It's Chick Time

As you may or may not know... we should have some baby chicks getting ready to join the Roosevelt Family... some may have overnight!  If you can't get down to the first grade wing to check it out - please check out the Webcam set up in Ms. Breen's class!   Here are the instructions...

To Access the First Grade Chicks Webcast:

• Launch the district 64 home page:  http://www.d64.org
• Go to “Staff” on the top horizontal navigation bar and select “CCC Video Streaming” then “Emerson”
• User Name: rowebcast
• Password: teddy1001
• Click on Webcast on the top red toolbar, then click on the Webcast by link called “Chicks Roosevelt.”

If you are having trouble viewing the webcast please update your Adobe Flash.

Happy Earth Day!

Today is Earth Day!   I hope that you can find some way to celebrate with your students.   It was always one of my favorite "holidays" as a classroom teacher as we discussed different ways we could help save the Earth.  Just in case you need some resources to help you celebrate with your students, check out the links below.

• Digital Storybook: The Jalapeño Seed
• Click on the link above to read the story with your students about Farmer Paco's adventures and the ensuing festivities at his community garden.  Use the story to inspire students to plan and plot their own community gardens.
• After reading the story, your students can plan their own community garden by using this worksheet (.pdf) or make a plan on how to make their community looking beautiful by using this worksheet (.pdf).
• Check out www.earthday.org's Earth Day Video Below

• Check out BrainPop's various Earth themed videos by clicking here.
• Click here to read this article about how Earth Day started. 
• Click here to check out some other fun Earth Day resources.

I hope you find these helpful, and have a wonderful Earth Day!

A very interesting science lesson...

Here's great Ted-Ed video on why ketchup is so hard to pour...   Who knew there was so much Science involved.  Enjoy!

Virtual Field Trip: Myths and Misconceptions with Zoo Atlanta

Today, Mrs. Kulnig's class participated in a Virtual Field Trip to the Atlanta Zoo called Myths and Misconceptions.    

It’s that time of year when everything seems a bit spooky! Are your fears of spiders, snakes and other creepy-crawlies based on facts or fiction? Cozy up to some of Zoo Atlanta’s “creepiest” creatures to find out how you might be giving some of the world’s most important animals a bad rap.  

On the Virtual Field Trip today, we met Quincy the Eurasian eagle owl, Maize the corn snake and Georgette the Tarantula.    Our Roosevelt 4th graders did an awesome job asking questions and participating in the Virtual Field Trip.   I'm hoping that we'll be able to have a lot of classes participates in these Virtual Field Trips this school year.    If you'd like to see the field trip, watch the video above!

Up close and personal with Georgette, the tarantula at Zoo Atlanta.

"Hanging Out" with Quincy the Owl.

The Water Cycle

I came across this awesome representation of the water cycle from the Google Science Fair.   Since I used to teach weather - and know it's a part of various grade level curriculums, I couldn't resist posting it.

African Penguin Chick Google Hangout

Do you want to take your class to visit some African Penguin Chicks?   The Minnesota Zoo hosted an up close and personal visit with their African Penguin Chicks.   Feel free to check it out below... they are super cute and the hangout is loaded with awesome facts.   Enjoy!

Eric Carle

I've always been a huge Eric Carle fan... I love the stories but more so the artwork that goes into each of his books.   Today I stumbled across a great post on The Educator's Spin On It about 100 different Eric Carle activities.  I believe Eric Carle can be great for all grades given his wide variety of books.

 

Check out the blog post for tons of ideas of how to connect with this fabulous author as celebrate his writing and artwork!  I know that the 2nd graders currently have some very hungry caterpillars that are currently mophing into butterflies!

Want to see some baby chicks?

The 1st grade is doing there Science Unit looking at Chick Development.   In each first grade classroom, they have eggs in an incubator that they are watching closely and recording data.   This year, we were one of two schools able to test out one classroom having a webcam to monitor the chicks while the kids aren't at school.

They chicks are scheduled to hatch soon... check them out by following these directions!

Click Here to See What is Happening in Room 123's Incubator

User Name: rowebcast

Password: teddy1001

• Click on Webcast on the top red tool bar
• Click on the Webcast by name.
• Ro 1st Grade Chick Webcast

Speaking of chicks, look at these male penguin chick that were just born at the Minnesota Zoo!

The Minnesota Zoo also has a chick cam, similar to 123's where you can see what the penguin chick is up to from 6:30 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.    You can check it out by clicking here.

Happy Earth Day!

... to Earth, the Sun, and our Solar System (poor Pluto)!

