It is Joe P.'s VIP week. He shared powdered donuts with the class at snack time. He also shared his poster of favorite photographs. We learned a difficult concept today--counting by 2s and by 5s. It is something that makes more sense the more it is practiced so please practice with your child at home. We read Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel this afternoon. I stopped reading the book at the point where Mike Mulligan and Mary Ann are in the bottom of the cellar and the town wonders how to get them out. I asked students to brainstorm a way to get them out, which they wrote in their journals. They had some fantastic ideas, including using a conveyor belt, digging a tunnel, and using a giant magnet to pull Mary Ann out. Compared to their ideas, the story was a let down. The solution of the townspeople was to leave Mary Ann there to become the furnace and for Mike to be the janitor of the new building.