everyone fell asleep by the fire. Zoey’s mother and dad put her in her tent. Everyone was all snug in their blankets.
Later, Zoey heard something outside. She went outside and saw a bear. It was coming toward her. She screamed, “Ahahahahahah!”
She fell down a ledge and landed in the water. She got up and went on shore. She saw the bear right in front of her. Right then a pony came running and scared the bear away. Zoey thanked the pony and gave it some carrots. She said, “I have to keep you somewhere safe.” She put the pony in the barn she saw down the road.
When Zoey woke up she ran to the barn. The pony was gone! She saw the pony in the forest eating grass. She got behind a bush. They were berry bushes and other kinds. It was beautiful.
The pony heard Zoey say something. The pony ran. She caught the pony, put a rope around it and tied the rope to a tree. She built a barn of her own and put the pony in it. The pony liked it and fell asleep. Zoey was happy!
Alexis Wall, 4th grade


Young Writers’ Conference
We went to Miss Chelsvig’s classroom and asked her questions about Young Writers. She gave us a lot of information.
Young Writers is a conference where third, fourth, and fifth grade students meet and share with each other stories that they’ve written. This year it will again be held at Graceland College in Lamoni on April 16. Three students from each third, fourth and fifth grade classrooms will be attending. The students will leave very early in the morning and not return until after 5 P.M. It takes over two hours to get there. While at the conference the students get to attend different sessions that have to do with writing and reading. It’s a full day and everyone always has a great time.
Miss Chelsvig is excited to go this year because she hasn’t been to Young Writers for over ten years!
Brooke Samms and Eric Roberts


Iowa Tests of Basic Skills Are Coming!
(We interviewed Mrs. Bates.)
We will be taking I.T.B.S. April 7-11. This is why we take them.
We take I.T.B.S. because they help us see how we compare with other kids in Iowa and across the United States. They are important because they guide what teachers teach us and they show us our strengths and weaknesses. Most of the questions on I.T.B.S. are multiple choice.
The tests are hard for kids who don’t pay attention, so make yourselves pay attention and learn all you can. Remember to get plenty of sleep the nights before the tests, and eat good breakfasts. We all want to do the best we can.
Shayla Duplain and Corrina Budka, 4th grade

The Missouri Tigers
“Playing this year for the National Championship are the Missouri Tigers and the Kansas Jayhawks,“ said Brad. “The 13 and 0 Tigers are going to be playing the 11 and 1 Jayhawks.”
“QB Chase Daniel is going to have a great game,” said Lee.
“The #2 Jayhawks are going to have a rough game today,” said Kirt.
“We’re here in Orlando, Florida. I’m Brad Nesller here with Kirt Kirbstreat and Lee Carso.”
“The weather isn’t going to be a factor for this one as the #1 Missouri Tigers and #2 Kansas Jayhawks match up,” said Brad.
“The key player to watch today is Chase Daniel. He’s an outstanding QB. I’m looking forward for him having a great, great game!” said Kirt.
“Alright, let’s go to midfield for the coin toss,” said Brad.
Missouri, heads! Receive. Kansas, tails! Kick.
“And, it looks like we’re all set,” said Brad. “And it’s OFF!
“Jeremy Maclin gets it!” said Lee. “He could go all the way! TOUCHTOWN, TIGERS! 7 to 0! “
The Tigers built their lead to 45 to 0 by the end of the first quarter.
“In the second quarter Kansas still hasn’t scored a touchdown!” said Kirt. “58 to 0.”
“In the third quarter Missouri’s quarterback threw five touchdowns! 89 to 0! At the end of the game it was 146 to 0. Missouri was the NCAA champs!!” said Lee.
“We hope to see you guys next year,” said Brad.
Written and illustrated by Ethan Hewett, 4th grade


I.C.A.M. Tests Are Coming!!
Parker & Ethan: What does “ICAM” mean?
Ms. Chelsvig: It means Iowa Collaborative Assessment Module.
Parker & Ethan: When are we taking them?
Ms. Chelsvig: April 21-25.
Parker & Ethan: What do ICAMs cover?
Ms. Chelsvig: Math and reading.
Parker & Ethan: Why are we given them?
Ms. Chelsvig: They tell us how we’re doing in math and reading.
Parker and Ethan: How do we study for them?
Ms. Chelsvig: The teachers work on geometry and essay questions with you.
Parker Wagaman and Ethan Hewett, 4th grade


Dinosaur Kingdom
Once upon a time one million years ago there was a pterodactyl dinosaur named Phill who ruled the kingdom. The kingdom was called Dinotopyia. One day the pterodactyl and a king got into a fight at the Dinosaur Stadium. They both gave up in the ring and the winner was…both of them. They were then MORE angry with each other, so they called for a rematch. That time the winner was the king of Dinotopyia. Then they lived angrier ever after.
Joseph Shipley
4th grade

The Penguin and the Fish
Scene 1: It takes place in the Arctic. Two penguins, Penny and Madison, are
fighting over a fish named Nichole.
Penny: Madison, get out of my way!
Madison: Why?
Penny: I want that fish more than you!
Madison: No! I want that fish more than you!
Nichole: Why do you want me? What about those other fish?
Penny and Madison: They’re not good enough.
Nichole: Why?
Madison: Well, you’re the best one of all the fish.
Penny: And you’re mine!
Madison: No! Nichole is mine and forever!
Nichole: Hello? If you don’t mind I don’t want to die!
Madison and Penny: But you look so beautiful and delicious!
Nichole: Thanks. I know I’m beautiful. I try my best. If you think I’m so pretty maybe you could just keep me as a pet.
Penny: Ok, that means that you will be my pet?
Nichole: Sure, but….
Penny and Madison: But what?
Nichole: But will you ask mom if it’s ok for me to be the pet of one of you?
Penny and Madison: Yup!
Madison: And, by the way…you are my pet!!!
Penny: No way!
Madison: Yes way!
Penny: But I called her first!
Madison: Well, well, I called her second!
Nichole: Why don’t you both share me?
Madison: Fine, but I’m only doing it because the “fish of wisdom” said it.
Madison whispered to Penny: At least that’s what Nicole thinks.
Madison and Penny giggle.
Nichole: I heard that!
Penny and Madison: Ok, we’ll share you.
Narrator: They all lived happily ever after.
Maria Pendleton and Hannah Shalters, 4th grade


The Underground Tunnel
On a boring, Sunday morning Charley’s mom told him to clean the basement. Charley went down to clean it, and he did. Suddenly he saw the door underneath the stairs. It was covered with wallpaper. He went to clean it. He opened the dusty door and was amazed to see that it was a tunnel. He walked and walked and finally he came to a door, not just large, but very large. Charley thought this room must have been important. He couldn’t find the key to the door, but suddenly he felt a lump under the rug. He picked up the carpet. He found the key to the door. He put it in the door. The door opened. He went into the room and was surprised to see gold everywhere. He saw a chest. He saw a huge, red ruby and picked it up. He also picked up the gold and the chest. Suddenly, the walls began to shake and the ceiling began pressing down. He ran as fast as he could. He just made it out before the whole wall collapsed. He ran up the stairs as fast as he could.
When he told his mother his mother was so excited they opened the chest. There was a metal, engraved map that showed where more gold would be. Charley and his mom would be rich forever. His mom never made him do chores again.

Eric Roberts
4th grade
The Crime Sisters
Hi, these are the sisters in crime, Hayley and Brittney. We are looking for crime.
“What’s this?” asked Hayley. “This looks like a job for the Crime Sisters!”
“Look!” said Brittney. “My radar says there’s a robber stealing some jewelry at the jewelry store!”
Off they went. “There he is!” shouted Hayley.
“You’ll never get past me!” yelled the robber.
“Oh, really?” said Brittney.
“Then how do you explain this?” (Pow, Bang, Pow!)
“You’ll never get away with this,” said the robber.
Join us next time with the Crime Sisters!
Brittney Schwartz
Hayley Benedict
4th grade

Angry Babies
Once upon a time there was a family and one baby. It was always messing up the house. One day the mom and dad cleaned the house and put the baby in his room because they were watching a movie. The put their baby in the cradle then put the movie in. The movie was called “Invasion”. It was kind of scary. The baby was so strong it broke out of the cradle. It was full of energy. It wrecked the house. The mom and dad were furious. They called the cops and the cops came. The baby scared the cops out of the door. The baby called for help. Two babies jumped through the window, breaking it, and said, “Did anyone call for help?”
Alexis Wall
4th grade

My Friends
My friend Cara is nice and cool.
My friend Shayla is so pretty.
My friends Parker, Shane, and Ethan are so nice.
My friend Leatha is so smart.
My friend Brittney is so, so nice.
My friend Joseph is so cool.
My friend Bailey is so, so, so pretty and I love her hair.
My friend Jasmine is so smart.
My friend Alexis is so shy.
My friend Maria is so cool.
My friend Chelsea is so smart.
My friend Eric is so smart.
My friend Hayley is cool.
Corrina Budka 4th Grade


Brooke
B is for beautiful, that is, cute.
R is for restless, unless you’re sad.
O is for obedient, that is smart.
O is for other things too.
K is for Kit Kat that I love.
E is for Easter with candy.
S is for super perfect, that’s cool.
A is for awesome, really cool.
M is for M & Ms that are good
M is for mommy that is sweet
S is for super that is a good job.
Brooke Samms
4th grade



Clovers
Leaf clovers, leaf clovers
Everywhere you go.
Left, right, wherever people go.
Big ones, small ones,
Pretty ones, bad ones.
Many ones.
The best of all is the one with 4 clovers.
Shayla Duplain
4th grade

