News and Photos from Aaron in England!

Hi Rainbow Eggheads,

Here is a picture of Tower Bridge. It is not the same bridge as the song London Bridge Is Falling Down. London Bridge was originally built by the Romans at a different location on the River Thames. Tower bridge was built in 1894.

  This is the Shard, it is 1004 ft in height.from Wikipedia. It is the tallest building in Western Europe. Here is a link for more details: http://the-shard.com/overview

 This is two of my cousins. All kids in schools in England have to wear uniforms.


 This is the car that my uncle owns, it's a Porsche. He took me for a drive! In this photo I am actually not in the drivers seat...so what do you think that means?

That is a 20 pound note. It's worth about 35 Canadian dollars.

Cheerio,

Aaron

Our Dream of 1:1 ChromeBooks

Shauna went to a conference called the Google Apps for Education Summit in Montreal two weekends ago and learned that the EdTechTeam who put it on is providing class sets of ChromeBooks or Nexus 7s to some classes in order to give back!

We realized that we consistently take our tech to the next level and hope that we can get 1:1 devices in our classroom.

Students created the amazing video above and we all worked together to write our application for the grant.

Wish us luck!

No Internet for a Week! Could You Do It?

NO INTERNET WEEK: FULL DOCUMENTARY from Mother on Vimeo.

This is an hour-long documentary about several people trying to make it through a week without using the Internet. At all.

Just thinking of that makes me jittery. I can't imagine going a day, let alone a whole week without Internet. That makes me think that it would be really important for me to try. Anyone want to join me for an Internet free day (to start!) in January?

There are so many things I use the Internet for every single day, and having access to it at every instant on my phone has made me totally reliant on the Internet. If I went offline for any amount of time, I feel like I would need to warn people well in advance. On the Internet.

I will test myself tomorrow and see how long it takes from when I wake up to when I check something online - email, social networks, Google Drive, the weather, directions, play a game, or finding an obscure piece of information.

I think going Net-Free for a bit of time could be really cleansing, allow me to be more mindful and hopefully feel more relaxed. Why is it, then, that I get jittery just thinking about turning away from the Internet?

Let me know in the comments below if you think you could do it - go Internet free for a day, for a week or for longer. Also, tell me what would be the most difficult parts of going Internet free for you.

My New Favourite Christmas Movie

This weekend, while home icing my herniated disc, I watched my new favourite Christmas movie. It's got a plot, drama and exciting characters. It, is, however, not a fictional story.

Check it out!

Living in the Jetsons: Amazon Drones

Midway through an amazing Tech Week last week, Allison told us about the Amazon Drones that are being developed to deliver packages right to your door. I didn't believe her that it could possibly be true, but she proved me wrong with this video.

Someone recently said to me that we're "living in the Jetsons".

Comment here and tell me if you anticipate any problems with Amazon Drones and/or if you know what "living in the Jetsons" means!

How Did You Do That To My Brain?

Want to check out the most amazing Optical Illusion I have ever seen?

I thought you would.

Click here.

Mood Boosters!

Some members of our classroom community have been having a tough time lately. As always, the Rainbow Eggheads have sprung into action and done what they can to boost people's moods. Check out the amazing projects the students of Room 209 whipped together for our friends!

Two Interesting Videos I Had to Share

Watch these two videos and think about who made them, what their messages/purposes are and consider if you enjoyed them.


Try Text Busting one or both of them. You can link to your Text Busting work in the comments below!

Oscar's Table Manners

In preparation for our upcoming meal with Room 207, Molly shared this video of Oscar's table manners with me. Do you think he's showing Morgan Lewis manners?

Your Hour of Code Mission!

Hello Rainbow Eggheads,

We are doing our Hour of Code today!

Visit this link and get to work!

Once you've finished your Hour of Code, please leave a comment on this post telling everyone how many lines of code you wrote today. Also, tell us if you enjoyed your coding time and what you found rewarding or challenging.

For more opportunities to code for FREE, visit code.org or codeacademy.

Baby Nisha Experiments

Anita Grace, the reporter who came into our classroom, brought in her adorable 8-month old daughter, Nisha, to show us about brain development. She's posted about it on her blog.

After they got to test Nisha's capacity to understand object permanence, students wrote a formal lab report and then creatively shared their observations and conclusions in reflections.

