Mrs. Yollis' Classroom Blog

School's Out for Summer!

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Yollis) — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 21:45:00 +0000

Today was the last day of school!

Parsa feverishly typed away earning an AlphaSmart completion certificate! Way to go!

Sean wore a shirt from the 100th day of school. I loved his 100 right angles!

Chloe, Shayna, and Aashi created a fabulous class diorama! Check it out!

Everyone enjoyed a final game of Jeopardy! Thanks to Bennett's mom for finding Jeopardy Labs. What the fun learning site!

A final group hug, and summer vacation officially started!

This was a humdinger of a year! :-)

Here is Mrs. Yollis' annual goodbye video! Enjoy!

What are some happy memories you have from the 2012-2013 school year?

What fun activities do you have planned for the summer?

If it is winter in your hemisphere, what winter activities will you enjoy?

Wildlife Experience, 2013!

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Yollis) — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 16:09:00 +0000

Post and photo credit: Mrs. Ranney

As part of our animal adaptation science unit, Beverly Critcher

from Wildlife Experience brought wild animals
to Mrs. Ranney's class for careful
scientific observation.

Wildlife Experience is a non-profit wildlife education organization that brings native and exotic animals to schools and teaches children about the importance of our natural world.

************

This is Vince, the veiled chameleon. Chameleon's are carnivorous reptiles that cannot run but can climb well. They have prehensile tails that help them hold on to branches and a tongue like a rubber band to help them catch a tasty meal. Do you remember why they eat the skin they shed?

Here is Awesome, the four-month-old opossum! Opossums are a special kind of mammal called a marsupial, and they are the only marsupial found in North America. They are omnivores. Do you remember what happens when opossums "play dead?"

Here is Tuck, the hedgehog. Hedgehogs got their names from the fact that they live in hedges or bushes and that they grunt like hogs!
They roll into balls and bump from side to side to protect themselves. Hedgehogs are insectivores. Do you remember what their quills are made of?

This leopard gecko is a lizard that stores fat in its tail. It wiggles its tail at would-be predators. Do you remember why?

Punk, the skunk, a nocturnal mammal lives right here in our community! Skunks are omnivores and will eat just about anything. Do you remember what skunks do with their tails when threatened?

Another animal found in our local environment is the red-tailed hawk. This one, named Shasta, was found injured near the Shasta Mountains. Hawks can see clearly 8 times farther than we can! Why might they need to do that?

Ball pythons, like this one, are carnivorous snakes found in Africa. Snakes are reptiles, which we know means they are vertebrate animals. They can swallow something whole that is 3 times the size of their heads! Pythons are constrictors. Do you remember what that means?

What did the skin feel like to you?

Squirrel monkeys are the smallest monkeys in the world, weighing in at only around 2 pounds! To this monkey a smile is threatening, so we could not show our teeth! Squirrel monkeys are omnivores that live in the rain forest in groups of up to 250. Do you remember why they like large groups?

Sally, the tiger salamander, is the largest kind in the United States. Salamanders are amphibians which means they must stay wet. Do you remember how salamanders breathe when underwater?

Our final visitor, Moose, the fennec fox, is the smallest fox in the world but has the biggest ears! Foxes, like other dogs, do not sweat, but pant to release heat. Do you remember another way that the fennec fox releases heat?

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Thanks, Ms. C. for another wonderful wildlife experience!

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What was your favorite animal and why?

What other fabulous facts can you share about our visitors!

Wonderful Wingspans!

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Yollis) — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 20:30:00 +0000

Nate’s North American Anthology of Wonderful Wingspans

Nate (a second grader) has an interest in birds. Ansel (a third grader) and her father are birders too. Below is a mix of Nate's wingspan data and Ansel's father's photographs.

After looking at the bird photos and talking about the wingspans, we went outside and drew life-size wingspans of several birds.

Check out the photos, the facts, and the life-size wingspans!

