Thanksgiving is almost here!

This week we only have two days of school, so that we can spend more time with our families for the Thanksgiving holiday. Thanksgiving always makes me reflect on the things in my life that I am thankful for. Here is a list of what I am thankful for:

my family
my friends
my students
my co-workers
my education and the experiences I have had in my life
my rights as an American
chocolate

Okay so the last one was a joke (kind of...), but all the others were real. I wake up every morning excited to begin another day. What is that you are thankful for? Comment with your thoughts.

The results are in...

The Lipsky Team recieved an email this morning from the official judges of the puppy naming contest, my parents. Read on to find out the puppy's name!

Dear Miss Lipsky and Miss Lipsky,

Thank you for helping us name our new puppy. Your classes are so creative and funny too.

We enjoyed reading the lists and found many of the names to be good possibilities for the puppy's name.

Some of the names were very "Gatory" and others were very yummy (Fudge, Cookie, Brownie, Cupcake).

So here is our decision (drum roll please).

It's a tie!

Yes, we found one name on the Stephen Foster list and one of the Chet's Creek list that combine to match our puppy's personality.

So his name is Rowdy Blackjack (who is asleep on my lap as I type this e-mail)!

Both classes win and both classes will be getting the prizes when they return from the Thanksgiving break.

Thanks for your help.

Mr. and Mrs. Lipsky and Rowdy Blackjack

Meet the Newest Lipsky

Meet my parents' puppy, _______. That's right -- he doesn't have a name yet! :( . Are you ready for the surprise... drum roll please... you get to give this little puppy a great name. But wait! It's not that easy. My sister's 2nd grade class at Chet's Creek Elementary (a cool school in Jacksonville, FL) want to name him too. My parents are going to choose their favorite name, so make it a good one! The winning class will get to hang a framed photo of _______ in their classroom, a book about dogs to add to the classroom library, and maybe a tasty treat as well!

Remember the name that my parents are leaning towards right now is "Smudge," come on guys, I know we can think of something better! So put your thinking caps on and give this cute pup a great name!

Name suggestions are listed next to students' initials:
ID: Shadow or Panther or Hersheys
VP: Brookman or Damian or Maximus or Ryan or Dexter
BD: Grumpy or Rowdy or Timmy or Gator or Riley or Stubby
VC: Brownie
TH: Fudgie or Cocoa or Chestnut
KC: Mr. Black
AC: Chewy or Chewbaca or Toyota or "Por Favor"
AA: Fluffy or Gummy Bear or Little Bear or Tiger or Bambi or King or Reeses
JW: Tiki or Blacky or Jazz or Merlin or Goose or Jimmy Johnson
BF: Shiloh or Bumblebee or Sam
DA: Lucky or Sage or Jeff Gordon
JL: Max or Binky or Cougar or Peanut or Rover
FA: Cooper or Clifford or Marley or Chester or Dennis (the Menace) or Hank
BB: Maximillian
JB: Tebow or Copper or Holiday or Boots or Gordon
KR: Fudge
DV: Navorris or Diego

Here are the names Ms. Lipsky vetoed: Kanye West, Fifty Cent, Kisses (since it's a boy) and Thumper (too close to our Bunny's name).

It's electric!

In science, we are learning about electricity. First, we have to learn the new vocabulary terms.

Go to BrainPop and sign in using our class's username and password.

1. Click on Science.
2. Click on Energy.
3. Watch the Electric Circuits movie. Afterwards take the Review Quiz to check your understanding.
4. Watch the Electricity movie.
5. Then leave a comment here with the following answers:

• When you flick a light switch on what is happening that we cannot see?



• What charge do electrons have?



• What is electricity?

If you finish early review what we were working on last week by watching the movies on Forms of Energy, Kinetic Energy, or Sound. Remember our science test is next Tuesday!

Brr!

Climate change could cause the ice peaks on Africa's Mount Kilimanjaro to disappear within the next 25 years! Glaciologists, scientists who study glaciers, say the peaks might be ice-free as soon as 2022, or by 2033 at the latest. 85% of the ice that was present in 1912 has disappeared. Scientists are making similar findings all around the world. A rise in temperatures is one of the reasons for the ice melting, but also human-caused climate change that has made for drier and less cloudy conditions than in the past are also causing the ice to shrink. The picture shows a remnant of what once was an ice field.