Sunday, November 29, 2009

Rain Forest Discovered...in Connecticut?

Recently, Mrs. Yollis' class traveled over 3,000 miles to a newly discovered tropical rain forest.



They met with several knowledgeable guides who shared about

the flora (plants of a particular area)
and
fauna (animals of a particular area).


Okay, it wasn't a real rain forest... Mr. Salsich [Mr. Sal sic'] and his class created it.
Oh fine, we weren't really in Connecticut...we had a virtual tour via Skype from California.

However, it really was fabulous!

Here are some photos of the Skype tour! Mr. Salsich's class is full of experts!



Many students took notes and drew pictures to help with their learning.

Visit the tropical rain forest yourself!

Please be sure to leave a comment for Mr. Salsich's students.

What did you learn?

Which animal or plant was your favorite and why?


Friday, November 27, 2009

Educational Blogging Resource

Here is a link to a wiki Mrs. Yollis put together to help some teachers who are thinking of starting a blog: Education-Blogging.



Happy blogging teachers and students!

Friday, November 20, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!


Lots of baking and writing 
in Mrs. Yollis' class this week! 

Enjoy!

Thanksgiving Fun! on PhotoPeach

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Writers in Progress!

Over the last few months, Mrs. Yollis' class has been learning how to write a quality paragraph.

* * * * *
It is important to brainstorm the
main ideas
and
details
of the topic before writing the paragraph.

    * * * * *

    Here is Gal's brainstorming.
    She has two main ideas and several details.




    Next, we wrote a rough draft using our brainstorming ideas.
    Notice Anais'

    green TOPIC SENTENCE

    yellow TRANSITION and MAIN IDEA SENTENCES

    red DETAIL SENTENCES




    Next, students used dictionaries to help them spell the high-level vocabulary words and adjectives they were including in their paragraph.






    Finally, the students proofread. Every writer carefully touched each word to make sure that each sentence was correctly written.
    * * * * *
    The paragraphs were scored on a 20 point rubric!



    Learning to write a quality paragraph is a lot of work, but well worth the effort!
    * * * * *

    What was the most difficult part for you?
    What writing skill did you learn or improve today?
    Share a compound sentence you produced in your paragraph!

    Friday, November 6, 2009

    Our Collectors' Collections!

    Mrs. Yollis' class read  The Talking Cloth, by Rhonda Michell. The main character, Aunt Phoebe, is a "collector of life."  Her home is filled with souvenirs from her travels around the world.

    In class, we started talking about collections. It turns out many people have collections of their own.

    Notice how many people arranged their collection in an array

    *     *     *     *     *

    Mrs. Yollis' Rock Collection


    Like Aunt Phoebe, I like to bring home a souvenir from my travels. Wherever I go, I search for rocks. Not just any rock will be included in my collection, the rock has to be heart-shaped! I discovered my first rock about fifteen years ago.  At first I thought it would be difficult to locate heart-shaped rocks, but with a keen eye, it has been easy to do. My favorite rock is one that I got at Zion National Park. When I look at one of the rocks in my collection, it takes me back to the location where I found it and that fills me with happy memories.

    *     *     *     *     *
    Caleb's Video Game Collection




    I collect video games, and I got most of my video games from Gamestop. My favorite game is Mario Super Sluggers because I love baseball, and baseball is my second favorite sport. In my image,  I have six rows of eleven which means I have sixty-six video games in my house.   I keep them in  u-shaped cases in a black drawer. The type of video games in my collection are Xbox games, Wii games, Nintendo ds and dsi games. I have lots of video games as you can clearly see.

    *     *     *     *     *

    Kendall's Rock and Mineral Collection


    My collection of rocks and crystals is very special to me. They live in a clear plastic container in my bedroom. I started my collection when I was about two years old. My first rock that I ever got was a red volcano rock that I got in Hawaii. I have about 25 crystals and 50 rocks which makes 75 in all.   My favorite rock is my first red rock, and my favorite crystal is dark blue. My parents got me it in Canada. Every time I look at a rock or crystal, they remind me of where I got it.

    *     *     *     *     *
    Ben's Hockey Card Collection 
    I have an enormous collection of all kinds of hockey cards. There are approximately 200 hockey cards in it. I keep my collection in a big black binder in the shelf next to my t.v. My favorite card is Sydney Crosby because he is the captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins. They are my favorite professional NHL hockey team. I bought the packs of cards at a giant Target store for a good price. I have a lot of old players that I got in a big 125 card pack. It also came with modern day cards, but more old ones. I have been collecting them for about two years.

    *     *     *     *     *
                                                                                                                        
    Jaxson's Stuffed Animal Collection


    My precious collection is a group of stuffed animals. I have collected thirty-six  of them. The way I display them is on the top of my bed. My favorite is a teddy bear and her name is Sue. She is my favorite because it was the last one ever at a toy store in Seattle. I started collecting them was when I was three and now I am eight years old. Do you have a collection of stuffed animals?

