Some of you said you were interested in seeing the pictures from Nicaragua. I'm posting a slideshow below of the day we dedicated the community center to the village. I'll also post a direct link to my Picasa album in case anyone wants to see some more of the sightseeing pictures from the trip.

http://picasaweb.google.com/davosaurus.rex

Earth day was celebrated on April 22, just over a month ago. Deep Water Horizon, a deep sea oil rig, exploded in an accident two days earlier. Ironically, oil began appearing on Earth Day, and still continues to pour out from the sea floor (5,000 feet below the ocean's surface) in the Gulf of Mexico.

We'll be looking at this historic event in detail over the next two weeks. Please read the article below to find out about the spill:

Scholastic Magazine's Article

The timeline below organizes the events of the disaster and the attempts to stop the flowing oil:

CNN Timeline

Can you find two different strategies that British Petroleum used to try to stop the leak? We'll be writing a brief narrative of the disaster using the facts presented on the timeline. Organizing an essay in the order that the events occurred is called "time order" or "chronological."

The disaster in the Gulf makes us ask the question: "Is it worth it?" Oil and natural gas are required by our current way of life. Americans use petroleum for a variety of uses such as powering our cars, providing electricity, and creating plastics. Download and read the article below that looks at the trade off between oil exploration and environmental safety.

Scholastic's artcle: "Should We Drill?"

When you compare two things (like why we need to drill versus why we shouldn't drill) you create a type of essay called "compare and contrast."

Is there a compromise between the two viewpoints? Can you think of some ways that we can keep jobs, keep our cars running, and still be environmentally conscious? Brainstorm some ideas with a partner and then check out the following sites for some hints.

Energy Kids

Energy Quest

Energy Hogs

As we're studying electricity too right now, be sure to follow the links that show how electricity is created at the power plant.

When you look at a problem, propose different ideas to fix it, and then choose the best one overall, you've just created a type of writing called "problem-solution."

Enjoy the activities, but remember that your main goal is to practice some different ways of organizing your writing and to learn what you can from this horrible accident. The worst mistake is the one you don't learn from.

The movie below shows oil and natural gas pouring into the Gulf.

Students,

For Open House next week, you'll be choosing two of your favorite blog post assignments to share with your parents. You may do more if you have time, but you must do at least two.

Here's how it works:

Go through your old blog posts and find one that you're proud of and that you learned a lot from.

Click on it so that you're looking at just that post.

Next, copy the link. You'll need it for pasting later.

Now, start a new post. Call it: Reflection 1. The second one you do will be Reflection 2, but do one at a time. Each reflection will be a separate post.

The first thing you'll put in your post is the link to the other post- the one you just copied.

All you have to do is write the title of the assignment, highlight it, and link it.

Next, you need to answer the following questions about the assignment. Use complete sentences.

(you may copy and paste the questions below into your blog post)

---------------------------------

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

Why did you chose this piece to include in your portfolio?

What was the purpose of the assignment? What were you supposed to learn?

What are the strengths of your assignment?

If you could add to or redo your assignment, what would you do differently?

What did you learn from the assignment? Besides what you were supposed to learn, were there any other ideas or skills that you picked up from doing this assignment?

On a scale of 1 to 10, what would you give your assignment and why?

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For my reflection questions, I used Mr. Howe's list as inspiration.

Now that Jack and Praiseworthy are starting to get their hands dirty in the diggins, looking for spangles, it's time to start figuring out how to prospect for gold.

Read through these two websites as we start putting our own guide to prospecting in class.

http://www.calgoldrush.com/graphics/evolution.html

http://www.sierrafoothillmagazine.com/goldmethods.html

Who knows- in these economic times, learning how to find gold might be useful!

Today you'll attempt a drawing of a stagecoach much like the one that Jack and Praiseworthy found themselves riding in to the diggings.

You'll also write a reflection about what you think it would be like to have to worry about highwaymen everywhere you went during the Gold Rush.

Use this picture to help you out:

Outrageous Prices!

Today you'll be comparing prices during the Gold Rush with prices at our local grocery store.

You can use this link to Albertson's Online to help you find out how much the items cost today.

Stay focused on what you're looking for. If the site asks you for a zip code it's 91350. Also, make sure that you don't add anything to your cart- you're just browsing the aisles.

Record your prices on the price comparison page in your Miner's Journal.

Today we learned how to draw a lonely road in 1 pt. perspective.

Now try a room!

