Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Our Final Wildlife Experience

We have enjoyed five visits with Miss C.
and her animal friends from Wildlife Experience.


We enjoyed learning many new facts about animals.

Please view the slide show of our final visit and leave a comment.






Our Final Wildlife Experience on PhotoPeach





What did you most enjoy about all of our Wildlife Experiences?

What was the most interesting fact you learned?

Which animal was your favorite overall and why?

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Joyful Journeys

Enjoy reading these Step - up to Writing paragraphs
about our favorite journeys!

Look for topic and main idea sentences, details, and conclusions.

See if you can find high - level adjectives and vivid verbs.

Be on the look out for alliteration and similes!


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Journey to Freezing Mammoth
By Eli


Of all the exciting journeys in my life, my trip to Mammoth in 2010 was the most wonderful and coldest trip of my life. One amazing event I enjoyed was learning how to ski in ski school. First, I learned how to go slower, then faster, and how to turn. Second, my group and I started to go down a very small hill. Then I walked to the Poma, which we used to go up the bigger hill. The Poma is a circular seat attached to a rope that you put between your legs. Once I got skilled at halfway up, I went all the way to the top. I was as nervous as a boy on his first day of school. Then I zoomed down super fast, and it was exciting. I was going too fast and fell, but I didn’t crash. I kept trying, and now I’m an amazing skier! Another event I loved was skiing down ski runs. I skied with my parents, my friend Carson, and his dad on beginner runs, which we enjoyed together. We made big zigzags to practice turning down the long and wide beginner runs. Definitely, the vacation was terrific, and I loved traveling on this trip with the people I love.


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My Wonderful Journey To San Diego
By Sara


Of all the exciting journeys I have taken in my life, my awesome trip to San Diego was the most memorable. One special activity was visiting Sea World. When I first arrived at Sea World, with my kind grandma and my thoughtful great aunt and uncle, we all searched for ocean animals. We saw some huge whales, fish, sea otters, seals, and other interesting ocean animals. In addition, we viewed the Shamu Show. People did lots of high flips with killer whales. The most popular killer whale is called Shamu. At the end of each Shamu Show, Shamu splashes his giant tail in the water for the audience to get wet. Later, I went on a confusing obstacle course. There were lots of nets to climb and lots of ways to get to the bottom. I thought it was so confusing because I tried going on the obstacle course two times and did not know where my grandma was. It was hard, but I found out there was another way to get out. My grandma could not see me in the crowd of children, so she could not see what place I was coming out from at first. After that I went to a gift shop and bought a pretty snow globe with a picture of a killer whale named Shamu on it. Another joyful activity was exploring the San Diego zoo. I went with my awesome grandma and my three kind cousins. Two of my cousins are adults and one of them was only a 20 month old baby! When we first arrived, we saw wild birds, long giraffes, fat elephants, and loud monkeys. All of us took a tour of the zoo on a big slow bus. All of us ate strawberries and kept hearing Haley, who is my 20 month old baby cousin, say the word papaya which we thought was so funny and cute. Then we ate lunch at a yummy place called Rainforest Hut. After that we sat on a high wobbly tram that went up in the sky on a rope. It felt like I was on a ski lift. Then I bought another snow globe, this time with a panda in it. In conclusion, I had so much fun going to San Diego and enjoying my wonderful experiences.



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My Journey to Hawaii
By Natalie




Of all the beautiful journeys I have taken in my life, the trip to Hawaii in 2009 was the best trip I’ve ever taken. First of all, one special memory I have is snorkeling in the wonderful ocean. When I went snorkeling, I saw many rainbow-colored fish in the clear blue water. It really felt like I was sky-diving in the air. When I was swimming, there were many spiky, dark purple sea urchins. They were under water near big rocks and coral reefs. I swam with my cousins Eva and Robert. Another event I attended was a sunset luau. When I was at the luau, I bought a flower headband with real traditional Hawaiian flowers. The hosts also handed out shiny seashell necklaces! They were braided onto a piece of string. I even saw a man dancing while holding fire! I ate sweet delicious chicken and vegetables. In addition, I truly love Hawaii and hope to go again soon!



