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Thursday, April 19, 2012

Flaunt Your Funny, Frivolous, Fabulous Fads!

Currently, Mrs. Yollis' class is reading
Ramona Quimby, Age 8 
by
the wonderful, well-known author, Beverly Cleary.






We have just finished reading hilarious Chapter 3, 
"The Hard-Boiled Egg Fad!" 


In this chapter, Ramona and all her third grade buddies are having fun with the latest fad: packing a hard-boiled egg in their lunches each day.  The fad isn't just about eating a hard-boiled egg, however! It's really all about cracking it on your head before you peel it!


  Some of the kids use the timid "rap-rap-rap" method.  Others, like Ramona, 
like to show-off with one big  "whack" to the head!


The fad is not so much fun anymore for Ramona, when she finds that the egg 
she thought was hard-boiled was really raw! Boy, how humiliating!


*     *     *     *     *


A fad is something that is very popular for a short time,
and fads can be a lot of fun! Fads often involve fashion, an activity, or some kind of toy or trinket.

In your comment, tell us about a fad that you know about.
What is popular right now? What has been popular in the past?

Family members and friends, this is a great post for you to get involved in! Tell us about fads that were popular 
when you were young!

45 comments:

  1. Dear Mrs.Yollis,

    I adore your post! My favorite fad right now is the Monster High. It is still popular today. The fads in the past were Kooky Pens. Some kids traded them. Sadly,I refused to trade them. Anther fad were Silly Bands. I never wore them to school.

    Love,
    Kelly

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    I am really enjoying "Ramona Quimby, Age 8" the book. Even though I have already read the book before, I still enjoy it because Beverly Cleary is one of my all time favorite authors.

    The fad last year at our school was probably silly bands. If you don't know what silly bands are, they are rubber bands with vibrant colors, and they turn into shapes like stars, hearts, horses, and a lot more!

    The fad two years ago at our school was Kooky Pens. Even though they were pens, they didn't use them for pens, they used them for decoration. They hung them on their backpack or purse, or kids would trade for a trade. The company called the pens Kooky Pens because they had all different faces like Star Wars characters, M and M's, funny faces, and animals.

    My favorite fad was Silly Bands because it was really fun to collect!

    If you know any of these fads, which do you like best? What were your fads when you were in school?

    Sincerely,

    M♥a

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dear class,

    I am thoroughly enjoying rereading Ramona Quimby, Age 8 with you. This is probably the tenth time I've read it, and it is always a pleasure.

    In the late 60s, we use to take a playing card and attach it to our bike wheel using a clothes pin. The card was placed in such a way that when the wheel moved, the card clicked on the spokes. The faster you rode, the faster the sound! After a while, the card would wear out and need to be replaced with a new playing card. The new cards sounded the best!

    In the 70s, there were a lot of funny fashion fads. (Hey, that was great alliteration!) My friends and I all wore bell bottom pants and platform shoes. Many girls had such long bell bottom jeans that they completely covered their platform shoes! Recently, I've notices some people wearing similar clothes. I wonder if that fashion fad is coming back? (I hope not!) :-)

    I can't wait to hear what parents, grandparents, and friends remember from their early life!

    Yours truly,
    Mrs. Y♥llis

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    I grew up in the 1980s, and boy was that a time of crazy fads. My favority fad, from the 1980s, was wearing leg warmers. I remember that you could get them in every color possible. The leg warmers went together well with the poofy hair styles from that era too. Such fond memories.

    Sincerly,
    Lysandra
    (Alexandra's mom)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Mom,

      Thank you for leaving a spectacular comment!
      I did not know that in the 1980s there were such crazy fads! I would not enjoy wearing leg warmers in any single color, and I definitely would not want to have poofy hair.

      Do you remember any more fads, if so what are they? Do you have any pictures of you with poofy hair?

      Curiously,
      Alexandra

      Delete
  5. Dear Mrs. Yollis and Class,

    During my life, I have certainly seen many fads come and go!

