Wally Learns about Rugby League & Cheerleading

I was lucky enough to take Wally to a game of Rugby League. In Rugby League you can tackle the players who have the ball in the other team, throw, kick & catch the oval shaped ball as well as kick for goal. In junior games, the more people who pass and catch the ball when a try is scored means you get more points. I don't think you play Rugby League in America. What sort of football do you play?
HENRY
Wally has also had the chance to go to a cheerleading competition and also a Port City Power basketball game. When he went to the competition, Wally got to wear our school cheer top! Our school team came first in the Primary School section of the competition and we also won the Junior display section when we did our skipping performance. Does your school do cheerleading? Wally was able to go out on to the court when we were cheering for the Woman's Queensland Basketball League team - POWER.
CARLA and GEORGIA

Out & About Gladstone

Since Wally arrived in Gladstone, Queensland, Australia, he has not had time to stand still!
His first tour was out & about in the local area.
He first visited the Gladstone Art Gallery where he bumped into a statue of Mr Gladstone - our city's namesake.
His next stop was our beautiful marina, where he looked at some very large (and expensive) boats and dreamed about going out to wonderful Heron Island - a coral cay island about 2 hours by water from Gladstone. Heron Island has the most beautiful marine life around it. While at the marina, Wally met some new friends at the Gladstone Area Promotions Bureau.
The next stop was the Gladstone Exercise Park. Wally had some difficulties here as his legs were a little short for most of the equipment!
Next was the Tondoon Botanical Gardens. Wally loved all the massive Eucalyptus (Gum) trees and had a bit of a fright when a scrub turkey tried to run off with him. As well as the naughty srub turkey, Wally met up with some duck & some turtles. Can you see the turtles in the water with the ducks?
Wally then took some time to visit the Educational Experience at the Gardens - checking out the art activities & Question Tree.
Hope you like the quick tour - more to come. CHECK BACK SOON
Year 4/5
Gladstone Central State School

Please keep checking the blog

Wally has left us now - hope he arrives safely back home before you all go on Summer break. Next week we go on our Winter break - only for 2 weeks. Our summer break is in December & January and it is 6 weeks (YIPPEE!). How long do you get for your break?
Wally is travelling with a couple of friends that he met over here - I hope they like thier new home in Pensylvania.
We have loved having Wally - it was so much fun taking him to different places & seeing so many things around our home.
I hope that you keep coming back to the blog because we are still editing photos & video footage that we can share with you all

What sporting activities do you participate in?

Wally is leaning at lot about sports at Gladstone Central. Everyday each class goes out for 30mins to take part in Smart Moves - physical activity which involves huff and puff and skill learning. As we are now coming into winter in Australia our sports have changed a little. We play netball (like basketball but you can't bounce the ball), rugby league, basketball, Australian rules football and soccer. June is a big Track and Field month with our Sports Day being held very soon. In the summer months (November - January), our sports includes lots of swimming activities, cricket, basketball and volleyball. We also love to skip at Gladstone Central and have a pretty cool skipping demonstration team - video on the way!

What sports do you all play? Do you play different sports in different times of the year?

Wally has been sooooo busy!

Sorry there hasn't been a post since arriving in Australia - Wally has been so busy. This is just a quick post to let everyone know that Wally is safe & visiting so many places - heaps of pictures & video footage will be posted within the next couple of days.
Wally has visited the marina, the harbour, the local botanical gardens (where he was chased by a scrub turkey who really liked him), the Gladstone Information & Tourist Centre and local Gladstone landmarks.
Wally has also gone along to a Rugby League game and basketball. His favourite event so far has been a cheerleading competition where the Gladstone Central State School won the primary school division - he even had his photo taken with the trophies.
Keep watching for the photos coming very soon
Year 4/5
Gladstone Central State School
Gladstone Queensland Australia

Hello Fom Australia

Well Wally has finally arrived Down Under (Australia). Gladstone Central State School is in a State called Queensland. Gladstone is situated at the southern end of The Great Barrier Reef on the east coast of Queensland. During Wally's visit here we hope to show you around our wonderful school and town. Wally's first day in Australia was very busy - he got to meet all of the year 4/5 students, met lots of native Australian animals & birds and joined in with the students for Track & Field training. A very exhausting day!!
It is nearly Winter here, so we are getting cold mornings here - not as cold as the weather you have for your Winter. It never snows here & gets extremely hot during the Summer months of December & January.
Our school colours are sky blue & maroon. What are your school colours?
Hope you like our shot photo story.