Thomas did his reflection on a Show Me. So did Jack. 

Gabby's reflection is a slideshow of some more experiments she did with a baby and a control subject, her dad!

 Anita has asked us to visit her blog and leave links to our work!

Do babies remember things? By Millie

So last week our reporter, Anita, (who interviewed us in the newspaper) brought in her 7month year old, Nisha!

We decided to do some science experiments on Nisha. Not the the ones like poring a bunch of chemicals on her, but some mental experiments.

We wanted to know if babies remember things. Do you remember stuff from when you were a baby?

To do that, Anita brought some of Nisha's favourite toys. She also brought a blanket. 

Our plan was to put the toy in front of Nisha, have her crawl toward it, and the hide it under the blanket to see if she remembered that the toy was there. 

Ok, so this is what happened. 

Nisha did not have a nap that morning, so she was a bit grumpy, but not that much. We set the toy out in front of Nisha. She started crawling toward it, but she got so distracted by all of us around her, she started crawling toward us! Some of us moved out of the way. We tried it again, and Nisha crawled toward it again. We covered it up with the blanket and she kinda looked around with this facial expression: 

So, I don't really think babies remember things when they are about 7 months old, because I don't remember anything when I was that age. And also, Nisha didn't seem to remember what was there. 

By Millie 

Add to Our Global Connections Map!

I have so many wonderful ideas and inspiration to share with the Rainbow Eggheads from my weekend in Montreal at the GAFESummit. Since we're having "Tech Week" in our class, I'll be telling stories and sharing ideas all week!

First off, please visit this link on MapsEngine Lite and double check on our class map to add locations of global connections we've made. So far, I added a pin to Whistler Mountain, from when we Skyped with my parents last spring! Please feel free to add photos from the web (they will be linked back to the original source) and information about who we connected with!

Make sure you don't delete anyone else's pins!

Did You Know Gillian Danced for the Olympics?!

Our very own Gillian and her DanceMania!

Living Museum Kick Off

After our amazing Timeline Activity, the Juniors got together in two groups today to kick off our third annual Living Museum! The discussion was rich and engaging and the Curators (Owen, Tiiu, Andrew, Ray and Shauna) can't wait to see what you come up with!

Students are to start deciding on groups and topics and to work on their Proposals. Proposals are due by Thursday, December 18th, but will be accepted and even possibly approved before that! Please share your proposal with the homeroom teachers of all group members.

For your proposal, you will need to refer to the curriculum.
Grade 4 expectations - Medieval Times
Grade 5 expectations - Ancient Civilizations
Grade 6 expectations - European Explorers and First Nations

Inspiration from last year's topic selection!

Possible topics to get your started from today's discussion:

Daily Life

-I’m wondering how much the life of Haida people has changed over all of that time. - Millie, Sharky

-What was life like in the Industrial Revolution and in the heyday of a civilization - Ben

-I am wondering how the jobs compared between civilizations?

-Marin is wondering what life was  like before the Haida civilization?

-What happened in other places when the Dark Ages happened in Europe - Madi

-William is wondering why Christopher Columbus and all the European explorers are so famous if others found America first?

-Heather is wondering why the Aztec civilization was so short

-Cayley is wondering what things would have been like if the Dark Ages had never happened.

-Quinn is wondering what makes a successful civilization?

-Bexster is wondering how some civilizations were around for a longer time

-How was life in the Dark Ages and Medieval times? - Gabi

-

Structures

-Xavier is wondering how  the buildings in Ancient Rome held up in comparison to those of the Mayans?

-Kenny is wondering what was the tallest Mayan building - Johnny, Kenny

Geography

-Melodee is wondering what our current geographical location might have been like when we were inhabited by First Nations People

-Gavin M is wondering where the Haida are and who they are?

-Anna’s wondering when they realized the world wasn’t flat?

-Braeden’s wondering when Galileo made his discoveries, why did other people have other beliefs?

Inventions

-I’m wondering about why the Ancient Mayan calendar came to an end?

-I’m wondering about different inventions that came from different civilizations

Weaponry/War

-the Chinese invented gun powder but the first firearm wasn’t invented until much later. I wonder what they used the gun powder for and what happened between those two inventions until they met

-Sohail is wondering how the weaponry during medieval times compared to that of ancient civilizations?