I really like this one, but it's a bit more complicated. I really like the artist's use of color.

Do you remember the meanings of all of these Greek and Latin roots?

By the Great Horn Spoon! Finally. We've made it to San Francisco!

Now that you've arrived, have a look around town. Here are some of the stores you might go to:

http://mylearningcenter.net/hornspoon/francisco.htm

Think about what you might need for prospecting.

Write a post as a reflection to this one.

What do you think about the different places in town?

Make a list of items that you might need at the diggin's.

You finally get to figure out what a horn spoon is!

What do you think about all the high prices? Why do business owners charge so much?

Use: dlindsay, spoon, literature, reflection as keywords

Today you'll be adding pins to the locations of Callao, the Galapogos Islands, and San Francisco in Google Earth.

Also, add those points to the map on pg. 14 of your Miner's Journal (the map we used earlier this week). Trace on your map, with a colored crayon, the route you think the Lady Wilma took to California.

Lastly, head to:
http://mylearningcenter.net/hornspoon/callao.htm and write a blog reflection.

Go to: http://mylearningcenter.net/hornspoon/magellan.htm

and read about Cape Horn and the Strait of Magellan. Write your reflections in a blog post.

Again, for your reflections, think about what you would be feeling as your ship approached this dangerous stretch of water.

Use: dlindsay, literature, spoon, reflection as key words.

Today you'll open Google Earth on your computer and do the following:

1) Create a folder called: Greatspoon

2) Place "pins" in the locations of Boston, Rio de Janeiro, and the Strait of Magellan

3) Label those three locations on your paper map as well (in your "Miner's Journal)

Go to the website:

http://mylearningcenter.net/hornspoon/rio.htm

and read about some of the exotic fruit that the passengers aboard The Lady Wilma encountered. Write a reflection for today's blog journal.

Things to think about:

Exotic means strange and different. Do you think of the fruits that are displayed on the page as being exotic? Why would it be different back during the Gold Rush?

After being aboard a ship for over a month, how do you think the passengers felt about being able to eat fresh foods and get off the ship for a bit?

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Write your reflections in a blog post with the same title as I used. Use the keywords: dlindsay, literature, reflection, spoon

Here's a great site for you to play at and learn about our planet.

http://funschool.kaboose.com/globe-rider/earth-day/index.html

If you have time, check it out. Share some facts that you learned in a blog post. Title it: Earth Day, and use dlindsay, earth, and conservation in the keywords.

Avast your whining and get busy learning your nautical terms. Those would be words that sailors use to describe things we lubbers might call something else.

You'll be working on labeling the ship in your Miner's Journal with the terms I gave you there. You can use this site:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_nautical_terms

to help you out.

By grabs, today you'll be learning about side wheeler steamships, just like the Lady Wilma and the Sea Raven.

First of all, all of you better read the directions this time; yesterday hardly any of you followed my directions. If that happens today, by the great horn spoon, I'll have to make you do the assignment over again at recess, on paper!

1) Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Mail_Steamship_Company

2) Read the article there about steamships

3) Click on the picture of the steamship so it's nice and big and examine what it looks like

4) Now, go to your miner's journal and find the page asking you to draw a picture of the Lady Wilma

5) Draw your picture there but add a fancy background showing a place where she's been

6) You can even write a nice caption explaining what the picture is showing

7) If you have time, you may test your knowledge of the chapter by playing Rags to Riches: http://www.quia.com/rr/32219.html

e journal directions:

1) Read all of the directions first.

2) For each website listed below, right-click and select the option to open the link in a new "tab." This way you'll be able to come back to the blog after going to the websites listed.

3) Activity 1: After reading chapter one, test your knowledge by taking the online quiz at Quia: http://www.quia.com/rr/32218.html

4) Activity 2: Go to the site listed below and read about sea voyages of this time period. Then, write a reflection in your blog. Give your post the same title as this post. Use the following key words (spell them correctly): dlindsay, literature, reflection, spoon

http://mylearningcenter.net/hornspoon/boston.htm

In case you're wondering, a reflection is like a quickwrite. It is about halfway between a brainstorm and a completed composition. Think about what you thought about while reading. Share those thoughts in your reflection. It should be easy to understand by someone else reading it, but you don't have to worry so much about paragraphs and making sure that you've used masterpiece sentences.

I'll be posting complete instructions on how we created our digital stories soon. For now, we're working on a few steps to get the audio for our stories completed.

