All posts by lspady

#28: Fairy Tales

Reading Enrichment

What are Fairy Tales?  According to Merriam-Webster, a fairy tale is “a story (as for children) involving fantastic forces and beings (as fairies, wizards, and goblins) – called also fairy story”.  

Spark your thinking!

1. Set up your language arts mini spark recording page: #28: Fairy Tales

2. Have you seen Beauty and the Beast? Watch this short clip from the animated movie. Record 4 characters from the clip and explain how they are magical.

3. The original Beauty and the Beast (French: La Belle et la Bête) is a traditional fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins. Read this article about this fairy tale. On your recording sheet record 5 details.

4. Please read this Wonderopolis article, How Old are Fairy Tales?  Make a 5 question quiz and answer key to go along with the article.

5. Go to this website and choose 2 more fairy tales to read. Record the title and a short summary of the story on your recording page.

6. Share your language arts mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.

#32: Narcissistic Numbers

Math Mini Sparks

A narcissistic number is a number that is the sum of its own digits each raised to the power of the number of digits. It is also known as a pluperfect digital invariant (PPDI), an Armstrong number (after Michael F. Armstrong) or a plus perfect number. 

Narcissistic Numbers aren’t actually that confusing if you know how to do a couple things.  Check out this math mini spark so that you can learn more about these peculiar numbers!

Spark your math thinking!

  1. Set up your math mini spark recording page: #32: Narcissistic Numbers
  2. Watch this video by Numberphile. Take notes on your recording page.

3. Look at the list of Narcissistic Numbers on Wolfram Alpha. Record several of them.

4. Pick a Narcissistic Number to “work out” on your recording sheet to prove it works.  See example below.

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5. Share your math mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.

#31: Super Bowl Math

Math Mini Sparks

Whether you’re a football fan or not, it’s interesting to look at the history of the Super Bowl.  This math mni spark has you predicting, collecting, and displaying some data related to the Super Bowl.

Spark your math thinking!

1. Set up your math mini spark recording page: #31: Super Bowl Math

2. Make some predictions.  Without looking online for the answers, predict how much a 30 second ad cost to run during the Super Bowl in the following years:  1962, 1972, 1982, 1992, 2002, 2012, 2022.  Record these predictions on your recording page.  Next to your predictions, use this site to record the actual cost for those years.

3. Why is the Super Bowl in roman numerals? Read this article to find out. Record what you learned.

4. This article talks about the geometry, angles, and statistics associated with the Super Bowl. Write a summary of each paragraph on your recording sheet.

5. Your choice Use the data and graph type you would like to show Super Bowl Data

Pictograph idea Pick 5 NFL teams and write those on the x-axis of your graph.  Using this site, record how many Super Bowls each team played in.  Use a helmet, a football, or some other picture to display the data.  Make sure to include a key for your graph (i.e. 1 football = 1 Super Bowl).

Scatter plot idea  Use the data on this site.  Use the x-axis to represent the year and the y-axis to represent the cost of a 30 second ad.  There are several tools you can use to make your graph including Numbers (app on the iPad), Create A Graph website, Scatter Plot Tool, and others.  Share your completed graph with the EY Coordinator at your building.

6. Share your math mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.

#27: Interjections!

Reading Enrichment

According to grammar-monster.com, interjections are “words used to express strong feeling or sudden emotion. They are included in a sentence (usually at the start) to express a sentiment such as surprise, disgust, joy, excitement, or enthusiasm.”

Spark your thinking!

1. Set up your language arts mini spark recording page: #27: Interjections!

2. Watch the Schoolhouse Rock cartoon about interjections. Record several interjections on your recording page.

3. Practice your new knowledge by taking this 6 question quiz.  Record your score on your recording sheet.

4. Listen to the story If You Were an Interjection. There are some punctuation rules to use with interjections correctly. On your recording page write about when is the right time to use each of the following punctuation marks with interjections : exclamation point, comma, question mark, and period.

NOTE: Pay attention to how the sentences were punctuated in the video. You will need to pause the video to look at the words closely.

5. Study this grammar page. Add in 5 more ideas about interjections on your recording page.

6. Share your language arts mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.

#17: Jesse Owens

Social Studies Enrichment

Jesse Owens, son of a sharecropper and grandson of a slave, achieved what no Olympian before him had accomplished.

Spark your thinking!

1. Set up your social studies mini spark recording page #17: Jesse Owens

2. Read this information and make a timeline with at least 8 dates.

Who was Jesse Owens?  Track-and-field athlete Jesse Owens won four gold medals at

the 1936 Olympic Games. His achievements were important for himself and for many other people at the time. The Games were held in Berlin, Germany. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler was in power there. Nazi banners draped the sports field. The Nazis believed white athletes were best. But Owens proved that they were wrong.

James Cleveland Owens was born in Oakville, Alabama, on September 12, 1913. His family later moved to Cleveland, Ohio, in search of better opportunities.

Jesse became a track star at a young age. In 1928 he set track records in the high jump and the running broad jump (long jump). In 1933, while he was in high school, he broke three other records. He then went to Ohio State University.

In the 1936 Olympics Owens won gold medals for the running broad jump, the 100- and 200-meter races, and the 4 × 100-meter team relay. He also set new Olympic and world records.