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle 80”

Black-footed Albatross

Black-footed Albatross 84”

Brown Pelican

Golden Eagle

Golden Eagle 79”

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron 72”

Greater Sandhill Crane

Laysan Albatross

Laysan Albatross 78”

Lesser Sandhill Crane

Sandhill Crane (lesser) 73”

Short-tailed Albatross

Short-tailed Albatross 87”

Turkey Vulture

Turkey Vulture 67”

White Pelican

American White Pelican 108”

Addition wingspans:

California Condor 109”
Whooping Crane 87”
Trumpeter Swan 80”
Brown Pelican 79”
Sandhill Crane (greater) 77”
Mute Swan 75”

Here are the life-size models:

What surprised you about the wingspans?

How did you convert the inches to feet and/or yards?

What is your favorite bird?

Howard Rheingold Interviews Mrs. Yollis

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Yollis) — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 19:47:00 +0000

Originally published by Howard Rheingold on DML Central (Digital Media and Learning)
and the National Writing Project

* * * * *

Usually Mrs. Yollis and her students are conducting, or carrying out interviews. Today, the interview will feature Mrs. Yollis. She was recently contacted by the great teacher and writer, Howard Rheingold. He was interested in learning about how Mrs. Yollis teaches young children to build a positive digital footprint through educational blogging.

Here is Mr. Rheingold's interview:

Learning Online in the Second Grade: Linda Yollis from DML Research Hub on Vimeo.

Mr. Rheingold writes:

Blogging, commenting thoughtfully on others’ blogs, staying safe online, creating a positive digital footprint, using audio and video to connect with students in other parts of the world, creating and publishing video – at what grade level should students be introduced to these essential digital literacies? How about the second and third grade? Linda Yollis, a teacher in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley, remembers the classroom in which she started teaching in the 1980s: “Learning was confined to the four walls of the classroom, was entirely paper-based, worksheet-driven, and I was the audience for most of the written work in this classroom; parents found out what was going on by reading the newsletter that I would send out and maybe by looking at the graded projects their children took home. All of the learning took place between eight and three. I had a very closed classroom. That all changed in 2008 when I started blogging. Having a class blog has flattened the walls of this classroom. Now we have an online space where students, parents, and other classrooms all over the world can come together in an online learning community.”

Mrs. Yollis not only teaches her second and third graders to blog (some of whom came into her class with blogging experience from Mrs. Levy’s first grade blog), she teaches them – and her students make videos to teach others – about raising the level of online discourse through quality blog comments. Take a look at Mrs. Yollis’ introduction to blog commenting and ask yourself whether the online commons could become a much better place in a few years if more second and third graders were introduced to online discourse in this way. She even introduced a rubric for blog comments that eight year olds can understand: “A one-point comment is a general comment that doesn't add very much to the post. Example: I like your blog. Please visit mine! A two-point comment adds something to the comment conversation. A commenter might compliment the writer in a specific way or add new information. Another idea is to make a connection. Maybe the post reminds you of an experience that you've had. Share that connection! Try to end your comment with a relevant question. That way, an interesting conversation can develop.”

If you think this kind of higher-level thinking and digital skills are unrealistic goals for such young students, you can judge for yourself by inspecting the results: Here is the teacher’s blog post about making “reasonable estimates” and the comment dialogue among her students that followed, in which each student challenged others to try an estimate.

To read more from Howard Rheingold, head over to his full post at DML Central.

* * * * *

Have you ever been interviewed?

Do you have any follow-up questions for Mrs. Yollis or Mr. Rheingold?

Fotobabble Biographies!

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Yollis) — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 19:09:00 +0000

We used our iPads to photograph our biography dioramas and artifacts. We complemented our artwork with some audio using the a web tool called Fotobabble.

Some of the Fotobabbles were too wide, so Mrs. Yollis showed everyone how to adjust the HTML code. It was easier than it looked!

Photo by Bennett

We hope you enjoy our presentations! Presenting information without stammering or saying useless sounds like ummmm was difficult. We practiced many times before we recorded.

Enjoy!

