Monday, May 16, 2011

Accelerated Reader Awards

The Accelerated Reader (AR) awards were announced last week. AR is a reading program where books are assigned a grade level and a point value. Students are tested at various times during the year to determine their reading level and then they're supposed to read books in their appropriate reading range. After they read a book, they can then take an AR test on it. Points are accumulated throughout the year. All students who earned at least 100 AR points during the school year are recognized and given a trophy. The top 10 point earners are announced and the top three get an additional trophy! This year, Katelyn earned over 330 AR points and finished 7th in the entire school (K-4th grade)! She was the only 2nd grader in the top ten! Last year she finished 13th with 175 points, so she not only moved up several places in the standings, but also almost doubled her points! Great job Katelyn!

Rachel earned 675 AR points this year and finished 1st in the school! She was so excited! Last year she finished 2nd with 453 points, so she added quite a few more points this year. Way to go Rachel! Her good friends Catherine and Karly finished 2nd and 3rd, so that was a neat thing! Catherine was sick the day they did the awards, so Rachel & Karly kept their trophies at school so that they could get a picture with Catherine when she came back to school. So proud of those girls!

I am so glad that my girls love to read! But I'm also glad that's not ALL they think about! I consider them to be very well-rounded. Just during this school year Katelyn has also played soccer, basketball, and softball; ran in the Kids Run; competed and placed in Social Studies Fair and Technology Fair; made straight A's; sang in choir and praise team; had a role in the children's musical at church; participated in a running/exercise group; completed her AWANA book at church and the extra book they gave her; played outside; made lots of bracelets and potholders; and lots of other activities. Rachel has played outdoor soccer, indoor soccer, and softball; had swim clinics twice a week since October; made straight A's; competed and placed in Social Studies Fair and Technology Fair; performed in the Snow White play; sang in choir & praise team; had a role in the children's musical at church; participated in a running/exercise group; completed the 5th grade AWANA book and started on the 6th grade book (even though she's just in 4th grade); ran a 5k; ran in the Kids Run; played outside; and lots of other activities. When people hear how many AR points the girls have, they often say things like "they must read all the time." As you can see, they do a lot more than just read!!!

Here are the top 3 AR point earners! They look pretty studious to me!!!

Rachel (1st place), Catherine (2nd place), and Karly (3rd place): Girls Rule!



Reading sisters!




Rachel & Karly




All of the kids who earned 100 or more points

Smokies Baseball Game

The 4th graders recently went on a field trip to a Smokies baseball game. It was in conjunction with a DARE program. I went with another mom in time for the game. It was hot, but we had a fun time hanging out!

Morgan retrieved a home run ball!!!



Good friends! (Zoya, Rachel, Morgan, and Catherine)





4th Grade Musical

The 4th graders did a musical in honor of all the soldiers and veterans. They did a really good job! Rachel had a speaking part (the first part of the Gettysburg address) and a solo in "America the Beautiful." They had a slideshow of pictures of relatives of the students who have served or are serving in the military, so we got to see Papaw's picture on the big screen!


Some of our friends





Rachel & Catherine

Wendy, Mamaw, and Papaw were able to come

Rachel & Samantha

Rachel doing her speaking part - she held the paper but she never looked at it! She had it memorized!







Rachel leading her class


2011 Mother's Day

We had a busy Mother's Day! After we got home from church, we headed to Cookeville to see Puddin! While we were there, I took a little Mother's Day nap on the couch!!! The girls went outside and did some painting with Puddin. After that, we headed to Kingston to see Mamaw. We visited with her for a while and then it was time to head back home and get in bed. It was a busy day, but we got to wish our moms a Happy Mother's Day in person!


Here are the girls painting with Puddin




My nap!









Lost Sea Field Trip

Katelyn's 2nd grade class went on a field trip to the Lost Sea. She had never been before and neither had Robert, so he went with her on the field trip. They had a great time and Robert said it was much better than what he had expected! I have been before, but it's been a long time! When I was in school it was our 4th grade field trip! So it's been a couple of years ago!!!






Katelyn and Joy in the tunnel









Softball Season

Here are a few pictures from our last few softball games. The girls are doing a really good job and enjoying playing softball. Katelyn is the smallest, but she doesn't let that bother her. She just walks up to the plate and gets a hit every time! Rachel can flat out smack the ball when she wants to! She has had numerous ground rule doubles. (In our league there are cones set up in the outfield. If you hit a ball that goes past the cones, it's a ground rule double.) Rachel is playing well defensively too! She had an unassisted triple play last week!!!


This is Rachel & Katelyn with their new friend Lauryn.
Rachel waiting for the throw


Rachel waiting to run


The helmets are all too big for Katelyn, so this is how she runs the bases!

Katelyn with a hit and running to 1st base


Rachel running from 2nd to 3rd
Katelyn waiting on 2nd base
Katelyn playing defense - I know that's not how we've taught her to be "ready" position!
The team