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Magnificent Mexico
By Roxana



Of all the journeys I have taken in my life, my trip to Puerto Morelos, Mexico in the summer of 2OO9 was the most memorable. First of all, I enjoyed sailing on the sparkling Atlantic Ocean with my mom, my dad, and my cousin Saba. We rented a huge blue and yellow Hobie Cat sailboat right by our hotel’s beautiful beach. I vividly remember the spectacular sunny sky, pleasant wind, and gentle calm waves. I saw a gigantic school of purple fish. The best part was that was none of us fell in the ocean. Another unforgettable day was swimming in the warm turquoise ocean. My favorite part was when I got out of the splendid ocean, and I was covered in green, slimy seaweed. Then my cousin, Saba, got stung by a playful jellyfish, but she was fine. The water was so clear and blue that we were able to see the vibrant clown fish. All in all, sailing and swimming in the majestic Atlantic Ocean by the enchanting Mexican beaches made for a great vacation.



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My Trip to England
by Jack


Of all the exciting journeys in my life, my trip to England for Christmas in 2009, was the most memorable. One special event was my very first rugby game. It was England vs. Germany, and the weather was cold and wet. One of the players suffered a horrible knee injury. I purchased a souvenir that was a red rugby jersey. I had delicious lunch there of tasty fish and chips. The game lasted three hours. The final score was 16 to 13. England won! Second, I had a really fun and interesting snowball fight, at my grandmother’s house with my friends and family. My side was so excited that we made a fort bigger than my dad. It was really good that we won. I got a hit that was as fast as a great white shark. My dad also got a perfect hit, right in my face. It was so cold that it was like a blizzard in Washington D.C, and it was so windy that my hat flew off like a rocket. In conclusion, I had a very interesting and enjoyable time on my vacation visiting my grandparents in England.


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Journey To Hawaii
By Andrew


Of all the awesome journeys I have taken in my life, the most memorable one was when I went to Hawaii last summer my lovely family. One exciting event was when I went boogie-boarding with my kind dad. The longest wave that I surfed was 80 feet long, and I landed all the way up on the warm sand. I boogie-boarded at least ten miles per hour, and it felt like I was a speedy jet. My dad was pushing me to get great speed. Sometimes when I boogie-boarded, I rolled over into the sand, so the sand ended up being inside my mouth! It felt like I was a sandcastle full of sand. Another special and exciting event that I enjoyed was riding on the two waterslides located at the pool outside of our hotel. There was one really long slide that I raced pretty fast on. The other water slide was small and fun but made for younger kids. The big waterslide made me feel like I was flying because of all the long turns. The short waterslide made my feel like I was a giant because it was so small. My mom and dad took pictures of Taylor and me going down the awesome waterslides. All in all, taking my journey to Hawaii was very exciting, memorable, and awesome.




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Voyage To The Inspiring Washington D.C.
By Andy


Of all the magnificent journeys I have taken in my life , my trip to Washington D.C. during spring break in 2010 was the most memorable. First of all, one special part of the trip I really enjoyed was a visit to the Lincoln Memorial with my family. When I saw it, I felt like I was a midget. When I compared myself to the statue, I looked like a baby. When we saw the Lincoln Memorial, it was pouring rain and thundering. I liked how it was lit up in the evening! The Lincoln Memorial faces the Washington Monument and the reflecting pool. I found the tour of the Lincoln Memorial to be fascinating. It is not even close to being as tall as the Washington Monument. I liked that on the walls surrounding the Lincoln statue are his words from the Gettysburg Address. I enjoyed visiting the Lincoln Memorial. Second, I also like visiting the Washington Monument. I think it’s as tall as a mountain. The awe-inspiring Washington Monument is just over 555 feet high. I saw it at night, and it had two squares with red blinking lights near the peek. I thought that the red lights and white line made looked like a smiley face. Inside the Monument there is a small elevator that goes to the very top. In my opinion when I looked at it at night, it was very beautiful. To sum up, I really enjoyed my spring break trip to the exciting city of Washington D.C.