-Jamie is wondering what is the most common medieval weapon

Religions/Belief Systems

-I’m wondering about religions and how so many people can find faith in symbols like a person or a book?

-Sharky is wondering about Native Storytelling and if the stories have changed as time goes on

Art

-Kaleigh is wondering if the First Nations and European Explorers did art

Transportation

-Pat and Colin want to compare European and Viking boats and how they changed how they made them and the general construction

-Kenny was wondering which ancient civilization had the biggest ship

Food

-Ethan is wondering how the Haida got their food and resources

-Hunter is wondering if Australian natives actually cannibalized

Personalities

Fiona is wondering about names and figures of famous Natives

Homes

-how did they built their houses before they had nails? - Leo

A Paramedic Met a Degu When Nils Fainted

Last week, we had two paramedics in our classroom. We'll post more about the story later (unless the student involved wants to leave the story as a comment and I'll add to this post!). They'd never heard of degus and thought we made them up.

One of them was so interested in the boys that he had a little snuggle with him!

After they helped in our classroom, they were given Project Thank you cards and have already started to spread them!

When Nils Fainted - by Nils
First I went to hold a Degu then it bit me and I started bleeding so went to the sink and started to wash my finger and then I started to feel a little dizzy and after about half a minute I was lying on the floor and Shauna woke me up and got me a pillow to lie on. Then the paramedics came and checked me out they got project thank-you cards and one of them held a Degu then I went to my family doctor and said I looked good. Then I went home and had a little rest.

Now, it's 5 days later, and Nils feels totally normal! Thank goodness!

The class stayed very calm and collected even though it was a stressful situation. We were mindful and made sure that, despite our amygdalas firing off, we stayed mindful and used our pre-frontal cortexes to deal with the issue calmly.

Today's Tasks in the Computer Lab

Hello Room 209 students,

Welcome to the Lab! I hope you're having a great day with Eric. Andrea and I are at a workshop at Confederation today and we're looking forward to hearing all about your day!

Please use your time in the Lab effectively today. Here are your tasks:

1. About the Authors 

-finish writing your About the Author on the Google Drive. Make sure your work has your name in the title and that you have shared it with me

-Check out the rubric we collaboratively created below before you say to yourself, "I'm done." (You can also go to the rubric and suggest other addtions!)

Criteria	Neon Green	Green	Yellow	Red
Details -include interesting, relevant information	-pizazz -totally unique voice	-a lot of details -juicy -tying things together: making connections	-some listing is there -connections are unclear	-listing “I like...I like...” -using the words stuff/things -squeezing the juiciness out of your writing
Structure		-sentences are varied and interesting lengths
Conventions		-spelling is correct -proper nouns are capitalized -end punctuation is used
Written in third person	-it really sounds like someone else wrote it!	-name is used often, or “she/he”, “his/her”	-using your name and sometimes using “I” -repeating name over and over and over	-”My name is...” -”I” -excessive details used
Layout		-computer typed -looks professional
Image		-photo or drawing includes: message, symbol, space, colour/hue

-Share your About the Author with a classmate and have him or her share his or hers with you

-Go through and make comments on your partner's work

-Return to your own work and make any corrections or edits needed

2. Human Poster Research - you may continue to answer the questions you need to discover for your Human Poster. Make sure you have the list of requirements in your Social Studies duo-tang

Have a great, productive time in the lab today!

Math Blitz - How Far?

The whole Junior Division got together for our Math Blitz in the Gym and watched a ridiculous Math video made by your goofy teachers. You can re-watch it above.

We've been working to improve our problem solving skills and trying out a new way to organize our thinking. Above is the NWTT template (yes, another acronym!).

N = Notice

W = Wonder

T = Think

T = Therefore

Take some time to share this with your family! See if they can solve the "How Far?" problem. Did you solve it the same way as the rest of your family?

The Amazing New Degu Cage!

Are you kidding me?

The cage that Clara and her dad built is absolutely incredible! Our boys are so much happier with their four-storey mansion than their over-crowded aquarium!

Getting Started with BANSHO

Based on the amazing Michael Wendler's BANSHO lessons, I decided to teach our Patterning and Algebra unit completely through BANSHO style, or three-part Math lessons.

