Happy New Year!!

Welcome back to school! Hopefully you all enjoyed your holiday break and celebrations. Even though most of the holidays are past, winter is still here. Remember to check out all of the wintery activities on the Computer Lab bulletin board. There are some creative ideas to help you pass the time when it's too cold to play outside. Have fun and stay warm!

I'm sure you have noticed that winter is here -- and it is cold out there!! With the cold, winter also brings fun activities. We can play in the snow, build a snowman, snow fort, and make snow angels. We can go sledding, skiing, snowboarding and ice skating. There are many winter holidays including Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice and New Year's Day. Celebrations take place all around the world. What winter holidays do you celebrate and how do you celebrate them? Do some research on the internet and find out how other people around the world celebrate holidays.

The Computer Lab's bulletin board has some "wintery" computer activity ideas. Stop by and check out all of the different activities you can do either in the computer lab, or on your computer at home when it's too cold to play outside.

Enjoy your holiday celebrations this winter ... and stay warm!

New Links on Blog

Check out some of the new links on the blog. Under Excellent Educational Links, try Puzzle Maker. Mrs. Smith has her students using it to create their own crossword puzzles.

There is also a new category of links, called Brain Benders, inspired by Miss Damjanovich. Our brains are made up of BILLIONS of brain cells, called neurons. When we learn something, the neurons connect to each other. This connection is called a synapse. As your brain develops it forms trillions of synapses that create a "map." The more you try new things or learn, the more synapses form. You want to try to find new ways to stimulate your brain so that you can form more and more synapses. These games are really fun to play but at the same time, they stimulate your brain. When you get good at one of them, try a different one. This keeps your mind sharp.

A single synapse (left) and neuron "map" or network (right)

30-minute Computer Lab Activities

There are some great 15-30 minute computer activites on-line. Check out http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/clf/. Look above the spinning wheel, on the right hand side, you can select Grades K-2 or Grades 3-5.

It's almost time for Halloween ... do you know what you're going to dress up as this year? We're having Halloween fun in the computer lab too. Check out the new Halloween links under Spooky's picture. Also check out our new bulletin board. We're featuring some of the scariest characters around. Stop by and read about how to avoid these Webville Outlaws and stay safe on the Internet!

Happy Halloween!

Welcome Back To School

The computer lab is now open for classes. Thank you for your patience during the first several days of school while we were getting the lab ready for all of you.

During the month of September, we are focusing on Technology vocabulary and learning how to use the computer lab. Stop by to check out the bulletin board outside of the Computer Lab and see how many technology ABC's you know ... and how many you can learn!

Tracy Avery is our new Computer Lab Assistant. If you see something that she can do to make things better, please let her know! Amy, our lab assistant from last year, is still at Bella Vista ... look for her when you're in the library.

New School Year Approaching!

The new school year is quickly approaching! If there are some fun things you wanted to do this summer, better do them quick! Also, make sure you've finished all your summer projects for school! Don't start the year off slowly! Jump right in!

We've had some changes happen over the summer. We are part of a new school district! Canyons School District opened on July 1! This will change all of your teachers e-mail addresses, so be sure to get all the new information you need!

Mrs. Wadsworth will no longer be the computer lab assistant. Instead, she'll be working in the library! You'll still get to see her around, and the blog will continue to help with your technological education. Mrs. Wadsworth will also be blogging about the media center and recommending books for you to read, so watch for that blog sometime in September.

Enjoy your few precious weeks of summer, and we'll see you in school on August 26!

Summer Activities 12--Independence Day

This Saturday is the 4th of July! What great things happened on that day? Here are a few links to help you understand why we celebrate Independence Day.

Have you got questions about how our nation was founded? Go to this site to get some of the answers! holidays.net

Here are some pictures to unscramble on Apple 4 the Teacher.

Like fireworks? Here's a site that lets you click some fireworks of your own design. Interactive fireworks

Let's all be grateful for this country and the freedom we have! And be grateful for all of those who have worked and fought for us to maintain that freedom!

God Bless America!

Summer Activities 11--Wordle

Create art with words on http://www.wordle.net/! You can print your work (with your parent's permission) when you are done. Create a wordle to give to your teacher as a goodbye present for the year's end, and list reminders of all your favorite memories from the past school year. You can even save the picture and use it to create a Thank You card!

Or, you can create a wordle about your favorite summer pastimes.

You can even try writing a poem with only nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Copy and paste the poem into wordle, and see how your poem changes!

Summer Activities 10--Wild Summer Weather

Ever wonder why most summer thunderstorms happen in the late afternoon? We don't get snow in the Northern Hemisphere during the summer, but our weather is pretty wild anyway! Even then, weather in Utah is quite mild compared to the rest of the country. We have very few tornadoes here, and absolutely no hurricanes! What's the difference between a tornado and a hurricane anyway? Here are some great sites to help you explore wild summer weather!