The Race
This could be the race where number 9 wins, and we know it is going to be good. “So, what do you know about the race?” asked Mick.
“All I know is that there are 50 racers, “ said Shane.
“Me too,” said Mick.
“See you tomorrow,” said Shane.
The next day Mick said, “It’s here! It’s the day of the race!”
“Ok, ok, come down,” said Shane. “Here it is, 23 minutes and 42 seconds until the race. 23 minutes and 34 seconds…”
“It’s time!!!” said Mick.
“I hope number 9 wins,” said Shane.
3…2…1…and the shooting guy fired up and the race was on.
“Number 9 is in second place,” said Mick.
“Yeah, but other cars are closing in on him,” said Shane.
The race was soon over. “Here you have it. Number 15 came in first and number 9 came in second,” said Mick.
“That was great! said Shane. “See you in one year!”
Shane Cox
4th grade

The Passover is a feast occurring around Easter. It celebrates when Moses freed the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt. They celebrate the Passover with a feast called Seder. They celebrate in churches called synagogues. The Seder is the feast that lasts eight days.
P.S: Passover is a Jewish holiday.
By: Aaron Jackson, Gabe Nelson, and Gilman Cooper

Webkinz, Webkinz, and More Webkinz
One day a girl named Caitlyn, was taking a walk. She saw a sign that said, “Webkinz for sale”. She walked over. She asked Bob, “How much are they?
Bob said, “$12.00.”
Caitlyn said, “That isn’t a lot.” So, she bought three. They were a bunny, Chihuahua, and a pug!
When she got home she filled out their adoption papers online. Their names were Snowball, Tiffany, and Carmel. After Caitlyn got done, she called her friend Kendra. She said, “You need to get over here right now. I just got three Webkinz. Get over here, ok?”
When Kendra arrived, she asked, “What are Webkinz?”
“They are stuffed animals that come with a secret code that you enter online at Webkinz.com.” said Caitlyn.
“Wow! That’s pretty cool!”
They played online until it was time for Kendra to go home. Caitlyn asked her mom if Kendra could spend the night. Her mom said yes. After supper they got back online, but they couldn’t stay on for that long. When it was time to go to bed they stayed up and when everyone was asleep they got back on the internet. The computer froze, but luckily it soon unfroze. Then they heard a noise but it was just her little brother, Jake. Caitlyn said, “What are you doing down here?”
Jake said he was just getting a glass of water. He asked Caitlyn, “Exactly what are you doing down here?”
“Ok, you promise you won’t tell?”
“Yeah.”
“We were on the computer.”
“Why?”
“We were on Webkinz.com. You get addicted to it. When you get Webkinz it’s a habit. I tell you, a habit.”
“What’s a habit?”
“It’s when you get addicted to something and you can’t stop.”
“Oh, said Jake, “I thought it was something that you cook with. Well, now I know, so goodnight.”
“Ok, now since he’s gone, do you want to get back on Webkinz.com?” asked Caitlyn.
“Ok. I can’t believe you got three Webkinz at a time. My mom would never let me get three at a time. You’re so lucky,…..
Caitlyn said, “Yes, that’s me.”
Kendra and Caitlyn then clicked on “Curio Shop”. “I wonder what this is,” asked Kendra.
Caitlyn said, “I don’t know, let’s check it out. Wow, that’s cool. You can find gems and when you get thirty gems you get a Webkinz Crown of Wonder. That would be really cool.
“Hey, Kendra, do you want to see what the “Employment Office” is?” asked Caitlyn.
“Sure. Wow, you can perform jobs here and earn Kinzcash, but it says you can only do one every eight hours,” said Kendra.
“That’s too bad. Oh, well, I think I will do “Hamburger Cook”, replied Caitlyn.
“Ok, that sounds really fun,” said Kendra.
“Oh, this is really easy,” shouted Caitlyn.
“Well, that’s over with, Caitlyn,” said Kendra.
Caitlyn said, “I think we should get off, ok? Let’s go to bed now.
“Ok. Goodnight, Caitlyn!” yawned Kendra.
“Goodnight, Kendra. See you in the morning,” said Caitlyn.
Jasmine Forward and Bailey Bruce, 4th grade



The New Girl
Brittney and Ashley were BF (best friends). They wanted to know who the new girl was. The next day the new girl was at school. Ashley and Brittney asked, “What is your name?” She said her name was Zoey.
During math time Zoey didn’t know her math facts, so she cheated on Ashley’s paper. Brittney saw it and told Ashley. Ashley looked at Zoey, but she was doing her own work. Ashley then began to work. Ashley quickly looked and saw Zoey looking on her paper. Ashley didn’t want to tell on the new girl, so at recess she asked Zoey, “Why were you looking at my math test?
Zoey said that she wasn’t looking at Ashley’s paper.
Ashley said, “I saw you.”
During social studies Zoey didn’t know her capitals and states. They had a test and she looked at Ashley’s paper again. Later during social studies Mrs. Bruce passed back the math tests and said that Zoey knew her math facts.
At recess Ashley said to Mrs. Bruce, “Zoey cheated off my test.” Mrs. Bruce said that she’ll change desks.
Ashley said, “That will be great!”
The next day Mrs. Bruce changed the desks around, and Zoey sat in another girl’s desk. Brittney said, “That’s not where you’re sitting anymore, Zoey.”
Zoey said, “Whatever!”
Brittney said, “Look at the name tag.”
Zoey said, “This is where I always sit.”
Brittney said, “Don’t look at me! Mrs. Bruce changed the desks because you were cheating on Ashley’s test.”
Zoey went to the teacher’s desk and said, “Why did you change my desk?”
Mrs. Bruce said, “Because Ashley came in at recess and told me that you were cheating off of her test.”
So, at recess Zoey went to Ashley and said, “Why did you say that I cheated on your test? I didn’t cheat. You’re a liar. Do you always lie?”
Ashley said, “No. I don’t lie at all.”
“Yes, you do!” said Zoey.
“No, I saw you. Why are you saying mean things to me?” asked Ashley.
“Okay, I won’t cheat only if you change desks and you two help me with multiplication facts, capitals and states,” said Zoey.
Ashley and Brittney found out that Zoey cheated because she didn’t know her math facts, states and capitals, and she was afraid to ask the teacher for help.
Chelsea Green, 4th


Famous Birthdays in April
By: Kate Walker and Ana Ham
1. Eddie Murphy (actor)
2. Picabo Street (athlete)
3. Russel Crowe (actor)
4. Beverly Cleary (children’s author)
5. Jackie Chan (actor)
6. Mark Russel (writer)
7. Janis Ian (musical artist)
8. Tiny Tim (performer)
9. Thomas Jefferson (politician/U.S. president)
10. America Ferrera (actress)
11. Peter Frampton (singer)
12. James Monroe (politician/U.S. president)
13. Sir Alec Guinness (actor)
14. Jay Leno (performer)
15. Jessica Alba (actress)
16. Ralph Earnheart (race car driver)
17. Kirsten Dunst (actress)
18. Betty Ford (first lady of the U.S.)
19. Carmen Electra (model)
20. Queen Elizabeth 2 (queen of England)
21. Elizabeth Montgomery (actress)
22. Anne Sulivan (taught Helen Keller)
23. Leonardo DaVinci (artist, sculptor, and inventor)
24. Wilbur Wright (pioneer aviator)
25. Kate Hudson (actress)
26. Kelly Clarkson (first “American idol” winner)
27. George Lopez (actor)
28. Dale Earnheart (auto racer)
29. William Shakespeare (playwright, and poet)
30. Alfred Butts (invented the board game “scrabble”)
31. Saddam Hussein (Iraqi president)
32. Michelle Pfeiffer (actor)
33. Andre Agassi (tennis champion)
34. Coretta Scott King (wife of Martin Luther King Jr./ civil rights leader)
35. Michael .J. Smith (astronaut)


Fourth Grade Travel to Anderson Conservation Center

Ms. Karwal and students place signs to show phases of the sun along the trail.

On Wednesday, March 26, the 4th graders visited Anderson Conservation and had another fantastic lesson presented by Deb Karwal. Her lesson stressed the smallness of Earth compared to the rest of our Solar System. The students and teachers took a hike pacing off the distances between the planets. Comparing the sizes of the planets, and the distances between them, the Earth was just the size of a dot on a piece of paper. Mrs. Karwal is extremely knowledgeable and we appreciate her willingness to teach us.


Summer
Hi WIS! This is Chasity Green, Shelby Musland, and Jerrica Tarbox from Mr.Fehring’s 5th grade class! We read a book called The Martian Tales. It’s about a quirky, red haired, eleven year old boy named Sanders. His parents separted while he had plans with his best friend Joey. But Sanders had to go to Shady Point, Maine, for the summer with grandpa. The following is what we are doing over the summer.
Chasity Green: I might go to Disneyland. I’m moving to Council Bluffs. I can’t wait! I’m going to my cousins 5th b-day party. And I’m going to stay there for 6 days . What fun!
Shelby Musland: I’m going to babysit my little nephew. When I’m not babysitting I’m going to a friend’s. I’m going to Okoboji. And I’m going to Washington State with my step sis.
Jerrica Tarbox: I’m going to Fun Plex for my dad’s work. I might go to the zoo, and play with my friends. I’m going to babysitting school.
By: Chasity Green, Shelby Musland, Jerrica Tarbox!


Spring Break
Mackenzee : Over spring break I went to the mall and Plato’s Closet. It was really cool! I bought a lot of stuff. Also went to The Amazing Pizza Machine I won a lot of prizes and got on a lot of games.
Adam: I played games with my dogs and I hung out with my friends, rode my bike and ate pigs in a blanket.
Yessica: I jumped on my trampoline and hung out with my friends. I also went shopping. I got a lot of stuff and rode my bike and did a lot of other stuff.