    *     *     *     *     *
    Ava's Shell Collection



    I have a precious collection of shells that I think are pretty. I got my beautiful shells at the Santa Monica beach. There are about 50 shells in my collection. As you can see from my picture, there are different kinds of shells in my collection. My favorite shells are the big ones. The colors on the big shells are pink and white. I love my shells!
     
    *     *     *     *     *
    Corey's Lego Collection

     

    *     *     *     *     *
    Ethan's Trophy Collection

     


    My collection of shiny metal trophies is special to me. I keep my collection of trophies on my homework desk. My trophies are sports trophies that I earned playing basketball and baseball. A special one I have is my point guard basketball trophy. It has a handle and I can hold it in many different ways. I keep my collection on an extremely high shelf so my brother’s don’t touch them. When I look at my collection, I feel like a champion.
     
    *     *     *     *     *
     Anais' Stuffed Animal Collection
    My fabulous collection is a group of stuffed animals. I keep them on my wall. The wall has hooks so I can hang them. I have about 24 stuffed animals. Most of them are pink or purple. I got most of them when I was a baby. Sometimes I put them on the bed, but not a lot. My favorite one is my rainbow bunny because it is pretty. I love my collection. 
     
    *     *     *     *     *
    Charlie's Cap Collection

     
    I have an awesomely radical collection of bottle caps. As you can see in my 18 x 8 array, there are 144 bottle caps in my big collection. My two favorite bottle caps are very spiky. I call them the Awesome Caps of Death because their spikes could cut someone. One of the caps is dark blue and one of them is light orange. When I get bottle caps, I either find them on the dirty ground or take them off of a water bottle. After I clean them, I add   them to my collection. My friends usually donate their small or big bottle caps when they are done with their drinks. I store my bottle caps in a huge bag. I feel glad that I collect bottle caps because it is a fun hobby. 
                   
    *     *     *     *     *
    Jared's Car Collection
    (The camera is strapped to a car!)

    I have a delicate collection of toy cars. One of them has a camera taped on it because I thought it looked like a spy car. There are cars of all sizes. Some are big and some are small. I started collecting when I was three years old. My first kind of truck was a fire truck, and my first car was a van. Collecting cars is fun for me!                  

    *     *     *     *     *
    Sam's Collection
     

    I have an awesome collection of things. These items remind me of fantastic experiences that I have done. Some are Dodger bobble heads. For example,  one is a bobble head of Rafel Furcal and the other is Russel Martin. In addition, one is a General Grievous from Star Wars. There are also some pictures of fantastic athletes in my collection.  Babe Ruth is one of my best pictures. I also got some souvenirs from Mexico. One is a metal picture of the history of Mexico. Finally, there is a coconut that my mom and dad got for me when they went on a cruise. My collection is on my huge, black desk. I usually look at them when I’m bored. These are really precious to me and are delicate. Thank you for reading about my collection. 

    *     *     *     *     *
     Scarlet's Collect of Instuments


    I collect many different instruments like drums, guitars, and pianos. My instrument was my black and red drums. My mom and dad got the set for me when I was two years old. I still play the drums. I keep the instruments in the living room and sometimes I play. My dad and sister join in, too. I love my collection of my favorite instruments.

    *     *     *     *     * 
    Sydney's Stuffed Animal Collection

    I have many dogs, bears, and cats in my stuffed animal collection. They live in small cabinets, shelves, and my closet. My favorite stuffed animal is named Teddy, and he is my special one because he was my first stuffed animal I ever had. I named him when I was three years old. My collection has more than 100 stuffed animals. They are from all different places like hotels, stores, and ordered on the computer. When I play with them, I get cribs for them and I put washcloths as blankets and sheets. Do you have stuffed animals? If so, what are their name?

    *     *     *     *     *

    Jaxon's Mom's Perfume Bottle Collection


    I collect perfume bottles.  I started my collection after I went to a beautiful home
    where similar bottles were collected and displayed.  They looked so elegant. Soon
    everyone was buying me bottles.  Some were perfect:  unique and special, handmade
    artist pieces; others I didn't like very much.  They weren't unique or special.  So
    I stopped collecting for a while and asked everyone to stop buying perfume bottles
    for me as gifts.
    
    When I stopped adding to my collection, I kept the bottles packed away in my garage.
     Then we moved into a new house that had glass shelves:  the perfect spot to display
    those long forgotten bottles.  Now I get new perfume bottles mostly from my kids -
    and that makes them very special to me.
    
    
    *     *     *     *     *
     Moraiya's Stuffed Animal Collection 

    Here is my collection of stuffed animals stacked on top of each other. I have about 50 animals, and I think they are really cute. Some stuffed animals came from Hawaii and some are from trips or birthdays. I keep them in a big box in my room. There are different kinds of animals in my collection. One horse is named Kaeenapoo, and it is brown with a colorful necklace. Another animal is named Poncho Number Two, an he is a Dalmatian.  Did you notice anything unusual in the pile?   


    *     *     *     *     *

    Which collection did you find interesting? 
    Do you have a similar collection?
    Do you collect something unusual?