American Revolution Maps and Task Cards

As promised, I am back to share another lesson idea with you! We finished up our unit on the American Revolution last week. It was a long haul as we study the events leading up to the Revolution before breaking for the holidays. Then we come back and hit 'em hard with some major battles and the famous names from that era for three weeks. Whoosh. We are done.

This year I thought I'd try something a little different and have the students recreate the famous battles using play-doh. They were to draw the map on 9 x 12 construction paper and use the play-doh to highlight how the rebels used the geography around them to help. For example, at the Battle of Bunker (Breed's) Hill, the Minutemen hid behind trees and fired on the advancing Red Coats. So they students made trees and little soldiers out of the play-doh.

I had them work in groups of 4-5. When they were done we took a little 'field trip' around the room. Each group had to explain what battle they were representing and how they used the play-doh to show geographical features.

In honor of all their hard work, I made a little set of task cards to help them study for the exam. It's a simple set of 20 cards with an answer key provided.

We had two exams with all of this material. One before Winter Break called Road to the Revolution and the other after break called Revolutionary Battles. My students did really well with the Road to the Revolution. But not so great on the battles. Hmm?

You can pick up this Task Card set here for $2!

Snowpocalypse 2014!

Snow Day! Snow Day!

AND I just found out we have another one tomorrow. This is crazy, especially for Georgia. If you've been watching the news you already know how awful things have been done here. People stuck in cars for 15 hours, school buses delivering students at 10 P.M., teachers sleeping in their classrooms with their students, and the aisles of Publix stuffed full of people who have to spend the night because they can't get home.

Like I said. Cray- Zee!

On the flip side it offers me TONS of time to catch up with y'all. It's been two months since my last post and I have been missing you every day! Now I can't be totally at fault. There was that jaunt to Australia for three weeks that took me away. Then there was all that trying to get back into the swing of school after having been gone for so long. So many papers to grade and enter because report cards were due.

Now, life is back on track and I have some time to sit back and relax with  my blog. I even went all hog wild and put up tons of new things on my TpT site. You should check out the two freebies on there.

One I used in a figurative language lesson that my BBB Jivey showed me. We were talking about being more engaging in our writing pieces. Thinking ahead I took pictures of all my students as they entered the classroom with their hats and coats and scarves. I just told them to look scared. Of course they were totally interested in what I was up to. So I started off showing them a Pixar short called Knick Knack on youtube. It was so great. A wordless short film about a snowman who no longer wants to stay in his snowglobe any more. The kids laughed and wanted to see it again.

I then posed the question to them, "What would you do if you were stuck in a snowglobe?" I gave them a story organizer to jot down their thoughts. As they were working on that I was walking around prompting them to think about some idioms or similes that they could add to make their writing more flavorful. I 'made them famous' by reading out any particularly great examples.

The next day I gave them my little Figurative Language Snow Globe sheet to illustrate their examples of different figurative language. As a little more pushing towards adding more creative language to their writing. After they cut each of the globes out I had them fold them in half face forward. Then they glued one edge to the other, working around until the final edge of the fourth globe was glued to the last edge of the first globe. Here's a picture.

They had these on their desks as they were writing their HELP! I'm Trapped in a Snow Globe piece. Their stories were so funny and yes, more creative. You can grab this sheet here.

The other one is my Text Structure Flip Book.

This was for our interactive notebooks to learn more about how story structure works. I found a powerpoint presentation on TpT from Emily Kissner that we worked through as a class. The students took notes from the slides under each of the flaps. We've been looking through books and determining their structure making sure that we use Evidence Citing Sentence Starters that my friend Joanne has available on her TpT store. They are getting better at identifying and discussing the text structures. You can get this little flip book for free here.

Look for more product updates in a few!

Factors Multiples Arrays OH MY!

It must have been all the sleep I got during the Thanksgiving Break, but I managed to finish up a math packet I've been working on for a bit. I started it when I noticed my students weren't having much luck grasping the idea behind multiplication strategies. I want them to have several ways to think about solving multiplication and division problems when standardized testing time rolls around. I usually start by asking the class what ways do they know to solve a problem like 3x12.