Kickball
Kickball is fun. Donnie Torbett (that’s me) has kicked 22 home runs. Logan LeRette (That’s Me) has kicked 15 homerun. I've kicked 30 homeruns (Zach Thomas). I’m a better catcher. I rule at catching. I have caught a lot. Different classes play kickball every day.
BY: Donnie Torbett,
Logan LeRette
Zach Thomas.


What’s Bugging You
People see bugs as pests ,because they bite, sting, carry diseases ,and damage trees and plants but other people see them from another point of view . Bees give us honey and bees-wax which is used for candles and ingredients from lipstick to lotion.
Did you know that the Chinese and Japanese people like listening to the soothing sound of crickets and other insects .
Steven Kutcher is a bug director. He was the bug director of : Jurassic Park, Arachnophobia, and James and the Giant Peach. It is hard because he has to figure out what the bugs and insects can do and teach them the things to do .He taught an ant to walk to the end of a stick “wave” to a movie camera .He also taught a cockroach to run across the floor and flip over on its back and bees to swarm around a beekeeper for a fried chicken commercial.
Bugs might be ugly and dreadful but they can make and do things that we use everyday.
By: Caleb Orme , Courtney Leming, Anthony Rhone, Shania Wilkinson

Do you know the meaning of these vocabulary words?
Match them to meaning:
1. oxymoron a. story, report
2. image b. colored dots
3. pixel c. meeting, workshop, classes, session
4. succession d. binary math code of 0 & 1’s
5. digital used in computer/electronics
6. conference e. figure of speech; word that when
7. Jayhawks used is the opposite of itself;
example pretty ugly
8. essay f. made up sport’s mascot
g. photo, picture
h. repeat one after another

1– e 2-g 3-b 4-h 5-d 6-c 7-f 8-a

Washington Intermediate Newsletter March 2008

Washington Intermediate Newsletter March 2008

From the Desk of Mr. Doug Barry:

COME ONE, COME ALL!!
First, our third Parent Advisory meeting of the year will be next Monday, March 3rd, at 7:00 PM. This meeting is open to all parents!! The meeting will held at the middle school as I will be showing parents a Smart Board located in Mr. Hardy’s room. We are considering purchasing one for our building next year and need your input. Mr. Hardy’s room is on the main floor at the northwest end of the hall. This is a great opportunity to see the Smart Board in action and there will be time for parents to interact with it too. Next, I wanted to take this time to introduce you to our website if you have not visited it yet! We continue to post current happenings, student work and student created videos on the site. Please check us out at http://wistigers.blogspot.com.
4TH Grade Field Trip a Success!
A HUGE thank you to the PTO for providing a wonderful opportunity to our 4th graders last week as they traveled to Omaha to visit the Holland Performing Arts Center. The students were treated to an interactive and engaging performance by the Omaha Symphony entitled, Concerts for Youth. We will have pictures posted soon, but to read more about what our students did on Friday, visit http://wistigers.blogspot.com/2008/02/margre-durham-concerts-for-youth.html
Take Five…
“In five minutes, your kids could smoke a marijuana joint, have a reaction to meth, inhale from an aerosol can or have a talk with you that could save their lives.”
This is this first line of a helpful resource provided by Partnership for A Drug-Free Iowa your son or daughter will be bringing home from school the first week in March. We encourage you to take this and every teachable moment seriously to talk with your child about the dangers of non-prescription drug use.
Drug Awareness Education for Washington Intermediate students is an on-going commitment. Most of you heard about our Red Ribbon Week activities in October. These activities kick off additional teaching and activities in guidance classes related to the consequences of drug use and alternatives that contribute to start-prevention. Tobacco use and its effects will be emphasized during the third week in April.
In between those times we continue the conversation about healthy choices, being positive role models, and belonging to groups and activities that are life affirming. It is our sincere hope that you will participate in the conversation with your children at home, providing the team balance our mission statement declares as we: “work as a team of families, students, community, and staff in developing the emotional, social, and academic potential of each child.”
Ms. Jeannie Bates, School Counselor

Having “THE TALK” With Your Children
Date: Tuesday, March 4
Location: Red Oak Middle School’s Media Center, Red Oak
Time: 6 – 7:30 p.m.
Cost: $5 (Training Number: 0805ro)
A great parent workshop is taking place next week at our middle school. The description of the parent workshop is as follows:
“What is sex?” Does your heart race at just the thought of your child asking this question and other related questions? Are you unsure on how to answer the question or even bring up the subject? In this interactive educational session, guidelines on how to provide age-appropriate answers to your child will be discussed. In addition, this session will demonstrate some strategies on how to be seen by a youth as an “approachable” or “askable” adult. No one will be turned away for cost, and parents can RSVP to Regional Educator Elizabeth Dilley at edilley@ppgi.org or by going to www.ppgi.org, clicking on Education Center, clicking on the training calendar, and registering from there.

March 2008 Calendar
The Month of March is Youth Art Month (YAM)
1st -YAM Celebration Des Moines at the State Historical Building
3rd– Parent Advisory @ MS 7 PM
6-7-8th H.S. Musical
Directed by Mark Haufle
10th-Board Meeting
17th-21st Spring Break

Good Search
Good search is different from Google. On Good Search you can type in a school that you want to send money to, for any school in Red Oak. Guess what, you don’t have to spend a dime on it because every time you us it, the computer sends money to a school . Ever since I used it, my school got money. So after you see this go on to a computer and donate money today.
By: Taelor J

Spring
In Spring birds will sing.
Before June flowers will bloom.
The rain will fall on all and the showers will bring flowers.
The bees come out of their trees.
We will all sit in the breeze
and try not to sneeze.
by: Jordyn C

A SPRING POEM
I love spring because the birds always sing! Butterflies fly around
Except when they hit the ground.
There’s still spring break
which means no more sick days I have to fake .
By: Angela G.

“Spring is Here”
By: Tanner L
I am looking forward to spring because winter will be over and it will be closer to spring break and summer vacation. School will be close to being over and we won’t have to any homework for three months. We will get to hangout and enjoy the summer. We will then get to go to middle school, and be in 6th grade

K-4 music students have a blog! Come visit us at http://wemhoff.blogspot.com or follow the link from Washington Intermediate's site at http://wistigers.blogspot.com. We hope you're able to take a minute and read about all of the great musical activities we're doing. Lots of photos, too! Visit us soon!

Leprechaun Limerick
There once was a leprechaun named Harry.
Who really looked quite scary.
He had a cat.
Who slept on a mat.
He’s also married to Carrie.
By: Angela M

FREE RICE PROGRAM
By Weston J & Austin O
Mrs. Martinez informed Washington Intermediate School about an Internet program called Free Rice. To get to the free rice program you need to get on a computer and enter www.freerice com. once you get there you answer the definitions of words, and if you get the definition right you instantly send ten grains of rice to the needy. It is a fun way to help people that are in need of food. So if you have a computer and your wanting to help people in a fun way go to http://www.freerice.com/.

Leaf Rubbings
My favorite activity so far in fifth grade has been doing leaf rubbings. This activity is related to our science roots, stems, and leaves unit. We were learning why leaves change color in the fall. Leaves change color because the temperature drops and most trees stop making chlorophyll. To start our experiment, we needed leaves and paper. First step: place the leaf on the paper and hold down firmly. Second step: get a crayon and rub it over the leaf, take it off and Hooray, you have your very own leaf rubbings.
By: Shelbie P

Why I Am Looking Forward to Spring
By Cade J
I’m looking forward to spring because I won’t have homework or have to wake up and get dressed, eat fast, and let the dogs out every night and morning. I look forward to playing my x-box 360 that is new. When it gets warmer I will go out side and play all day. Then at night I will stay up till its almost daylight in the morning, and then I will go to sleep. I can’t wait till I get to go skiing in the mountains over spring break!

Spring
I’m looking forward to spring because that’s when the flowers bloom and leaves turn green. Another thing I’m looking forward to is
vacation, everyone loves vacation. Even if you don’t go on vacation its like vacation here. So now are you convinced about how wonderful spring is!
By: Rachel I

Why I Like Spring
By Morgan M
I like spring because it is way warmer than winter, and the snow starts to melt away. I also like spring break because it’s a holiday, and we don’t have to make it up at the end of the year. I really like Easter too, because I get to go to my grandmother’s house. Every Easter we have an Easter egg hunt with my cousins.

The Best Spring Ever

One day in Pasadena, California, Winnie was on the beach reading her book Tuck
Everlasting, when her two obnoxious brothers dumped ocean water all over her. They thought it was a riot. “Oh!” and I have to put up with you for the whole spring.” said Winnie. “ Kids it’s time to go,” her mother says in a cheerful voice. “Mom, why can’t I go to
England?” Winnie asks. “Because we didn’t get you a ticket,” said mom. “But lucky for you and your brothers, we got you tickets to Santa Barbara,” her dad said as he struggled to put the umbrella in the car. “Boys, get in the car, it’s time to go,” Her mother said. “I’ll meet up with you at home,” said Winnie.
When Winnie came home that night she had to hurry up and pack everything that she needed. They raced to the airport and gave each other good-bye hugs and got on their planes. When Winnie got to Santa Barbara she said, “Where do you twins want to go?” “Water Park!” they both said at the same time. “O.K., let’s go,” exclaimed Winnie and they raced to the water park.
When the twins got off the ride, Winnie said, “There you are, I was so worried about you.” She was crying and yelling at the same. When they went to get some lunch she said, “This is the most boring vacation ever.”
Then a boy came over, “Do you want to go get a slushy,” he said. “Sure, “ Winnie said. “This is the best spring break ever!”
Julia H

Something Fun
By: Grace B
Something fun you get to do in 5th grade is writing articles for the newsletter. It looks easy like all you have to do is think of a topic and then write…but it isn’t it takes more than 2 steps. The newsletter you are reading takes time and effort. The teachers even rearrange their schedule for it!!! The steps it takes are:
Step 1: Come up with the topic you would like to do.
Step 2: Get into your groups or partners (Optional step)
Step 3: Start writing your paragraph, poem, story, ex.
Step 4: Have your teacher or classmates proofread it
Step 5: Start typing
That’s what it usually takes to create an article in the newsletter. Keep on reading the newsletter.