Hurricane season starts on June 1 and goes through November. Hurricanes happen when tropical storms--which form over the ocean--gather strength and speed, then hit coastline cities. (That's why we don't have any hurricanes in Utah--we don't have an ocean!) Hurricanes are categorized according to strength, from category 1 to category 5. These storms are particularly devastating when they hit large cities right on the coast. Hurricane Katrina is a famous example. It devastated New Orleans in 2005 as it broke levees holding back the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

To learn more about hurricanes, check out this page at Scholastic.com . You can also watch this video at brainpop, then answer the questions in the quiz that follows.


What about tornadoes? We have tornadoes in Utah, but they usually don't touch down for as long or do as much damage as they do in cities in the midwest. Why do you think that might be? Check out this page on Scholastic.com to learn more about tornadoes and how they form, and see if you can figure out why tornadoes aren't a big problem in Utah, especially near the Wasatch Front.

While our mountains protect us, they help create an area in the United States called "Tornado Alley". During the spring--April, May, and June--tornadoes of varying strengths occur frequently. Check out this page to get more information.


Here is a picture taken by KTVX News 4 Utah of the tornado that hit downtown Salt Lake on August 11, 1999.



Weather is powerful and can be scary. The more you know about it, the better you will be able to prepare for wild summer weather!

Summer Activities 9--Get more out of fiction

Want to get more out of the stories you read? (Or write!) Here are some great graphic organizers to help you get more out of the book you are reading. Try reading a book with a parent or a friend and talk about the book together using these graphic organizers. (I especially like the character trading cards!)

Character Trading Cards--How well do you know your character? Use these trading cards to find out more.

Is your character more comfortable in a comic book? Use this comic creator to find out.

Is your character a classic hero? Use this link to explore the journey that every hero takes, in one way or another.

Use this story map to help you keep track of all the major elements of your story. This is really helpful when you are writing and you want to make sure everything you need is there!

Have fun with fiction!

Summer Activities 8--Story Starters

So many trees surrounded our house that no one could see it from the road. Unless you knew our house was there, you would drive right by it, seeing nothing but cherry orchards and leaves rustling in the breeze. A long dirt road lined by black walnut trees led to our invisible house. One Halloween, my brothers decided to haunt the dirt road and the trees that stood guard...

All around you are stories waiting to be told. The hard part is usually figuring out what to write about! As you play, save up ideas to write on those hot, dog days of summer. Jot down a few things, and see if you can make a story out of them.

Need a little help? Here are some basic elements your story can't live without.

Characters--If you meet any interesting people this summer, write about them. What do they look like? What is something silly they do? What kinds of things do they say? What makes them interesting to you?

Conflict--Stories are based on conflict. This doesn't mean your characters have to fight or be mean, it just means that if your character didn't have hard things to deal with, you wouldn't really be telling a story. Conflict is really all about challenging your character. How do you feel when you have to do something you've never done before? How did you feel the first time you rode your bike? Or when you learned to swim? Learning new things provides conflict, and your character either gives up or they push through the conflict and learn and grow--just like in real life! Conflict can also be provided by another person. When you're running a race, does everyone win? There is conflict between all the runners because everyone wants to win, but only one person can.

Goals--When your character has conflict, they need to set goals or have a strategy. A strategy is a plan to help your character get through the conflict they are facing. Do things always go according to plan? If your character has a plan to learn how to swim, but they find out that they are afraid of the water, they will have to create a new plan to help them get over their fear before they can learn how to swim. Step by step, your character makes plans, fails, tries again, makes a new plan, avoids, or pushes through their conflict. While your character does this, he or she shows his or her personality, and we enjoy getting to know your character. That's what makes a story interesting!

Next time it's too hot to go outside, or you're sitting in the car on a long drive, create a story in your head and write it down or type it up as soon as you can! You'll be surprised how much fun you can have!

Summer Activities 7--Safe Surf (this one is for parents!)

Has your child got a topic to research on the Internet (Like Hannah Montana)? Have you ever searched a topic and seen something you didn't want to see? The Internet is full of all kinds of information, some of it good, some of it...not so good. Here are some tips to safe surfing on the Internet!

1) Use Parental Controls! Your ISP has varying levels of parental controls. Some block out unwanted sites, pictures, and even words on the Internet. You can block certain sites you don't want your children visiting. You can even have their web browsing history sent to you via e-mail. Do some research and find the Parental Controls and filters that are right for you!

2) Keep your computer in a high-traffic area of the house. Curiosity is less likely to take over when kids are in an adult's line of sight!

3) When typing an http address, don't type it into the address bar, type it into the search engine.
This will help weed out typos that often take children to unwanted sites. The search engine will give you options, and you can click on the correct option to go to the site you wanted. It's one more step, but it protects you from those unwanted sites.

4) Make sure your children don't register for any sites or give out any personal information. If a site your child frequents needs a password and personal information, parents should register and keep a written record of all passwords. This includes e-mail and instant messaging accounts. Parents should be able to access these accounts in case anything questionable comes up.

