Zinesters Owen, Roan, and Cassius

Minecraft histeria spreads throughout the school, while a pair of innovative fourth graders create guides for fans of the online game.

Cassius and Roan started the Newsboys zine in 2011.  The summer issue above features the winner of a photography contest, and folks from their neighborhood.  The classroom library now includes a zine shelf, so check-out what former 3rd graders are up to.

Cassius and Danilo

Inspired by Storycorps, pairs of students were selected at random to interview each other, and reflect on the past year.  We learned so much more about each other than we ever expected. 

Click the player below to listen to Cassius and Danilo.

Colorful Graphing Under Grey Skies

Friday afternoon's math lesson included fragrant data collection and vibrant graphing.

Andrew counted and organized flowers by color in the butterfly and art gardens, then created large scale graphs based on the data.

Tavia's use of dual colors showed she's no stranger to sidewalk chalk.

Thomas' graphs were naturally meticulous.

Thania's posture minimized back strain.

Ms. Cook helped Hunter differentiate between bar, line plot, and pictographs.

Roan was very proud of his creation, strategically placed in front of the door kids exit for recess to maximize viewing.

When finished, Scotty helped others.

Is Siena graphing, or between yoga poses?

 

Tactile Geography

After a long week of testing, tactile learning was a fun way explore the country's major rivers and mountain ranges.

Like a geographical scavenger hunt, Dynasty and the others searched the social studies textbook for rivers and mountains.

Next, Nathanial and the class molded and labeled landforms while positioning them on maps of the U.S.

Owen wandered a bit through the book, exploring Sequoia, and other interesting people and places.

Siena dropped a couple landforms, so she continued on the floor.

Finished products...

Art Show at White Tiger

Flat and Friends

Keep an eye out for Cassius' new comic strip, "Flat and Friends."  

Tree Frogs Write!

So far six folks have submitted work to Kids Booky Bubbles, and they're all published online! 

In March, the New Children's Museum in San Diego is having a celebration of literacy and all things books coinciding with the NEA's Read Across America Day.  The museum asked Kids Booky Bubbles to submit videos of young authors reading their work, and they reached out to us for submissions.  Stay tuned for more about the event, and please take time to enjoy and comment on our resident authors here.

Sandy Creek Nature Center, 2011