Symphony
We went to the Symphony on Friday, February 22, 2008. All of the 4th graders went. It only cost us $2.00 because PTO pays the rest. I wonder if the music will echo since it’s so big. I wonder what noises the instruments play. The Symphony will perform “ The Composer’s Craft” at the Holland Performing Arts Center. We explored “ The Composer’s Craft” through interactive projects and directed listening activities. Students explored how composers put all of the notes together.
By: Carson P

Glacier Erosion Experiment
By Clayton W and Cameron S
Materials: Ice, Sand, soup, paper plate, water, paper towel, bar soup.
How to do experiment:
1. Put ice in sack of sand and shake it up.
2. Then take the ice out of sand.
3. After that rub ice on bar of soup in tell the ice disappears and sand digs into soup.
4. Then wash soup with cold water.
5. Write down what happened.
We saw many indentions. Enjoy the experiment!

Glacier Project
By Sydney V and Tori T
In Miss. Hughes class we did a glacier project involving a new bar of soap, sand and an ice cube. The soap represented Earth’s crust. The ice cube represented a glacier and the sand represented the rocks and particles of Earth’s crust. What we did first was put the ice cube in the sand. Then we took the ice cube and rubbed it on the soap. It was really cool. After we washed the soap off you could see the sand engraved into the soap. You should try this at home!

Erosion Experiment
By Trevor S and Logan C
In January Miss Hughes’ class conducted an experiment to show erosion over time caused by glaciers. We used, soap, sand, and ice cubes to represent each component in the process of erosion. The ice cubes represented the glacier. The soap represented earth’s crust, and the sand represented the rocks and dust particles picked up while the glacier is moving across earth’s surface. What we saw was neat. The ice and sand had eaten away at the surface of the soap.

Country Critters
On Tuesday, February 19 the Country Critters came to Washington Intermediate. They brought a snake named Radar, three wolf puppies and a lizard from Argentina . Another snake was really , really long. Six kids had to hold it .
By: Jamie P

4-H Mr. Drey
Mr. Drey came to our classroom and talked to us about signing up for 4-H. I am already in 4-H and I am in the Lincoln Hustlers 4-H club. It is in the Lincoln Township. If you are in 4-H, you can show livestock like swine, cattle, rabbits and etc. You could make things like clothing, wood cupboards, engines, and sell stuff. You can take photography in open class, which is in the white fair building, or you can draw a picture of something. He talked about family fun night. The 4-H groups do the games. There is so much stuff to do. We are going to do a horseshoe-throwing contest. Jessa Davis is letting us use her horseshoe-throwing pit.
By Hayden V

Website for 4-H information:
http://www.national4hheadquarters.gov/emblem/4h_name.htm

Mr. Mullenix and Mr. Richards
Mr. Mullenix is a cool guy. He’s got good experience and works on cool stuff.
I’m glad he’s our friend at Washington Intermediate. We watched a video about
Montgomery County history.
There were a lot of maps and Mr. Richards told us a lot about Iowa History .
They both know a whole lot about history.
By Savannah T

Visit http://wemhoff.blogspot.com/

Don't Say a Word
Their play was about being
trustworthy, I heard that everybody liked being in the play . They say that they loved working together, and being able to say something in the play. They really loved working together. I think it was awesome . They had 3 sets so everybody had a part in the play. I think they really worked hard.
by Halee F

The Omaha Lancer Visit
Hi, my name is Jessa D and I’m in Mrs. Martinez's class. Today a Lancer
player came to our class room. First, he introduced himself as Dakota Eveland.
He came from Orange County in California. He is 16 years old and goes to Millard North High School. He plans to go to Colorado Springs for college, and wants to become a sports trainer.
He read to us, then he gave us book marks and a paper that said, We would get 1 free ticket to any Lancers home game if we read 2 books. IT WAS AWESOME!
By Jessalyn D

Art Class

by Makayla and Cameo
In our art class we are making books. It’s so much fun! We have made many small, medium, and big books. We have also been making flowers with pastels. This was fun too, although it was messy. You can pick any kind of flower, but it has to be realistic. If it was realistic and you were in a dream you can smell the flower.

February Washington Intermediate Newsletter

From the Desk of Doug Barry:

Starting 2008 Off On the Right Foot!
If your house is anything like mine after the holidays, it may be hard for everyone to get back into a routine! Students return to school after being on different sleeping, eating, studying and playing schedules. It usually takes a week or so to get back on track and get focused on the task at hand. I was very impressed with how our students returned from the holiday break and got back to work so quickly and so efficiently! They deserve a pat on the back!
Mid-Year Testing
The students took our mid-year (winter) reading comprehension and fluency (rate and speed) assessments the first two weeks of January. We measure these two reading areas three times a year to monitor progress. As a building, we saw an average growth of over 8 months since September. This was twice the normal growth for 4 months time between tests and I am proud of the students and teachers work with their reading comprehension skills. Your child’s individual growth will be shared with you during our February Parent-Teacher conferences on February 25th and 28th.
After School Math
A note came home earlier in January with the final 6 dates for the After School Math program and an explanation of our year end Math Celebration and Contest. We are asking students who want to participate in the May math contest to attend 4 of our final 6 after school dates. All students will be welcome to attend the celebration in which we will hand out certificates, awards and crown our Washington Math Team Champions. Last year the students had a blast and we hope to repeat the success and fun this year! Remaining dates as of now are Feb 12 & 26; March 11 & 25 and the May 6th Celebration.
Pain Free Fundraiser!
Before break, we received a $15 check from the Goodsearch.com. This money came from searching done from the www.goodsearch.com site by staff, parents and anyone else who indicated “Washington Intermediate” as the charity of their choice. The $15 may not seem like much, but it was only for 3 months time. We hope to increase our numbers this year! This is one fundraiser that does not cost anyone a dime! Visit the site, search and bookmark it for later use! More information is listed on our website (http://wistigers.blogspot.com). If you have questions, do not hesitate to call, email or stop in my office.


Parents: Please Remember to Drop and Pick-up your child on the Southwest Side of the building at Washington Intermediate.

February 2008
1st No School—Professional Development
Jan 26-Feb 23 Corning Fine Arts
Center Elementary Student Exhibit
Feb 9 Youth Art Month Juried Artwork
12th After school Math
13th 2 hour early out —Profession Development
18th School Improvement Committee at
Washington 7 PM
25th 2 hr early out—Parent/Teacher Conferences
26th After School Math 3:10 PM
28th 2 hr early out—
Parent/Teacher Conferences
29th No School


After School Math
by Andrew Parker
We played math games. We ate snacks, and switched classes and we take math quizzes. The math games are around the world, and matching games.
We do math puzzles and math papers as well.


Youth Art Month Celebration
March 1, 2008 at the State Historical Building in Des Moines, It is important that the visual arts of our children are in public spaces before the public, the voters, your legislators, your school board and your administrators.
Our celebration will direct attention to the value of art education, which develops critical thinking skills, problem-solving skills, community awareness, and technical, communication and expressive skills.
Entries for February 9, 2008 included Makayla LeRette (5th), Carson Poe (4th), Grace Blomstedt (5th) and others.


UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE:

CONGRATULATIONS TO GRACE BLOMSTEDT, HER

ARTWORK WAS CHOSEN TO BE DISPLAYED AT YAM

Mrs. Timmerman’s Rummage Sales
Mrs. Timmerman’s 5th graders held a used item sale to raise money for the St. Joseph Indian School in Chamberlain, South Dakota. The class read about the Lakota Sioux in a book called As Long as Grass Should Grow and Water Flow in reading. Our class wanted to help. Students raised $166.95. Thank you to everyone who donated to the sale.

BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA
BY: TANNER MERTZ
In the book it talks about Jesse wanted to be the fastest kid in fifth grade. A girl came to school, her name was Leslie Burke. When Jess said to his mom there is a big race at school today. I need new sneakers, mine are a piece of junk.
His mom said your sister gave you a pair of her sneakers. They’re pink so at least you are getting some. He went out on the front porch then drew on them with magic marker! Then he got on the bus to go to school. At school they went out to recess to race. They came to the starting line including Leslie.
The person said. “On your marks, get set, go!” Jess came out in front. Then they got three-fourths of the way there, Leslie came out in front of Jess,. Then Leslie won the BIG RACE and Jess got really mad for losing the big race.

