New School Year!!!

First I must apologize if you visited the blog a few days ago and this post wasn't up yet. There was a glitch with signing in to work on it and today was the first day I have been able to work that out. Things should work smoothly from now on, however, so I hope that you come back often. I try to post information about what we are doing in class or post helpful links associated with our various studies.

I have chosen this image so that you can see one way I like to spend summer vacation. This is the water garden where the goldfish live during the summer. I like to go out and sit on the big rock that you see at the right side of the picture. I find it soothing to watch the fish and listen to the water as it trickles over the little waterfall. Mr. Dub and I feed the fish each afternoon around four o'clock and the fish become frantic when they see us coming. They quickly learned to associate our presence with dinner!

Summer vacation is gently drawing to a close, however, and we are nearly ready to begin a new school year. It's very exciting to welcome all of our new fifth grade students. Some of you are "old" friends and I've been eagerly watching you progress through the grades. Some of you are new to Barstow School and I am eager to get to know you too.

I hope that by now you've received your letter with some information about what to expect during the new school year. Don't forget to write me a letter introducing yourself! I always look forward to receiving your letters and getting to know you a bit better before school starts.

Decorah Eagles and Other Webcams

Image via WikipediaRecently we have been observing the miracles of nature through a few webcams. One that we have been checking daily is the Decorah Eagles webcam in Decorah, Iowa. This webcam streams video of a pair of Bald Eagles and their three eaglets literally 24/7.

During the day you can view the eagles in color but you can also watch them at night because of an infrared light which allows you to view the nest in black and white. The nestlings were hatched about three weeks ago and it is amazing to watch them grow and change daily. We have been able to watch the adults take turns sitting on the nest and caring for their young, feeding them tidbits of fish from a nearby stream.

The website hosting the livestream gives FAQS about the pair of eagles, who have raised several other broods of eaglets, and interesting information about the nest and its location eighty feet high in a huge tree. You can visit the eagles by clicking on this link, Decorah Eagles or simply view the embedded file below.



Free Videos by Ustream.TV

Related articles

• "Decorah eagle cam continues to draw interest" and related posts (radioiowa.com)
• Decorah eagle cam captivating watchers worldwide (thegazette.com)

But, despite the excitement over the eagles in Iowas, we have also been observing the wonders of nature in Africa. In social studies we are working on a unit about slavery and the dilemmas faced by West Africans soon after European explorers and conquerors began to establish trading posts on the Western coast of Africa. As part of this unit we have also learned about the wonderful and fascinating kingdoms of West Africa such as Mali, Songhai, and Ghana. We have collected many artifacts from present day West Africa thanks to friends who have lived there or visited.

Soon we will have classroom visits from two parents who lived in Africa while they served in the Peace Corps. One parent lived in Benin, the other, in Congo. We are looking forward to their visits and the information they will share with us.

Although these webcams are not located in the area we are currently studying, we have been observing wildlife at various watering holes in Africa. Again, the stream in live, 24/7, with color during the day and infrared (black and white) at night. These streams are a bit slower to load up and are harder to observe in the evenings, but they have been quite interesting and informative.



We have seen impala, zebras, elephants, and unusual birds as they have grazed, bathed, or taken water at these sites. The image on the left shows the tree adjacent to the waterhole with cameras and microphones attached. The image to the right indicates the actual waterhole with the shadow of the "camera tree" falling in the foreground. Africam can be reached by clicking on the link.

Quizlet

Dear students,

Here is the link to Quizlet for our Facing Slavery unit.

Storybird and Math

Another Web 2.0 application we use in the classroom is called Storybird! To quote from their website, "Storybirds are short, art-inspired stories you make to share, read, and print. Read them like books, play them like games, and send them like greeting cards. They’re curiously fun."

So far, I have used it to create a story for math in which we practice comparing fractions. However, we are able to create student accounts so that students can create their own stories using this tool. I like the way that a choice of images can inspire creativity. It also looks great on the SmartBoard. I think students would really enjoy writing their own stories and sharing them with classmates using this tool!

We are learning how to compare and order fractions. This is an activity to give students practice in comparing fractions by using decimals, percents, and equivalent fractions.

1/3 Vs.1/4 or The Lost Alien! on Storybird

Routes of Exploration to the New World and HIstory Alive Tutorial

Image via WikipediaWe have nearly completed our study of routes European explorers took to the new world. Students have completed their mini-research projects and their products. Many students have given their presentations to the class. We have learned about Spanish, English, and French sponsored explorers such as Cortes, Coronado, Cabot, Hudson, Cartier, de la Salle, Ponce de Leon, and others. This week we will wrap up the unit as students turn their research into short essays.

Students will write about why the Europeans came to the New World, how their arrival affected history, and what areas of North America were claimed. We will work on perfecting our thesis statements and adding supporting details in the body of the essay.


As we complete this unit of study students can practice for the unit test which will be given next week. Our social studies text has a wonderful online tutorial available at History Alive You will notice a link to this site listed on the sidebar to the right. Students can simply follow the link, sign in and take the "test". This is unit 5 so students should select that chapter when given the option. I urge them to use their textbooks to find answers if necessary. Using the textbook also helps when students forget the spelling of difficult words or the names of specific explorers. Finally, upon completion of the tutorial students will see a screen informing them of their grade and showing which questions were incorrect. I ask students to print these out and bring them back to school. If printing is a difficulty, students can simply copy the score and ask a parent to check and sign the paper before it is returned to school. These online tutorials are a wonderful way to "study" for the test.

Cape Cod Meeting

Image via WikipediaHere we go again! As I write, we are in the middle of a rain, freezing rain, ice storm! I earnestly hope that we do not have another snow day! Let's hope that we are able to carry on with our Cape Cod informational meeting on Tuesday, March 8, 2011. We will discuss the itinerary, costs of the trip, and the possibility of fund raising to help defray student costs of the trip.

If you are not able to attend the meeting, we will send home paperwork and information with students the following day. We will need to know soon whether or not you plan to be a chaperon for the trip. We do have chaperon guidelines and they will be handed out at the informational meeting.

One thing that is new is the need for fingerprinting and a background check for parent chaperons. We will have more information about this when we see you on Tuesday.

Interesting observation: Apparently the word "chaperon" can be spelled with, or without, the final "e". Evidently the preferred spelling is without the "e". It also is a medical term (spelled with the "e"). As I have been typing this post, the spell check keeps underlining the word spelled with the final "e" and so I finally gave in and went to the "preferred" spelling of the word.

Voice Thread - Awesome!!!

I have been learning about a wonderful "new" technology called VoiceThread. Using this web 2.0 tool, we can create digital stories, post them, and then add comments on each other's stories.

Here is my first experiment with the tool. Right now I do not have an audio component that I have recorded but that will change soon!