Step one:

If you're going to put music in your digital story, you can find that music at one of these two sites. The movie shows you how to use the sites and how to download the music.

http://www.flyinghands.com/cat-free_music_clips.html - No account needed

http://www.musopen.com/ - you need an account for this one

One change for the EeePC, is that on the first site, when you get the error screen, click on the 'x' to close that window. You'll be able to preview the music track, then press the back button to preview other tracks. Once you've found the one you want, right click it from the main page that lists all the tracks, choose "save link as" from the right click menu, and save the file to your music folder.

After you've got your music, it's time to use Audacity to make some magic happen.

One change for the EeePC is that you import your music from the "file" menu, not the "project" menu.

We've been reading McBroom and the Big Wind. This kind of story is called a tall tale.

1. Go to the websites below and read the tales about Paul Bunyan and Pecos Bill. While you're reading, try to see if you can figure out why tall tales are called "tall tales."

Paul Bunyan:

http://www.americanfolklore.net/paulbunyan.html

Pecos Bill:

http://www.americanfolklore.net/pecosbill.html

2. If your parents tell you to "Stop telling tales," what does that mean?

3. Go to: www.visuwords.com and type in the word exaggerate (make sure you get both the Gs in there). See if you can find 7 other words or phrases that describe what you might find in a tall tale.

Answer the three questions above in your own post titled: Tall Tales. Use: dlindsay, genre, tale in your keywords.

Now it's your turn:

In another post, called: My Tall Tale, write a tall tale involving a story about yourself. It could be some outrageous story about how you got to school today. Now's your chance to really lay it on thick!

     We had a great field trip yesterday (3/8). Students, please think about what you learned on the trip. Think about the different activities that you did with Mrs. Bastians, Mrs. Sonksen, and Mrs. Hancock. Write a blog post that explains what you did and what you learned at the agency.

     Structure your writing in a way that makes sense to you. To help make your blog more visual, feel free to use pictures that I took, found here: http://students.saugususd.org/dlindsay/files/194.

     To link a picture do this:

1. click on it
2. copy the web address
3. go to your own blog post
4. click the little picture of the tree
5. paste the web address in the space called "Image URL"

Having trouble remembering one of those rascally scientific words? Check out the USGS site that has every water word you could think of.

Want to learn more trivia about water from the people who brought your field trip to you? Check out: http://www.clwa.org/kids/

For your 3D shapes reference guide, you'll need to be able to draw some of the 3D shapes that we've learned about.

For the polyhedra, check out this demonstration:

Next, for the curved shapes, try this site recommended by Eddie: Drawing 3D Shapes

For your lettering, how about 3D lettering?! Learn how here.

For your information, use the notes that we created on our graphic organizer, look in your math book (check the glossary too), and review some facts about the number of edges, faces, and vertices of pyramids and prisms.

1. Go to the website: http://www.pitara.com/magazine/people/online.asp?story=22 and read the article about Gandhi
2. Imagine that you could meet with Gandhi. What would you say to him or ask him? Pretend you interviewed Gandhi. Write a transcript for your interview. Create a version for the blog and post it. Your transcript should have this structure:
3. Me: Can you tell me your name for the record?
4. Gandhi: My given name is Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, but many people call me Mahatma Gandhi out of respect. I’m not sure that I like it, though. It seems very…prideful. It means “great soul.”

use key words: clements, dlindsay, literature, extension

These boxes are easy to make and are great for holiday gift giving.

Here are the directions:

http://www.origami-instructions.com/origami-star-box.html

and someone demonstrating...

and another...

It turns out Rudolph is sick this year. Luckily there is a good stand in for him- a flying squirrel!

Pick three adaptations that you think make the flying squirrel a good substitute for Rudolph.

Make sure you give your squirrel a name. Alliteration works well; Freddie the Flying Squirrel and Gilly the Glider, are a couple of examples.

In each paragraph, describe one of the adaptations and why it will help on Christmas Eve. When you're done, summarize your reasons in a conclusion, and introduce your flying squirrel to Santa in your introduction.

If you'd like to draw an illustration for your story, try these links:

http://www.exploringnature.org/db/detail.php?dbID=46&detID=609

http://www.ratemydrawings.com/drawings/cartoons/287511.html

Share your story with the title: Santa's Dilemma

Here are some keywords that you can use: santa, adaptation, flying squirrel, holiday, writing, dlindsay

Feel free to post drawings of your flying squirrel too!

Here's my picture. It's Freda the Flying Squirrel in harness and air traffic control lights.