Dolphin and Crab in Wonderland
A fable by Robert Daugherty
Dolphin and Crab are best friends. They love racing. One day they were racing and they ran into Shark. He is the meanest, dirtiest creature in the whole wide ocean. “He is a villain!” said Dolphin. “Crab let’s go…Hurry, hurry, hurry!” said Dolphin. “I’m going as fast as I can,” said Crab. As they outran Shark, Dolphin was about to say, “We had a miracle!” but instead he said, “Let’s go home.” So, they rushed home. Their parents screamed, “Where have you been? I was worried sick about you!” “I was very frightened, because Shark saw me, and he chased me,” said Dolphin. “What! You went to the South side of the Reef? You know that there are people and ships all over the place down there. Do you remember what happened to Grandpa when he went down there?” said Dolphin’s mother. “Yeah, I know. I remember when he lost a fin. But, I didn’t know where I was going. Me and Crab were racing and crashed into an old ruined ship. I’m going to my room after I get me a beverage,” Dolphin said. “No!” screeched Mother. “Dolphin, you don’t deserve a beverage, or whatever you said. I’m sorry, but I don’t know what came over me. I just don’t want you to get hurt, because if I lose you, I’ll have nothing. You just go on now, and stay safe.” “Okay, mommy. Love ya,” said Dolphin.
The next morning, Dolphin went to Crab’s house, and they raced back to Dolphin’s house. Shark was there, “Please keep your children under control,” he said in a low coughing voice. So, now Shark and the kids were best friends. One day, Dolphin and Crab were racing through the formidable seaweed forest, and ran into a treasure chest. They went home and stole their parent’s key chain. They found the skeleton key. They unlocked the chest. There were glimmering, shining blood rubies, crystals, diamonds, gold bars and on top there was a crown and a tiara. Dolphin put on the tiara, and Crab put on the crown. They heard a roar. They went to see what it was. It was a diver. They ran through blistering bubbles and scorching currents until they ran into Shark’s house, and screamed, “Help, help us. Please, help!” Shark did. But there was ice cold water. There was a diver outside, but no ordinary diver. He had no mask, and he was boney. Then the next day they went home and said, “Mommy,” and there was no one there. So they went to the store and there was no one there. They went home and put on the crown and tiara, and everything was different about the town. There were statues about Dolphin and Crab, and on the first sea palace it was so cool they were King and Queen. There was a Cyclopes for a phone. He is a large, huge thing, and one day they went on a walk and the Cyclopes was waiting for them.
Moral-Fortunes may cause death.

FOOD PANTRY COLLECTION
The students at Washington Intermediate collected, organized and delivered nearly 600 food items to the local food pantry the week before break. It was quite a group effort as every class collected over 30 food items and one class, Ms. Linn's, collected nearly 200 food items on their own! The November and December Student Advisory groups helped load the food items into Mr. Barry and Mr. Maurer's vehicles. Then, the 5th grade Student Advisory students helped take the items to the food pantry near the Square and unload all the items. Mr. Barry is extremely PROUD of each and every student at Washington Intermediate for taking part in this program. It is a very CARING act of kindness before the holidays.

Corning Fine Art Gallery Hours
Tuesdays-Fridays 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
Saturdays 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
All-media fine arts exhibition, which will be displayed in the Corning Center for the Fine Arts, 706 Davis Avenue, Corning, Iowa. Students from all Green Valley Area Education Agency Schools were invited to participate. This was a juried exhibit and awards were given to students whose works are selected as best in their specific grade and medium by the panel of jurors. Each artist participating in the Student Art Show was presented Certificate of Participation for his/her artwork.
ELEMENTARY Student Art Show:
Student artwork will be on display at Corning Center for the Fine Arts
JANUARY 26TH --- FEBRUARY 23rd
This exhibition is open to the public.

Connor
Nice cool
Sharing caring trusting
He’s good at kickball
Friend
By Vincent Breedlove

Ciara
Fun sweet
Sharing caring laughing
She is very nice
Friendship
by Karen Miller

Tanner
Nice cool
Drawing kicking caring
He’s good at kickball.
Friend
By John Johnson

Nice Playful
Hunting loving caring
Good at playing with ME
BFF
By Andrew Parker

Robby
Cares fun
Caring fun loving
Likes to ride bikes
Friend
By John Childers

Alana
Awesome cool
Loving caring sharing
She is the oldest
Buddy
By Sophia Knudson

Friendship
Companionship Enjoyable
Liking Helping Sharing
WoEing On Lightside Ragnarok
Partnership
By Colton Goldsmith

Friendship
Nice funny
Playing running caring
She is very flexible
Karen Miller
By Ciara Smith

Johnny Johnson
Funny Cool
Laughing Talking Walking
He has big feet
By Tanner Mertz

Sarah
Funny smart
Laughing growing playing
She is so kind
Friend
By Kendra Hardy

Garrett
Cool nice
Trusting working caring
Garrett is very caring
Angelic
By Dylin K.

Mr. Maurer
smart funny
laughing playing teaching
he is very funny
Mr.Maurer
By Devin Ellis

Deb Karwal
by Vincent Breedlove
When Deb came to our school for the fifth grade. I got to be a striped skunk and we had to look for clues on what are animals did in nature. Some peoples’ animals ate other peoples’ animals. She called it C.S.I. and it was really fun.

Deb Karwal
by Devin Ellis
When Deb Karwal came I had to report about a lot of fish. Then I had to put the fish on a sheet of paper over the fish. Deb Karwal told us what number we had. We investigated the things that the animals do in their environment. We also learned what happens to the animals if pollution is put into the water. Then at the end we had to help her pick up all of her stuff.

Deb Karwal
She came with lots of stuff from Andersons a rug and lots of props were
the animals stuff. My animal was the animals that patrol the water all around the earth. The project was last week. My animal was a FISH.
BY ANDREW PARKER 5-1

Earth’s Layers
Crust is the outside layer of Earth. Mantle is the magma in side the mountain or Volcano. Inner core is yellow because it’s the hottest thing on earth.
Outer core is outside of the inner core.
Plates move to make mountains with tension and shear compression to make Mountains.
By Andrew Parker

Earth’s Layers
by Devin Ellis
We used paper plates. We had to glue the paper plates together. We colored the crust brown. Which was the skinny strip on the outside, we had to label that. Then we had to color the mantel orange, on the plates. We had to label that too. The core, we had to color yellow. We had to label that too.

NEED AN ART PROJECT FOR HOME GO TO:
http://www.crayola.com

ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE

My name is Diana Ramos. I am bilingual. That means I know Spanish and English. I learned Spanish in Mexico. I learned English at school. I learned English in my ELL classes. ELL stands for English Language Learner. My teacher is Mrs. Kunze. We read chapter books and write about them. I learned how to type, too. I like school. My other teacher is Miss Chelsvig. She is nice.

I am Lupita Ramos and I know Spanish and English. My teacher is Ms. Linn and my other teacher is Mrs. Kunze. They are very, very nice teachers. Ms. Linn is my classroom teacher and Mrs. Kunze is my ELL teacher. ELL stands for English Language Learning. In ELL, we read books then write a short story about the books. Hope you have a happy Valentine’s Day!

Valentine’s Day
By Heather Ranner &
Alex Garrett
V alentine’s
A ngel
L ikes music
E ats Ice Cream
N eatness counts
T hursday
I llegible
N ice
E ligible
S pecial
D ogs are nice
A ttitude
Y our birthday

School Days
By Alexis Taylor

School days
Exhausting, always writing
Tiring six hours a day
Just want to take a nap
School days

Middle Recess:
Recess-Friend or Foe
By Keatis Kunze, Megan Roberts & Nolan Eitzen
Recess is a time for fun, but maybe not. Also, there’s no studying, no books, no secrecy, but there is kick ball, and possibly many injuries are there? However, kickball and four square are rising on the popularity level.

Valentine’s Day
By Alyssa Wilkins, Kiley
Wiegand & Yulissa Ramos
Valentine’s Day is a day for exchanging gifts, cards, candy and more.
According to a legend, Valentine (the person)
actually sent the first valentine greeting. It is said that while in prison Valentine fell in love with a young girl, who may have been his jailor’s daughter, who visited him during his first confinement.

2008
By: Colin Bruce, Jackelinne Mendez & Murphy Porter
Happy New Year from all of us at Washington Intermediate School. We hope you had a great Christmas. We hope you are as happy as we are with the new school year. We have been learning about states and capitals this quarter. Jackelinne’s New Year’s resolution is to improve in English. Murphy’s New Year’s resolution is to keep his strait A’s, and Colin’s New Year’s resolution is to get stronger and healthier. We hope you have a good Valentine’s Day. Go Tigers!!

Math Poem
By Breann Berkey & Michaela Buntrock
1 + 1 is 2
2 + 2 is 4
3 + 3 is 6
4 + 4 is 8
5 + 5 is 10
6 + 6 is 12
7 + 7 is 14
8 + 8 is 16
This is easy stuff!
3 - 2 is 1
2 – 2 is 0
3 – 2 is 1
4 – 2 is 2
5 – 4 is 1
6 – 2 is 4
7 – 4 is 3
8 – 4 is 4
This is easy stuff!
1 x 1 is 1
2 x 2 is 4
3 x 3 is 9
4 x 4 is 16
5 x 5 is 25
6 x 6 is 36
7 x 7 is 49
8 x 8 is 64
Now we’re getting
harder!
1 divided by 1 is 1
2 divided by 2 is 1
6 divided by 3 is 2
12 divided by 6 is 2
18 divided by 9 is 2
49 divided by 7 is 7
Now lets do remainders!
59 divided by 7 is 8r3
37 divided by 5 is 7r2
49 divided by 6 is 8r1
38 divided by 6 is 6r2
Goodbye!! Thanks for
learning with us!

Valentine’s Day Poem
By Vincent Breedlove
Fire is red
Ice is blue
I like valentines
How about you?

Tatum
Kind Nice
Sharing caring hardworking
She is my friend.
Lupita Ramos

Dylin
cool nice
caring sharing hard working
he is good at kickball
Friend
by Garrett Patterso

Tanner Mertz
Kind creative
Drawing thinking answering
He’s good at kickball
Friend
By Gavin French

Valentines Poem
By Savanna Abraham
Tears may dry
Years may fly,
But my love for you will never die so,
Happy Valentines Day!

Valentines Poem
By Lupita Ramos
Roses are red
Water is blue
Pop tarts are
Sweet and so are
You!!!

Valentine Poem

By: Sophia Knudson 5-1

You’re the Lucky to my Charms.
You’re the Captain to my Crunch.

You fight away all my harms.

You love everyone a whole bunch.

Tea & honey

Kiwi & lime

As sweet as can be….
WILL YOU BE MINE????

