Thursday, December 22, 2011

Wonderful Winter Solstice, 2011!


In the Northern Hemisphere, winter is the coldest season of the year. 
It begins about December 21 and lasts until about March 21. Around December 21 or 22, 
the sun's rays fall directly over the farthest point south of the equator - marking the first day of winter. 



Winter days have fewer hours of daylight because of the path the earth takes as it revolves around the sun. The earth completely revolves around the sun during 365 days. The earth's axis always tips about 23 1/2 degrees from a line perpendicular to its path. 




In the Southern Hemisphere, winter begins in June.
Different regions have longer winters than others. For example, in the polar regions, winter takes up half the year. In the Temperate Zones winter takes up about one quarter of the year. 







In regions where there is cold weather, it causes many changes in the environment. Water may freeze and become ice, snow, sleet or icicles. Most plants and animals become dormant and rest. 
Some animals hibernate. The only plants that grow and remain green are evergreens. 
People protect themselves from the cold climate with winter clothing when they go outdoors. They enjoy a variety of indoor activities or outdoor winter sports such as skiing, skating, or sledding. 



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We started off our winter break with a wonderful party where we decorated delicious cookies, crafted genuine gingerbread men, tried our luck at the dreidel game,
and even dressed each other up as snowmen!

A Little Holiday Magic! on PhotoPeach





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What do you enjoy most about winter?


How will you be celebrating the holidays?

What activities will you be participating in this winter break?

Friday, December 9, 2011

Geographical Comparisons!

Recently while studying comparative suffixes (-er and -est),

Mrs. Ranney's students had the opportunity

to combine this skill with their studies of 

landforms and bodies of water!



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Some super researchers used internet search engines 
and found out the following:


Francesca discovered that the Nile River is the 
longest river in the world!

Nicole learned that it is colder at the South Pole 
than at the North Pole! 


Gregory and Vanessa found out that the  
tallest mountain 
in the world is Mt. Everest!


Eve read that the Pacific Ocean is bigger than the Atlantic!




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What geographical comparisons can you make?





Use the Online World Book Encyclopedia to research some facts about 
landforms or bodies of water.
Share those facts in your comments!
Goldie, the Garibaldi, our research mascot, says, "Be sure that you put the facts you find in your own words! Do not just copy from the encyclopedia. That is called plagiarism, and it is not allowed!"

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Saturday, December 3, 2011

15,000 Visitors!

Over the weekend, it happened!


Our Blog reached...







Study the six ClustrMaps below. 
What do you notice about our visitors?

North America




South America



Africa



Europe



Asia



Australia (Oceania)


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Please share some of your observations about our visitors! 

Do we have more coastal visitors or are they more inland?Are any of our visitors from urban centers? 

Check out the  Current Country Totals in the 
Clustrmap feature in our sidebar!  

What states of the U. S. A. or countries of the world 
have visited the most? the least?

Which are most interesting to you?


What do you about blogging?


 Frogger, the Blogger, says, "Be sure to write at least 3 sentences, and 
try to include at least one compound sentence! 
How about trying out some html code too?"

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving, 2011!

This  week we had a wonderful time measuring and mixing up the ingredients 
for our own loaf of pumpkin bread!




Busy Bakers! on PhotoPeach








In addition to creatively wrapping our bread to look like a turkey, we read a clever Thanksgiving fable this week about Thomas T. Turkey. 
He had quite a dilemma to solve! 










In the story, Thomas was invited to not one, not two, but three Thanksgiving dinners. Benjamin Bobcat, Fanny Fox, and Henry Hawk all told him they wanted to have him for Thanksgiving dinner and that it just wouldn't be the same without him!








In the end, Thomas decided he did not want to hurt anyone's feelings, 
so he declined all the invitations! He ended up staying home alone 
for Thanksgiving dinner.


 




We learned that it is better to eat alone than to be eaten!






After listening to the story, we created our own invitations for Thomas T. Turkey. He must have been overwhelmed by his sudden popularity this year!


 




We hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!



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Please leave a comment and share your thoughts about our projects.

Tell us what you will be doing to celebrate Thanksgiving this year!

Most of all, tell us what you're thankful for!

Monday, November 14, 2011

Learn to Write a Compound Sentence!





Mrs. Ranney's students are always trying to improve their writing skills.

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 A compound sentence:
  1. Combines two shorter sentences (so has TWO subjects)
  2. Joins the two sentences with  a conjunction (and, or, but, so)
*     *     *     *     *
Here are some sample compound sentences, and they are all about Thanksgiving!
(Hey, that's a compound sentence!)  


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Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November, and many families gather for a traditional feast. 