    When I was your age, roller skating was very popular. Instead of shoe skates, we had metal skates that clamped onto our shoes. They were adjustable and had to be tightened and loosened with a key. One very popular fad was to wear our skate keys around our necks on a lanyard, which we made ourselves. If I can still find the one I used to wear, I'll bring it in to show you!

    Later when I was in high school and college, some of the fads were wearing bell bottoms, making and wearing "love beads," and for girls, wearing our hair very long, straight, and parted down the middle. The "happy face" also became popular back in the 60's and 70's, as well as the peace sign!

    I am especially interested to read about the fads that your parents and grandparents remember!

    Sincerely,
    Mrs. Ranney

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Mrs. Ranney,

      I love your post! I think your fads are wonderful! What was your favorite fad? My favorite fad is Monster High. Monster High is a collection of dolls that come in teenage monsters. They're are tons! I can see that the fads have changed a lot!


      Sincerely,

      Kelly

      Delete
  6. Hi Class
    What a fun book and a fun topic! It reminded me of my very first day teaching when I took a boiled egg to school for my lunch. When I went to peel it I found I had brought a raw egg instead! What a mess!

    I am from New Zealand. When I was growing up in the 1950s some of our fads were marbles, hula hoops, hopscotch and knucklebones. I wasn't very good at knucklebones but I could play it for hours with my friends. In the very, very old days they used real bones to play knucklebones, but ours were made out of metal then they made them out of plastic.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Dear Mrs Yollis and class,

    What an interesting idea for a post! It is very interesting to read about different fads that come and go throughout time.

    When I was a young girl, lots of fads involved collecting things. I remember collecting (and playing) marbles. In fact, a lot of my marbles belonged to my dad from when he collected them as a young boy!

    I also remember collecting stamps, "My Little Ponies", trolls, swap cards, Barbie dolls and probably lots more!

    I remember I would go through phases of playing with particular toy collections with my sister and cousins. It was always a lot of fun collecting things!

    Your friend,
    Miss Jordan

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi Mrs.Yollis' Class,

    I grew up in Southern California in the 80's and remember a few fads that I took part of! Here are a few things...parachute pants, leg warmers, EVERYTHING neon, jelly shoes, and side ponytails. So those were the fashion fads and then there was the toy fads...Cabbage Patch Kids, Hello Kitty, My Little Pony, Munchichi's, and troll dolls.

    Thanks for having me take a trip down memory lane!

    Enjoy,
    Melissa

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Melissa,

      I'm also taking part in some fads. The bob haircut is one, high tops are another.

      Silly bands used to be one. Our class is trying to make a boiled egg fad. My mom participated in the leg warmers fad back in the 1980s.


      Your blogging Buddy,
      Alyssa

      Delete
  9. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    Oh, how you keep the learning fun, even for the parents! I have fond childhood memories of fads from the 1960's-1970's, and maybe not so fond memories of the fads from the 80's.

    An actress, by the name of Farrah Fawcett, launched a hairstyle in the 70's that lasted a decade, and is still being worn today in a modified version!

    Platform shoes were very popular, even the boys and men wore them! This was a boon for the shorter guys and the taller guys just got even taller! Today, platforms and wedges rule women's fashion, though I don't see many Dads rocking them in our neighborhood. :)

    As for food, frozen tv dinners come to mind and a couple of powdered drinks. Mixed with water, Tang, an orange powder became a drink/juice that even astronauts took to space! Ovaltine was a chocolate powder added to milk that supposedly had nutritional value and vitamins. And a fun, novelty candy, Pop Rocks, burst onto the scene which can still be found today.

    Lastly, a few of the fads I remember from the 1980's, I'd like to forget! :) Ladies and men both wore big hair with lots of hairspray, shoulder pads worn under everything (even t-shirts), guys wearing Miami Vice style, pastel sport coats, and some guys wearing eye make-up! I could go on and on. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

    Sincerely,
    Whitney
    Rexon's Mom

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi Mrs Yollis class,

    I grew up in England and when I was your age we had a lot of fad's too. The fad toys for girls were Tiny Tears dolls, Sindy dolls (kind of like Barbie), roller skates, Care Bears, and Smurfs.