This year when I asked I got the logarithm method of straight vertical multiplication. When I probed for another way...*crickets crickets crickets*

Even when I lead them with ideas such as drawing 3 circles and putting 12 shapes inside each, or mentioned arrays I still got complete blank stares out of my 19 students. They were fascinated as I showed them the lattice method of multiplication and moved into the area model. They loved those and started using them right away.

And the idea for this packet of activities was born.

I didn't manage to get everything in this one, but after 34 slides, I figured it was time to let it go. Here's what I did include in it:

Classroom posters (1 each for Factors, Multiples, and Arrays)

Divisibility Rules

Factor Activities including worksheet and game

Array homework and worksheet ideas

Making Arrays

Array word problems

Multiplication tables (blank and filled)

Multiples word problems

Multiples games

You can find it right HERE

TpT+Cyber Monday!

Did you survive Black Friday? Or are you still feeling the shopping itch?
TpT is throwing a huge Cyber Sale Monday and Tuesday, December 2 & 3. For these two exciting days only, I will be offering 20% off ALL of my products. Even more amazingly, TpT is going to stack their own sale onto mine, making for a combined 28% off my entire store! Make sure to use Code CYBER when checking out.
Might be time to grab that Frindle novel pack you've been eying, or that Mentor Sentence 10 week unit while you can!

Frindle - Novel Study

This year was the first time I tried an extended text as a read aloud. Extended text involves a lot of very close reading and asking the students to do more than just listen to the story or ask questions. It delves deeper into the text and the nuances of the novel, revealing more depth and meaning behind the text. The students need to do some serious thinking and interaction with the novel (insert groans and sighs from them here) but they come out on the other end understanding so much more.

Our first foray into this was Elizabeth George Banks's, Sign of the Beaver. I am ashamed to say I had never read it before. Once I did I really enjoyed it. It took us about three weeks to get through the entire novel. We did so many different activities that I pulled off of TpT for free that it got my brain thinking.

Our next novel was to be a little fun book by Andrew Clements. Scholastic had a sale on it in September for $1 so I bought the class their very own book. Now I could get them to do even more delving, this time with a highlighter! We've only read chapters one and two but already they are noticing things on their own and predicting about events to come. They love reading it and don't want me to stop.

As I was reading through it again for ideas, I started putting together a plan for what I wanted to teach. Well, that plan turned into an entire set of activities that I could use just from this short 135 page book. I worked on it over several days and finally had a product to put out for y'all to enjoy along with me.

But I had to know if it would actually work in a regular classroom, so I started using the activities in my classroom to get a feel for them.

And wouldn't you know it; they already noticed a mistake on one of the sheets. As we were going through the character sketch for Mrs. Granger, they saw that the textboxes actually referred to her as a 'he'. That's what i get for reusing a previous sheet. Don't worry. I already went back, fixed it, and  reloaded it.

I can't wait to try some of the other activities as well. So keep an eye out for further posts on this subject!

Oh, you can grab the Frindle Novel Study right here.

October S.L.A.N.T. Reveal

I am so SO so late in blogging about this. I hope Susan forgives me. I mentioned before in this post 
that I had joined in the SLANT bandwagon. I had absolutely no idea what to expect or what others were sending out in their care packages around the world. But when I heard it was a little SPOOKY themed, I was all over it.

I sent my contribution all the way to Australia and eagerly awaited my little box. Then suddenly it was here.

I was given the amazing and super friendly Susan from here as my buddy. She contacted me almost as soon as the list was out to introduce herself. She also completely made my day when she revealed that she was already a follower of my blog. It's still fascinates me that people actually read my ramblings. To have someone reference it makes me feel like a ROCK STAR!

And the happiness only continued when I opened that little puppy. Everything I pulled out, from the set of ghoulish drinking goblets, to the scented pens, to the hamburger socks. Yep, I said hamburger socks. I can't wait to strut through the halls of school with those on!

Thanks, Susan. You are wonderful!