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Journey to Beautiful Mexico
by Marisa




Of all fantastic journeys I have taken in my life, my favorite voyage was going to Mexico in 2007 on a cruise with my grandma, grandpa, and the rest of my family. One great event that was memorable was celebrating my grandma and grandpa’s sixtieth wedding anniversary. For this celebration, we went to a fancy and yummy restaurant. It was great having dinner with my family, and we sat watching the fabulous and colorful sunset. After dinner I took pictures in the hotel lobby with my mom, dad, sister Siara, and my grandma and grandpa. My family swam in the clear water the next day in the warm summer afternoon. Another special part of the trip was when we ventured on a magnificent boat ride in the Pacific Ocean. I saw so many fish! For example I saw an orange and white clown fish, and a spiky puffer fish right below us. We floated on a boat to Cabo and saw shiny dolphins with babies under water. Everyone saw old boats, and one even looked like the Mayflower. When we traveled back to the ship, we saw huge white pelicans in the blue sky. Definitely, my adventure in Mexico was full of interesting and exciting events and yummy food that I will remember forever.



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Journey to Cold Yosemite
By Cameron

Of all the exciting journeys I have taken in my life, I adored my trip to Yosemite National Park the best. First, I enjoyed taking photographs in the beautiful park. I took pictures of the giant trees in Mariposa grove. When we drove to a lookout, we got a shot of El Capitan and Half Dome. I took fantastic pictures of the interesting exhibits in the Yosemite Museum. We also took family pictures. Second, I had lots of fun playing and hiking in the slippery soft snow. My loving family and I had a wild, cold snowball fight. I got hit by my sister and my brother right in the stomach! My brother and I made a cool snowman. We used sticks for his arms and goldfish crackers for his eyes and nose. Later We took a five mile hike in the very cold snow. I got very thirsty, but luckily, there was refreshing snow to eat. All in all, our journey to Yosemite National Park was very joyful, and I hope to return again in a few years.



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My Entertaining Journey To Ireland
by Liam


Of all the journeys I have taken in my life, my trip to Ireland at Christmas in 2009 was the most entertaining. First of all, one great activity I enjoyed was having a great snowball fight with my cousin David. At the beginning I made a giant fort for me to take cover under. It started to snow again a few minutes after we started the fight. Then I got hit on my back, so I fell as fast as a racing cheetah right onto my bottom! I made a giant snowball that was as big as a elephant and tried to throw it, but I couldn’t. Another great event was celebrating Christmas in Ireland. A custom in Ireland is that Christmas is twelve days long. Another great part of Christmas was I that I was at my grandma’s house, and it snowed there. I got so many presents. For example, I received a voice command robot, a lego set, and a remote control airplane. As part of the Christmas activities, I walked to a crystal clear frozen lake which I almost fell into! I punched the ice and cracked it, so I took a piece out because I was curious to see how thick it was. After all that adventure, I had a creamy warm hot chocolate at my grandma’s house. In conclusion, I had a great trip going to Ireland and celebrating Christmas there.



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My Amazing Journey to Hawaii

By Brandon


Out of all the amazing journeys I have taken in my life, my trip to Hawaii in the summer of 2008 was the most fantastic. One exciting event was my very first luau in Hawaii. At my very first luau, I ate lots of Hawaiian foods. Some of the Hawaiian foods I ate were pork, sweet flavored beef, and salad with pineapple. I also saw some amazing Hawaiian dancing from Hawaiian people doing the hula The women dancers wore grass skirts. Finally, at the end of the luau, I saw people spinning fire on large sticks. Second, out of my favorite things in Hawaii, I loved riding on submarines. In the submarine I looked out the window and saw different colored fish. They were red, green, and orange. I saw fish with large fins. Once I even spied a scuba-diver in the water outside the submarine. On my first submarine trip, I saw a large green turtle as green as trees. It had large webbed feet. All in all, I think traveling to Hawaii was very fantastic.