    Another fad was pens and pencils that had scents like fruit or candy, scratch 'n' sniff stickers, erasers in all kinds of shapes and sizes, and cool pencil boxes and cases. I used to love to collect things like that and show all my friends!

    Can't wait to read what other people remember as fads when they were kids; so fun to remember :-)

    Sincerely,

    Lisa (Jake's mum)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi Yoillis' Class!

    What a great book to be reading in class. I'm from Australia and grew up in the 90's! During that time there were many fads that were popular. I remember the discman was a very popular fad! It was very cool to have a disman because this meant you didn't have to tape songs into a cassette anymore!

    Another fad was the SpiceGirls. I think I had every collectible item you could think of; mirrors, combs, dolls and of course the movie. At lunchtime we would rehearse all the dances and we each were named after a spice girl!!

    Some other fads were Tazos, McDonald's HappyMeal toys, rollerblading, wrestling, beanie bears, skateboarding, yo-yos, connector pens and many more!!

    I wonder if some of these were popular in the US during the 90's aswell?

    Miss Valvo
    (grade 2 teacher)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Dear Mrs. Yollis ,
    wow that does sound funny well it is so funny I jumped out of my seat
    sincely
    brooklyn :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @ Brooklyn,

      I agree that Ramona Quimby, Age 8 is a funny book. In the book, Mrs. Whaley, Ramona's teacher, calls her a nuisance and a show off. It really hurts Ramona's feelings because she didn't mean the hard boiled egg to be raw!

      The next day, Ramona has a bad feeling when she wakes up in the morning. At school, the horrible, terrible, awful thing happened, Ramona threw up! She was very embarrassed. Her teacher made it even worse! Mrs. Whaley said to hold your nose until the custodian cleaned it up.

      If you are interested in Beverly Cleary's books, you'll love her website.

      I love Ramona and I hope her series never ends.

      Sincerely,
      M♥a

      Delete
  13. Dear Mrs Yollis and class,

    I love this post for when I was growing up in the 70's I remember everyone was cutting their hair into a style called the dolly hair cut. It was cut short at the sides and a bit of length of hair at the back. Not a good look on me when I did decide to cut my hair into a dolly cut.

    Also swap cards where huge as well as pants that had huge flares at the bottom on them.

    Like Melissa this is a great post taking you back which is always fun.

    Cheers,
    AA

    ReplyDelete
  14. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    At my old school, our fad was silly bands. Everyone had at least five different types of silly bands. I also went in with the fad. I had a whole chain of them, and I would bring them to school everyday. What we did with them was trade them and sometimes give them away. Silly bands were very popular in second grade, so weekly reader put that as a subject.

    What fads were popular at your school?
    Do you know who or what starts a fad?

    Sincerely,
    Acacia

    ReplyDelete
  15. Dear Mrs. Yollis and Class,

    Unfortunately there was a fad when I was in high school to tease your bangs and hair spray them to stand up as tall as possible... the higher, the better. I, of course, had to participate in this fad, and let's just say it's not one of my finer hair moments. (I am emailing you a picture so that you get the full experience).

    Happy hair spraying!
    Maya's Mom

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hello Mrs. Yollis and Class,

    I grew up in Southern California in the 70's and there were a lot of fads that took place as I remember quite a few like:

    Bonne Bell lip balm, Dr, Scholls wooden exercise sandals, Dittos jeans, Eight Tracks, Tiger Beat Magazines, Hang Ten t-shirts, Tab Soda, The Donny and Marie Show, Dorthy Hamill wedge haircut and how about Tab Soda just to mention a few.

    Thank you for this fun topic.