Thursday Tutorial - Recycled Science Projects

When I was teaching Third Grade we always did this recyclable materials project since it went with the curriculum. We would often adopt the motto of 'Go Green' to cut down on paper waste and reuse materials. It's a great lesson for students to learn and I kind of missed that piece when I moved to Fourth.

But that shouldn't mean that students can't be exposed to the idea of recycling to help their environment, does it? This year, as I was printing out the directions for our Solar System project, I realized I could totally slip a little recycling in when it had never been before. I found the part in the parent instructions that told them not to think they had to spend a ton of money to recreate the planets and such and added in more suggestions about using recycled materials. I had crumpled up newspapers, bottle caps, and rolled up socks as ideas for making the solar system.

Some of my kids surprised me when they started complaining they didn't know how to create this project, or they didn't have anything recyclable at home. Are you kidding me??? We talked and discussed as a class and we heard from some of the those that had already started what they were finding to use in their projects.

The due date arrived for turning in this assignment and I was blown away. They really did an awesome job with this and reused a bunch of odds and ends to recreate the solar system. With a little forward thinking, we can all help save our planet, the third from the Sun.

Wednesday Writing - PenPal Replies

Whoo wee! You should have seen how excited my kiddos were when I told them our Penpals from New York have written back.

Okay, well, you can see a picture here:

I had paired up with Jessica Ivey and Holly (Fourth Grade Flipper) as part of a project to get my students to write more often.

Jessica was telling me that her class has been asking about the return penpal letters ever since we sent the first batch off. Mine? Not so much. No one really seemed to be thinking about them or wondering at all what was going on up North.

But as soon as they heard what was in the package I was holding, their excitement really shone through. Totally made me smile to hand out these great colorful letters and all the fun gifts that Holly's students sent us. We had only two pouty faces because their penpal hadn't sent them anything extra. But I gave them the old 'Kill em with kindness' speech and they quieted down.

Mine immediately wanted to write back and send their pals gifts. I can't reveal what they are sending because that would just plain spoil the surprise! So be on the lookout Penpals!

We even got some tattoos that were super cool!

Tuesday Tried It - Weight Loss

It was someone's idea to have our school's picture day on a Friday this year. You've gotta understand. That is the one day we are allowed to wear jeans to school, but we have to wear it with spirit wear. It's not always the nicest looking outfit, but I am NOT missing a jeans day. Needless to say, I skipped pictures the first go around.

When picture retakes came through, I was ready. I got all dressed up and went right to the photographers before any of the students arrived so I wouldn't be rushed, sat right down and turned my head ever so slightly and waited. The gal behind the camera laughed and said, "You've done this before, huh?"

I got those results back recently and was a bit shocked. I have my picture from last year sitting up on my wall and as I compared the two there was a marked difference. All that working out over the past seven months has paid off. I have proof!

 

but I can't seem to make it turn the right way. Whaaa!

Monday Mentor - Moon Phases OREO style!

This is my third year teaching fourth grade curriculum. Help me Lord, but I look forward to making the Moon Phases out of Oreo cookies. Every time I am in Costco and spy the huge warehouse sized box of Oreos I think, "Is it time?" Finally the day arrived that I could buy that Monster box of cookies and not feel one ounce of guilt.

I lug them into the class and just watch my students eyes grow three sizes too big. As I'm explaining what we are doing I can tell they aren't listening to a thing I'm saying. All they care about is whether or not they can EAT their display. Even with all that glue stuck on it, they still want to pick the whole thing back off and stuff it down their throats.

I manage to hold them off from gorging themselves on chocolatey goodness long enough to show them how to arrange the cookies to represent the eight moon phases. We twist the tops off the Oreos carefully and use the non cream side for the New Moon. We scrape most of the cream off of the bottom into a crescent sitting on the right hand side for the Waxing Crescent. The cookies continue in this way all the way around the lunar cycle until they have the whole plate covered. This usually takes a while and requires a lot more glue than one would expect. I couldn't find my bottles of liquid glue, not sure if I tossed them during the summer move to a new room. Thankfully our art teacher is kind.