Each task is organized in ABCD order (can you tell I love acronyms!). We start each lesson with an Activation, followed by our group-work Bansho question, and followed by Consolidation and then some individual Doing. Activation entails an introduction to the topic, and sometimes we look back to some of the strategies used for the last question. Bansho is the collaborative work to solve the open-ended problem. Consolidation happens once the groups are ready to share their strategies. We talk about which ones are similar and different and decide what strategies were most effective and efficient. The Doing usually requires students to work alone to practice their new skills. Sometimes, the Doing is taken home as homework.

Above is the slideshow we've been working with. There are some very challenging questions included, as well as some that feel like more of a review, especially now, since we've had a lot of practice.

Students have showed a remarkable range of skills through this unit. They are, of course, practicing their Math skills, but they are also building collaboration, communication, problem solving and perseverance and confidence. Watching them work together through challenging problems and then sharing them effectively is incredible!

Below are some shots from our first BANSHO lesson of the year:

Haunted House Shots

Hello dear blog readers,

I'm sorry that we've fallen behind on some awesome posts. It's been a busy, busy time in Room 209 (what else is new?).

Allison just sent me these hilarious shots from the surprise photo booth at our Haunted House.

Enjoy!

...which reminded me to go through my photos and I came up with these gems...

20 Things We Should Say More Often

One of our favourites, Kid President, is still full of great advice, including this adorable video giving us 20 things we should say more often.

Our Skype Video!

Boys and girls,

  I can't believe it, but I just found our real Skype in the Classroom video! You'll be thrilled!


It was only posted a week ago, and I just found it while searching the web tonight! I didn't even know that there was more coming!!!!!

Oh my goodness, I can't wait to show you this tomorrow!

Check out this link from the filmmakers to read about how they enjoyed their experience with us!

Girls' Rube Goldberg Machine

What do you think of this ad?

Today in the Lab

Hi boys and girls,

  Welcome to the Computer Lab. You have a few jobs to finish off today and one new job to get started on.

Job #1. Create your quiz questions for Science. Click on this link! You must complete this task by tomorrow, Friday, November 22nd. 

Job #2. You will be making a 60 second presentation about something related to your Science unit.
Visit the blog post I made about Wonderopolis.
-Select one of the questions for your grade and click on the link.
-Once you get to the Wonderopolis site about that question, watch the video to whet your appetite for knowledge.
-Next, read the answer.
-Make jot notes that would help you to explain this information to your class

Job #3. Type up your About the Author and share it with me on the Google Drive. Your first draft of this is due on Monday, November 25th.

Success Criteria:

-computer typed

-permanent spelling(Spelling Box, spellcheck)

-write in the third person

-describe interesting things about yourself

-hook the reader, make them want to keep reading

Job #4. If you're done EVERYTHING above, check out the Museum of Nature website. Read about the different exhibits and think about which ones you'd most like to see for yourself.

Science Quiz Show

Writing Game Show Questions!

Here is the link to the form to create Game Show questions about your Science topic! Follow the instructions on the form!

Rainbow m and m's

Mel had rainbow m and m's. so keep calm and rainbow m and m's on!

By Mel

Core survey

Some people from core (Nepean high school corse) came in to are class to do a survey to see if kids values change by age

Cool Math Links

Being a great Mathematician takes time and practice. Here are some awesome sites I've found to help you practice your skills online.

Study Jams is really cool! You can pick a strand of Math and practice it by singing Karaoke, watching a video, doing a Step By Step lesson or Testing Yourself.

Math Live has cartoon episodes starring Anna and Hank who give you a real world problem to solve, and then go back and practice the skills needed to solve that problem. Bonus: it's a Canadian site!

Math Libs is a fun site where you can fill in the blanks, like in Mad Libs, and generate silly word problems that you get to solve. Try it! The word problems are based on the grade 4 and 5 curriculum, but would still be good practice for our 6s.

6s, in case you were feeling left out, you can try M-G6 is a really neat site with lessons, activities and a glossary, based on the grade 6 curriculum.

Clara has been using Khan Academy at home and likes it even more than IXL! I've signed us up for a class account. If you want a membership, just send me your email address and I'll sign you up! You can answer Math questions, like in IXL, but there are little videos available to coach you if you get stuck. And, you can take hints if you forget how to do something!