Year 4/5
Gladstone Central State School
Gladstone Queensland Australia

The Tour of our famous sports arenas

Just before Wally left he went home with one of our students. Emma and family took Wally to four important places in our Springfield & Eugene city communities. Here is his tour of the Springfield City Library and 3 sports facilities at the University of Oregon, home of the Ducks!

We look forward to seeing what Australia looks like! Are there similar places in your community? What are the team names? Is there a local university? What animal is their mascot?

Wally Leaves for Australia

On Monday of this week, Wally was sent to Australia. He was packaged off at the United States Postal Service. We sadly had to say goodbye. He had an interesting 2 weeks with us, though. Wally went on a 5 mile bicycle ride along the Willamette River, toured the University of Oregon (go Ducks!) on a bike and with some students. Wally shipped out on Monday, May 3rd and should be in Australia as of today! Happy travels!

A Day with Wally

Our 4th grade class was visited by Wally earlier this week. We were happy to host Wally for a day during his stay with the 3rd graders in Mrs. LaMar's class at Riverbend Elementary School in Springfield, Oregon. 

Wally's Walloped by the Reptile Man's Snake

Yes, Wally was grabbed by a snake today. He did not want to go on stage, but he was dragged up by a student who didn't mind snakes. He learned that the snake was not poisonous and was safe to hold at the assembly.

Do you see Wally shaking? This snake is a king snake. It eats rattle snakes and other reptiles.

Wally joins us at the Spring Sing

Last night Wally was at the concert. It was the Spring Sing were all of the 2nd and 3rd graders sang for the parents.

If you look closely you will see Wally next to Ms. Danzinger, our music teacher. She is playing the guitar. Wally is on the metal table next to the sound equipment.

Wally is a pretty good singer. He kept cracking up and making us laugh.

Meeting our stuffed animals

Wally met our stuffed animals. He made new friends right away.

We brought our stuffed animals to school today so we could welcome Wally. It was kind of wild at first, then the stuffed animals all calmed down.

Wally then went right to the computer to look at the blog. He asked the teacher to type because his feet were too big for the keys.

Wally has arrived!

He got here early, while we were reading, so we gave him a good book. This book really was a good fit for him.

Next we opened the box and we took a picture with our stuffed animals.

Westward Ho! Oregon or Bust!

We are really sorry to see Wally leave Nebraska! It is has been a great week sharing with Wally a lot of the things that make Nebraska a great place to live. Our Dodge 4th graders thought it fitting that Wally travel to Oregon in style. Like Wally, thousands of people traveled across Nebraska following the Oregon Trail during the mid to late 1800s. The Oregon Trail was a 2,000 mile journey that followed the Platte River through Nebraska. Most people traveled in a covered wagon which held all their belongings. The wagon would usually be pulled by oxen, but sometimes mules were used. Most people left from Independence, Missouri in the early spring in the hopes that the 6 month journey would have them crossing the Rocky Mountains and getting to Oregon before winter.

The trip was difficult, disease, bad food, no food, mosquitoes, fire, accidental shootings, poisoning, and deaths were just a few of the hardships these pioneers faced as they traveled. So many wagons made the journey that today almost 300 miles of wagon ruts still can be seen.

Wally's trip to Oregon will be a lot shorter than the pioneers but he follows in the footsteps of thousands of pioneers who helped make this country great! So Long Wally!

The Tooth Fairy Visits Wally

After Wally's accident at Pier Park, Wally was visited by the Islander Tooth Fairy. Wally really doesn't need cash, so the Tooth Fairy brought him a new t-shirt to wear to remember his time in Grand Island, Nebraska, home of the Islanders!