We set them on the floor out of the way to dry. I  know, torture. The next day I hand out a sheet of terms for them to cut out and label their moon phases. As I walk around with my grade book in hand, their glassed over pleading eyes beg to know if they can EAT now. Even after all the cream and the bottom halves of the cookies yesterday, they still want to gobble the rest. I give in and return to my desk to calmly enjoy my pack of 6 Oreos.

Until next year.

Thursday Tutorial - Salute!

We played a fun game at our annual Math Night. Once a year we turn the entire school into a smorgasbord of mathematical genius. The halls are lined with tons of games based on numeracy, graphing, operations, and algebraic thinking. All of the teachers turn out for a night of frivolous number crunching.

My fourth grade partners and I set up a math game called Salute in the hall outside our rooms. There is a deck of cards set out on two desks. Children sit opposite each other and a third player becomes the 'Caller.' The players decide it they will be doing addition or multiplication. Each of the students pulls a card from the deck without looking at it. The Caller says, "Salute", and they place their card up against the forehead. The Caller than tells them the sum or the product of the two cards. Whoever can identify their card first wins the set. At the end the person with the most cards wins that round.

It's fun and silly and just a great way to practice their facts. I love watching the little kindergartners try to figure out what card they have stuck to their forehead. Fun fun.

Wednesday Writing - Spider vs. Fly

Something a little fun this week from the Writing World of FrynsTown. I completely stole the idea from Jivey, but it was just too fun to pass up. I started out by reading the poem (fable) Spider and the Fly:

The Spider and the Fly

By Mary Howitt 

 

Will you walk into my parlour? said the spider to the fly.

Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy,

The way into my parlour is up a winding stair,

And I've a many curious things to shew when you are there.

Oh no, no, said the little Fly, to ask me is in vain,

For who goes up your winding stair, can ne'er come down again.

I'm sure you must be weary, dear, with soaring up so high

Will you rest upon my little bed? said the Spider to the Fly.

There are pretty curtains drawn around; the sheets are fine and thin,

And if you like to rest awhile, I'll snugly tuck you in!

Oh no, no, said the little Fly, for I've often heard it said

They never, never wake again, who sleep upon your bed!

Said the cunning Spider to the Fly, Dear friend what can I do,

To prove the warm affection I 've always felt for you?

I have within my pantry, good store of all that's nice

I'm sure you're very welcome, will you please to take a slice?

Oh no, no, said the little Fly, Kind Sir, that cannot be,

I've heard what's in your pantry, and I do not wish to see!

Sweet creature! said the Spider, you're witty and you're wise,

How handsome are your gauzy wings, how brilliant are your eyes!

I've a little looking-glass upon my parlour shelf,

If you'll step in one moment, dear, you shall behold yourself.

I thank you, gentle sir, she said, for what you 're pleased to say,

And bidding you good morning now, I'll call another day.

The Spider turned him round about, and went into his den,

For well he knew the silly Fly would soon come back again

So he wove a subtle web, in a little corner sly,

And set his table ready, to dine upon the Fly.

Then he came out to his door again, and merrily did sing,

Come hither, hither, pretty Fly, with the pearl and silver wing,

Your robes are green and purple, there's a crest upon your head

Your eyes are like the diamond bright, but mine are dull as lead!

Alas, alas! How very soon this silly little Fly.

 

Hearing his wily, flattering words, came slowly flitting by

With buzzing wings she hung aloft, then near and nearer drew,

Thinking only of her brilliant eyes, and green and purple hue

Thinking only of her crested head, poor foolish thing!

At last,

Up jumped the cunning Spider, and fiercely held her fast.

He dragged her up his winding stair, into his dismal den,

Within his little parlour, but she ne'er came out again!

And now dear little children, who may this story read,

To idle, silly flattering words, I pray you ne'er give heed.

Unto an evil counsellor, close heart and ear and eye,

And take a lesson from this tale, of the Spider and the Fly. 

 

Then we read an article about how helpful a spider actually is:

http://www.natureofcreation.org/articles/spiders.htm

 

Followed up by whether flies are useful:

http://fohn.net/pictures-of-flies/life-of-the-fly.html

 

I have them take notes on a t-chart to describe how each animal is helpful or harmful. 