In 1620, the Pilgrims landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts, but they had really 
planned a trip to Virginia. 



The Massachusetts winter was extremely cold and harsh, so everyone 
had to work together to survive!



The Wampanoag Indians helped the struggling Pilgrims, so they were able to harvest crops for their first feast!
  

Modern Americans dine on turkey and stuffing at home, or they make a 
reservation at a local restaurant.

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Comment Challenge!
In the comment section, tell about your plans for Thanksgiving. Be sure to include at least two COMPOUND SENTENCES!
 

Monday, November 7, 2011

Uniting for Unicef!




 UNICEF is the United Nations Children's Fund.
It was founded in 1946 to help children after World War II.
It now operates in over 150 countries all over the world and has saved
many lives!


The tradition of "Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF" began in 1950
in the United States.

This year our school carried on that tradition!



In Mrs. Ranney's class many students participated and brought in their boxes of money
right after Halloween.


We all emptied our boxes and put our money together!

Once we had separated out the paper currency, we sorted the coins.




Please enjoy watching this slide show
which shows how we counted all of our donations!

Our UNICEF Donations! on PhotoPeach





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Did you trick-or-treat for UNICEF?


How did you feel about this experience?

What did you learn from counting the money together in class?


Do you have any facts about UNICEF to share?



Wednesday, November 2, 2011

November is Family Blogging Month!

Mrs. Ranney and her students to share what they are
learning and experiencing.


In an effort to include more family members in our online community, we are proclaiming:



November is Family Blogging Month!



Each student made a list of their family members. After looking through the archive, students selected specific posts tailored to the interest of a particular relative. 


We're inviting everyone to comment: moms, dads, brothers, sisters, grandmothers, grandfathers, uncles, aunts, and cousins.
We welcome friends, too!







Students will be inviting their family and friends to participate in a conversation! 



Frogger, the Blogger, says: 
"Maybe we'll get some 2-point comments! Follow the chart below for some tips!"







 
Here is the key we will use for  Family Blogging Month~





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What do you think of our idea?

Who are you inviting to be a part of our online community?

Please leave a comment and introduce yourself! 

Monday, October 31, 2011

Have a Happy Halloween!


Thanks to our great room parents,
we had some wonderful
Halloween 
fun today!








Happy Halloween! on PhotoPeach




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What did you enjoy most about our party?

Did you have a Happy Halloween?

Tell us what costume you wore!






Don't forget to trick-or-treat for UNICEF!

Don't forget we have homework tonight,
even though it's Halloween!

Friday, October 28, 2011

Colossal, Creative Collections!

Recently we read a story in class called "The Talking Cloth." In the story a special character, Aunt Phoebe, was called a "collector of life." 
 
Many of us have collections too.
Please enjoy reading about them.


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Adam's Rare American Money Collection

     I have a collection of rare American dollar bills and coins. I began collecting them four years ago. In my collection, I have four two dollar bills, one Eisenhower dollar coin, eight presidential dollar coins, four half dollars, and four copper pennies.The Eisenhower dollar is most special to me because it was given to me by my papa. Definitely, I will keep collecting until I die!


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Hayley's American Girl Doll Collection
       This is my amazing American Girl dolls collection. I started collecting when I was four. I now have six dolls, and I'm looking forward to getting more. I collect these dolls because they are so much fun to play with! They have so many accessories and pets! My favorite dolls are the 2011 girl of the year, Kanani and the 2010 girl of the year, Lanie. Kanani's Hawaiian and Lanie is Californian. Most of all, I think American Girl dolls are the best!


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Andrew's Baseball Helmet Collection
                  
     I have a lot of baseball helmets. I have red ones, blue one, dark blue ones, and ones that have two colors. I like them because they reminds me of my 7th birthday. That's when I started the collection. My favorite baseball helmet is an Angels one. It's my favorite because they are my favorite team. I will keep collecting different types of helmets forever!



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Bella's Littlest Pet Shop Collection
      My collection is a Littlest Pet Shop collection. One of my favorites is the polar bear whose name is Snowflake. Another one of my favorites is the octopus whose name is Darla. I got my first few for Christmas when I  was little. Another thing I love about my collection is that they're all animals. I also have some of the houses. I like to collect them because it's fun to open up the package and find out which ones you have. I wonder what  collections other people have?




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Eve's Smurf Collection
     My collection is an amazing smurf collection. When I went to the arcade, my mom got a smurf for her prize. When my mom got it, I decided that I wanted to collect them. Then my cousin got one, and she said I could have it. I was so excited that I got my second smurf. Then I got another one and another one.  That's how I got my collection. 