Owens graduated from college in 1937 and worked for the Illinois Athletic Commission. He later got involved in guidance activities for young boys. He also made goodwill visits to countries in Asia for the U.S. government. Owens died in Phoenix, Arizona, on March 31, 1980.

3. To learn more about Jesse Owens, watch the video below.  Record 1 idea you would like to remember, 2 words to describe Jessie, and 3 facts.

4. This information page has more detailed information about Jessee. What is the most important thing you learned about Jesse Owens? Respond with several thoughtful sentences. Add this to your recording sheet.

5. Share your Social Studies mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.

 

Saving Endangered Species Youth Art Contest

Other Events & Contests

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Do you love art and animals? If so, this is the contest for you! The deadline for submission is March 1st, 2018, so review the contest rules and start creating.

  • All entries are to be submitted electronically at endangered.org/submit-your-art. (See “Submitting Artwork” section below for details on sending student art.)
  • All artwork must depict species chosen from one of the lists as noted in “Subject Matter” (below). We will make no exceptions to this rule.
  • Entries must be received by March 1, 2018. Late entries will not be judged.
  • All entries become the property of the Endangered Species Coalition.

Saving Endangered Species Youth Art Contest

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#35: Animal Enrichment

Early Enrichment

Did you know that you are not the only person that gets to do enrichment activities? Animals do, too! It may look like they are just playing or eating, but these enrichment activities challenge the animals’ brains and get then moving around. 

Spark your thinking!

  1. Set up your Early Enrichment Mini Spark recording page: #35: Animal Enrichment
  2.  At our very own Henry Doorly Zoo, zookeepers make fun activities for animals. Hear from our zookeepers to learn about animal enrichment. On your recording page answer the question: What is animal enrichment?

3.  Watch animal enrichment activities at the Smithsonian National Zoo.  Which activity did you like the most? 

  1. Read this article.  Add 3 details to your recording page. 
  2. Share your early enrichment mini spark recording page with your teacher or EY Coordinator. 

Check out the Save the Animals badge at the EY website.

#26: Use Every Meaning

Reading Enrichment, Uncategorized

Homonyms can also have identical pronunciations and spellings but different meanings, such as “quail” (the bird) and “quail” (to cringe). This mini spark will let you be creative in your writing to create fun sentences.

Spark your thinking!

1. Set up your language arts mini spark recording page: #26: Use Every Meaning

2.  This morning before school, I made a racket when I dropped my racket down the stairs. What do you notice about this sentence? Check out this website that shows some words with multiple meanings. Record the 3 most interesting and each of the meanings on your recording page.

3. Look over this sentences On your recording page, write all three of the definitions for subject.

Evil King Byrd liked to subject his subjects to lectures about his favorite subject: the history of the toothpick.

4. Write 5 of your own sentences that are like the sample above.  If you want to look at a list to get started then click here. You are not limited to just using words with two meanings. You can use your own ideas as well. Record your sentences on your recording sheet.

5. Increase the complexity to include multiple meanings of three different homographs in one paragraph.  Look over this sentence with duck, bank, and dove. On your recording page, write the both of the definitions for duck, bank, and dove as used in this sentence

The skateboarding dove banked her skateboard off a river bank, ducked into a spin, and then dove under the water, barely missing a duck.

6. Write your own sentence that are like the sample from step 5.

7.  Share your language arts mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.

Lesson adapted from https://www.byrdseed.com/homographs-homonyms/

Breaking Barriers Writing Contest

Other Events & Contests

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Image taken from http://www.scholastic.com/breakingbarriers/teachers/?eml=SNP/e/20170118////MLB/nav1//////&ET_CID=20170118_SNP_MLB_SL2_ACQ_19242&ET_RID=1486065372

The Breaking Barriers Essay Contest is a chance
for diverse students in grade 4–9 to share their
personal stories and show how they use Jackie Robinson’s
values to face their own barriers.
Contest Deadline: March 14, 2017

Read more about the contest here.

#25: Golden Ticket

Reading Enrichment

In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, five golden tickets are concealed in Wonka chocolate bars. The lucky children who discover these tickets are invited to tour Willy Wonka’s magical chocolate factory and win a lifetime supply of Wonka products. The adventure kicks off in the Chocolate Room, where the children encounter the Oompa-Loompas, the factory’s small, cacao-loving workers. However, each child’s undesirable traits ultimately lead to their undoing.

Spark your thinking!

1. Set up your language arts mini spark recording page: #25: Golden Ticket

2. Watch this video which tells the story of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  Write a 3 sentence summary on your recording sheet.

3. The author, Roald Dahl, wrote many children’s books. Visit this site to get “Life Advice from Roald Dahl in 13 Scrumdiddlyumptious Quotes!” Pick your favorite quote. Record it on your recording page and explain why you picked it.

4. Watch this video and write the definition and 5 examples on your recording page.

5. How good are you at guessing definitions of words? Open this document which has a list of tons neologisms created by Roald Dahl. Choose 10 of the words. Write the word and your definition guess on your recording sheet. Then click this link to find your word and see how you did. How did you do?

6. The golden ticket in Charlie in the Chocolate Factory allowed for the winner and a guest to visit the factory. If you could find a golden ticket, what would be the event/location/place you would like to be able to visit. You can pick something from the past, future or present. Describe your selection in detail and give several reasons to support your decision.

7. Share your language arts mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.