THOMAS EDISON by Sean
LOUIS BRAILLE by Shayna NEIL ARMSTRONG by Bennett HELEN KELLER by Mallory JANE GOODALL by Kiernan JACKIE ROBINSON by Daniel Mr. Robinson was the first black man to play in Major League Baseball (MLB). STEVE JOBS by Heather ELIZABETH BLACKWELL by Aashi WRIGHT BROTHERS by Peter BENJAMIN FRANKLIN by Bryce JOHN AUDUBON BY NATE SALLY RIDE by Savannah RONALD REAGAN by Ryan AMELIA EARHART by Collin MONET by Abbey NORMAN ROCKWELL by Chloe PABLO PICASSO by Grace HARRIET TUBMAN by Jenna ANSEL ADAMS by Katelyn ABRAHAM LINCOLN by Ali SUSAN B. ANTHONY by Keira THOMAS JEFFERSON BY Parsa What did you learn from our presentations? What is something you noticed about the dioramas or the artifacts? What did you think of our audio recordings?

Our World, Our Numbers Finale!

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Yollis) — Fri, 31 May 2013 17:51:00 +0000

This is a cross-post from Our World, Our Numbers

(Thanks to Kathleen Morris of 4KM and 4KJ)

Since 25th February, the seven classes participating in Our World, Our Numbers have enjoyed:

learning about different areas of mathematics from their friends in other countries
making comparisons and contrasts between their lives and the lives of their blogging buddies
sharing mathematical knowledge and skills
using a range of tools to create posts
engaging in rich conversations through commenting

It is now time to finish up the Our World, Our Numbers project. To conclude this wonderful learning experience, all of the classes have been working collaboratively on a collection of mathematical poems.

Watch the Sliderocket below to see the classes perform:

The Skip Counting Song (B4, New Zealand)
Aussie Doubling Ditty (4KM and 4KJ, Australia)
What is a Million? (Room with a View, England)
Triangle Trouble (Mr Avery's Class, Massachusetts, USA)
Smart (Mrs Yollis' Class, California, USA)
Shapes, Shapes, Shapes (Mrs Watson's Class, Canada)

Why don't you head over to the

Our World, Our Numbers blog

and leave a final comment?

Interview: Meet Mr. Mannell

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Yollis) — Wed, 29 May 2013 00:37:00 +0000

Mr. Mannell is a retired teacher who lives in New South Wales, Australia. Although he is no longer in the classroom, he is a virtual volunteer in classes all over the world. His blog, Extended Comments for Students, has wonderful blog posts that extend the learning in numerous classrooms. For example, we had a post on our blog about biographies, and students left comments as if they were a famous person. Mr. Mannell contributed an amazing one from Albert Einstein! In addition, he did a solid post about Rocks and Minerals! Finally, everyone loved learning about kangaroos and koalas on this post!

Photo by Mr. Mannell

Be sure to look through Mr. Mannell's archive! It is a treasure trove of information!

We enjoy learning so much from Mr. Mannell, we set up an interview to learn about Mr. Mannell!

(An interview is a question and answer session set up to learn more about a person or topic.)

Here are some photos from our interesting interview!

Google HangOut with Mr. Mannell on PhotoPeach

Do you have any additional questions for Mr. Mannell?

What is your favorite Mr. Mannell post?

Do you ever leave comments for other bloggers? How does that help build a learning community?

Annotated Arrays!

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Yollis) — Wed, 22 May 2013 23:48:00 +0000

We have been exploring arrays!

Row x Column = Product

The multiplication for the array above is

3 x 4 = 12

because it has 3 rows of 4.

When the factors are different digits,

the arrays are in the shape of a rectangle.

When the factors are the same digit,

the array is a square!

* * * * *

Let's look for arrays!

We walked around the school looking for arrays. Once we captured our arrays on our iPads, we went back to class and used Skitch to annotate our images. Here is the definition of annotate!

Images + = great illustrations!

Wow!
Shayna went home, downloaded Skitch for iPads, and created her own array!

Which array did you photograph and annotate?

What are some tips you can share about using Skitch to annotate?

Fabulous Fads!

