The Buzz in Ms. Rikard's Class

February Student of the Month

It is no surprise that Erica was selected as the student of the month during February!  Erica amazes me all the time with her kind words to others, her dedication to her schoolwork, and her willingness to go the extra mile to achieve!  This all shows too!  Erica has excellent grades and many others who look up to her!  She is a wonderful example of a spectatular J.H. House citizen!

December Student of the Month

Jesse was named December's Student of the Month!  Jesse is constantly showing his kindness and willingness to help others.  His excellent report card showed his hard work and dedication to his school work.  However, Jesse doesn't stop there!  He has received many compliments from other teachers who have observed his great attitude and love of school.  He is a trustworthy student and a wonderful friend to others.  Keep up the good work, Jesse!

Paint the Town December

Do you recognize these faces?  Claudia, Jesse, and Kevin did a wonderful job playing the angel, the shepherd, and Joseph in the holiday music performance.  I was so impressed with the singing, dancing, and speaking as the second and third graders taught a huge audience about Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Fiesta, and Christmas!  We were all so entertained!  Great job, kids!

I Will Survive!

Can you imagine how you would feel if you were a turkey and Thanksgiving was quickly approaching?  I have several students who put themselves in the shoes of a turkey...wait a minute, do turkeys wear shoes?  Anyway, this is what they had to say:

Hey you!  Yes, you!  I know I'm a turkey.  Okay, I know what you're saying, turkeys can't talk!  But this is important.  If you come in with an axe, I will chase you out of town!  If you will try, I may get an axe and eat you!  How would you like that?  I khnow what you can eat instead....chicken!  Eat chicken and that red sauce!  It will taste better than me anyhow!  ~Donald

I am a poor Thanksgiving turkey and many want to eat me?  I should put some other turkey guards around me so that they couldn't get to me!  I could pretend that I had the bird flu so that they would not eat me.  Or that I was so big that your little mouth couldn't eat me.  I could tell them that I'm not fresh to eat.  I could also put a sign that says, Do NOT eat me!.  I could hide or escape sot that could not find me.  If they do get me, I will just bite them on their hand so that I could escape.   ~Everardo

I will survive!  You should not eat this turkey because I live in a garbage can.  IF you try I'll slap you with a banana peel from my garbage can!  You could eat fish instead.  Put some vinegar on your fish.  You could also eat deer.  Deer have more meat inside of them than turkey, and you can use their skin.  I only have feathers!  You could also hang their horns on your wall!  I'm just skin and bones!  You could try to eat a fox or something like that!  Besides, if everyone keeps eating the turkeys, I could become extinct!  Yikes!   ~Dylan

Well, I had to think twice before I ate turkey on Thanksgiving!  How about you?

November Student of the Month

Each month, a student is chosen who exhibits all of the qualities of a great J.H. House citizen.  November's Student of the Month was Gabby!  Gabby is a student who stands out because she is such a hard worker.  Gabby is always willing to go that extra mile to do a good job and to make her assignments excellent!  She is also willing to help others!  She is so helpful and her words are always so kind!  I am so proud of the example that Gabby sets for others around her!  Congratulations, Gabby!!!

Quiz Bowl Champions!

Congratulations to Jesse and Kevin!!!  After an awesome competition with other third graders during the Quiz Bowl on December 1st, this team earned first place!  Quiz Bowl is held twice a year and is made up of current event questions.  Students must pay close attention to CNN Student News every day and they must spend additional time studying notes from CNN and Time for Kids.  These two kids made me so proud, not because they won, but because they were dedicated to learning and working as a team!  Good job guys!

Taking CNN By Storm!

Has Kevin taken over the reporting job at CNN?  He certainly could have!  We took an awesome trip to the CNN Center in Atlanta where my students learned how this network truly works!  From writing the news, reporting the news, making a weather program, to filming, we are news experts!  What was the highlight of our trip?  We were visited by Carl Azuz, who is a writer for CNN Student News and the infamous voice our our daily Shoutout! and Word to the Wise.  He answered questions and explained how this tough job really works.  We certainly left with some aspiring news anchors!  If you ever have the chance, you should visit the CNN Center!  It is simply amazing how much work goes into the giant network!  Maybe we'll see some J.H. House faces there one day!!!

Belize Bound!

Are you familiar with the country of Belize?  As many of you know, I am a person who loves to travel.  I think that seeing new places and learning about new cultures is so exciting!  During our fall break, I was able to visit the country of Belize, which is in Central America.  If you look at a map, you will find Belize south of Mexico and east of Guatemala.  Many of you may have heard of these countries because of the hurricanes and flooding that you have seen on CNN recently.  I went to Belize to help in a school and to help build a church!  It is very hot in Belize and I worked like crazy, but I had tons of fun!  I found that helping others is so rewarding!  The people of Belize are much like us! The children love to go to school where they learn subjects in English and Spanish.  They play many of the same games and like to sing.  I made many new friends in Belize and I can't wait to go back!  Have you ever had the chance to visit a foreign country or had the opportunity to help others like this?

Habitat Dioramas

If you have walked past our classroom lately, you have been surrounded by jungles, deserts, farmlands, oceans, and even the frozen arctic!  After studying a unit on animals and thier habitat, students chose thier favorite animal and created a diorama exhibiting the correct environment in which it lives.  Students then presented thier information to the class.  From Matthew's penquins to Tyler's stable horses, we learned tons of new information on many interesting animals!  I can't wait to see future projects from these creative kids!

Recycling Responsibility

Have you ever tried to help others or do something that would make the world a better place?  That is exactly what Jovanny does every Friday!  Jovanny is our representative to the J.H. House Recycling Club!  He goes from room to room every Friday to pick up papers to recycle.  These papers are collected and taken to the Recycling Center to be reused!  Wow, we're saving trees here!  This is a job for a responsible person that cares about our earth.  Jovanny knows that this is an important job and he takes it seriously!  Do you know of other things we could do to help our environment?  We want to have a clean earth for our children and grandchildren, after all!