Time to Post!

This week, we are starting our new goal of submitting one piece of writing each week to post on our class blog.
Here are some ideas for what to post:

Book Review - write what you think about any book you have read. Remember to include the title, author, genre, and then what you like or did not like about it. Try to include author's craft - just like you did on our Mystery Novel Project. An opening blurb would be good too!

Exciting Trips or Excursions - Have you gone somewhere recently with your family or friends? Where did you go, why, what did you do, explain why it was interesting/exciting/educational etc. Include any interesting facts you can find out about the place you visited...even if you learn about it after the trip when you research it online. You could include a photo if it is electronic. See me for more information on this part.

Hobby What can you do? Are you a karate expert, a great knitter, or a virtuoso piano player? Tell us all about it - teach us about what you do and how you learned your skill. I know there are talents we don't know about out there...

Poem - We have been writing away, so here is a chance to write some more and include them as a blog post. If you find a new genre of poetry to explore, share it here. If you make another found or concrete poem, we can submit the post as a photo with your introduction to the poem.

You will have time each afternoon for half an hour to choose Writing in our Cafe menu - so use your time wisely, and plan on when you will write.  You can always write at home too!

We all look forward to seeing 26 new posts a week - so much to read and to comment on! Let the discussion begin...who will be first?

San Francisco Weekend

San Francisco Weekend

Here's what my husband and I did last weekend...
Where have you been recently? (P.S. The birds were pelicans!)

Forensics in My Backyard!

So, while I said I would bring the dog skeleton to school, I was not prepared for all the insect life that was working on it when I went to collect it this afternoon!
I wasn't ready to put it in a bag in my car...so I took the photos of the location of the skeleton, plus the two videos below. Then I moved the bones to a less obvious location so hopefully we can collect them when the insects have retreated.

Video below - look closely for the beetles scurrying about.

Cave Formations

This week in computers, we are lucky enough to be able to use the lab to explore some cave websites!
Please use our class wikipage listed below to find the sites I want you to visit.
First, go to our class wiki, then find Science Links title on the homepage.

When you click on Science Links, you can find the cave information under Earth Science - since cave formation is part of the Earth!

Explore the different sites, and please enjoy the tour of the Cave of Lascaux. Just be warned that this site does not work well with the back button - you might end up viewing the French language site, since the cave is in France. If you have problems, close the tab, and go back to our wiki and reload...

When you are done, please leave a comment on what you found out or enjoyed looking at and why you enjoyed it. Please note that the information sites on cave formations were made by 11 year olds...
Are you ready to make a page yet??

Class wiki:
mrsharveychampions.wikispaces.com

Nevada Museum of Art !!!

"Wow!!!" Visiting the Nevada Museum was just a wonderful experience!!! I loved everything but, I got to say making those clay pitching pots rocked. Mine came out weird but i still liked it :) !!! You want to know how we made them??? It's top secret !!! I am just kidding. (It's really easy.) You first NEED to buy a box of clay. You can buy them at your local Michaels' store. Once that's done next step is you form your clay into a spear. TIP: make sure no wrinkles are left : At the top of your spear, start pinching into a bowl shape, from there you can make it long, short, skinny,wide however you'll like it. Then make sure you buy non- washable paint and paint your pot however you like!! Now you have to wait one day till the clay dries and it gets hard. GOOD LUCK !! Isn't easy!?!?! By the way, I also loved having my mom (Yesenia) go to the awesome field trip with us. I got to admit I loved my mom's pot better then mine.

                                                                   By : Geraldine

First Two Weeks of the New School Year!

This has been a great two weeks of the new school year.  We have already worked on a ton of math review,  written two poems, read a whole bunch of books, reached about 1/3 of the way through our class novel, The Search for Shadowman, learned about archaeology, and gone on a field trip to the Nevada Museum of Art!
I will be posting your poetry soon, so anyone can log on and read it. What fun! By commenting on posts to our Blog, you can earn your right to your own blog - which means you choose the design you like, which widgets (like gadgets) to add, and what to say to the world.
I look forward to everyone reading your comments, but remember, a comment is adding to a conversation - not just saying "Cool!" or "Wow!" You should have more to say than that... Here is a link to a video a 3rd grade class made to help people learn how to leave quality comments.
Mrs. Yollis' Class Blog on Comments
We should make one for the teachers at our school - some of them don't know how to use a blog yet...

Trials and Tribulations!

So here I am again, spending time trying to make a blog that works for my students and for me...every school break I am sitting working on the same thing - but it's not supposed to be this hard! I have about 50 tabs open, my laptop is going at a snail's pace, which matches my brain pace right now, and I am still confused about how to add widgets, as now I am in Google and there are gadgets...but not the ones I want! 
This experience lets me see how frustration impacts my enthusiasm for technology. I think I'll just go back to reading my book - paper, not Kindle or online, and ponder the amount of time I am spending going in technological circles. 
Oh yes, and did I mention it's completely dark now?
Happy reading!