Wally Loses a Tooth!

UH-OH! Wally lost his tooth! Today, while playing on the slide at Pier Park (which is across the street from Dodge Elementary School) he chose to break the rules. Instead of sliding feet first, he thought he’d try head first! Guess what happened?

On the way down the slide (head first) he somehow caught one of his teeth inside the slide. We heard a loud “RRRRAH!”. Once he got to the bottom, he went face first into the dirt. We ran over to see if he was o.k. When he lifted his head, his mouth dropped opened. Right away we noticed a huge gap where a tooth once was. Seconds later, that gigantic tooth came sliding down the slide after him. Lucky for Wally, wooly mammoths grow six sets of teeth in their lifetimes.

Wally learned a valuable lesson about following rules. Within minutes, he hopped back to his feet, and headed back to try the slide again. But after that, each time he slid down...he was smart and went feet first!

Do you have rules to follow that keep you safe? Wally says that now he understands more about how important it is to follow safety rules!

Wally Studies Up

Wally had a chance to read up on his favorite mammal, the woolly mammoth, during Reader's Workshop this morning. He read:

Woolly Mammoth - Life, Death, and Rediscovery by Windsor Chorlton

Woolly Mammoth by Michael P. Goecke

Hot Hot Hot by Neal Layton

Have you read any good books about woolly mammoths?

Wally Goes Tourist - Statewide

Wally also had a chance to visit (virtually) a couple really interesting places in Nebraska that are an important part of our state's history. Chimney Rock in western Nebraska was an important landmark for pioneers who traveled along the Oregon Trail through Nebraska. It gets it's name because it looks like a chimney. It used to be about 100 feet higher then it is today, but erosion and lightning strikes have shortened it. What makes it stand out is that most of Nebraska is pretty flat.

Another cool place to visit is Ashfall Fossil Beds in Northeastern Nebraska. Wally felt right at home here. Thousands of years ago, when Nebraska was a tropical rainforest, a really big volcano exploded in what now is the state of Idaho. A huge cloud of ash blew across the land. Animals who were drinking at a water hole died when the ash fell on them and they breathed it in. They were buried under many feet of ash. The ash was covered by dirt and sand. One day only a few years ago, a farmer found a bone in his field. It turned out to be a bone from a rhino. When archelogists started digging they found fossils of rhinos, prehistoric horses, zebras,bison, and cranes. They are still digging and finding more fossils.

**Wally would really like to iChat or Skype with some of you Wally Blog members so he can tell you how he made his virtual trip. Send us your address!**

Wally Goes Tourist - Local

Since Dodge Elementary dismisses at 2:00 on Wednesdays, Wally had some time to be a tourist around the city of Grand Island. First Wally visited Tornado Hill. In 1980, seven tornadoes, one an F4, touched down in the Grand Island. They did a lot of damage. Dodge Elementary even had some damage. The story Night of the Twisters by Ivy Ruckman was written about this event in Grand Island's history. Debris that could not be recycled was burned and buried in a park. The base of the hill was a hole 6-8 feet deep and nearly 200 feet across, and the hill is 40 feet high. Since Grand Island is prairie flat land, Tornado Hill is a great place to go sledding in the winter.

Wally made a second stop at Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer. It is a living history museum so there are displays for people to see. You can also go to the Railroad Town and see how things were done in pioneer days. Every year we take a field trip to a different part of the town - the Native American earthlodge, a pioneer home, the farm, and this year we visited the schoolhouse. We pretended that we were students at a prairie school in 1888. Wally didn't think he would like using a privy (outhouse).

Wally gets a history lesson

Dodge Elementary is named after Grenville Dodge. Grenville Dodge was born in 1831 and died in 1916. He was famous for his work with railroads. First, he was a Major General in the Civil War and led troops in surveying and constructing railroads. These railroads helped the troops get to the front line and win battles. Later, from 1866 to 1870, he was the engineer and driving force in building the Union Pacific Railway. This railway runs through our hometown of Grand Island, Nebraska.

Who are some famous people in your state?

Do you know how your school got it’s name?