    Sincerely,

    Zoila Hart
    (Jakob's mom)

    ReplyDelete
  17. @ Melissa,

    I too grew up in the 80's and enjoyed remembering some of the fads you mention. I even have a class photo of me in second grade with an awful side ponytail. To add to your list, a recess and lunch would not be complete without a game of Chinese Jacks and Chinese jump rope.

    Does anyone in Mrs Yollis' class still play Chinese jump rope?

    Best,


    Best,
    Victoria (Sarah's mom)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Dear Mrs. Yollis,
    Boy do I remember fads from the 1970's! In the Bay Area, in high school the girls often wore Gunne Sax, long cotton dresses to school. We also wore wooden wedge sandals.
    In the late 70's it was all about disco dancing! I had a favorite black disco dress that I loved to wear when I went to clubs dancing! Those were the days! We all loved John Travolta and Saturday Night Fever.
    From a former disco Queen,
    Mrs. Hembree

    ReplyDelete
  19. Dear Mrs.Yollis,

    I love chapter 3 because it was so funny!I loved when Ramona cracked the egg all over her head. Here are some current fads. One is Monster High dolls and Twinkle Toes.


    Love,
    Logan

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hello Mrs. Yollis and class,

    I started to write a short comment in answer to your fads post but, well, it sort of got away from me again so here is a link to the full comment post...

    http://rossmannell.posterous.com/mrs-yollis-and-class-fads

    My current fad is blog commenting. I wonder whether it will be the same for a long time or whether we will soon be able to find new ways of sharing our ideas and views with others.

    @RossMannell
    Teacher, NSW, Australia

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Mr. Mannell,

      Thank you for leaving a comment on our blog!

      While I was looking at your post I noticed that your face was in the video game. How did you do that? Another thing I noticed is that you had put a dinosaur painting in the post, and I thought that was really cool! The trains I saw on your blog looked really fun to play with.

      Sincerely,
      Leila

      Delete
  21. Dear Mrs. Yollis and class,

    I was actually a student at your school when I was growing up and I very much remember some of the fads that came and went while I was at school there in the late 1970's/early 1980's. While in third grade, my friends and I LOVED to trade stickers and we all carried around our home-made sticker books to display our latest and greatest finds. The really cool stickers to collect back then were the "puffy" stickers and also the "googly-eyed" stickers. The trade value on both of those stickers was quite high. We would all gather around during recess and see who had cool stickers we wanted to trade for. I guess sticker-trading was very similar to the Kooky Pens and Silly Bandz of the current generation.

    This was a particularly fun blog post to comment on because it reminded me of the fun I had as a student at your school.

    Enjoy the weekend.

    Dana (Sammy's mom)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Mom,

      Wow, googly-eye and puffy stickers were a fad?! Well, the silly bands and kooky pens are different because you don't trade silly band.

      Do you have any pictures of your stickers or of you trading stickers?
      Can we uses those pictures on the blog?

      Your son,
      Sammy

      Delete
  22. Dear Mrs. Yollis and Ramona readers,

    Thank you for facilitating this trip down "Memory Lane." It has been so much fun reading Ramona again, but I have also enjoyed reminiscing about some of the popular fads from my childhood.
    This may be quite a bit before your time, but I remember, like it was yesterday, the day my parents finally let me get a pair of stylish, white go-go boots. They were one of those fashion items that we just had to have to wear with our short skirts. (However, our skirts were not very short compared to what girls wear today!)
    I also remember that troll dolls were very popular when I was young. I enjoyed collecting and playing with troll dolls of many sizes and occupations. Did you collect trolls? Do you think any of these fads will come back?
    Mrs. Yollis, thank you for encouraging me to comment. I enjoy reading your blogs and am amazed by all of the interaction and learning that occurs here.

    Mrs. Sokoler
    Elementary Teacher

    ReplyDelete
  23. Dear Mrs. Yollis and class,

    What a fun post! Thanks for bringing back these fun memories. When I was in elementary school, I remember playing and collecting marbles and learning to do tricks on a Duncan "Butterfly" yo yo. We would play these games at recess and lunch.

