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Today, the 1st graders will be working on their final project for the Rainforest unit. They will take all the materials they’ve created and put together a Glogster.  They will select a wall image, add a title, two images, a video, and graphics.

The second grade will be introduced to Kerpoof Spell a Picture.  They will practice the different parts of speech (nouns, verbs, and adjectives) to see how it affects their pictures.

The Jr. K will explore using Kerpoof Make-a-Picture.  They will practice dragging and dropping, sizing, and perspective.

Last week Mrs. Carter came in to talk to the 5th grade about the benefits of eCycling.  This week they’ll be making brochures and flyers for the May 21st eCycling event in Orange.  The students will start by selecting a Microsoft Word template and then modifying it.  Here is some information they’ll need for the project:

• Mrs. Carter’s Presentation
• More information on eCycling
• eCycling Press Release
• eCycle Brochure Example

Sample Brochure Page 1

Sample Brochure Page 2

To find images, use Microsoft clipart and try the keyword “recycle”.  To find additional photos, go to Wikimedia Commons and try the keyword “electronic waste”.  Just remember if you use a photo and it’s NOT in the public domain,  give the photographer credit.  Simply add a statement under the photo that says “Photo taken by:  <photographer’s name>.

For those who are interested in how Mrs. Carter created her presentation, I added under “How To” a page on “Prezi” (that’s the tool she used to make her presentation).

Today we will be exploring a fun site:  Starfall’s ABCs!

The first grade class is starting a unit on biomes and the rainforest.  Mrs. McClellan, Mrs. Warner, Mrs. Mink, Mrs. Houston, and Mrs. Chaleki have put together a research project for this unit.  The students will be working on this project in science, writing, art, library, and computer class.  Today the students will be introduced to a Grymes Rainforest website which they will use to do research.  We will watch a video and then they will have time to explore and familiarize themselves with the site.

At work I found myself working on projects with lots of people from all over the world.  We had to communicate across great distances, time differences, and languages.  The third grade class is going to experience working with someone who is remote.  They are going to team up with someone in the other half of their class and write a book together.  They won’t know who their partner is (I’ve given everyone aliases).  They’ll use Storybird.

• Class #1 (girls): will pick the illustrator and the first set of images.
• Class #2 (boys): will do the character development and set the stage.
• Class #3 & 4:  story development
• Class #5 & 6:  work on descriptive writing

The only rules are:  the stories cannot be about war, blood, death, princes and princesses, or romance.

I’m going to assess each student on if they’ve mastered “double clicking”.  We’ll be using “The Mouse Program“.  Other students will be exploring the site Red Fish.

The 5th grade class will be learning to graph using “fictitious” daffodil sales data.  The final product should look something like this:

Daffodils Sales Spreadsheet