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Yollis) — Wed, 22 May 2013 19:48:00 +0000

Currently, Mrs. Yollis' third graders are 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!

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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 where you live?

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!

Open House ♥ 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Yollis) — Fri, 17 May 2013 00:45:00 +0000

Welcome to our Open House!

Ancestry Dolls

Color Poems

Who Am I?

Josefina Story Quilt

Step-Up to Writing: My Favorite 2-D or 3-D Shapes

Traditional Haiku

Paper Bag Puppets

A Trip Down Memory Lane!

Our International Blog and Blogging Buddies!

Tangram Talk! Fun With Quotation Marks!

Were You Attracted to the Magnet Table?

Rocks and Minerals (Special letter and rock samples from Mr. Mannell!)

Biography Timeline! Sculptures and Artifacts

What was your favorite part of the night?

What did you learn?

Mrs. Yollis Heads to ISTE!

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Yollis) — Mon, 13 May 2013 17:08:00 +0000

Last week, Mrs. Yollis noticed this tweet from her Twitter friend, Ms. Moroder. The tweet mentioned a "Thank a Teacher" essay contest to win a free trip to ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education), compliments of Promethean.

Mrs. Yollis mentioned the contest to her class and they immediately and enthusiastically jumped on the wagon train to support their teacher and get her to San Antonio, Texas, where ISTE will be held at the end of June!

On Friday, the winner was announced! Here is a video of Principal Hibler revealing the exiting news to Mrs. Yollis and her class!

Sheriff Yollis, who makes western style literacy videos with her sidekick Sheriff Salsich, is excited to head out to the great state of Texas to start the learnin'.

When asked how she feels about winning the contest, Mrs. Yollis stated, "I'd like to give a big, Texas-size thank you to my students, their parents, and my principal for contributing such heart-warming letters on my behalf. As everyone knows, integrating technology in meaningful ways is a passion of mine. Last year, I presented Flattening Classroom Walls: Educational Blogging at ISTE with my talented Australian blogging buddy, Kathleen Morris. I saw firsthand how valuable this type of professional development can be for educators and their students. I look forward to this opportunity to continue my learning."

Thank you, Promethean, for selecting me as the recipient of your generous gift! I look forward to learning and sharing my insights right here on Mrs. Yollis' Classroom Blog.

What are some topics you would like Mrs. Yollis to explore while at ISTE?

Have you ever been to Texas? Please share some Texan facts!

Biographical Bonanza!

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Yollis) — Mon, 06 May 2013 21:52:00 +0000

A biography is a true story about a person's life.

Mrs. Yollis' class is currently reading biographies about

people who have made significant contributions to our world!

Artists, inventors, statesman, composers,

doctors, inventors,

aviators, astronauts, and pioneers in many fields

are among the amazing historical figures about whom we are reading!

We are each reading a library book, as well as doing research using
World Book Online.

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After reading about your biography subject,
please leave a comment as if you are that person!

Be sure to include at least three facts you learned from your library book or the online encyclopedia. Try to use the HTML code to bold your facts! DO NOT PLAGIARIZE! (Use your own words!)

Watch the comments to see if you can converse with another biography subject you may know!

Family members and friends:
You are invited to choose your own biography subject and join in the conversation!

Share & Compare: California • Nebraska • New York

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Yollis) — Thu, 02 May 2013 23:24:00 +0000

Today we had a wonderful Share & Compare session with two classes. One class lived in Nebraska, and one class lived in New York. We went from the west coast, across the plains, to the east coast of the United States! These teachers first connected at the Google Teacher Academy!

Yesterday, @MsJennyKirsch tweeted out a photo of her fifth grade New Yorkers preparing for the HangOut.

This morning, @catlett1 Brent Catlett tweeted out this picture so we could get a sense of what the day looked like in Nebraska. It was cold out on the plains today! Freezing is 32˚F! How many degrees above freezing was it in Nebraska?

What do you call people from Nebraska?

He also tweeted out this picture and asked, "How many snowmen do you see on the playground?" Look carefully!

