Let's get ready to RUMBLE!!!!! Err....I mean, REVIEW!!!

TRASHKETBALL!!

I am sure that you are asking yourself, "What in the world is Trashketball?"  It just happens to be one of the best review games I have in my secret stash of all things educational disguised as CRAZY FUN!!!!!!!!!

The premise of the game is this:  The class is divided into teams (as they enter, they are assigned a number 1-4).  I have a Power Point presentation with all kinds of questions loaded in and ready to go for game time.  Today we reviewed Figurative Language - hyperbolas, similes, metaphors, understatements, onomatopoeia, alliteration, and personification.  Each team has a stack of paper and a highlighter with which to write their answer.  A statement or example will pop up on the screen like so:

For all of you overachievers who can actually read what this says, what is this an example of?

Did you write "alliteration" on your paper?

If so, you are correct!!! And your team is awarded one point!

Kassandra, Benjamin, Noah, Cameron, Sidney, and Wayne were working hard to get their answers correct!

If the team is correct, they get to send a representative to the board to award their point and then wad their answer up into a ball and "shoot" it at the trashcan from a 1, 2, or 3 point line.  If their ball makes it in, they are awarded those extra points.  At the end of the game, the team with the most points win!

Let me tell you, shooting a small paper wad into a trash can that is about ten feet away is not as easy as it looks...yet so many of them went for the three point shots every time!  Here's a few photos of their reactions as they were shooting.



Benjamin going in for 1 point....it's GOOD!

Kole shooting for three....nothing but NET! (Or trash bag, in our case!)

Carlie just barely misses! 

Ashlyn celebrating....I think!

It was a great review game and the kids had a blast!  Bring on the K-PREP testing, because I know these kiddos are R-E-A-D-Y!!!!



Getting in a Morning Workout!!



Almost every morning we do some form of physical exercise.  Some days we do basic stretching; extending our torsos, touching our toes, squats, shoulder rolls, yoga, etc.  However, more often than not, we ZUMBA! Zumba has been a passion of mine for about a year and a half.  It was the catalyst for my over 70lb weight loss over the last year...and I'm still going!  Zumba is a fun and easy cardiovascular exercise that began in Brazil and has slowly, but steadily, moved it's way throughout North America and the entire world!  I also run, although I am not quite as good at, or as fond of it as I am Zumba!  Here's the great thing about a Zumba class:  In a high energy class, you can burn anywhere from 500-700 calories in an hour.  That's about double what you could burn riding a bike or walking for an hour.  And running a 12 minute mile, if you ran for an hour, you'd burn around 900 calories.  Let's see, dance for an hour....or try (notice I said try) to run for an hour keeping a 12 minute mile pace.  I'll take dancing any day! 

And the kids LOVE it!  We take 5-10 minutes after calendar math time to do a couple of songs and I guarantee you that it puts them in a better mood, wakes them up, gets them going, and gets them energized for the day.  Some of the routines we do are ones that I do in my class that I have taught them.  Others are from XBox or Wii Zumba games that I have pulled from YouTube.  Another great thing?  All Zumba music (the music that comes from Zumba headquarters) is clean!  Almost any song can be choreographed with a Zumba routine, but I am very careful to make sure that I have viewed the video before we do the song. 

The bottom line?  Exercise is key to leading a healthy lifestyle.Whether you're ten, twenty, forty, eighty or any age in between, there's a perfect Zumba class out there for you!  In fact, if you're reading this...you should check Zumba out!! Send me an email and I'll give you the details!

Happy Exercising!
xoxo
Miss Brazzell's Class

We're baaaaaaaccccccckkkkk....

We are back in the swing of things from Spring Break...and man, are we off and running!  I know that I enjoyed my break and that kids did too, but we are all focused and ready for the coming weeks as we prepare for testing.  Testing will begin three weeks from today!  (I know, I can't believe it either!)

Before we get back to the basics, I wanted to give a shout out to our Spring Break styles!  Lots of the kids came in with new clothes and new haircuts, but I have to say that Shelby's takes the cake!  Her too cute bob with bangs fits perfectly with her spunky personality!  Great look Shelby!  ...now let's get to work!!