Valentines Day Poem
Magma is red and so is lava.
Hydrosphere is blue and so is water.
I’m ready for Valentines Day
How about you
By Garrett Patterson

Bridge to TERABITHIA
By Lupita Ramos
The main characters in the book and the movie are Jesse Oliver Aarons Jr. and Leslie Burke. They became friends. On the first day of school Jesse noticed that Leslie liked to run as well. Jesse has a crush on Ms. Edmonds, his music teacher. Jesse has four sisters and their names are Elie , Brenda , Joice Ann , and May Belle . Jesse calls his teacher Mrs. Myers Monster Mouth Myers. When Leslie was reading her report Jesse felt like Leslie was his more exiting self. On Easter is the only time they go to church. Leslie moved to their neighborhood. Jesse was the fastest kid in the fifth grade until Leslie started school.

Bridge to Terabithia
Bridge to Terabithia is all about Jesse Aarons and Leslie Burke’s friendship. Leslie starts school with no friends… then she meets Jess. Jess is a boy who lives on a farm and is smashed between two sisters on each side. Brenda and Ellie, the older sisters, and May Belle and Joyce Ann, the younger sisters. Leslie is the only child that lives in The Old Perkins’ Place next door to Jess. They both make a magical land called Terabithia. Full of all the creatures you can I.M.A.G.I.N.E! Just keep your mind wide open and read this adventure of a book!!Sophia Knudson

Valentines Day
by Colton Goldsmith
A sweet, sweet, or maybe that’s some chocolate--- anyway, valentines day is around le corner. So best be preparing. Make cards, put up deco, and of course, uhhh--- dress warmly… Weeeeellll that last one’s not really for valentines day (but it could be cold)… Sssooooooo… Either way just be ready…
I gotta get going, later…

Math
My teacher is Ms. Linn. She taught us about range, mode, and median if you have no idea what it means for example:
Range: are the high numbers
subtract the low.
Mode: is the number that
occurs most often.
Median is the middle number.
By Andrew Parker

Christmas Break
By Kendra Hardy
Over Christmas break I went to my Grandma’s house to open present I got a jewelry box and a pair of pants from my cousin got me . Then I went home and went over to a friend’s house .what I got for Christmas is a I-Pod , stereo for my I-Pod and clothes.

Christmas Break
Christmas break was fun. I got a lot of stuff. I had 5 different Christmases. I got most of the stuff I asked for. On Christmas Eve after noon I went to my big sister’s house. We ate lunch and then opened presents. Then on Christmas Eve I went to my grandpa and grandmas house. We ate supper, then we read the Christmas story [ The birth of baby Jesus] and then opened presents. I hope you had a great Christmas too!
By: Savanna Abraham

Valentine’s Day Poem
by Kendra Hardy
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Girls look pretty,
Boys look silly.

Valentine’s Day Poem
by Tatum Allensworth
Roses are red
Violets are blue
HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY
From me to you!

Valentine’s Day Poem
By John Johnson
Lava Is Red
Water is Blue
Valentine’s day is coming

and I can’t wait to see you.

Valentine’s Day
By Dawsen Ballard
We give gifts to friends and family. We give cards to relatives. There is pink, white and red all over the place. I kind of like Valentine’s Day.

Bridge to Terabithia
Author of this summary: Colt Goldsmith
Person who makes pictures (Illustrator): Uh… None…
Okay, so there’s a boy named Jess, he loves to run and draw. He wants to be the fastest kid in fifth grade. Then this strange girl named Leslie, a new girl without a television, joins the race started by Gary Fulcher, and against all odds… she wins and beats Jess in the race and the other boys said that she can’t run in the finals. Then Jess says something like… “Fraid you’re going to lose to a girl?” Or something like that… Then Jess ignores her for a few days. But after awhile into the story Jess and Leslie become the best of friends and create this magical world called “Terabithia.” It is full of trolls, giants, all of the magical things you can think of. Jess and Leslie are the king and the queen of Terabithia and all the Terabithians.
Then one Christmas, Jess gets Leslie a present for Christmas that Leslie absolutely adores. Jess gets Leslie a puppy and his name is Prince Terrian, the Prince and Jester of Terabithia. Leslie gets Jess a present for Christmas also. Leslie gets him some paints, and a huge stack of paper.
Then comes Easter, Jess and his family go to church on Easter only. Leslie wants to go, but Jess’s mother tries to make an excuse so she can’t. So Leslie goes to church and thinks it is wonderful. Yet May Belle thinks it is very scary. And the rest of that season goes pretty well. Except when Jess goes out for a fun day with Miss Edmunds (Doesn’t sound too bad though, right? Right. But you’ll find out why). Jess had a perfect day with his music teacher, but he comes home to an unfortunate event and runs off. Eventually you can figure out what happens (It somehow made some people--- Well someone in my class sob and/or be disappointed).
But you’ll have to read this book to find out what happens. And if you ask me I think this is a great book and should be read if you can.

Bridge to Terabithia…..
is a story about two kids named Jess and Leslie. They create a magical world called Terabithia. Jess and Leslie become friends by Leslie beating Jess in a race. After awhile Jess looks at Leslie and thinks she’s not to bad.
Around chapter 6 in Bridge to Terabithia it was Christmas. May Belle got a Barbie, Ellie and Brenda socks and tights and so on. Jess and Leslie both got gifts from each other. Jess got Leslie a dog and they both named it Prince Terrien. Leslie got Jess watercolors, and brushes.
At the end of the book because Leslie dies and when he goes to school he went out in the hall. Monster Mouth Myers said her husband died to.
THE END
By Tatum Allensworth

Value
5th graders study “Value.” Students add highlights and shaded areas to objects to make them look more three dimensional and realistic. Here are three items that students have drawn with pastels and worked to make them look realistic, like the glass bottle itself.

WIS newsletter January 2008

Washington Intermediate Newletter January 2008

The Washington Intermediate Parent Advisory Committee had our second meeting of the school year on Thursday, December 13. These meetings are open to all Washington Intermediate parents guardians and grandparents and our next meeting will be on Monday, March 3, 2008, in the media center. We hope you can join us!
I. Review Minutes from September 17
II. Highlights, Updates and Useful Information!
a. Technology update
i. New infrastructure approved by school board This much needed update will speed up connections between all buildings and update our phone system. Mr. Deter, Tech Coordinator, has been working on getting this project together for many months. We hope to have much in place by around spring break.
ii. Website – http://wistigers.blogspot.comEncouraged parents to visit the site as we continue to update it regularly. If parents have suggestions for the site, please feel free to contribute them.
iii. Student video projectMr. Barry has had nearly 60 students express interest in this project. Basically, students would work individually, in pairs or in groups to create a script/idea to highlight something at Washington. Students would film these videos before, during or after school and the video would be posted on the school website. This is a work in progress. J
b. After school math updateMr. Barry shared the current data with the parents present. The graphs are included on next two pages. The data given to the parents that evening did have some incorrect 4th grade data. This has been changed on the following pages. We have seen growth on each math probe (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division), but have room for improvement. It was also noted the 5th grade students get 2 less minutes to complete their 100-question probes than the 4th graders do. This is one reason the percentages are lower. There was also discussion about their being less 5th graders than 4th graders attending the after school sessions. Mr. Barry stated that to help increase the number attending he had discussed having students attended 5 of the last 6 sessions in order to be able to participate in the year end celebration/contest. Students really enjoyed the contest last year.
c. Attendance policy
i. Current ‘policy’
ii. Input needed from parents
Current attendance policy was shared with the parents and they also looked at what the middle school and high school do regarding attendance. Washington is looking at beginning sending letters out to parents of students who miss 5 or more days per quarter with a follow-up letter if the child misses 8 days. Doctor’s notes will be required for students who miss more than 5 days. The parents present felt that it would be a good idea to give parents a ‘heads-up’ when students reached a certain # of days & stress the importance of building good attendance habits for later in life.
d. Healthy choices/treats discussionMr. Barry shared an article about some districts moving to not allowing sweets to be brought to school. There is no discussion of doing that at Washington but it was a topic from last year’s parent advisory. Input was neutral.
e. BD pilot program information
Mr. Barry handed out a summary sheet about the Behavior Disorder pilot program that will be at Washington Intermediate. This is included below the math graphs. If parents have more questions, please call Mr. Barry
F. Parent ideas, concerns & questions.
The meeting adjourned at 7:30 PM.


Cars in this issue by Gage



We are excited to continue our annual food drive at Washington Intermediate. Our building goal was set for 300 food items and we hope to surpass that goal again for the 3rd straight year! Please feel free to send food items with your child or drop them off at Washington Intermediate anytime this week. The local food pantries are in dire need of food supplies. Our November and December student advisory students will help organize the food and the 5th grade advisory students delivered the food to the pantry. Mr. Barry & the Washington Intermediate Staff.

Insert to above: Way to go Washington Intermediate students! We had 572 food items donated during our food drive. This will help many families in our community during the holidays. This was a very caring and responsible thing to do for our community. I am proud of you all. Mr. Barry

The November & December student advisees will help load the food on Thursday at 1:30 PM. All student advisees will meet in by the Christmas tree at 1:30 with their coats, gloves and hats on! Once the items are loaded, the 5th grade student advisees will help Mr. Barry and Mr. Maurer take the food items to the food pantry located on the square. We will return before your holiday parties start.

Mrs. Brown is going to have a baby on Tuesday if not before. His name will be Carter Wesley Brown. Mrs. Brown will come back to school in February. Have fun over Christmas with your new little baby!

Written by Gage, Toni, & Ryan

January 2008
Dec. 24—Jan. 2 Winter Break
January 3—Classes Resume
January 8—After School Math
January 9—2 hr early dismissal
Professional Development
January 11 —2nd quarter/1st semester ends
January 30 — 2 hr early dismissal
Professional Development

Artsonia.com
Join a student’s fan club or send them a comment about their artwork through out the rest of the year, contact your relatives have them check out your child’s artwork. Artwork is on-line for students K-5

Washington Intermediate hosted the Youth Experiencing Success Kickoff this Sunday, 2-4 pm. Michele Caswell, coordinator, has organized games and activities to allow the mentors to meet the mentees and their families. We are excited to be able to host this event and look forward to continuing to partner with the Y.E.S. Program as it grows!