In the spirit of sharing, we went outside with our thermometers and measured the temperature. It was quite a bit hotter here in sunny California. It was 81˚F at 10:00! As you can see, the Californians are wearing shorts and tank tops!

Here are some photos from the informative Google HangOut!

Share & Compare GoogleHangout on PhotoPeach

During the Share & Compare, students entered state data on a Google doc. The chart made it very easy to compare the three states, the three communities, and the three schools. It was also fun to watch everyone entering data from across the United States at the same time!

Here is a link to the state data!

Thank you, Shayna, for being our class photographer!

What did you learn?

If it was 11:00 A.M. in Los Angeles (Pacific Standard Time),

what time was it in Nebraska and New York?

What are their time zones?

Please include any questions you have for our friends so we can answer them in a follow-up session!

The Josefina Story Quilt

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Yollis) — Thu, 02 May 2013 16:06:00 +0000

Second graders are reading The Josefina Story Quilt by Eleanor Coerr. This historical fiction book is about a family of pioneers who head out for California in the 1850s. Faith, the main character, wants to bring her hen, Josefina, on the trip west even though Pa says she is useless. He said that Josefina is too old to lay eggs and too tough to eat!

Ma gave Pa a special look, and then Pa changed his mind. Pa did say that if Josefina caused any trouble she'd have to go.

Public Domain Photo

Pick a character from the book and drop us a comment from his/her point-of-view!

How are you enjoying the journey west?

What exciting events have occurred?

Mexican Hat Dance & Fiesta

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Yollis) — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 16:22:00 +0000

To complement our story of the week, Pepita Talks Twice, we scheduled a fiesta! We learned and danced the Mexican Hat Dance. Click here to go to our Learn Spanish video.

¡Qué grandes bailarines!

(What great dancers!)

and we had a special taco bar!

¡Gracias padres!
(Thanks parents!)

After dining, Mrs. Yollis put on some more music and dancing ensued!

¿Qué piensas de la fiesta?

(What did you think of the fiesta?)

Use translate.google.com to leave a comment in English and Spanish!

Learn Spanish! ¡Aprender Español!

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Yollis) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 03:34:00 +0000

This week, Mrs. Yollis' third graders is reading "Pepita Talks Twice!"

Pepita, who can speak both English and Spanish, decides that she doesn't want to "speak twice" anymore. When her decision creates problems she hadn't thought of, Pepita realizes that sometimes it can be a good thing to understand two languages.

The story was even written in both English and Spanish,

so we began learning some Spanish words ourselves.

* * * * *

The video below, made by former students in both Mrs. Ranney's and Mrs. Yollis' class, demonstrates many Spanish words we learned!

Translations:

¡Bueños días! Good day!

¡Bueñas tardes! Good afternoon!

¡Bueñas noches! Good night!

¿Cómo estas? How are you?

¡Muy bien! Very well!

¡No muy bien! Not very well!

¡Que lástima! What a pity!

¡Gracias! Thank you!

De nada. You're welcome.

¡Hasta mañana! See you tomorrow!

¡Hasta luego! See you later!

Los Días de la Semana The Days of the Week

lunes Monday

martes Tuesday

miércoles Wednesday

jueves Thursday

viernes Friday

sábado Saturday

domingo Sunday

Me gusta...I like...

el pan bread

los tacos tacos

escuela school

matemáticas math

¡Que divertido! What fun!

¡Que buena idea! What a great idea!

¿Vamos a aprender Español? We're going to learn Spanish?

Video: Nonfiction Text Features

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Yollis) — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 21:34:00 +0000

Mrs. Yollis' class is learning about nonfiction.

Nonfiction writing is based on facts, real events, and real people. There are many helpful text features found in nonfiction writing. Some common text features are: headings, subheadings, captions, diagrams, time lines, maps, charts, and the glossary.

Below is a humdinger of a video made by Sheriff Yollis and Sheriff Salsich. They hope their video helps you greenhorns learn about about these important reading features!

Yee-haw!

