Category Archives: Uncategorized

Things I Learned at Camp

Spady Blog, Uncategorized
Zip Lining, Canoeing, Rock Wall Climbing,
Fishing, Horseback Riding, Slingshots…
What more could a kid ask for?

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For the past 3 years, my boys and I have traveled to Montague, Michigan for Family Camp at YMCA’s Camp Pendalouan.  It’s a fun-filled 4 days and 3 nights of every outdoor activity you could imagine.  This year’s camp experience taught me a few things…

  • It’s all a matter of perspective!  On the 2nd day, thunder rolled through camp and a down pouring of rain left me panicked!  How would I find enough indoor activities to keep 4 boys busy?  Enter Professor Puddles (aka Sam from Wales with an awesome accent).  Wearing a PFD (Personal Flotation Device) and a graduation cap, Professor Puddles invited interested campers to go on a puddle jumping expedition.  Why not?!  We jumped in small puddles, deep puddles, muddy puddles were judged on everything from the height of our splashes to the form of our jumps.  This experience reminded me it’s all a matter of perspective.  What might have otherwise been a dreary day turned into one of the highlights of my camp experience!

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  • Kids know what they like and are perfectly capable of personalizing their day.  I will be completely honest and admit to having some control issues when it comes to keeping my boys busy and plugged into what I feel are appropriate educational activities.  After 12 hours of trying to keep all things in control on the car ride to camp  (books on CD, playing the alphabet game, looking for license plates, NO electronics), I decided to let my guard down and just let the boys decide what they wanted to do when we got to our destination.  The result was that each boy went in a different direction and found exactly what they wanted to do.  There was excitement and all sorts of stories to be told when we reconvened as a family at meal times.  The boys’  independence at camp got me thinking about this…
What would happen if the school day was structured like camp?  Could students be trusted to choose their own path and personalize at least part of their day?   I think so.

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Camp Pendalouan 2015 was amazing!  Each year, I am grateful that my boys are making  memories that will last a lifetime.  What did you do this summer?  Did any of your summer experiences teach you something new?  Leave a comment below!

 

#6: Book Spine Poem

Reading Enrichment, Uncategorized

Spark your thinking!

1. Set up your language arts mini spark recording page: #6: Book Spine Poem

2. Have you heard of “a book spine poem?” It’s a kind of poetry that you don’t really write from scratch – instead, you “find” it by arranging book titles to make a poem. This type of poem can be serious or funny, just like in regular poetry. Write the poems you see her on your recording page.

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3. Watch this video to see the process. Record 3-5 details from the video.

4. Okay, ready to make your own book spine poetry?

  • You need is a stack of at least 8  books with interesting titles from around the house, your classroom, or your school library.
  • Place a few books on top of each other.
  • Play around with the titles to create a short poem, words that create an image, feeling or scenes.
  • Write down the titles when you find a combination you like.
  • As you write down titles, you might notice some that seem to go together to tell a funny or interesting story. Switch them around to get a poem you like.
  • If you are doing a digital recording page, also take a picture of your work in progress

5. Keep working on your final project. Your finished spine poems should have at least 4 book titles included. Document your poem by taking a picture and adding it to your recording page or typing the titles in a poem format.

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

Lesson adapted from :http://www.brainpickings.org/tag/book-spine-poetry/ and http://www.pbs.org/parents/adventures-in-learning/2015/04/book-spine-poetry/

 

Early Enrichment #1: Pebble Go or Pebble Go Next

Early Enrichment, Uncategorized

EXPLORE ANIMALS, FAMOUS PEOPLE, SOCIAL STUDIES, and DINOSAURS

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Do love to learn new things? Pebble Go or Pebble GO Next is your go-to for facts, pictures, videos, and games!

  1. Choose a topic to learn about
  2. Learn 10 things
  3. After doing research at Pebble Go, create a pic collage, apple clip, explaineEverything, or your favorite presentation tool to share your findings.
  4. Share this presentation with your teacher. Respond to this post and share what topic you choose to research.

Create-a-Plant

Early Enrichment, Uncategorized
CREATE-A-PLANT

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Research to find out more about the parts of a plant

1. Watch this video

2. Study the parts of a plant at this site- kids growing strong

Show What You’ve Learned

You are a botanist who has just discovered a new type of plant. As every good scientist does, you will document your exciting finding. Design a fact sheet highlighting your new plant discovery. Be sure to include the following key pieces of information:

• your plant’s name
• your plant’s basic needs
• your plant’s parts
• where your plant lives
• a colored illustration of your plant in its natural habitat

Your fact sheet might have text features like labels, captions, maps, bold words, subheadings, and more.

lesson idea adapted from ilove2teach.blogspot.com/

#1: Zenzizenzizenzic

Math Mini Sparks, Uncategorized

Wow…that’s a mouthful!  I wonder how many points that would be worth in Scrabble?  Explore the meaning of this bizarre sounding word by completing some Math Minutes this week!