    When I got into junior high school, it was very important to have Ditto saddle back jeans or Sassoon or Jordache jeans. Prairie style shirts with ruffles and high collars were popular for girls. Le Sport Sac purses were popular as were Members Only jackets and OP corduroy shorts for boys. I remember getting my first Sony Walkman for cassette tapes to listen to music on the go.

    In high school I had a big, curly perm which I teased to make my hair even bigger and then I used lots of hair spray to keep it all in place. Ripped sweatshirts and leg warmers were the rage because of the movie "Flashdance".

    These are a few of the fads that were popular when I was young.

    Your friend,
    LaRaine
    (Matthew's mom)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Mom,

      Thank you for leaving a spectacular comment!

      I have no idea what you said about the different brands, but jeans are still popular. Some popular brands are Vans, Levi, and Justice. I think it is funny that you stuck your hair straight up in the air. A fad that was popular last year was kooky pen.

      Another thing I used to notice is in old movies girls usually had puffy hair such as in the movie Footloose I saw the new one, and I saw the old one.

      You son , Matthew

      Delete
    2. Dear Matthew,
      My hair in high school was very similar to the style in the old version of the movie "FootLoose". I really loved the big, puffy, hair fad!

      Your mom,
      LaRaine

      Delete
  24. Hi Mrs Yollis & Class,
    It sounds like you're all enjoying reading Ramona!

    Growing up in England, all my friends had Sindy dolls, and we used to play with them together. My favourite toy was my Spirograph. We all collected Wade Whimsie animals, and gave them to each other as birthday presents when we went to birthday parties (wearing long dresses). At the birthday parties we ate jelly and ice-cream, and it was the only time I ever got a fizzy drink.
    I had a 'Lady Di' haircut in 1981 (but it made me look like a boy, not a princess!) I wore legwarmers, batwing sweaters, and anything 'cerise' in colour. Some things are best forgotten!

    The main fad in my class now is Moshi Monsters, and collecting moshlings.

    Mrs M
    A Room with a View

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Mrs. Monagahan,

      Yes, I love reading Ramona with all my classmates.

      We have a fad in California called Silly Bands. They were rubber bracelets that were shaped like random things. I wore them all the way up my arm! My favorite two Silly Bands were a blue one shaped like PAC-man and a glow-in-the-dark tie-die Silly Band shaped like a lizard.

      What are Sindy dolls and Moshi Monsters?

      Sincerely,
      Royce

      Delete
  25. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    I love this post about fads! Sorry, I will not be able to participate in the hard-boiled egg fad. Nobody in my family likes hard-boiled eggs (including me), so we never buy them.

    At my science camp last year, there was a fad to wear Silly Bands all the way up your arm! A Silly Band is a rubber bracelet that you wear on your arm. They are shaped like random things. My favorite two Silly Bands that I wore every day were a blue one shaped like PAC-man and a tie-die silly band shaped like a lizard.

    There are also Silly Rings and Silly Necklaces. I have a lot of Silly Rings, but I do not have any Silly Necklaces.

    Sincerely,
    Royce

    ReplyDelete
  26. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    A current fad that I really love is the video game Skylanders. Skylanders is a cool game that you play using real toy figures that are easily placed on a portal, and played on the tv screen. I have been trying to collect all of the figures and it is very hard because they are always sold out quickly. They are very popular and people are crazy trying to get them. I hope someday I will have them all.

    Your student,
    Maya

    ReplyDelete
  27. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    What a wonderful idea to do a post about funny, frivolous, fabulous fads!

    I remember many fads, but the most popular ones were Silly Bandz and Webkinz.

    Silly Bandz were an extremely popular fad. They were bracelets that came in many different colors, sizes and silly shapes. I still have a lot and when you take them off your wrist they quickly go back to their original shape. While they were a fad, everyone proudly displayed them on their wrists.

    Webkinz are fuzzy stuffed animals that you can also interact and play with online. I have many, but I don't play with them any longer.

