"Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country."

-Charles E. Weller

The Reverend Henry Ward Beecher
called a hen a most elegant creature.
  The hen, pleased with that,
  laid an egg in his hat,
and thus did the hen reward Beecher.

-Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

It's the birthday of Mark Twain, born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in Florida, Missouri, in 1835. When he was young, his family moved to Hannibal, a Missouri town along the banks of the Mississippi and a frequent stop for steamboats. And in fact, after a few years working as a printer, he became a steamboat captain, which is where he got his pseudonym: "mark twain" is the call when the water is two fathoms deep — about 12 feet — which is deep enough for a boat to navigate safely.

Mark Twain convinced his younger brother, Henry, to become a captain also. He had a detailed dream about his brother's death, and a few weeks later, the steamboat that Henry was working on exploded, and Henry was killed. For the rest of his life, Twain felt responsible for his brother's death, and he was fascinated by paranormal events and mysteries.

When the Civil War began, the river traffic was taken over by the Union Army, and Twain was out of a job. Missouri was a slave state, and Mark Twain left it during the war and traveled out west with his older brother Orion. He started writing seriously — travel writing and fiction. He wrote many books, including The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County (1867), and The Innocents Abroad (1869), which sold much better than The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876). He took a minor character in Tom Sawyer, a boy named Huck, and wrote The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884). Huck Finn is poor and uncivilized, the son of an abusive, alcoholic father; his companion, Jim, is an escaped slave. Huck narrates their adventures as they travel down the river on a raft:

"We catched fish and talked, and we took a swim now and then to keep off sleepiness. It was kind of solemn, drifting down the big, still river, laying on our backs looking up at the stars, and we didn't ever feel like talking loud, and it warn't often that we laughed — only a little kind of a low chuckle. We had mighty good weather as a general thing, and nothing ever happened to us at all — that night, nor the next, nor the next."

Mark Twain said, "Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest." And, "Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society."

http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/

The entire object of true education is to make people not merely do the right thing, but enjoy the right things; not merely industrious, but to love industry; not merely learned, but to love knowledge; not merely pure, but to love purity; not merely jut, but to hunger and thirst after justice.

-Ruskin; The Forbes Scrapbook of Thoughts on the Business of Life

All the adversity I've had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me... You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you..

-Walt Disney
http://www.leadershipnow.com/leadingblog/2006/12/walt_disney_the_triumph_of_the.html

Prohibited Items For Travelers

Sharp Objects

Item	Carry-on	Checked
Box Cutters	No	Yes
Ice Axes/Ice Picks	No	Yes
Knives - except for plastic or round bladed butter knives	No	Yes
Meat Cleavers	No	Yes
Razor-Type Blades - such as box cutters, utility knives, razor blades not in a cartridge, but excluding safety razors.	No	Yes
Sabers	No	Yes
Scissors - metal with pointed tips and blades shorter than four inches	Yes	Yes
Swords	No	Yes
NOTE: Any sharp objects in checked baggage should be sheathed or securely wrapped to prevent injury to baggage handlers and inspectors.

Other Items

Item	Carry-on	Checked
Gel-type candles	No	Yes
Gel shoe inserts - Gel shoe inserts are not permitted, but shoes constructed with gel heels are allowed and must be removed and screened. Read more on our shoe screening policy.	No	Yes
Non-flammable liquid, gel, or aerosol paint	Yes - 3 oz. or smaller container	Yes
Flammable liquid, gel, or aerosol paint	No	No
Snow globes and like decorations regardless of size or amount of liquid inside, even with documentation.	No	Yes

http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/prohibited/permitted-prohibited-items.shtm

WELCOME TO THIRD GRADE!

Supply List for 2008 -2009

· 5 Two pocket folders

· 2 half inch 3 ring binders

· 1 composition notebook

· 2 black dry erase markers

· 1 used clean sock for dry erase boards

· 2 pencils

· 2 YELLOW highlighters (the other colors are too dark)

· 1 pair of scissors

· 1 small calculator

· 1 red pen

· 1 small zipper pencil case

· 1 - 24 pack of crayons

· 1 – 24 pack of colored pencils

· 1 bottle of glue

· 1 glue stick

To share with the class:

· 1 box of tissues

The following items are extra items that you might like to donate to the class:

· Hand sanitizer

· Small and large zip lock bags

· Index cards

· Napkins

· Plastic spoons

· 1 bottle of white out

We wish you all a happy summer and look forward to meeting you all!