Winter Solstice/Lunar Eclipse 2010

We have studied Winter Solstice as our Winter Celebration, as you know. But a cool thing happened that very night that we did not get to see in our area because of the snow that fell all night. We missed a total lunar eclipse. A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes behind the earth so that the earth blocks the sun's rays from striking the moon. This can occur only when the Sun, Earth and Moon are aligned exactly, or very closely so, with the Earth in the middle. (Wikipedia.com). The last total lunar eclipse on Winter Solstice took place about 500 years ago. Pretty neat from a historical standpoint.

I really wanted to see this, but didn't even try setting the alarm for 1:13 am the other night because now I have contracted a horrible germ that has made me sick and I figured I couldn't see it anyway. But lucky us! There were others who did get up in areas of North America where the weather was more favorable and took video so we can see what we missed.

This video comes from a man named William Castleman who is a professor in Florida. He likes scientific photography and making movies about it. The video is too good not to share with you, but I want to make sure I give Mr. Castleman the credit.

Winter Solstice Lunar Eclipse from William Castleman on Vimeo.

Winter Celebration 2010

Today was a big day here at Washington. We all got to showcase a Winter Holiday and present it to the school. Our Holiday was Winter Solstice. Check it out...

All of the classes presented something at each table and the students collected facts as they toured the gym. Here are some other group presentations.

Even our parents came! We love it when they can come and enjoy our hard work. Happy Holidays to you and your families!

We Are At It Again!

We started Cycle 3 in Social Studies and the Revolutionary War is about to begin. We learned that the Colonists and the British are very angry with one another over Taxation Without Representation. In these videos, can you guess which group is acting out each word or term?

Word Box:

Patriot

Loyalist

militia

minutemen

Declaration of Independence

Good luck with your guessing!

Revolutionary War Vocabulary Videos

See if you can guess what Revolutionary War Vocabulary word each team is acting out. Here are some choices:

Boston Tea Party, Boston Massacre, boycott, taxes, treason, or repeal.

The Ones

The Twos

The Threes

The Fours

Welcome to 2010/2011!

Welcome to Mrs. A's classroom blog! You can see lots of cool projects and find info here that might be a little more "interesting" than my regular website. The cool thing about a blog is that it keeps "changing" or "scrolling", meaning that new posts are always coming up to the top and older ones are scrolling into the "archive", or history place. You can also listen to my blog and share your projects with family who might be far away.

Speaking of family who is far away, you might notice the little map along the side. Every time a visitor stops by, a little red dot pops up to show us where the visitor lives. Pretty cool, eh?

You can also see Lyle the Hamster. He likes to eat. Please stop by and feed him. If you and your parents have an email account, you can leave comments under each post. Enjoy reading, watching, and feeding the hamster!

SPRING BREAK!

Today is the last day of school before break! I hope you and your family have a great time. We have been blogging over at our safe and secure blog site, so that is why it has been so quiet over here. There are some things that the class has to remember to do or turn in over break, and I wanted to post them as many places as possible.

1. AR reports for 3/10-3/25 should be signed and returned April 5th.
2. Literary Essays are due MARCH 26TH! If your child has not turned in an essay, it will be due April 5th NO EXCUSES.
3. Address/phone number quizzes taken March 24th should be signed and returned by April 5th. Please make sure your child knows his/her address and phone number they can use to reach a parent. This is YOUR responsibility.
4. Children should continue to read over Spring Break. 5 school days is a lot to a young person, and we want to avoid any loss of "brain power"! So turn off the TV, put away the video games, and pull out a good book.
5. Children can submit posts on their blogs mentioned above. I will moderate/check comments there all week.
6. Please send lunch/breakfast prepayments on April 5th.

I think that covers it....

Have a great Spring Break and I will see you all on April 5th!

I Loves Me Some Rock Trombone!

We were treated to the sounds of Hot Brass, the Air Force Band, today at Lincoln Middle School. Our Principals put together the show as a celebration of our hard work on the ISAT test. I was expecting to see the Lincoln performance of the musical- but this was really good!

The band wore their uniforms, played loud rock music from the present, 70's tunes for the teachers to enjoy, and finished the show with a good old patriotic number that they played featuring electric guitar.

I like music, and I LOVE horns, so it was right up my alley. Plus, it was my birthday, so I liked it all the more.
My favorite part was the Rock Euphonium. (I call it a tuba, but I guess euphonium is the proper term.) He really tore it up. That is an idiom that means that he really raised the roof. That's another idiom that means he really played his heart out, but that's another idiom...you get the picture as we have studied idioms at great length.