Wemhoff.blogspot.com
Read about the
K-4 Music Room

Try theses website over the holiday:
www.epals.com a great safe site for kids of all ages, as well as instructors.
www.e-palworld.co.uk A site located in the United Kingdom. This is where I go to find new epals. It has ads from kids to adults. May take a little supervision though. Some folks out there, do from time to time, mistake it for a dating site. Outside of that I personally have never had any trouble with it.
Hope you enjoy them !
Albert Buehler
R.O. Schools lunch van driver


Visit the website and create a snow globe and feed the hungry. Free website with lots of activities!
http://pw.pepsiworld.com/


The Red Oak Elks Club sponsored a poster contest for drug awareness for our school. Two big winners were Nick from 5-4 and Alyssa from 4-2. Nick was a district winner (including towns of Des Moines and Council Bluffs) and Alyssa was the state winner! They both won Chamber Bucks and Savings Bonds. Thank you to Dave Fields and the Elks Club for sponsoring the contest. Congratulations to the winners and good luck to Alyssa as she will be Iowa's fourth grade representative at national competition! Wow!


Tracks on the Prairie
On December 3rd, the fifth grades made animal footprints using plaster of Paris. Deb Karwal from the Anderson Conservation Area brought in rubber animal feet, fur, skulls, bathroom stuff, and other remains of animals that they leave behind. We pressed animal feet into a ring of plaster and let it harden. Now we can paint it. Thanks, Mrs. Karwal!
Written by Colton, Erin, & Bridgett

Poems and Stories from the 4th and 5th grades:

I Know Santa’s Coming
Santa’s coming but how do we know?
With sleigh bells ringing everyone will go.
Santa’s here, he’s in the sky
But he cant stay long we’ve got to say bye.
So we’ve got to say bye with out a sigh.
But don’t worry he’ll be back soon.
But you can see him leaving in the moon.
By: Cassie


STRIPES
Zebra was walking down his favorite path and he ran into Donkey.
They both said, “hey watch where you’re going.”
“You have stripes and I don’t know why that is,” said Donkey.
“Because I’m a Zebra and you’re not”, said Zebra.
“But, but I’m a zebra too!” said Donkey sadly.
“What should I do, because I want stripes like you?” asked Donkey.
“Okay, we don’t have to paint them, we can buy them.” Said Zebra.
Donkey and Zebra fixed the problem together. They became best
friends forever, and even bought each other best friends forever bracelets!
______________
Be friends with anyone.
By Paydon


LIGHTER AND THE CLOTHES
There once was a Lighter, a Cap, and a Shirt who all liked to make fires. One day Cap caught on fire and jumped in the water. The next day, Shirt caught on fire. Finally, both Shirt and Cap caught on fire again, and burned to ashes. Lighter got very sad.
_________
Don’t play with fire.
By Colby

OX, GOAT, AND RAM
Ox was eating grass in the barn, when along came Goat and Ram. Goat and Ram were holding forks in their hands. Goat and Ram decided that they would try and eat Ox, but they did not succeed. Instead, they shared a steak with each other that a farmer had thrown out.
___________
Be respectful
By Bobby

THE FRIENDS CAT AND DOG
One day Cat and Dog went for a walk.
Then, Dog yelled, “I found something!”
Cat said, “what?”
Dog replied, “I found a mouse, I think.”
“So, I’m a cat and we like mice,” said Cat.
“Well, that doesn’t mean anything to me,” said Dog.
“Yeah it does,” said Cat.
Then, the fight was over. That night Dog went to Cat’s
house to apologize to Dog for their fight.
“I’m sorry Cat,” said Dog.
“I’m sorry too,” said Cat.
“I brought the mouse to share with you,” said Dog “Lets feast!”
“Yum, that was delicious,” said Cat. “Thank you very much Dog.”
“Your welcome,” replied dog. Dog continued, “I better
go home because Mama Dog might be getting worried.”
“Bye,” said Cat.
The next day Cat and Dog went to the park and played.
__________
Share with others.
By Sydnee


THE DOG, FISH, AND MOUSE
One day Dog and Mouse went fishing. Before they went fishing dog said to mouse,
“I bet you can’t catch a fish.”
“I bet you can’t either,” said Mouse.
They both decided that it was going to be a bet, then they went fishing.
Mouse said, “I think I got a fish. Cool!”
“Let’s go home. We have been here for four hours,” said Dog.
“I can’t wait to go home and cook my fish,” said mouse. Mouse felt sorry for Dog so he invited Dog over.
_________
It is good to share.
By Brooke


THE DOG, CAT, AND ELEPHANT
One day Dog and Cat were walking through the park. They were best friends. They never played with anyone else, only one another. While they were walking they spotted a big fat Elephant. Elephant almost stepped on Dog!
“Wow, watch out Dog! You are going to get stepped on by that big fat Elephant,” said Cat.
Then Elephant stopped walking and started to cry.
“What’s wrong?” asked Dog.
“That friend of yours just called me fat!” cried Elephant.
“Well, you are!” said Dog.
“We are not going to be your friends because you are too fat and we are just the right size!” said Cat.
“I’m going to tell on you,” said Elephant.
“We are sorry!” said Cat and Dog.
Elephant forgave them and then they all became friends. Every day they went to the park together.
_____________________
Don’t judge your friend by their shape and size.
By Sydney


THE BIG FIGHT
Chicken and Pig hated each other really bad, and they ended up getting into a fight at school one day. Fish, who was a nerd, tried to break up the fight. Chicken and Pig ended up getting into trouble and they blamed each other for it. Chicken and Fish ended up being friends because Fish broke up the fight, so then Pig didn’t have any friends. Then, fish asked Pig if he wanted to be friends.
Fish replied, “Sure.”
The bad thing about this was that Fish was friends with both Chicken and Pig. Since this happened, Chicken and Pig ended up hating Fish instead of each other. The next day Chicken and Pig went to see Fish.
“Sorry,” they said to Fish. “We are sorry about turning our backs to you and walking away from you.”
Finally, Chicken, Pig, and Fish were all friends.
________
Be nice to others.
By Jesse

THE BIG BANG BOOM AHH
There once was a class who went on a field trip in the woods. When they got there, they saw a Deer and a Moose who were both missing an antler. Then, suddenly a hunter showed up and got out his twelve-gage, and started firing away.
“Boom!” went the gun.
Unfortunately, they both died. Then, two more animals came along, a Squirrel and a Bunny.
Squirrel asked, “what are you doing?”
“Oh, I am just eating a carrot,” replied Bunny.
“I am eating a nut,” said Squirrel.
Then, the hunter saw them and shot his gun.
“What was that bang?” asked Squirrel. “What ever it was, it hit Bunny right in the stomach,” continued Squirrel. Then, squirrel screamed, “Ahhhh!”
“Why was that squirrel screaming,” asked the students who were on the field trip.
Then, the students and the teacher realized why the squirrel was screaming and they all ran back to the school screaming.
________________________________________
Don’t go on a field trip in the woods during hunting season.
By Darian


DOG, CAT, AND MOUSE
One day Dog, Cat, and Mouse went swimming.
Cat said, “I am a better swimmer than both of you.”
Dog and Mouse ignored him. The next day Cat called Dog and Mouse. They went over to play with Cat’s toys. Dog and Mouse brought their own toys along as well.
Cat said, “my toys are better than yours.”
Once again, Dog and Mouse ignored him. The next day Cat called Dog and Mouse to ask them if they wanted to play tennis.
Dog and Mouse replied, “Sure.”
When they were playing tennis Cat said, “I am a
better tennis player than you.”
Dog replied, “Cat, you need to stop being mean to us.”
Cat said, “I’m sorry.”
Then, they all became best friends.
_________________
Be nice to others and they will be nice to you.
By Olivia

DOG AND CAT
While Dog and Cat were cleaning their house, they found a Mouse.
Cat said, “I’ll eat it for you.”
“No,” said Dog. “We must first find another one for me.”
“Okay,” said Cat.
Cat and Dog went to work and they moved stuff for thirty minutes. Pretty soon the house was destroyed. When they started to clean up dog yelled, “I think I know where a Mouse is!”
“Where,” asked Cat.
“In the freezer,” replied Dog.
So they checked the freezer and grabbed the Mouse. Then, they got plates and ate their mice while they watched their favorite show, “Dump Trucks.”
_________________________
Always be fair.
By Caitlyn

EYE, EAR, AND TOE
One day Eye, Ear, and Toe were at the beach looking for a treasure.
“Oh, I have sand in my eye,” said Ear.
“So what,” said Toe. “It’s just sand. It won’t kill you.” Toe went on to say, “Hey, let’s say whoever finds the chest first, gets the biggest cut.” Toe suggested this knowing where the chest was.
“Stop!” said Eye. “I think I see something.”
“Yes,” said Toe. “How about you each get two pieces and I get the rest.”
The next day Eye, Ear, and Toe entered a contest to try and win twenty trillion dollars. One hour later they announced the winners and Eye and Ear won. They cashed in the check right away, and then invited Toe over to have pepperoni pizza.
________
Always include everyone.
By Miranda


PARROT AND CROW
Once a Parrot was playing with her friends at the pet store, when they saw a Crow. They noticed that the Crow didn’t have colorful feathers. The Parrot went to the Crow and said,
“We have very colorful and pretty feathers and you don’t.”
Crow felt very bad and did not know what to do. Then, she saw a painter and he was painting some walls with colorful paint. This gave Crow an idea, she was going to paint herself. So that night she got out of her cage and went over to the paint. She grabbed a very small brush and started painting herself. The next morning she had colorful feathers.
Parrot saw Crow and said, “You are beautiful.”
Parrot never made fun of her again.
_________
Don’t make fun of others.
By Hannah