 

Finally I give them the choice to write an opinion piece from the point of view of the spider or the fly.  They write up a thought bubble of sorts using the voice of their character and tell the other creature why they should or shouldn't be eaten. They have to use some of the information from the articles to 'prove their point'. 

When they were done I have the more brave of my students read them out loud but using a different voice. Some read like Dracula, some a cowboy, some as a Southern Belle. It gave me a chuckle to hear their arguements. 

Tuesday Tried It - Field Trips

I believe children should get out of school and experience the real world as much as they can. I think they should be exposed to culture more often. I think bringing them away from the four walls of the schoolhouse brings them further life experiences that enrich and further their education. That is why I always volunteer to head up the yearly field trip at our school.

It is not an easy endeavor. There's so much paperwork and math involved. Did I mention there is math? Ugh. Calculating how many miles and how many buses we can squeeze 225 fourth graders on is just mind boggling. Don't make me mention the idea of getting every child to bring in $8. It's like a race to the very finish to get all the money in so we can actually leave the building.

This year we went to see a production of Peter Pan and Wendy at our local theater (it is 4 miles from the school, which means 8 miles total). We took over the entire theater and displayed mostly appropriate behavior throughout the play. I liked how they made it a bit more interactive than the production we saw last year. The kids were clapping and answering questions and shouting at the stage to keep them interested. We made it back to school exhausted, but at least a little more fascinated with culture. I call that a win.

Mentor Monday - Planet Cookies

We are in the thick of it with our Planet/Stars/Moon unit. Next week will be Week 3, totally nice to have an extra week to get through all this content. I think this curriculum is fun. I learn something new every year and the kids love soaking up as much as they can with me. I learned that there is to be a replacement telescope for the Hubble sent up in 2015. It was supposed to be this year (which would have been totally cool!), but something must have happened. Another thing is that Pluto is not the only Dwarf Planet categorized in our Solar System. There are four more!
One question I had from this year was how did they manage to get a satellite through the asteroid belt to explore the Outer Planets? Pretty intelligent stuff.

The point of this post was to be about this cool thing one of my parents did for us. So I guess I'll stop babbling about Planets and talk about that now. The second student to leave us this year was going to have his last day on Friday. His mom contacted me and asked if she could bring in some cookies for the kids to decorate as a treat. Never the one to miss out on a teachable moment, I wrote back and said that would be perfect. Could she come during our Science block and we could have them decorate the cookies as planets to create a Solar System model? She agreed.

We had the BEST time. She brought so much frosting, jimmies, sprinkles, and two types of cookies. We talked about how the sugar cookies were better than the oatmeal ones for the Outer Planets because the bumpy ones looked more rocky like the Inner Planets. Content with a twist!

10% Sale - So I cheated a little.

I was feeling a little generous, must be all that sugar I've consumed in the past few days. There's a little sale going on over at my store. Check it out!  SG Store

Thanks to all those who played the BOO Game.

I've just been Boo'ED

Boo ed

I woke up this morning to find my Facebook feed splashed with pictures from my sister's Halloween Party she held last night. Sadly, I could not be there since she lives in Maine and I live in Georgia. It got me thinking though, about how the holiday of Halloween has changed.

When I was a kid, I don't recall my elementary school holding costume parades or even allowing us to wear costumes to school on the fateful day. I do remember being pent up the entire day, vividly. That anxious anticipation of all out fun started about a week out when the Halloween shows began. My favorite to this day is It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. There were others like Fat Albert and Scooby Doo Halloween specials. Am I dating myself here or what?

One year I remember sitting on the couch watching the animated showing of Gulliver's Travels and just waiting for my mother to announce, "It's time." That meant I could finally put on my Darth Vader costume and grab my pillow case off the bed to scour my neighborhood for the best candy. We had to wait until it got dark before we could go out Trick or Treating. Then we had to hear the dreaded news whether or not we had to wear our jackets over our costumes because it was too cold outside to run around in paper thin plastic capes. My 'neighborhood' consisted of four streets packed with homes that ran along two main streets. My house was on the front busiest street so we had to start there to hopefully avoid the traffic. But the rest were a free for all as we ran hither and thither collecting sugary goodness until we couldn't carry out pillow cases without dragging them.

