Become a World Traveler!

This evening I flew over the Pyramids of Giza, Halong Bay, Vietnam and swam with rays in the Maldives.  You can do this too by visiting the AirPano website.  The website has dozens of 360 degree panoramic views of some of the most beautiful and interesting places in the world!  I suggest printing yourself a world map from the FREE WORLD MAPS site or heading to Google Earth and marking all of the places you visit.


After each video there are articles that accompany the video.  The authors provide information about the area you "virtually toured" as well as how they were able to shoot the video.


Please share your top 3 tours with us.  I can't wait to see where you go!

Words, Words, Words!

We like to race at my house.  A lot.  We race to get dressed.  We race to see who will make it to the end of the block first or who will make it to the top of the stairs first.  Maybe some of you are familiar with these kinds of shinanigans yourself...

Well, William, the youngest in our family, doesn’t particularly care to race because he thinks he is always the “l-o-s-e-r.”  However, if he happens to be “first” he will always shout, “First one there is the STINKY ROTTEN CHEESE!”  Yes, you heard me right, STINKY ROTTEN CHEESE. We (my husband, eldest son and myself) have tried (through many fits of giggles) to explain to him that being the “STINKY ROTTEN CHEESE” is not cool.  He could care less. Why? Because those “words” make him feel good inside!  He wants to be the “STINKY ROTTEN CHEESE” because this means he is the winner in his world. AND, he loves to make us laugh AND he knows this ALWAYS makes us laugh.

This of course has got my teacher brain thinking about words and how they make us feel.  The words we choose to use when sending a message are more important than one might think.  Watch this video to see what I mean.



WOW!  I KNOW!


After watching this video and thinking awhile about its powerful message I thought it might be interesting to start keeping a "Word Journal." I have been collecting all kinds of words and phrases that I think might be perfect for a future story, poem, class lesson, blog post, letter or other piece of writing my future self might craft.  The words and phrases I have been collecting have been coming from newspapers, magazines, books I am reading, television shows, street signs and conversations.  If you pay attention, you will discover extraordinary WORDS ARE EVERYWHERE!


Here are some "Word Journal" pages to get your mind thinking in this direction.  I included a blank page in case you think of another category of words you might like to collect.  It also occurred to me that you might enjoy creating your own cover so I didn't include one.


I hope you will share some of the words and phrases you collect with us!
Word Journal

Alphabet Scavenger Hunt

To complete this activity you will need to find one item for each letter of the alphabet.   Remember to think "outside the box."  For instance, the item you find might look like the letter rather than start with the letter. 


There are a couple of ways you could go about doing this scavenger hunt.  First, you could print out the Alphabet Scavenger Hunt record sheet below to record what you find for each letter.  Just write the name of the item you find for each letter and then sketch a picture of it.  Or...if your parents will let you use their digital camera (or you have one of your own) you could use the record sheet to keep track of the things you find and then take pictures rather than sketch.
Alphabet Scavenger Hunt



What should you do with all these awesome sketches and/or photographs when you are finished?  Create an alphabet book of course!  You could do this by using this FREE alphabet book template.

Or by creating a digital slide show using a FREE Animoto or Smilebox account.  Don't forget about Glogster EDU!  You could create an awesome poster with all of your pictures.

Happy hunting and please don't forget to share what you find!

Math Games

I just discovered a great new math website I think you will LOVE!  It is called Cyberchase and was created by PBS Kids. I have a feeling you will come back to school next fall a SUPER-DEE-DUPER MATH WHIZ after playing these games!


There is also a an activities page with several different math activities and games you could print out to work on or play when your parents need their computers back.


Try a few of the games and activities and then drop us a line letting us know which ones were your favorites and why.


Can't wait to hear from you!


P.S.  Don't forget about IXL!  You can practice your subtraction math facts, time, money, place value and math problem solving.

Tulip Poplar Exploration

Eli, Will and I just got back inside from observing the Tulip Poplar out in front of our house.  Here are some pictures and observations from our exploration.

Eli and Will thought the bark made excellent climbing holds!

We took a closer look at the pollen from the trees flower.  We noticed tiny insects running around in the bowl.

We observed a birds nest and a small insect in the grass near the trees trunk.

We dissected the flower.  Will informed us this flower had a lot of "stamens!"

Thomas Jefferson loved the Tulip Poplar, also known as a Yellow Poplar or Tulip Tree.  You can read more about this kind of tree and Thomas Jefferson's garden at Monticello by clicking here.


If you would like to grab your own tree observation journal click here.


We can't wait to find out what kind of tree you observed!

Trees!

A friend of mine stopped by yesterday and was very interested in one of the trees we have in our front yard. She had never seen a tree such as this one.  It is a Tulip Poplar and there are very few in our area.  Our conversation got me thinking about trees and how fun it would be to learn more about them.  You can use the Journal pages below to observe a tree near your home that you want to learn more about.
Tree Journal


Click here to find out more about how trees grow.


Eli, Will and I are heading out right now to explore our Tulip Poplar using this journal.  We will let you know what we find out soon!


Please share what you discover about a special tree in your yard.

Staying Creative

How do you stay creative during the summer?  I try lots of different ways and while I was exploring some ideas this morning I came across this great Vimeo video about staying creative.  It is called 29 Ways to Stay Creative.  Please watch it and then check out some of the links below to see if they help you stay or become more creative on this rainy, rainy summer day!


29 WAYS TO STAY CREATIVE from TO-FU on Vimeo.

Map Maker Interactive
This is a great website for creating maps by National Geographic.  If you create one post the link in the comments section so we can check it out.
Hello World
You can continue your study of Spanish or one of several other languages you are interested in learning on this website.
Wordle
You can go to this website and make beautiful word clouds, print them out and hang them on your wall.
Art Projects for Kids
The author of this blog has tons of fun art ideas you could try!


Don't forget about all the great websites we have linked to on our classroom webpage!  


Can't wait to hear how you stay creative!