The Maverick Mailgram"All the Twice Monthly Maverick News That Is News"

Thursday, January 5, 2017 * E-mail: James.Morris@Cobbk12.org * Vol. XXII, Edition 12Website: http://cobblearning.net/jamesmorris

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A Word from Mr. M2017! Can you believe it! Can you believe that half of this fifth grade year is over! I am having a little trouble getting my head around that idea, but it is true. And I can tell you the best part of the year still lies ahead. We have gotten past keeping our shoes tied, holding the door for each other, putting a heading on our paper and generally acting like third graders. We are learning to be serious writers who can hold a reader in the palm of their hand and learning when to use the words exiting and exciting. We will be learning to debate, learning about World War II, learning fraction division of mixed numbers and learning about a Wardrobe. All of that, along with two really great field trips, will make the second half of the year the best!

Z. H. is the Mt. Bethel Spelling Bee Champion!Just before we left for our break an epic battle took place. Oh, this event did not make the evening news, but it should have. That morning of the Winter Solstice broke crisp and cool as thirteen brilliant students took the stage for the Mt. Bethel Spelling Bee. The entire Fourth and Fifth Grades were filled with anticipation as they watched their warrior get ready for academic battle. Our Z. was calm and poised. And then Ms. White let the words roll. The word gauge caused the loss of a student in Round One. In Round Twelve we started losing people. Gnarled, equestrian, precursor, marionette, implacable, tenaciously, catastrophic all came fast and furious and Z. never faltered. By Round Eighteen, he was handling unscrupulous, recurrent, eucalyptus, and rheumatic with ease. Then in Round Twenty-Two with only

Zhikai and one other student left, the battle really began. Pugnacious, factorial, articulate were deftly handled. Then the other student faltered with the word immerse. Z. had to spell it correctly and one more word after that! He correctly spelled immerse and then nailed his final word, appropriate! Z. had won! The class and the crowd went wild! His next step is the District Spelling Bee at Kennesaw Mountain High School on the 28th of January. This author will be there to report the blow by blow action! (The picture is of Z. with the runner-up and Ms. Danner, Mt. Bethel’s Spelling Bee organizer)

It is OfficialYes, it is official, Girls are better than Boys. During our Holiday Celebration before the break, we held our World Championship One-handed Gift Wrapping Competition to see who is better, girls or boys, and in a best 3 out of 5 hard fought competition, the girls handily destroyed the boys! So, there you go. It is official! Some Dates to RememberJan6-2nd 9 week’s report card home/ Jan16-MLK Holiday/ Feb6-Middle School visits/ Feb6-Parents to Middle School in evening/ Feb7-End 4½ Weeks/ Feb14-♥Valentine’s Day♥/ Feb14-4½ Week’s Reports Home/ Feb20-24-Winter Break/

Mar17-23-Scholastic Book Fair Mav erick Moment Every year I share the Eleven Rules for Being Human. Their truths are timeless, and this is one of my favorites. When the eleventh rule is shared, the class will be on the threshold of going off to middle school.

Rule Number 2: “You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called Life. Each day in this school you will have the opportunity to learn lessons.

You may like the lessons or think them irrelevant and stupid.”