5) Talk to your kids. Teach them about the dangers of the Internet, such as pornography and online predators. NetSmartz Kids is a great place to start! Help your children to distinguish fact from fiction as they read and learn on the Internet. Help them to feel comfortable coming to you with questions so they don't look for answers somewhere else!

Summer Activities 6--Cool Keyboarding

Did you know that typing can be fun? Learning to type is an important part of your education! Most jobs now require basic computer and keyboarding skills. People all over the world communicate through e-mail, social networks, and blogs, and being able to type makes this communication easier and faster. You'll be tested on your typing skills in 6th grade, so the earlier you learn, the better off you'll be! Here are some of my favorite typing sites to help you practice! Remember, you want to be able to type without looking at the keyboard. As you practice, you'll be able to hear or see a word and type it quickly without looking.

Dance Mat Typing--One of Mrs. Raymond's students found this site. It's great at helping you remember where you're supposed to put your fingers to help you type as fast as possible. This site takes you step by step, starting with home row, and adding letters on the left, then right hand. Practice each step as many times as you need to until you feel comfortable and can type those letters without looking at the keyboard. Get all the way through this great tutorial, then moving on to the other games will be even more fun and challenging.

Typer Shark--This is another favorite here at Bella Vista. Type the words on the shark's side before he bites you! This game has at least 18 levels. (Maybe more...I had to stop.) See if you can beat Mrs. Wadsworth and get past level 18!

For more typing games, check out the Terrific Typers links on the right side of the blog!

Summer Activities 5--I like to move it, move it! Learn about your body.

Get your parents to join you for this one! They need the exercise too! It's good to know what your body needs and to make sure you take care of your body. Through your whole life, you only have one body, so use it well!

What do you know about your body? How does your heart work? Why do you need to drink water? What happens to your body when you eat too much? What happens when you spend too much time outside when it is really hot? Being prepared with information about your body helps you to keep moving! Check these links to learn about how to take care of yourself!

How does my heart work? This site has a great video and quiz!

Explore Kids Health! Watch videos, play games, take quizes, and get ideas for some experiments you can do with your senses on this site. Remember to discuss any questions and concerns you have about your body with a parent! Have your parents check out this site with you so they will be right there when the questions come up! I especially like "mission nutrition" under games! Type a key word where it says "search here". Try typing "water". Kids health will find articles about why it is so important to drink water, especially when you're really active and it's hot outside.

Need some ideas for outdoor games? Try this site!

Okay, you've been on the computer long enough. Now get outside and play!

Summer Activities 4--The Night Sky

Summer is a great time to stay up late or get up early and look at the stars with your mom, dad, big brother, or big sister! Especially if you get a camping trip this year! Why do you think the stars are so much brighter when you are in the mountains?

NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, explores space. You can learn all kinds of things about the projects NASA is working on when you visit their website. Here is a link to NASA's site for students. Here is a link to NASA's Kids Club, where you can play space-themed games. On NASA's site for students, under "Stories", click on "Tonight's Sky" and watch the video. Or, click this link to watch the video for May. You will find descriptions of what you can see in the sky at night during each month. Take notes when you watch the video, then find some binoculars and set your alarm! As the earth spins on its axis, what we see in the sky changes. Find something new each hour of the night, and each month of the year!

What planet is this picture of? (picture available at NASA image gallery.) With a pair of binoculars, you can see this bright planet directly overhead and to the east at around 8:00 pm. Its light dominates the night sky.

Remember to be with an adult when you stargaze! No little cosmonauts should be out alone after dark!

Summer Activities 3--Digital Scrapbooks

After you've taken that great vacation, don't just print your pictures and stack them in books in the corner! Using Comic Life, (click here to download a trial version) you can make quick and easy scrapbook pages without all the scissors, paper, and glue. Add funny things you said through the vacation with speech bubbles. Then, to share your scrapbook pages, save them as a pdf file, which can be opened by anyone with Adobe on their computer. To save a document as a pdf, go to the print page and select "save as pdf." Then, you can e-mail your scrapbook page to your friends and family as an attachment!

Here's a page I did.

Summer Activities 2--rocks!

Geology is the study of rocks. There are many different rocks on earth, and the rocks tell the history of our planet. This is a cool site with lots of information about rocks! Make sure you do all the activities and take the quizes!

After you're done, you'll know that sedimentary rocks are made up of sand and pebbles that have been compressed together with heat and pressure. You can make your own sedimentary rock! Fill a plastic cup with sand, dirt, and a few small rocks. Add some water. When the water has compressed the dirt a bit, add a little more dirt, then a little more water. Continue to add these ingredients until the cup is full. Put your plastic cup in direct sunlight for a couple of weeks. What happened to the dirt, rocks, and sand? Your sedimentary rock is called a conglomerate, because there are little pebbles inside of it. It probably won't stay together very well when you try to take it out of the plastic cup. Why do you think this might be? Your sediment has been exposed to heat, but not to pressure. It also takes years for nature to make sedimentary rocks. Now, you know how nature does it!