THE MOUSE AND THE BIRD
One day there was a tiny Mouse who saw a little bird. The Mouse wanted to go to Bird’s house, but his mom said no. The mouse then asked his dad if he could go outside, and he said that it would be okay. Dad also said, “Don’t go far away.”
The Mouse went outside with his soccer ball. Bird came along and asked, “Can I play with you?”
“No,” said Mouse.
“Why not?” asked Bird
“Because this is my soccer ball. You get your own,” replied Mouse.
Then, Mouse and Bird started to get in a big fight. The next day Mouse and Bird were in the park and Mouse had brought his soccer ball.
Mouse saw Bird sitting on the park bench, and went over to Bird and asked, “Would you like to play soccer with me?”
Bird replied, “Okay.”
___________
Share your stuff and be nice to others.
By Diana


THE CAT, DOG, AND LION
One day Lion, Cat, and Dog went for a walk around the park. When they were walking Lion said to Dog,
We should not be friends anymore.
Dog and Cat left Lion alone, thinking that Lion was mean for saying that to Dog.
Later, Dog and Cat went to Lions house and rang his doorbell. When Lion opened the door Cat and Dog yelled, “Sorry!”
________
Always be nice.
By Abigail


DOG, CAT, AND HORSE
Horse, Dog, and Cat went on a walk to the park. When they arrived, they all ran to the monkey bars. They all had different ways to play on the monkey bars and they were arguing about who had the best way of playing on them.
Horse said, “My way is the best.”
Cat said, “No, my way is the best.”
Dog said, “You guys, both of your ways are good.”
“Thank you,” replied Cat and Horse. Now we realize that.”
Then, Horse and Cat said sorry to each other and once again said thank you to Dog. Finally, they all went home.
_________
Always be nice.
By Lexie


MOOSE AND DEER
One day Moose and Deer were scraping their antlers against a tree. Moose started boasting about his huge antlers. Then, Moose went too far when he said,
“Your antlers are tiny compared to mine.”
Deer got his feeling hurt and he started scraping his antlers harder and harder against the tree until the tree didn’t have any bark left. A hunter then came along and pulled out his shot gun and shot at Moose, but missed, and only blasted off his antlers.
Moose was so sad that he lost his antlers, but then he realized how Deer must have felt.
________
Size doesn’t always matter.
By Dylan


DOG, CAT, AND HAMSTER
One day Dog, Cat, and Hamster were fishing and Cat caught a Fish. Cat would not share his Fish with Dog and Hamster, so they said to Cat,
“We are not going to be friends anymore if you aren’t going to share with us.”
Then, Dog went home to cook some pizza. When Dog was done eating, he went to the park to play in the sandbox.
Dog said, “Oh no, here comes Cat and Hamster.”
Cat and Hamster came over to Dog and said,
“We want to be friends again.”
“Okay,” said Dog. “Lets go play on the slide.”
Dog invited Cat and Hamster over for dinner that night to have pizza. Cat and Hamster ended up spending the night at Dog’s house. While they were at Dog’s house, they watched a movie called “Lion King” and had popcorn and ice cream. In the morning they all took a long walk to the park.
__________
Fighting can cause problems.
By Hailey

MOUSE AND ELEPHANT
One day Mouse went to the zoo, and when he got to there he found Elephant and said, “Boo!”
Elephant jumped, and then looked down and saw a Mouse and said, “hey, you don’t belong here!”
“Why don’t I,” asked Mouse.
“Get out of here!” yelled Elephant
Mouse then ran away. Elephant broke out of his cage and grabbed Mouse.
Mouse asked, “Do you want to be friends now?”
“No,” replied Elephant in an angry voice. “I am going to get my revenge now.”
“I am sorry,” said Mouse. “Can we be friends now?”
“Yes,” replied Elephant.
“Hey Elephant, do you want to come to my house for dinner?” asked Mouse.
“Yes,” replied Elephant.
Mouse and Elephant lived to be friends after all. Elephant gave Mouse a surprise birthday party when Mouse was five years old.
One day Elephant was caught on something and Mouse came and helped Elephant out. Elephant thanked Mouse and told him that he would help him if he ever needed any help.
_________
Pick on someone your own size.
By Dakota

NATURE GOES BAD
One day Squirrel was walking to school and he took a short cut through the woods. He thought that someone was following him, and then a Bear jumped out from behind a tree. Squirrel chucked a rock at Bear and knocked him out cold. Squirrel was scared to death, but he still went to school.
The next day, Squirrel did not take the shortcut through the woods, but Bear was still there on his way to school. Bear started chasing Squirrel so Squirrel tripped Bear and Bear landed right on his face.
Next, Hawk flew down and asked, “Why can’t you two be friends?”


“Because!” replied Bear.
Bear then punched Hawk’s beak in and gave him a concussion.
After this, Bear and Squirrel forgot why they were fighting.
___________
Bears and Squirrels are not good friends.
By Rob

PROBLEMS WITH FRIENDS
Leopard was cooking dinner for his friends Bird and Turtle. When they were all sitting at the dinner table Leopard said,
“Turtle, you are so weak. You should be more like me.”
“Yes, but you can’t fly from your enemies,” said Bird.
One week later Leopard, Bird, and Turtle were not talking to each other. They were all together, but they were all doing different things.
Leopard was cooking pizza for dinner, Turtle was ironing his hat, and Bird was making his favorite soup, worm soup. While Leopard, Bird, and Turtle were doing their own things, they all said, “I miss my friends.”
The next day they all went to the park and met at the park bench.
“I’m sorry,” said Bird.
“Me too,” said Leopard and Turtle.
Bird, Turtle, and Leopard all became friends again.
_____________
Always be nice.
By Maysen


DONKEY AND ZEBRA
There once was a Donkey and a Zebra who were best friends. One day Zebra said,
“Hey Donkey, you don’t have stripes like I do,”
“So,” said Donkey.
“Well, maybe I shouldn’t be friends with you anymore,” said Zebra.
“That’s not fair,” exclaimed Donkey. “Just because I don’t look like you doesn’t mean that you can’t be friends with me.”
“Wait,” said Zebra, “I have an idea.”
“What is it?” asked Donkey.
“I know a farmer who is painting his house. We could get some paint from him and paint you some stripes,” said Zebra.
“How do you know that the paint is black and white?” asked Donkey.
“Well, I have seen him paint his house before,” answered Zebra.
Zebra and Donkey then went to the farmer’s house.
When they got there, they saw a big bucket of paint. Zebra kicked the bucket of paint over and said “Get rollin, Donkey!”
“Are you sure?” asked Donkey.
“Yes, I am sure,” answered Zebra.
Donkey rolled around and around in the paint. Just then Zebra noticed that the paint wasn’t black and white. It was orange and green. Donkey looked at himself and screamed.
Then, Zebra and Donkey started laughing. They ended up being two ordinary friends with the exception of one of them being somewhat of a Donkey.
_____________
Treat your friends the way you want to be treated.
By Alexa


Christmas Eve
It was Christmas Eve and everyone was asleep.
So it was time for Santa to creep.
Down the chimney he goes.
All those presents for who knows.
The next morning we ran down stairs,
On the last three jumping through the air.
All those presents just for us.
No need to fuss.
We opened presents one by one.
Until we were done with everyone.
The kids played with their toys,
making lots of noise.
Outside they found another present.
A German Shepherd named Pheasant.
By Deborah


Christmas
Children playing in the snow,
Snowflakes falling onto piles
Of snow very low, making
Snowmen everyday.
Seeing Santa night or day,
Waiting for Christmas all the time,
While children are praying for
For Santa to come!
By Brendon

Snow
The snow is blowing away.
I’m going outside to play.
I’ll build a snowman.
As fast as I can.
Toni

Snow
There is snow on the ground
Not one makes a sound,
And you will have to scoop
the ground.
If you find a gold flake
You know what you can make.
Go sledding on your rump
and you might hit a bump.
By Kahner


Winter
As my feet touch the white, soft snow,
I don’t know which way to go,
A squirrel scurries across the street,
Looking for delicious acorns to eat,
I see an old man walking,
With his dog talking,
I wonder how snow works,
Then I look at the lake as it lurks,
As I see many cars racing down the tracks,
I look to the East and see wolves in packs,
Each snowflake falling one by one,
The Christmas joy has just begun,
I go inside, gingerbread cookies to eat,
Oh... what a treat! ,
As I go in my soft, cozy bed for night,
I look ahead...
I see a light! ,
It’s coming from outside,
It must be Santa’s flight! ,
As I spring from my bed,
I sneak downstairs,
Not a word said,
As I’m on my way I creep,
I look at the chimney,
Down comes someone with a great leap,
It’s Santa with a sack full of toys,
For lots of girls and boys,
He sees me with a twinkle in his eye,
I’ll never forget the night I spied.
By: Nikki

WINTER
I’m on a hill,
Its quiet,
I’m all alone.
I walk to the
To the top of
The hill.
I have a sled.
I run as fast as I can.
The next thing I know.
I’m zooooming,
Laughing.
I’m at the bottom,
On my back,
Laughing so hard I get a brain
freeze.
I stand up,
walk to my house,
Still,
So peacefully quiet.
BY Gage


Sledding
We were sledding down the hill
Laughing at will.
Today there is a lot of snow
And I might go sledding tomorrow.
By: Tanner


Snowflakes
See the snowflakes falling.
I think I hear mother calling.
Now there’s no sun.
So let’s have some fun.
So let’s make it last.
So let’s have a blast.
Colton