Awesomest Substitute in the Universe!

My 2nd grade substitute teacher Ms. Morett, just sent me a super cute Good Luck card (good luck in the new school year)! Thank you Ms. Morett, I love it and thanks for thinking of me! You are the best substitute in the world!  

My Camping Trip

Last Thursday, we went camping at Hickory Run State Park. It was a lot of fun! On the first day, We just set up the tent, ate lunch, then relaxed for the rest of the day. For dinner, we had fire-grilled pepperoni pizzas and after that we had smores! On day 2, we went to a biking trail but we didn't go very far because Daddy had a flat tire. :(  Daddy walked back to the car to try to fix it but Mommy and I kept biking. We only went 8 miles, because there wasn't any cell phone signal and we didn't want daddy to worry about us. 

Since our bike ride was so short, we decided to go on a hike. After the hike, we walked to my Uncle Vin's campsite. He was camping with his friends at a campsite not too far from us. What a coincidence! When we got back, my parents' college friends had arrived! We helped them unpack and set up the tent, then we settled down for dinner. We had rib eye and NY strip steaks and potatoes for dinner and then smores again. On day 3, we went hiking across the Boulder Field. The Boulder Field is a big field filled with boulders. After that, we went to Sandy Lake Beach. At the beach, Aidan (my camping buddy) and I made sand castles while our moms and dads relaxed on the beach. Later, we did some fishing on the other side of the lake. That was my first fishing trip! I caught 7 fish! 5 sunfish and 2 trouts! Aiden caught 3! A trout and 2 sunfish! Then we went back to the campsite and had grilled chicken and of course smores again. Then we played games for candy all night long! :) On the last day, we had to wake up early because I had to go to a lasertag party! This was the best camping trip ever!

  

Answer to Brainteaser of the Week (August 7, 2012)

Take the first 2 odd numbers, 1 & 3, when you add them up, you get 4. Take the first 3 odd numbers, 1, 3, and 5 when you add them up, you get 9.  Now, take the first 5 odd numbers 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 when you add them together you get 25. Do you see a pattern?

In the brainteaser, Carmen was able to find the sum of the first 50 odd numbers very quickly, her answer was 2500. She did the same for 75 to get 5,625.  Do you see the pattern yet?

The pattern is: Instead of adding every single number by hand, you can just square the number of odd numbers (square a number means you multiply a number by itself).  For example, the sum of 3 odd numbers = 3 square = 3x3=9; the sum of 5 numbers = 5 square = 5x5= 25.  That's why Carmen was able to figure out a number as large as the sum of 75. It's just 75 square which is 75x75 = 5,625.

New Book Review by Activegirl

I just did a new book review for Frindle by Andrew Clements. Check it out below!

http://activegirlcc.blogspot.com/p/book-reviews-by-active-girl-friends.html

Me Playing Yellow Submarine (by the Beatles)

Brainteaser of the Week

 Ms. Kat asked the class to see if they could find the sum of the first 50 odd numbers. As everyone settled down to their addition, Carmen  ran to her and said, "The sum is 2,500." Ms. Kat thought, "Lucky guess," and gave her the task of finding the sum of the first 75 odd numbers. Within 20 seconds, Carmen was back with the correct answer of 5,625.

How does Carmen find the sum so quickly?

Hint: Consecutive odd numbers are 1, 3, 5, 7....

Start with the first several odd numbers and look for a pattern.

Answer will be posted next week.

GET $10 FREE!

I participated in this program and it is totally awesome! You practically get paid to read! All you have to do is click on the link below and print out the form, or you can just go to your local TD Bank to get one. Then, you fill it out with the 10 books you read and bring it to TD bank to get $10 FREE!  Hurry, the deadline is September 29, 2012!

TD Bank Summer Reading Program for Kids

Celebrating 10 years of summer reading fun

It’s easy! Here’s what participating kids need to do:

1. Read 10 books this summer.
2. Print out the Summer Reading Form http://www.tdbank.com/summerreading/
3. Write down the names of the books you read
4. Take the form to the nearest TD Bank
5. Watch $10 be deposited into a new or existing Young Saver Account