Summer Activities 1--Maps!

Here's a great way to get your kids excited for a summer trip! If you don't have Google Earth, download it here. Type your destination into the "fly to" window on Google Earth, and hit return. You'll see satellite images of your destination.
You can trace your trip, road by road. Show hotels and other points of interest. Get a 3D view of buildings you'll see on your trip. Involve your kids in planning the trip using this interesting and helpful tool! Make your trip come to life!

Even if you're not going on a trip this summer, Google Earth will give your children a chance to explore the world in which they live. Type in an address and see satellite images of your neighborhood! Even of your house!

Memorial Day

Originally called Decoration Day, this special day is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service.

Throughout our nation's history, brave men and women have fought in the armed forces to protect our freedom and our way of life. They leave their families for long periods of time, sometimes years, to protect freedom and our friends who also want to be free. Do you know someone who serves in the armed forces?

Serving in the military is hard work, and it is often very dangerous. Soldiers don't just fight in wars. They also help with natural disasters and many humanitarian missions. Soldiers have aided in providing food to refugees, providing medical care to people in struggling countries, and in training police and military so that they can better defend their country.

You can write to a soldier, whether you know one or not! Tell them thank you for all the work they do! Write an e-mail in this form, and send it to American soldiers to show your support!

Summer Brain Drain

According to FamilyEducation.com, kids lose 1-3 months worth of their education during the summer. Most of what they lose is in mathematics. The Internet is a great resource to keep kids sharp so they are ready to move to the next grade level when they return to school in the fall. Need a little help finding constructive things to do? During the month of May, I will be blogging about things to do on the computer during the summer to help your students keep the education they have gained. The kids love to work on the computers. Computers are great at masking education as something that is just for fun. The activities I will blog about are things I have done with my kids--tried and tested and proven fun, interesting, and educational. On those days when it's too hot to go outside, spend an hour or two on the computer. Use this site as a resource, and use your search engine as well. There are many home schooling sites and educational sites that have lesson plans and activities to stretch and challenge the mind.

Use your resources and keep sharp!

Happy Teacher Appreciation Day!

A good teacher is like a candle--it consumes itself to light the way for others.--author unknown

I feel so privileged to work with so many wonderful teachers! These are people who work tirelessly for the benefit of the students they love and serve. They are faced with many problems, questions, and issues that vary as greatly as the children they teach. Daily, they influence, protect, and guide our children in the hopes of helping those children to see their great potential and reach their highest goals. Teachers don't leave their jobs at work. They bring home their lesson plans, papers to grade, and their concerns over how to do a better job reaching their students. They deal with varied pressures from students, parents, and administrators, and struggle to do what is best for the children. Give your child's teacher a big "THANK YOU" this week! They work hard to benefit our children and their future!

Need an idea for Mother's Day?

Try something new for Mother's Day this year! Celebrate your mom by putting together a music video in imovie. Include your mom's favorite song, pictures of you, and things your mom has told you over the years. Post this on a blog or use iDVD to make something she can keep and show to everyone. This might take some time, so start now!

Wikis

I've been playing around with wikis. I'm still learning, but I've had fun with it so far. Here's the link to Mrs. Wadsworth's wiki. I've included activity descriptions using Comic Life and Kid Pix. Not much so far, but if you're looking for an activity, look at these pages and they might spark your creativity!

National Poetry Month!

April is National Poetry Month! Here are a couple of fun links to help you write some great poetry! Celebrate the power of words!

Poetry Magnets--Rearrange the words and see what kinds of poems you can come up with. Take it a step further by figuring out what part of speech each word is, and replace it with another word of your choice that is the same part of speech. Remember that poems don't have to have perfect grammar, and line breaks give emphasis to words at the beginning of a line.

Giggle Poetry is poetry site for kids. My favorite is Poetry Fun, where you can fill in the blank to try to finish the poem. Choose your words based on the context and on what will rhyme!

Happy poetry month!

Happy Birthday, Hans Christian Andersen!

Hans Christian Andersen was born on April 2, 1805. He wrote fairy tales, and I bet you've heard of a few of them! How about "The Little Mermaid"? Or "The Emperor's New Clothes"? or "The Princess and the Pea"? Try to tell one of these stories in your own words and create a picture in KidPix.

April Fools!

Today is April Fool's Day. Look outside, and you'll think Mother Nature is playing a little joke on us! Maybe she turned back the clock a month?

Be careful what you read/see today! If something seems unbelievable, it probably is. Some fun April Fool's hoaxes have been pulled in the past, like one by Taco Bell. They released the news to the press that they had purchased the Liberty Bell, a national treasure. They said they were going to call it the "Taco Liberty Bell." How do you think people reacted to this news? Would you believe it if you heard it today?

Another funny hoax was presented by Burger King. They advertised a left-handed Whopper. Do you think such a thing would exist? Why or why not?

Think about things before you believe them! And have a fun March 1st!