Here it is on YouTube:

If YouTube is blocked, here's a Vimeo version:

The Nonfiction Trail from Jonah Salsich on Vimeo.

Are you reading a nonfiction book right now? If so, what is it?

What did you learn from a text feature?

Video: The Benefits of Blogging!

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Yollis) — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 23:38:00 +0000

I am passionate about educational blogging. Below is a video I created with my second and third grade students. We hope that our video inspires and motivates other teachers to consider blogging with their classes. There are so many wonderful benefits!

Enjoy!

* * * * *

If you are new to blogging, here is an informative video made by my former students. They offer FIVE great tips for writing quality comments.

* * * * *

If YouTube is blocked, here is the same video on Vimeo:

* * * * *

Interested in learning more about blogging?

Here is my Educational Blogging Wiki.

Here is Kathleen Morris' Educational Blogging Resources.

Kathleen and I presented "Flattening the Classroom Walls With Education Blogging" at ISTE last year.

Photo by John Miller

* * * * *

These video were made to share. Feel free to use them at a staff meeting or embed them in your blog. Be sure to link back to this site!

What are some other benefits of educational blogging?

California Science Museum

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Yollis) — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 20:03:00 +0000

On Thursday, the split classes at our school split! In other words, the 2/3 split and the 4/5 split classes embarked on a field trip together to the California Science Center! What an incredible day of learning!

Because the second and third graders are studying animals and their habitats, we spent a good deal of time at the Ecosystems Exhibit.

Enjoy some photos from the plethora (pleth • ə • rə) of exhibits. A plethora is a fancy word for a large amount.

California Science Center on PhotoPeach

The Giant Kelp Forest Exhibit was spectacular! Watch and learn!

One of the highlights of the trip was viewing the Endeavour Space Shuttle!

Photo by Mrs. Yollis

It is a triumph of scientific achievement! Here is a link to some amazing facts about the Endeavour. Mrs. Ranney's student, Alex, wrote a post about it too: The Enormous, Enthralling Endeavour.

What was your favorite zone?

Share one or two facts you learn while visiting the California Science Center!

Google Earth: Latitude & Longitude

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Yollis) — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 00:15:00 +0000

We are in the middle of a global project called Our World, Our Numbers.

This week the bloggers are looking at numbers as they relate to geography.

Check out our the Google Earth movie we made to share about latitude and longitude.

What is your exact location on the planet?

Which hemispheres are you located?

What's your latitude and longitude?

Advanced: What are the the special lines of latitude like: the Tropic of Cancer, the Tropic of Capricorn, the Arctic Circle, and the Antarctic Circle?

The Greak Kapok Tree

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Yollis) — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 23:01:00 +0000

This week, Mrs. Yollis' third graders are reading The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry.

The story takes place in the rain forest of the Amazon. Throughout the story, rain forest animals try to persuade a logger to leave the kapok tree.

☂ ☼ ☂ ☼ ☂ ☼ ☂ ☼ ☂ ☼

For language study, we searched the book looking for past tense verbs. We sorted the verbs according to the spelling pattern:

add -ed
double the consonant and add -ed
drop the silent e and add -ed
change the y to an i and add -ed

First, we set up the four categories.

Next, we searched for past tense verbs from the story.

Finally, we shared the list as a class. The most common past tense verb spelling? Just add -ed.

☂ ☼ ☂ ☼ ☂ ☼ ☂ ☼ ☂ ☼

The class also researched rain forest animals in the online encyclopedia that the PFC purchased.

In the comment section, research a rain forest animal or plant using the World Book Encyclopedia. Write a comment as if you are that animal or plant! Be sure to include facts you learned from the online encyclopedia. DO NOT PLAGIARIZE! (Use your own words!)

☂ ☼ ☂ ☼ ☂ ☼ ☂ ☼ ☂ ☼

It will be exciting to learn about an animal from that animal!

Old Bay Surprise!

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Yollis) — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 05:03:00 +0000

We received a mystery box!

The box was marked fragile and had a return address from Maryland. Hmm...