The patriotic tune with which they ended the show was that old favorite, "My Country Tis of Thee". We could all sing along. But the band sure turned it up! Take a look.

Fun with Words

We have studied roots, prefixes and suffixes this year. What is wrong here?

See?!

What am I always saying? Check out what happens when you don't use pencil first...

Life IS Good, Isn't It?

We listened

We tried

We built

Virtually.

"Hey, Coal Miner!"

We've Gone Global

Get a load of our map!  We have quite a following in the Santa Barbara, CA area.  We hope to see more visitors from all over as we continue being a part of the global learning community!

"Hey, Coal Miner!"

We are working on a major project for social studies. Visit my website and see the directions on the Social Studies page. It's gonna be great. Here we are hard at work.

Saturday Morning Discovery

Oh. My. Goodness.

I was at the ICE Conference on Thursday, and I learned so much about Google Lit Trips, Blogging for Kids, Voicethread, and so much more. I have also had the thought running in my head for a while now that I might want to pursue becoming a Google Certified Teacher. It might be fun. A lot more fun than National Board Certification. But that is indeed another post for another day.

I was YouTubing around this morning and stumbled upon Google SketchUp. A 3D modeling tool that lets you make models of anything. Your room, your table, your school, your math homework, or your glass of water. I researched, I watched, I downloaded (it's free) and I played. I have not figured out how to save and post my creations yet. I will and you too can have fun building models of new playground equipment, the new Lincoln Middle School, or your dream bedroom. All with the proper measurements, like area and volume, edges, vertices and faces! VERY. COOL!

Edited to add info about SketchUp! I just viewed a few tutorials. So Fun! Can you imagine what we could design with this?!?! Wow.

Some Enchanted Morning...

THE BALLET WAS FABULOUS. Photography was not allowed, so let me paint a picture for you:

Walking into the Auditorium Theater for the first time is special.

Gold everywhere.

Velvet seats.

Wooden floors that have been walked on with fancy shoes for many years.

It smells old. But good.

The looks on the kids' faces was priceless.

Everyone looked so nice with their fancy duds on! Girls wore dresses and pretty coats and some of the boys even wore suits! Mr. E brought the boys in 105 ties to wear.

The dancers showed us Acts II and III of the ballet. They were even nice enough to come out after the show and answer questions for us. Yumelia Garcia and Mauro Villanueva danced the parts of Cinderella and Prince Charming. They greeted us in their practice clothes and big puffy down slippers. We also got to meet Willy Shives, who plays one of the stepsisters. We found out that "she" was actually a man dancing that role. The stepsisters were funny and looked pretty goofy in their outfits.

After a not so fast ride home, we returned to eat lunch and talk about our adventures in the Big City.

ICE 2010

I am at a spectacular conference today! I will bring back new ideas and plans for us! See you Friday!

Joffrey Ballet- it's Extra Special!

On February 26, 2010, Washington School is attending the Joffrey Ballet Production of "Cinderella". This might be the first time your student has attended an event like this. It is a special event. Going to a special event in a special place means that the children should use extra special behavior. The children should dress nicely. They should be clean and neat.

I can't wait to share this special event with them! You might want to visit the Joffrey Ballet website to look around before the trip or to watch the video with your child.

I Need A Hand...

Museum of Science and Industry

We will be traveling to the Museum of Science and Industry on Friday, Feb. 12. Although there are lots of fabulous things to see at the museum, our focus is on social studies and the Industrial Revolution. There is a coal mine exhibit that has been there since the museum opened.

This is what the museum website tells us about the exhibit:

"Step on the hoist and take a narrated ride to the bottom of a mine shaft. You’ll examine the evolution of technology used in mining coal, and experience first-hand the work environment of the U.S. mining industry."

Oh, boy.

While we are there, we will fill out an observations form and write a summary of our trip for homework, due Monday, Feb 15th.

Note about Valentine's Day: We will have a Fun Friday Valentine Exchange. If students bring treats to share, they will bring them home to eat.

"Just a Typical Tuesday"

It is no secret that these are the best fourth graders in Illinois, but they may be the best in the country, actually. Ms. Mullarney sent me this great video yesterday when I was out sick, entitled "Just a Typical Tuesday".

IT. MADE. MY. DAY. It might make yours, too.

They are learning about Disco. Take a look!