Positive Verb Poem

In Mr. Sharp's class, we wrote poems using positive verbs based on "And Still I Rise" by Maya Angelou. Here's our favorite:

And Still I Love

You may leave me without saying
Leave me hanging, waiting for the answer
With tears running down my face
But still, with hope, I love

Even though you are gone
I still have you in my heart and memory
You're my hero and savior
And still I'll love

-Sienna

NetSmartzKids

We had an assembly today with Kate Lowder from NetSmartzKids, a program that teaches kids how to be safe online. We've explored the site before in our lab, but it's always good to have a reminder of what you need to do to stay safe on the Internet. Ask your children about the assembly today, then go to this link and play some of the games together. It's important for adults to be aware of the dangers of the Internet so that we can protect our children. They are growing up in a world far different from the world we grew up in, and we need to protect them as much as we can! Explore this site for a while, but don't become a Numbut!

1/2 hour activity

One of my colleagues showed me a new site, and I think you'll love it! Check out Scholastic Computer Lab Favorites under March links! Any subject you can think of, and this site has a link to a half-hour activity. What a great site for busy teachers!

Enjoy!

Happy First Day of Spring!

Tomorrow is the vernal equinox, which means it's the first day of spring! From tomorrow until the summer solstice on June 21, the days will get longer and warmer. This is due to the way the sun hits the surface of the earth. Tomorrow, the sun will be shining directly onto the equator. Then, the sun will shine directly above latitudes farther to the north until the solstice. That is why the days will get longer and warmer.

So, happy spring!

St. Patrick's Day Limericks

I wrote a few limericks using Irish words. Enjoy!

There once was a man named Shylock
Who demanded his half of a shamrock.
He cursed and he swore.
We could stand him no more.
Now he's stranded alone on an isle rock.

Leprechaun Larry was weary,
Took a nap in the house of Mcleary.
They thought he was dead
So they threw out his bed,
Now he's making the family feel eerie.

Discovery Story- by Morganne

In Mrs. Raymond's class, we did a fiction unit in which we had our main character discover a magical object. Morganne's was my favorite! So, here it is. I love the idea of a magical globe, and Morganne does a fabulous job with her dialogue and internalization (character thought as a response to dialogue), and her wonderful description of what happens when Jeffery touches the magical object. She also does a fantastic job with point of view! Great job, Morganne!