Mrs. Yollis said that we knew the person who sent the mystery box, and that there was a clue in the October section of the archive on either the class blog or the 365 blog.

Heather and Collin were first to find two possible people in the October archive. One person mentioned in October was Scooter from the Harlem Globetrotters. After a brief discussion, we ruled out Scooter as the sender. We did not believe he lived in Maryland and could not think of a reason why he would send us anything.

We next turned to photo number 297 :: Google HangOut on the 365 Blog. This photo featured several teacher friends from the Google Teacher Academy Mrs. Yollis attended.

After searching through the comment section, we discovered this comment from Joquetta Johnson in Baltimore, Maryland!

(Click to enlarge.)

Thank you Keira and Nate for your wonderful reply to Ms. Johnson in Baltimore, Maryland.

We would like to thank Ms. Johnson for her thoughtful gift! Everyone has been enjoying the delicious chips.

Thank you, too, for the wonderful book and the super spice!

YOU are so nice!

What did you think of the Old Bay Chips?

Have you ever been to Chesapeake Bay,

the largest estuary in the United States?

Share some Chesapeake Bay facts!

Chumash Challenge!

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Yollis) — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 22:01:00 +0000

Today we had an opportunity to experience

what it might have been like to be a Chumash Indian!

Our friends Karen and Ross from
Camino Real Historical
and Historical Interpreters
provided us with activities from
The Natural World of the Chumash!

Please enjoy the slide show, and leave a comment to tell about

what you enjoyed doing and what you learned!

Photos by Mrs. Ranney!

The Creative Hard-working Chumash! on PhotoPeach

What activity did you most enjoy and why?

What facts did you learn?

Do you know some other Chumash facts that you can share?

National Geographic's Giant Map of Asia

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Yollis) — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 00:43:00 +0000

The National Geographic Giant Traveling Map returned to our district for the fifth year!

Mrs. Yollis coordinates the rental of this incredible learning tool for her district. Click here to learn more about how to rent a map for your school.

* * * * *

The first thing we did was recreate our ClustrMap gadget map!

What do you notice about the Asian visitors to our blog?

Where are some of the bigger dots?

Can you name a country that has visited our blog?

Why are there so few in the north?

It was fun to create a human ClustrMap!

* * * * *

Each Giant Map comes with a trunk full of resources!

* * * * *

We looked closely at the compass rose. Then we practiced traveling north, south, east or west. Knowing direction is important on a map!

Next it was time to explore. What did you locate in Asia?

Did you walk a major river? Did you stand or sit inside an Asian country? How did one Asian country compare to another?

* * * * *

Here we are seated along the border between Europe and Asia. Who can name the natural features that separate the two continents?

Some people stood in two continents at the same time!

Next it was time to stand on the equator! The equator is an imaginary line of latitude that separates the northern and southern hemispheres. Do we live north or south of the equator?

* * * * *

We played some of the games that came with the map. Each team (red, blue, yellow, and green) was given a stack of country cards. The object of the game was to be the first to place a cone on the correct country.

A red rope with knots came with the map. Each knot measured 500 miles.

We used the scale rope to measure distance. The longer the rope, the farther away the county.

The yellow team was a long way away from Vietnam.

The red team was quite close to Yemen.

* * * * *

What body of water did you stand in?

Indian Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, or the Arctic Ocean?

* * * * *

Some years, Mrs. Yollis made movies using the Giant Traveling Maps!

Giant Traveling Map of Africa

Giant Traveling Map of North America

The Giant Map of Asia

Which continent would you visit and why?

What was your favorite activity on the map?

American Landmarks!

noreply@blogger.com (Mrs. Yollis) — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 19:21:00 +0000

This week, Mrs. Yollis' class will be kicking off a new topic over on the Our World, Our Numbers global project. The new topic will be

National Landmarks!

Here are two important American landmarks we'd like to share, the St. Louis Gateway Arch and Mt. Rushmore, in South Dakota.

Enjoy!

The St. Louis Gateway Arch

Mt. Rushmore

Do you have any additional facts to share about these two famous landmarks?

What do you think of our presentations