    Sincerely,
    Leila

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @ Leila,

      I love your long comment!

      Yes, Silly Bands were really popular last year. At the start of last year, I had very little, but I quickly collected more Silly Bands. Now, I simply have over two-hundred! I traded them and bought more of them.

      My favorite one is cleverly made. It is a glow-in-the-dark tie-dye Silly Band shaped like a little lizard. I will permanently have it and absolutely NEVER trade it!

      Have you heard of Silly Rings or Silly Necklaces? Silly Rings are rings shaped like little animals, and Silly Necklaces are giant necklaces shaped like silly things. I have Silly Rings shaped like ocean animals, but I do not have any Silly Necklaces.

      Sincerely,
      Royce

      Delete
  28. Dear Miss. Yollis,
    What a great post!I love that book.have you seen the moive?Ramona has a sister?Or is that another story?you must had so much fun reading that book.i don't like hard eggs so i don't eat them but............my mom does!Well got to go!

    keep bloggin'

    Mckenna(the Classroom Connection)

    ReplyDelete
  29. @ Mom,

    Thank you for leaving a fabulous comment!

    There are some movies called Care Bears and Smurfs today. I like the Smurfs because I like the funny things they do. I wanted to see the movie.

    I have a few questions for you:

    •What are Tiny Tear dolls?

    •Why do you like to collect the scratch 'n' sniff stickers?

    Your cuddly boy,
    Jake

    ReplyDelete
  30. Dear Mrs. Hembree,

    Thank you for leaving a wonderful comment.

    What is a wooden wedge sandals? When you were the disco queen, what kind of moves did you do and did you wear shiny things?

    Curiously,
    Madison

    ReplyDelete
  31. Dear Mom,

    Thank you for leaving a comment! I can't believe boys wore big hair, and eye color. Some fads I know of some fads that I have Squishes, Kooky pens, Silly bands, and Baukyougoons.

    Love,
    Rexon

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @ Rexon,

      I enjoyed reading your reply. Of the fads you have collected so far, I would have to say my favorites were the Bakugans. Those miniature mechanical balls that would pop into interesting characters were intricate, creative, and tricky!

      What would you say the fad is this year?

      Can a person be a fad?

      Love,
      Mom

      Delete
  32. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    I'm very late with my comment, but fads are too much fun not to share. :))
    I grew up in Germany and when I went to elementary school in the 60's, I remember my mom spending lots of time teasing her hair up and applying a continuous mist of hair spray!
    My favorite fads from elementary school were silly putty and and magic flowers. The magic flowers came in tiny capsules which 'grew' into beautiful flowers when submerged under water. My favorite junk food fad were marshmallow mice- they were only two cents a piece :)
    In high school it was all about military parkas- even girls wore them.
    Talking about peace and politics was very popular too and high school students organized lots of rallies and demonstrations.
    There were two main groups in our school- poppers and rockers. The poppers had shorter hair, loved disco music and the newest fashions and the rockers ran around with long hair (especially the boys) and faded jeans. My favorite thing to wear was my only pair of bell bottom jeans pair with plateau shoes.
    Fun times. :))

    Much love,

    Henny (Kelly's mom)

    ReplyDelete
  33. Dear Mom,

    I love your fads. I would NEVER tease my hair, fad of not! Marshmallow Mice sound very delicious! Do they still sell them? If I had to be one of the groups I would be a popper.

    Love,
    Kelly♥

    ReplyDelete
  34. Dear Mrs. Yollis and class,

    I have enjoyed reading all the comments from the parents about fads that we remember. They brought back quite a few memories... I also had big, puffy hair in the 80's. I also remember being OBSESSED with two board games that were very popular in the mid 1980's, Trivial Pursuit and Pictionary. My friends and I would play these games for hours.

    Maybe one of you will invent or create something in the future that will become a fad. If you could start a fad, what would it be?

    Curiously,

    Mrs. Brady (Logan's mom)

    ReplyDelete

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