JEFFERY’S ADVENTURE



Jeffery lived alone with his mom. When he had his fifth birthday, his father left him and his mother all alone on the farm. When he turned eight he started to miss his father dearly. Three years ago, when he was twelve, he got over it and tried to forget all about him, but how can you forget someone who’s been so close to you for so long? Now that he’s fifteen, he despises his father for leaving him all alone with his mother. Although he despises his father, he doesn’t hate him. Jeff never hates anything.
“Hate is a powerful word” his mother always said. “Only use it when you mean it.” And she was right. He grew up strong and healthy doing all the work that his father had. Each day he got faster at doing all his chores so he would get more free time. Because he kept getting more free time, he would always explore farther every day. One day, he explored so far he found the ruins of a few old buildings. A few seconds after he arrived, he heard his mom calling.
“Jeffery! It’s getting dark! And there’s something I need to tell you!” His mother
called out.
Jeffery started running to his mom’s voice because it was too dark to see.
“There you are, Jeffery! Some construction workers are here to build some homes, a school, and a few stores!” His mother squealed excitedly.
Jeffery did not go to school. The farm was too far away to go to any school. And because there was no school, he had no neighbors or friends. And he liked it that way.
Jeff looked around at the strange people.
“Oh... And Jeffery?”
“Yes?” Jeff answered.
“I had to sell the farm.”
There was a long, awkward silence as Jeff stared at his mom in horror.
And then there was the running. All the running. He didn’t stop until he got back to the ruins. Jeffery ran into the first building he saw which wasn’t too ruined actually. He stayed there until the sun went over the horizon. Then he saw the slate... it was bent out of the ground as if some one or something had tried to hide something in it. He pushed it aside, and found a small globe.
What’s that right there? He thought to himself as he pointed to a miniature country that didn’t belong to this world.
Suddenly, he felt like he was being crushed inside himself, and spun so fast he could hardly breathe.
As soon as everything stopped, he crouched into a ball as if thinking it would all start again. But then he heard the cheering and looked around. There were people all around him cheering as he stood up. He was in a ring.
“ Looks like we have our volunteer!” Jeff looked over to the voice which happened to be a short chubby man dressed in strange clothes.
The man floated over on something like a hover board, and said,
‘Hey kid, I can see you’re not from around here so here’s the rules, 1. Stay calm. 2. Be nice to the monster, okay?”
“What...” Jeff started to say.
“3. Try to stay alive, please? (I get paid more if you do)”
Monster? This is not going to go well at all. Jeff thought, but he did not say it out loud.
As the man floated away, Jeff looked at all the people. He felt as if he was going to faint. He had never seen so many people in his life.
“LET OUT THE MONSTER!” The man screamed at the top of his voice. And that was when Jeff snapped out of his queasiness. He looked at a huge door that was slowly opening. He put his arms in front of his face and tried to brace himself as much as possible. Five seconds later the monster hopped out. Jeff peeked through his hands and saw...
A LITTLE BUNNY RABBIT!
Wait a second... Jeff thought That’s not right! But all the same he walked over to the small animal and picked it up. Then he started petting it, and heard a gasp from the crowd.
“He sure tamed that beast! But we want you to fight the beast not tame it! Sorry son.” The man exclaimed.
Suddenly Jeff was flung into the air and watched as the ring backed away into the distance. He landed on a bouncy thing of the sort and looked around. There were different buildings all around him. Some said on them, “FOOD. EAT HERE” and “GOOD CLOTHES, BUY!” and other cheesy things like that. Jeff looked over at the people and saw what they were wearing. It was the same some sort of blue and green jumpsuit that the little man was wearing and everyone,but Jeff, was wearing one. He just barely noticed that. Before he could do anything else he felt a jolt and a hand over his mouth. Something was pulling him to as dark alley and he heard,
“I am Detective Albert Walter Gardener. Code-name D-A-W-G. Pronounced ‘dooog’. You are under arrest by order of The King for not wearing the outfit you are supposed to wear. That is a felony. What region are you from?”
“U-u-mm... I don’t know, sir...”Jeff mumbled under his hand.
“Well then, lets give The King a visit, shall we?” He laughed at his own joke. “Hey DOLPHIN! Throw this one in the back with the other villains!” Soon a giant man that looked very strong came over and tied him up. He was thrown into the back of a truck with a bunch of rough looking people. Some were wearing different tidy outfits that looked like the same sort of jumpsuit in different colors.
As the wheels screeched and the bus lurched forward, Jeff finally realized how much trouble he was in.
About an hour later the bus slowed to a stop and everyone rolled to the other side because they had no control over the their tied up bodies. As DOLPHIN and DAWG unloaded everyone, they untied their legs so they could walk. While Jeff was having his legs untied, he saw some ladies and children that were walking up the hill to the castle. They were crying. * * *
Amy was crying. Jeffery wasn’t home yet. It had been over three hours since he had run away and as his mother, she was terrified. This is almost exactly how her husband had disappeared. If he didn’t come home in 30 minutes, she would call the police. She was not going to lose her husband and her son!
* * *
It had been 30 minutes since they all started up the large hill. The group, lead by DAWG, (DOLPHIN had stayed behind) had just entered the castle. DAWG opened a gigantic door and inside on a tall throne sat a short chubby man that showed the slightest resemblance to Jeff.
“H-h-here are the criminals of the day s-s-sire.” DAWG stuttered. “You! To the front of the line.” he shouted as he pointed to Jeff. Jeff walked to the front of the line.
“This criminal wasn’t wearing his uniform in the streets. He probably had a very bad influence on the kids.”
“ I’m sorry s-sir. I came from another world and got lost and...” Just about then, DAWG slapped Jeff across the across the face. He winced at the pain but tried not to show it.
“ Thats enough! So, Jeff. See that door over there?” He said as he pointed to a small door. ” Go in there and use the small sphere.”
Jeff slid under the tiny door and saw the small sphere right in the middle of the room. He picked it up and realized something. There must be one sphere in each world and The King had found this one. He found the small ruins and pointed to them. He started to feel the pressure inside of him. He crumpled into a ball and fell to the floor of the ruins. He saw the globe on the floor as he stood up. He picked it up and smiled. The King had been Jeff’s father that just disappeared when he was 5 years old.



PROLOGUE
All the police and the workers had finally left. It has been about 6 months since the incident and Jeff had lots of new friends and was very happy. Amy (his mom) was happy too and had gotten remarried to a nice man named Rodrick. Jeff even went to school and learned to read and write.


Everything was perfect.






THE END

1/2 hour activity--Seeds and Plants

Here's a fun project that shows the life of a plant from seed to flower to seed again. This project was done in comic life, and the pictures were all found on the internet. Teachers at Bella Vista--find the file in school folder-mrs. wadsworth-march-comic life plant project. Click and drag the folder directly into iphoto. Then, open comic life. Under album, select last import, and the photos are ready to go. Let the students be creative with the layout so they can become more familiar with this versatile program!

1/2 hour activity--heritage activity in graph club

Kiss me, I'm Irish! (bring a bag of Hershey's kisses for this one... Better for upper grades.)

Help your students understand the importance of keeping family records. Have the students bring the names of their great-grandparents, and let them type the names in the records search engine at familysearch.org. (This site doesn't require registration to search ancestors.) After you select the ancestor, click the link for "pedigree chart." When the pedigree chart is shown, count the number of ancestors listed and the country they are from. For example, on one of my pedigree charts, I had five ancestors from Scotland, ten from the US, and one from England.

