Chief Joseph School
Layne McCartney
Welcome to Room 6 -- Ms. McCartney
About Me!
I went to college at CSU Sacramento where I received a Bachelors in Liberal Studies and my Teaching Credential. One year later I went back to school to work on my Master's in Language and Literacy and my Reading Specialist Credential. I have taught for eight years and many different grades. I am currently teaching first grade.
Some hobbies I love include:
running, hiking, snowboarding, and reading:)
You can contact me here at
These are some websites that offer fun, educational games
Challenge Club
What is a Challenge Club?
Challenge Club Link
This is a club for students who are interested in achieving "above and beyond" the normal classroom expectations. All you have to do is learn all about the topic, and then come tell your teacher the answers on Friday during "Challenge Club." You can become a 1 star member, all the way up to an 86 star member! Learning never ends - thank goodness!
How does it work?
Students must memorize the Challenge Club item (therefore, actually learning and retaining new knowledge). They can use their notes to study from and students can quiz each other, but not on the actual "test." When a student is ready to tell me their answers for a challenge item, I record their answers on a scratch paper to make sure there are no duplicate answers. The student either passes or not. If they don't pass they can try again the next Friday.
What if our family doesn't have a computer?
A computer is not required but it's much more fun and faster for the students to research using the web links I provide. Students work at home on these. Families like helping their child learn something new. The public library has books on all of these topics, as well as free Internet access! You can also ask your teacher to print you the information you need.
How to Keep Track of Challenge Club
I don't hand out copies of the challenges but students can print a list of the challenges if they choose. When students earn 16 stars, they go on the Hall of Fame list. (Each challenge is worth one star!) Here is a PDF of all the Challenge Club Questions.
Award Certificates
I give small incentives at the end of the year for all students who earn at least one Challenge Club Question. On the certificate I put a star next to the name of the student who earns a place in the Hall of Fame. The award certificates show all of the accomplishments from one star up to students who make it into the Hall of Fame.
A special thank you to Mrs. Renz for allowing me to use this wonderful Challenge Club. Her website is: http://www.mrsrenz.net/masteryclub.htm#Q