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My Tremendous Trip to Palm Springs
By Carson Binder


Of all the exciting trips I have taken, my trip to Palm Springs over the 2010 spring break with the Magedman family was the best. First of all, my favorite activity was running sprints around the pool. My mom timed Eli and me. My best time was 16.8 seconds. Eli and I ran like two thoroughbreds at the Kentucky Derby. We got good exercise, and we didn’t get tired until it got dark. The racing was a great challenge for us to see how fast we could run. In addition, my dad, Eli, and I played a lot of baseball. We pitched the ball to each other all evening. There was a huge patch of lush green grass, so we had plenty of room to play. I didn’t need to worry about the ball going over the fence like at home. I could throw the ball as far as my arm would let it. All in all, with the two activities and the time that I got to spend with my family, this ended up being the best trip in my life.



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Journey to Hawaii
By Ethan


Of all the exciting journeys I have taken in my fabulous life, my trip to the Hawaiian Islands on July 18, 2008 was the most epic. One special activity that I really enjoyed was the amazing snorkeling trip. The first animal I saw while was a beautiful jellyfish that was the color of pink bubblegum. I also saw a school of fish darting around that looked like a kaleidoscope of color. When I took some great pictures underwater, my favorite was of a sea turtle that had a rock hard shell. Next, I swam with a turtle on my trip to the Hawaiian Islands. When I swam with the turtle, I was like a seal gliding across the crystal clear ocean, and I felt so free. I wasn’t allowed to touch the beautiful sea turtle though, but I touched it any way! I touched it, so I could feel the smooth colorful shell of the endangered sea turtle. To sum up, I loved the phenomenal entertaining trip to the Hawaiian Islands.



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My Top Trip

By Leanne Tarrab


Of all the magnificent journeys I have taken in my life, my trip to Las Vegas in 2009, was the most memorable. One special activity that I really enjoyed was when my family and I were served a delicious breakfast. The pancakes the waiter served us were soft inside and outside. They were mushy but crunchy on the edges. On the pancakes, I had powdered sugar which made them sweet and even more delicious. With the pancakes I had fresh orange juice. The rest of my family had cinnamon French toast with water. I enjoyed the part of the meal when my family and I talked and laughed. Another special activity was when my family and I went swimming. The pool behind the hotel had clean, blue, and sparkling water. In the water, I jumped on my sister’s back and pretended she was a dolphin. Afterward, we got out of the pool and leaped into the jacuzzi. The big, crowded jacuzzi was very warm, and it made me feel relaxed. All in all, this fantastic trip is one that I will always remember.



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What did you enjoy most about our journeys?

What did you find interesting about our writing?

What is a special journey you have found memorable?



Thursday, June 10, 2010

Our Fourth Wildlife Experience

Walk with us on the wild side and learn about two more crawling creatures!



Walking on the Wild Side on PhotoPeach






What did else did you learn about the fennec fox and the California desert tortoise?


What have you enjoyed most about our Wildlife Experiences so far?

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Wonderful Animals from the Wild!

As part of our animal adaptation science unit,
the group from Wildlife Experience will bring
ten wild animals
that are native to our area
to Mrs. Ranney's class for careful
scientific observation.


Please enjoy the slideshows about our first two experiences!
Study the images and read the fabulous facts.





Wildlife Experience Day 1 on PhotoPeach




Wildlife Experience Day 2 on PhotoPeach





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What else did you learn about animals?

What facts can you add about the turkey vulture, tiger salamander,
skunk, or barred owl?


What have you most enjoyed about our Wildlife experiences so far?