Nowadays schools have put a Stop Gap on anything Halloween, canceling all parties, worksheets, movies, and mentioning of the holiday. It saddens me but I understand that we need to respect the religion and beliefs of all the children in our classrooms. My principal has found a way to still throw some fun our way during this time. We are having a Book Character Dress Up Day on Thursday, October 31. My grade level has talked about going with a common theme for the teachers, but nothing has been solidified as of yet. I don't think there will be any candy passing, but there might be a parade through the halls. Should be fun!

That's me as Harry Potter for last year's parade. 


So, here's what this post is all about. I am BOO'ing two of my BBB (best blogging buddies) through their email and challenging them to BOO two others. Then they are to write a post about what they do during this time of year. Now I want to hear all sides, from those that still celebrate Halloween, and those who don't believe in it. I'm really interested in how Halloween is taken around the world.
 

Once you've BOO'ed and blogged, come back here and LINK up with this thread so I can read all about what goes on for you as October nears its end. Make sure to use my BOO Logo up above in your posts.

As some added fun, however many folks link up between now and October 31 will determine the sales percent I throw up on my TpT store. So if 100 people link up, I'll have a 10% sale from November 1-3. If 200 people link up, it'll be 20%. So make sure you encourage your BOO'EES to link up! Does this mean if 1000 people link up, I'll have a three day long FREEBIE sale at my TpT Store? (Yep, can you see my freaking out face right now?)

Thanks for playing!

Wednesday writing - Thank You Letters

Today was the first meeting of our Photography Club. 20+ faces arrived bright and early at 7 A.M. to join me in my room as we started the year off right! I handed out yellow folders and explained that we would be talking all about Light and Photography, so yellow would help them remember how important light is to taking pictures. They all stared blankly at me, which I sort of expected.

Then I sprang the surprise I've been waiting for since August on them. I showed them the four cameras that we were given from donorschoose.org. I explained how some totally random people, complete strangers to each other and them, donated their hard earned money to help us out with our club. Their little jaws dropped when they heard how much money someone spent on them.

I asked how we could show our appreciation and they immediately wanted to make cards for the donors. I just happened to have some fun photo and film inspired thank you cards waiting to go. They jumped right onto it and managed to complete the cards before our 20 minute class time slot was complete. Yay!

Tuesday Tried It - October Slant Boxes

I came across this little Swap Party on Bloglovin one day and thought I'd throw my hat into the ring. Who doesn't love getting mail that doesn't involve bills? One teacher sends you a box of goodies geared towards you (they kind of have to stalk your blog and social media to get ideas) and then you send a box to someone else. S.L.A.N.T. actually stands for Sending Love Across the Nation to Teachers and it was dreamed up by Jameson over at Lessons with Coffee.

She does this once a month and for October the theme is: Teaching can be Scary. That's another reason I jumped all over this. I'm having a scary time this year and I still feel knocked off my game of late, but hopefully a friendly chat with another teacher will help smooth the road ahead.

I've already been assigned and gotten email contacts from both  my person and my recipient. They are definitely eager beavers and I can't wait to find out more about them. My recipient actually lives in Australia. I'm sorta tempted to ask her if I can hand deliver the box to her, but it would be WAY passed the due date. Oh well.

Monday Mentor - Math Lit Connections

Today was a teacher workday, which translates into we were in meetings all morning. First we had an ESOL check up to make sure we were following our little darlings closely and adjusting curriculum to hit their weak areas. A lot of mine have problems in listening and speaking. I don't see much of a problem with their talking, they do that very well. But I digress.

Our next meeting was with our Literacy and  Math coaches to plan out the next nine weeks. I can hardly believe the first quarter is done and gone. This second one always flies by. This year is going to be even worse because I literally will by flying by on Week 8 to Australia!! But I digress. The math coach did an awesome job collecting a ton of books for each teacher to have in their classroom. Each title addresses some math concept in fun new ways.