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Grace's Rock Collection
      My rock collection is a very special to me. I got it when I went to my grandpa's house. We were at the beach when I got the collection. I found the rocks at a very sandy place near the shore. Then I found a very cool rock that had holes in it. That is my favorite rock. Then I asked my mom if I could make a rock collection. My mom said yes! I was so happy I could have a collection. Now I am looking forward  to collecting more rocks and getting to show people my collection.


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Josh's Sports Card Collection

     My collection of sports cards is a valuable collection with many great players. I collect these cards because I really like sports and athletes. I started when I was very young. I have many favorites like: Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Kobe Bryant, Clay Mathews, and many other favorites. I keep this awesome collection in my room where I have millions of cards.


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    Michael's Trophy Collection

          My collection is a trophy collection. I love my trophies because I like to admire them in my room. I received all of my trophies by participating in sports, especially basketball. When I look at them, I pretend that I am a famous allstar basketball player. I hope you can have a trophy collection too.      



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    Sydney's Japanese Eraser Collection
         I have many Japanese erasers in my unique Japanese eraser collection. I have animals, balls,  foods, clothes, and things that you can travel in. I collect Japanese erasers because they are fun to play with and to trade. I started to collect Japanese erasers when I was four. I get my Japanese erasers in China Town, from toy stores, and from Card Sharks. I like the panda and the hamster the best. I think my Japanese erasers are awesome!


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    Nate's Pokemon Collection
          My collection is a Pokemon collection. I collect these cards and other knickknacks because I like to play and battle with other people. My rarest card is my Deoxes and Raqayza legend. I got all of the items in my collection from the comic book shop. I started collecting  when I was four years old. I really like Pokemon!


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    Maya's Glass Elephant Collection
        My collection is glass elephants. My first one was white and light brown. My second was a light pink and purple elephant.  I have a light green elephant too. I started when I was young. My favorite is a light pink elephant, and it is special because my great grandma gave it to me. I hope I can share my collection with you soon in person!


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    Nicole's Japanese Eraser Collection
         I have many kinds of collections. This is my Japanese eraser collection. My four erasers that are in a little box are smelly.  I also have three little couches and a table. My other Japanese erasers are different kinds of food. I have a piece of pie, a tomato, milk, and bread. There's even a knife to slice the bread! I have three more erasers and those are a cat, ghost, and a spider. I hope you like it.   




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    Quynh-Anh's Rock Collection
         My favorite collection is my rock collection. All of my shiny, rocks have different patterns and came from Lone Pine. I got my first rock when I first learned how to ski. My favorite rock is a light purple crystal because it was the first rock I ever picked out.  When I look at my collection, I feel proud because I think about the first time I went skiing and how much better I have gotten. I really like my collection and hope I can expand it soon.
      


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    Gregory's Trophy Collection


         My amazing collection is my trophies. I treasure my trophies in my closet. When I see my collection I remember about all my track and field games and my basketball games. My favorite trophy is the silver one with gold stripes on the border. My first medal was golden and said on it, "Best Boys Basketball team." One of medals was made from real gold and has silver on the border. Absolutely, I love my trophy collection.   


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    Oliver's Game Collection

          My awesome collection is an amazing game collection. I treasure my games because they are very fun to play. I keep my awesome game collection in a game box. My favorite game is TDU Raceway. I like TDU Raceway the most because I love driving my little car in my garage. My first game was called MLB 2K9. It is a baseball game. The last game I bought  was called Super Sluggers. One of my most precious games is a football game. It reminds me of my grandma because she got it for me on my birthday. Obviously, I love to play my games.

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    Mrs. Ranney's Marvelous Mass of Magnets!


         My collection of magnets represents travel experiences I have had over the last sixteen years. I began my collection during a train trip that I took with my daughters and Mrs. Yollis’ in 1995. For this reason, the Amtrak and Great Northern Railway magnets mean a great deal to me. Since magnets are rather inexpensive and because I can see them everyday on my refrigerator, they seemed like a great souvenir item to collect! It is very difficult to select an absolute favorite. Two groups of magnets that are particularly precious to me are the ones from New York and Germany. The magnets from New York represent my daughter, Sarah, who lives there. I have visited her many times and have enjoyed all the sites, particularly the Statue of Liberty. Symbols of my daughter Kari, the magnets from Germany, are from places I visited with her when our whole family joined her for Christmas there in 2009. Definitely, I plan to continue collecting magnets everywhere I go for the rest of my life!



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    Please leave a comment about our 
    Colossal, Creative Collections.

    Tell us which collection is the most 
    interesting to you and why.

    You can also include a bit of information about your own collection, if you have one!