You can also access the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives to solve problems in a digital hands-on way!

On Free Rice, you can practice your times tables and earn grains of rice to be donated internationally from the World Food Program at the same time!

Vickie's Idea - Our Quote Wall

In order to inspire her classmates and other students, parents and staff around the school, Vickie came up with the idea of posting a graffiti Quote Wall outside of our classroom.

You should come and see how full the Quote Wall is now! Lots of inspirational messages are now posted here.

Hanging Around Outside!

How Roland Rolls - Our Roland Faces

After we enjoyed "How Roland Rolls", by Jim Carrey, the Rainbow Eggheads made their own, hilarious Roland faces!

Today in the Lab

Hello, boys and girls and welcome to our weekly computer lab time!

Today's jobs are fairly simple:

#1. Visit the blog post I made about our upcoming Science unit and Wonderopolis.
-Select one of the questions for your grade and click on the link.
-Once you get to the Wonderopolis site about that question, watch the video to whet your appetite for knowledge.
-Next, read the answer.
-You will notice that lots of words are underlined in red. Float your mouse over top of any of them and see what happens!
-Once you have read the article and learned the answer to your question, look on the right hand side of the Wonderopolis page. There is a box titled, "Test Your Knowledge". Click on that, answer the questions and check how well you understood what you read and watched.

#2. Visit TypingWeb and practice your typing for 10 minutes (keep track on the bottom right of your screen).

#3. Next, visit IXL and continue working on the tasks there. Today, I'd like you to focus on multiplication and division. If you are working in the section of your grade level and it is too challenging, select a lower grade level to practice with first.

Wonderopolis Can Help Us with Science!

To get ready to start our first Science unit: Understanding Structures and Mechanisms, I've been doing some exploring on a great site called Wonderopolis. 

Below are some links to the great articles, videos, activities and quizzes available on Wonderopolis that tie into our in-class learning.

If there is a question that has not yet been answered on Wonderopolis, you can submit one!

Can Kids Be Inventors, Too? Hopefully by the end of this unit, you'll answer this with one word: "Yes!"

Grade 5s, we'll be learning about Forces Acting on Structures and Mechanisms.

What Is a Hurricane?

What Is a Tsunami?

What is City Planning?

How Long is the Longest Bridge?

Why Do Bridges Freeze Before Roads?

Why Are Brick Houses So Strong?

How Many Blocks Make an Igloo?

Is the Leaning Tower of Pisa Falling?

How Tall is the Eiffel Tower?

What is a Waterwheel?

Grade 6s, we'll be learning about Flight.

How Much Does the Sky Weigh?

Which Bird Flies the Fastest?

Who Invented the Kite?

How Does a Hovercraft Work?

Do Boomerangs Always Come Back?

How Do Helicopters Work?

Who Were the Wright Brothers?

Why Do Airplanes Leave Tracks in the Sky?

When is Being Grounded Good?

How Far Can a Paper Airplane Fly?

We Stood Up for Girls 2013

Friday is the International Day of the Girl, Thursday, we'll Stand Up for Girls

Hello Rainbow Egg Heads,

  Today in the computer lab, you are going to be doing some reading and watching.

#1. Read my blog post about International Day of the Girl and Stand Up for Girls from last year (there are three short videos to watch on there too).

#2. Read the post and comments that include our discussion about this from last year.

#3. Read the post and watch the video about what we did last year to Stand Up for Girls. Do you want to do this again today (since we won't be at school on Friday, the International Day of the Girl)?

#4. Write a comment on this post describing why you think some girls don't get to go to school in other parts of the world and finish this sentence: I stand up for....
Before hitting "post", double check what you have written for clarity and accuracy.
Success Criteria: thoughtful and juicy thoughts shared, full sentences, proper spelling/punctuation/grammar
Green Light Level response by one of your peers: 
I think girls don't get to go to school because they are neglected by their society.
I stand up for... not letting girls be in poverty just because they're girls

#5. If you have not yet completed the "Stars and a Planet" task, click on this link to do so (many people used the QR code to get to this link).

#6. Follow step 3 on this post if you have not yet joined our Edmodo groups..

#7. Spend the remaining time doing your choice of IXL or TypingWeb.