We had to pick from the bucket of goodness and come up with ways that we could use the book in our classroom. We could make mini lesson, whole group instruction, or station idea suggestions from our book. I grabbed this neat little book called Mystery Math: A First Book of Algebra by David A. Adler. It's October and this cover had all those perfect little ghosties and ghoulies on the cover. I used to love Halloween growing up but it seems to be squeezed out of the school system now.

This little nugget starts off teaching students what an equation is and why the two sides of an equal sign need to be balanced. Then it goes into variables and how to find the solution to algebra equations using all four mathematical operations. Mandy and Billy foolishly stop by a haunted house and have to solve the algebraic riddles to make it through. They count ravens on the wires, bats inside the belfry, and the obligatory skeletons in the closet. It's done in a simple and manageable style that I can't wait to try out on my students and make this a station for them to design their own story problems.

Hope you enjoy!

Friday - Spraguers Takeover Atlanta

Thankfully my brain was not on school time this morning and I was able to sleep until 8. Kelly, Ann Marie, and Sabrina had already left for their VIP tour of CNN. The rest of the group met downstairs in the lobby for the continental and then hopped onto the Marta. As we were going through the day I said we would be 'jumping on Marta' and Jess expressed a hope that Marta was not in fact a person. She soon found out the loveliness that is Marta as we rode it three stops to the Peachtree Center. Then, typical of Atlanta, we had to walk a mile to get to the Georgia Aquarium. It was a bit chilly this morning for wearing shorts, but I powered through.

We had our group shot done outside and then wandered in to feel the stingrays and sharks. Two fingers please, no poking. Kristen almost got attacked by a feisty little number who liked to wave on top of the water. I think what saved her was definitely her sailor inspired garb; she was simply too cute to maim so the stingray floated away.

The group moved en masse through the circuit of the aquarium, stopping to ooh and ahh over the lion fish and oggle the electric eel, as well as snap pictures of the albino alligators. We had to hold Jana back when she discovered that the penguin exhibit was closed for maintenance. But she was placated by the super adorable sea otters who showed off for us. Then it was onto the belugas before lunch.

We spent an entire block of time just simply enjoying the Whale Shark exhibit. The soft lighting, the cool blues of the tank, the serene music all combined to make it a wonderful experience. If we had had some hot chocolate and a blanket, we could have stayed in there all day. The manta rays were having a ball inside the tank. We all wanted to join them as they did back flip after back flip. Jess provided voices for each and every fish that floated by. It was totally hysterical as she provided running commentary for the manta ray, "Away!"

After the aquarium, the group split up with half onto the World of Coca-Cola and the others to head back to the hotel. I hadn't been back to the World of Coke since they opened up the new location so it was all new to me. With Kelly's suggestion us GA residents were able to secure two entries for $20 and got everyone in. We could have done without the little entry video with crazy weird characters apparently living inside the Coke machines, of which I'm now a little afraid to approach. But we did enjoy the bottling plant and the vault. Very few of us, okay me, was brave enough to sample all of the drinks. Even the 'Beverly' from Italy. Uck! All hopped up on caffeine we walked back to Marta.

Dinner was going to be tight if the whole group was to meet, eat, and then head out to our prospective movies. We had planned on attending the IMAX and martinis showing at 9 called the Hidden Galaxy, while Jess and her crew went to watch Sandra Bullock being assaulted for 90 minutes. I tried getting reservations for 16 at Mary Mac's Tea Room but they wouldn't take them on the weekend and said their space was large enough we wouldn't have a problem. However when we did arrive, they said the wait would be 45 minutes. Crushed, we had to juggle the opportunity costs of the evening. IMAX was let go as we opted for a nice calm dinner with the group.

That was before we realized that Mary Mac's would LOAD us up with tons of food. We each got to try some Pot Likker (try saying that without a Southern Accent). Then they placed bread baskets full of yeast rolls and cornbread on the tables. THEN they bring out the baskets of the tastiest cinnamon rolls ever. Unfortunately, food arrived after this and it was all so good we had to eat it! Did I mention we each ordered desserts? Uh huh, I had to force myself to down that Peanut Butter Pie. It was horrible.

Tired, fat, and happy we all headed back to bed.