Spark your math thinking!

1. Set up your math mini spark recording page: #1: Zenzizenzizenzic

2. Listen to how to pronounce the word Zenzizenzizenzic 5 times. Say it 5 times to practice. Can you say it FAST 5 times?

3. Find out the meaning of zenzizenzizenzic by reading this article. Record 2 sentences about this word.

4. Make a tiny Z math dictionary page.  Your page should have the word and definition for at least ten Z math words. Here are some other ideas of Z math words. You can use these or find your own.

Z-Intercept     Zenith     Zero Divisors    Zero Element    Zero slope  Zodiac  Zone

5. Find out how many points zenzizenzizensic would be worth in Scrabble using this online scrabble calculator. Record the points on your recording sheet.

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

 

 

Teach the World!

Uncategorized

If you’ve ever said to yourself as you watch an online video lesson, “There has to be a better video on this!” now is your chance to make that happen.  The Khan Academy team is looking for teachers to share their lessons online through video.  Check out the video below and go for it!  It would be awesome to have Westside students, as well as students all over the world, learning from you!

A World Without…

Uncategorized

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Have you ever wondered what the world would be like without certain modern day conveniences that we often take for granted?  Consider this, the first bicycle was invented almost 200 years ago in 1817.  It didn’t even have pedals!  You had to scoot it along with your feet!  How would the world be different today had the bicycle never entered the scene?  What about other modern day conveniences that make life easier today?  Comment below with a list of your top 3 inventions that would have the greatest impact on our lives today had they not been invented.

Have invention ideas that you think just might change the world?  Check out this video for some inspiration and remember, “It’s okay to make mistakes!  It’s not okay to stop!”

Share your ideas in the comments below!

#5: Sensory Language

Uncategorized

Sensory language includes words or phrases that connect to the five senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. It creates vivid mental images and engages the reader’s mind on multiple levels.

Spark your thinking!

1. Set up your language arts mini spark recording page: #5: Sensory Language

2. Watch this video. Record an example for each of the senses on your recording page.

3.  Look over the story prompts on this list. Choose 3 that you like. Record them on your recording page.

4. Make a section on your recording page for each of these words:  sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch.

5. Spend 5 minutes brainstorming details for your character, setting, and events. Choose  descriptive words that connect the reader to your story by using the senses.

6. Write your story on your recording page.

  • There is not a required length for your story
  • Your story needs to have a clear beginning, middle and end
  • Make sure you have a problem/conflict that is presented and resolved
  • Make it great by including at least 10 sensory details.

7. OPTIONAL: If you would like to write more stories using this guide, please do! Share all of your stories with your teacher/EY coordinator.

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

Lesson adapted from https://www.thepaintedturtle.org/hospital-program

Student Created Wonderopolis Pages

Henningsen Blog, Uncategorized

The grade 4, 5,  and 6 studentScreen Shot 2015-04-17 at 12.48.18 PMs have spent the last several weeks creating Wonderopolis pages to share. Each student picked a topic, came up with question to answer, researched this topic in great detail, and set out to work on creating an informational product.

This is the link to find the projects– > EY WIKI

Please check out these projects. They turned out wonderfully!

 

Wonderopolis has a Online Summer Screen Shot 2015-05-06 at 12.09.21 PMEnrichment Program  that I am going to check out for my own kids http://camp.wonderopolis.org/

We have many children who will be invited to attend the Extreme Math Day on May 13th.

Look for invites towards the end of this week. It will be a fun day of math puzzles!

If you are looking for some math problem solving, Noetic math has a few free online math contest practice resources @ http://www.noetic-learning.com/gifted/sample.jsp,

If you like those you could consider subscribing to the sumScreen Shot 2015-05-06 at 12.24.17 PMmer program @

http://www.noetic-learning.com/summermath/

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns

A Redefinition of Gardens

Early Enrichment, Uncategorized

Mary Mary Quite Contrary, How Does Your Garden Grow?garden

#17 Wonder of the Day: Can You Garden in the City?

Do you have a garden?  What is the most unique thing you’ve grown in a garden?  Maybe you’re thinking you’d like to have a garden, but you don’t have the yard space or know how to get started.  Well this is the Wonder for you!

Springtime is a great time to start planting a garden and this Wonderopolis Wonder talks about many things related to gardening!

  • Watch the short video at the beginning
  • Read the Wonder (or have it read to you)
  • Complete the Did You Get It? at the end
  • Leave a comment and let us know something new you learned.  You could also tell us about your own garden if you have one, or tell us what you’d like to plant if you could start a garden.  When leaving a comment, use your first name only.  Include your grade and school (i.e. Trevor, 3, Sunset)