Open Inspiration and go to "diagram". Using the symbol search, have the students type in the name of each country their ancestors are from. Have them select a picture from each country. While that picture is selected, copy it onto the clipboard. Go into graph maker and select "create." Click on the plus sign next to the icons on top of the graph, and select "add new symbols". Then, paste from the clipboard. This will allow the student to use the symbol from their ancestor's country in a graph. Repeat this process for each country listed on the pedigree chart. If the students don't have many records, have them put the country their parents and grandparents were from, based on their memory. Emphasize the importance of keeping records of their own.

Make a graph of which countries your students hail from, based on their great-grandparent's pedigree charts. On the graph, indicate where most of their ancestors come from by titling the graph, "Kiss me, I'm Irish", or, "Kiss me, I'm English", or "Kiss me, I'm Japanese", or "Kiss me, I'm American." When the students complete the exercise, print out their graphs and give them a Hershey's kiss.

Yesterday in the Lab-Postive Verb Poems

In Mr. Sharp's class, we started writing poems based on Maya Angelou's "Still I Rise". We watched the video of Ms. Angelou reciting her poem, then we talked about what the student's favorite stanzas were.


Here are the guidelines for writing your own Positive Verb Poem.

reach
create
hope
live
trust
love
build
dream
give
laugh

1) Choose a verb from the list above.
2) Think of a circumstance in your life that might prevent you from doing this verb.
3) Think of how you will do this verb anyway.
4) How might people react to your actions?
5) Ms. Angelou added a rhyme scheme to her four-lined poem. Rhyming can actually help you to figure out what to say. Choose a verb that has some interesting rhyming possibilities, and see where that verb leads you.
6) Remember that this is a positive poem! End it with your positive verb!


Mrs. Wadsworth's example:

Still I Trust

You may press me to the back of you
Dismiss me, if you must.
I'll walk behind and watch your step,
And still, with love, I'll trust.

Does my meekness trouble you?
Too passive and too weak?
You can't imagine the clearer view
Of following your feet.

Like a silent shepherd,
I trust.
A mother tree with scattered seed,
I trust.
I am the soil from which you grow;
An anchor hidden, depths below,
I'll settle, slowly, like the dust.
You'll grow and go,
And still,
I trust.

Thank You, Dr. Seuss!

I put together this video and activity for Dr. Seuss's birthday. Visit this link to study Dr. Seuss's art. You can also purchase his work from this site. Watch my video, then follow it up with an art project in kidpix.

1/2 hour activity

February 19th is Copernicus's birthday! Discuss heliocentric theory and have your student use Kidpix to make a model of the solar system. Copernicus published a book called "The Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres". He wasn't the first to present the theory that the sun was in a fixed place and the earth rotated around it, but with this publication, he solidified the idea in science. He is credited as one of the fathers of the Scientific Revolution. I copied these pictures of the sun and earth from Inspiration and pasted them into Kidpix.

Abraham Lincoln Scavenger Hunt

Here's a fun activity for President's Day! Open this blog in two windows--one window will stay on this blog so that you can read the questions, and you can use the other window to click on the links and find the answers to the questions. When you find the answers, hit the back button so you can go to the next link. Enjoy!

Where was Abraham Lincoln born? Were his parents wealthy? Go to this link for your answers.

What did Lincoln say about slavery in 1859? Did he think it was right or wrong? Go to this link for the answer.

Which President of the United States was President Abraham Lincoln? What year was he inaugurated? Go to this link for your answer.

What war was fought while Abraham Lincoln was president? Who were the two sides that fought in this war? Go to this link for your answer. To find the names of the two opposing sides, click on the map and look for the blue and the gray.

A famous speech of President Lincoln's begins with "Four score and seven years ago..." A great battle happened here before he gave the speech. Where was the speech given? Go to this link for your answer.

What famous proclamation did President Lincoln release that paved the road for freeing slaves in America? Go to this link for your answer.

What happened to President Lincoln on April 14, 1865? Where did it happen? Who was the shooter? Go to this link for your answer.

When you're finished with the scavenger hunt, go to this site and explore the activities about President Abraham Lincoln.

Rainforest Maths

rainforestmaths.com is a site that many teachers have used to practice math skills online. The site has been down for a while, but now it is back! It is password protected. Teachers, check with your CLA to get a username and password to access this site. The link is under Marvelous Math.

*I have noticed that this site works better on safari, not on firefox.

As I understand it--please comment if I'm mistaken--this site is free this school year on a trial basis. Next year, you will have to register to use the site. So, explore the site and see if it's worth the money!

Maya Angelou--literary activity

I've been studying Maya Angelou as part of Black History Month. I've linked a you tube video of her reciting one of her poems--"And Still I Rise". (In the widgets to the right, it's the video on top.) I love this poem! I love its positive message! And I love how beautiful she is as she recites it. Have your class discuss elements of this poem, and maybe they can write one of their own. Give them a choice of positive verbs they can put in their title, and have them describe how they do that verb. If the page is up for a while, and the photos disappear, refresh the page and wait for the videos to load.

