Here are 28 photos from our SIR Program. Head on over to the Albums area of Marchionda.org or simply click on the image below. Enjoy!

p.s. For extra credit - comment the adverb in my sentence above.

Tags: sir

I just posted a flash gallery of photos of pictures of us back stage from the performance. Check them out! Click here.

Tags: photos

Boy, oh boy, did we get geeky today in math class. We played with different data series figuring out the median, mode, and range of the data. We learned that we needed to collect data, then organize it, then interpret the data. Median, mode, and range are just a few ways that we interpret (or understand) what collected data tells us. It felt really geeky in the room. Take that as a compliment! You kids were very intelligent with your work. Your parents should be proud!

Reminder - We have a reading test tomorrow on The Stories That Julian Tells and a spelling test. Study up. Listen along to the story here:

*Link taken down by teacher*
Here is the classwork:

Tags: median, mode, range

Today we were learning about the phases of the moon and eclipses. We learned that there are two types of eclipses (over cover ups). Let's review:


A lunar eclipse (lunar/moon eclipse/cover up) is when the moon gets covered up by the Earth's shadow. So we have the sun with the Earth in the middle and the moon opposite the sun. This is what it looks like:


A solar eclipse (solar/sun eclipse/cover up) is when the moon is between the sun and the Earth and a small shadow is cast on the Earth's surface. If you are in the right place at the right time you would see a complete and total eclipse of the sun. This is what that looks like:


These are the phases of the moon:


Better than a textbook, huh?

Tags: moon, science

Today in writing I told you a bit of the story of the 1977 golden record launched on one of many rockets out into the depths of space. We learned of the people in charge of coming up with the media and items on board the time capsule and the golden record. Our writing project dealt with what you would put on your golden record or time capsule to represent Earth's life and cultures. That was such a great conversation and I cannot wait to read all of your ideas. A few one that stick out were:
Mackenzie - a colorful rug to show Earth's different fabrics, colors, and artistic styles
Toni - a poster of all of our countries different flags because it represents our differences and colors of our world
Braden - a laptop to show the knowledge of the human race
Jeffrey - a volcano because it represents Earth life, sound, land and materials
Kendra - a globe because the aliens could recognize our planet and meet us
Rodney - textbooks so that aliens could learn the things that we are learning

I think that this is just a wonderful conversation full of ideas that I have never thought of. I would like to keep the conversation going by extending it out to parents. Parents, what would you add to the time capsule or record on the golden record? Here are some ideas that I shared with your children from NASA's web page. Comment your ideas!

In other classroom news:

1. I am asking that all children send in one (1) gently used paperback chapter book to be given away for a winter/holiday party we will be having in a just a few short weeks. Dani's mom will be getting the books from me and wrapping them all in paper. We will be playing a fun game with these, and will hopefully end up with a new book to read at the end of the game.
2. Please remember to bring your hats and gloves/mittens to school. Right now the weather is getting colder, there may be drastic temperature drops. Please be prepared. Hey, if Nadia can do it, so can you!

Here is the classwork for the day:

Tags: golden record