Live Penguin Webcam

Check out the live penguin webcam by clicking here.  The picture is just a sample.

You can visit and monitor Adélie rookery with a first hand view here . You may see an Adélie parent caring for chicks while its partner takes to the Ross Sea to feed on krill. You may see a penguin preening. And look out for those fluffy chicks! While Torgersen Island is primarily home to Adélies, other penguins may sometimes be seen on screen, including gentoo and chinstrap penguins (check out Jo's pictures of the different species here). The New England Aquarium recently hosted a Google+ Hangout with the researchers on Palmer, too. Shawn had some really interesting things to share about the penguins. Check it out!

This camera is seasonal and operates primarily from October to February, which is the Adélie breeding season. Since the camera is solar-powered it sometimes experiences brief outages due to inclement weather.

4th Graders at Roosevelt "Hangout" with the Atlanta Zoo

This morning, the 4th graders in Ms. Wingader's class had the opportunity to go on a virtual field trip. We were able to "travel" to the Atlanta Zoo this morning to learn about the physics and biology of flight.   This was honestly such a cool experience to be a part of!   We were connected via Google+ and were joined by two different people from the Atlanta Zoo and another 4th grader who is home schooled.   You can check out our virtual field trip below!  Towards the end you will notice that quite a few students were able to ask questions.  A special thank you to the Atlanta Zoo for hosting this "On Air Hangout" and to Jeffery Salvitti from Google for making this possible for us here at Roosevelt Elementary School.  I'm excited for our next field trip later this week with third grade, as well as exploring more opportunities with other museums, zoos, and aquariums that hopefully we can connect with so other students can experience this exciting new way of going on a field trip!

Something fishy is going on here...

Gulp, it's Monday. Here's a snappy little gif of our goosefish snarfing down a shrimp. Learn more about this incredible lady and see video of the beautiful egg veil she lays here: http://goo.gl/t7VaQ #oceans   #animals  #gif  

The New England Aquarium's status caught my eye this morning as I was scrolling on my Google+ page.  It seemed a little scary to me but also prompted me to check out his goosefish a little bit further.   I'm so glad that I did as the New England Aquarium has some amazing images and videos of many different ocean animals.   I know that the 2nd graders are starting, or have just started oceans, however, how cool would this be to show your students?   These real images and videos of their exhibits and animals could really bring the ocean to life your classroom.   This could be great for the 2nd graders ocean unit, or great images to extend another story that includes ocean animals, great research tool, or an exciting writing prompt.   Be sure to check the New England Aquarium out here. 

App of the Week: Comic Life

What is it?
Comic Life is an awesome app on the iPad that allows users to create comics from a variety of templates, or allows you to build your own.  You can integrate photos, drawings, pictures, and text to create the perfect comic.

Key benefits of using comics in education

- A great visual Representation of Knowledge
- Presents what is essential
- Easier to remember a visual graphic containing key information
- Engaging through thinking, creating and writing.
- Perfect avenue for writing dialogue
- Incites students with low interest in writing
- Helps organization through storytelling and storyboarding
- Using visual images convey meaning to a story or topic
- Develops creative and higher level thought processes
- Develops composition techniques through visual-verbal connections
- Enriches reading, writing, and thinking
- Serves as and assessment and evaluation tool
- Sequencing promotes understanding

Who is it good for?

This really can be used at all levels and across various subject areas.   Students can collaborate on comics or work alone.  Once the comics are finished, students can print them to display. 

If you are interested in giving this a try, let me know and I'd be happy to show you or model making comics in your classroom!

Record MP3

On Wednesday, I attended a conference geared towards primary students and using technology.  In the coming weeks, I'm looking forward to sharing many of these awesome resources with you.

Record mp3

This site allows you to record your voice or your student's voice.  It then turns the recording into a web address which you could turn into a QR Code that can be scanned on iPads, Smart Phones, etc. or you can keep it as a web address to share with parents.

My mind is racing about how to use this in the classroom!   I've spoken with a few teachers about these ideas...

• Recording a reflection on a piece created in art, then posting a QR code that can be scanned to hear the artist's reflection - OR even about an art style/concept learned in class and how they applied it in their piece.
• Recording a student's singing to be shared
• Recording a student's fluency passage 
• Recording a student reading a piece of their writing
• Recording directions to give to students... or homework!

The possibilities are endless!  Do you think you could have a use for this?   Leave a comment and let me know your thoughts!  If you'd like help integrating this into your classroom, please let me know!  I look forward to sharing a sample in the future.