George Washington Scavenger Hunt

Here's an activity for President's Day: A George Washington Internet Scavenger Hunt. Use the following links to find answers to the following questions. At the end, there are a few online activities about George Washington. (Here's a trick to making this easier to do--open this blog in two windows and set the windows up side by side. Keep one window on this blog so you can read the questions. Use the other window to visit the links. Hit the back arrow after you have answered your question so you can go to the next link.)

1. What was the name of Washington's estate? What river is it next to? What important city is 16 miles away? Go to this link for the answers, and watch the video.

2. Which war did he fight in as a military leader for the British? (Clue, he fought with the American Indians and they fought against the French.) Go to this link for the answer.

3. What role did George Washington play in the American Revolutionary War? Go to this link and scroll down to the paragraph titled "War's Outbreak".

4. What role did George Washington take after the war was over? What year did he take this position? Go to this link for the answer.

5. What was a very important bill he passed as President? Go to this link for the answer.

6. How many years did George Washington serve as President? Go to this link and scroll down to the picture of Washington at Valley Forge, then read the text through the rest of the page for the answer.

If you've got all the answers, go to this link and click on "Launch the Portrait for Kids". Learn a little more about President Washington by solving the mystery of this Washington portrait.

A New Find--BrainPop

While searching for fun things for students to do on the computer, I came across a fun site: brainpop.com This site has animated films about many topics, followed by a quiz. Some of these movies are free, and if you click on free movies from the home page, you will be able to see a few of them. I included two of these free movies in my February links list. This is a subscription site, but they offer a 5 day trial. Not long, I know, but the movies are informative and entertaining and the quizes point out the important facts from the movies. These would be a great addition to any classroom!

The 44th President

Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States on Tuesday. The changing of power from one president to another goes smoothly and without bloodshed or coup in this wonderful nation of ours, and this changing of power could be viewed as drastic--from one political party to another, with completely different agendas and solutions to the common problems of the people of this nation. Who knows what the future will bring? Our new President takes office with hope, and one can't help but feel excitement and anxiousness to see what will happen in the next few years. Our students will likely remember this changing of power. As they learn more about it, they may appreciate the Constitution which President Obama swore to defend.

This is the best video of the swearing in and the speech that followed. Share this with your students. Discuss the President's message. Help our children participate in this historic occasion. If students learn about their role as citizens while they are young, they will likely be more involved in the world as adults. The future is in their hands, and they are in ours.

1/2 hour activity

Comic Life is one of my favorite programs! Using Comic Life, let the kids use pictures and words to describe their New Year's resolutions or goals. Here's a sample:

1/2 Hour Activity

Need practice typing? Here's a 1/2 hour activity that the students will enjoy!

Baseball typing! Have a line of text on the board that the students must type. Sentences can focus on home row, upper row of letters, lower row of letters, all letters, all letters plus punctuation, symbols, or whatever combination of the above you would like the students to practice. Split the students into two teams. Give them one minute to type the line as many times as they can. Each correct line counts as one base. Three bases counts as one run. Each minute of typing counts as one inning. Play for nine innings, then reward the winning team with free time on the computer. Have the losing team practice their sentences a few more times. Walk around the room and make sure the students are using the proper fingers for this exercise, or it loses its purpose.

Here are some sample sentences:

home row: ask a glad dad

home row plus upper row: i require quiet please

all letters: the fat cat ate the rat and came back to the mat

all letters plus caps: Aunt Lily likes to go to the zoo

all letters plus caps and punctuation: It's time to feed the pigs. Please dump the slop.

*You can play a similar game with spelling words. Have the students type all their spelling words. Typing through the whole list counts as one sentence. The words must not only be typed correctly--with the fingers on the right keys--but all the words must be spelled correctly in order for the base to count. This would be a lower scoring version. For younger grades, each correctly typed & spelled word could count as one base.

Literary activity

Welcome back to school! I hope you all had a great Holiday!

We're kicking off the new year with lots of activities. This is an historic January. We will get a new President this year. Barack Obama will be inaugurated on January 20. The day before the swearing in of America's first black President is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. This nation has come a long way from the days of pushing individuals to the back of a bus because of the color of their skin.

Try this activity with your students--choose a photograph taken during the times of the Civil Rights movement and have your students write a poem or a story about that photograph. The following is a poem I wrote in high school.

Southern Streetcar (After a photograph by Robert Frank)
I
In the first seat
of the streetcar
sits a white woman.
Her cheeks sag
to join her slight double chin.
The blind on the window
covers her forehead.
She holds a book,
a closed Bible,
on her lap.

II
Two children
sit in
the second seat,
dressed in their Sunday best.
The older one looks like a young soldier,
staunch and solid,
with slightly flared nostrils.
By almost arching his back,
he avoids touching
his little brother,
whose fingers
are sticky from his candy.

III
And in the third seat
sits the black man,
with his blazing eyes
turned skyward.
His shirt
hangs loosely
over his shallow chest,
like water
polishing a flat stone.

Amy Maida Young, 1989