Sasha and Isaiah

Inspired by Storycorps, pairs of students were selected at random to interview each other. We learned so much more than we ever expected.

Click the player below to listen.

Sasha Hops and Spells

With a little help from her big sister, Sasha hops and spells a few social studies vocabulary words: suffrage, disobedience, justice, and rally.

Kickball!

River Otters, by Sasha

All About River Otters

by Sasha

         River Otters have cool features.The color of a River Otter’s fur is grey, white, black, and, brown.  Their soft smooth fur is also waterproof.  Did you know a River Otter can be under water for at least eight minutes?  They can also close their ears and nostrils to keep the water out!Isn’t that cool!?  River Otters have webbed feet to help them swim well.  They can weigh up to eight to nine pounds!  They can also dive to about sixty feet!  They are also in the weasel family.

         River Otters eat fish like shellfish, crawfish,and fish heads but, they eat lots of other stuff too.  They also eat crustaceans, mollusks ,insects, birds, oysters, crabs, frogs, rodents, turtles, and aquatic invertebrates.  They hunt at night and during the day.  They additionally like to put food on their bellies and crush it up.

         River Otters live in many different places.  They can live in streams, lakes, reservoirs, wetlands, the marine coasts, the United States, Canada, and the Rocky Mountains.

         River Otters love to play.  They love to slide on their bellies and play lots of fun games they made up with other River Otters.  They’re usually active at night.   That means they’re nocturnal.   They are also very sneaky.

River Otters have many different predators.  One of them is people because hunters hunt for their smooth and soft fur. They want their fur for coats, boots, pants, shoes, and mittens etc.  The other predator is bobcats. Bobcats want them because they want to eat them.  River Otters are endangered because of these predators.  Hunters have been hunting them since the seventeen hundreds to the eighteen hundreds!   That’s why there aren’t  many left in certain places.

         Scientist don’t know what the  population is because there are so many!  River Otters are so cool!

Sasha's Writing Shared With the World!

Sasha's research paper is published on KidsBookyBubbles, a blog featuring kids' writing.  Click the screenshot above, or right here to read the full text, then respond to the piece by leaving a comment.

Sasha's Presidential Sketch

If I Were President...

Leading up to the presidential election, the class analyzed key issues, then wrote what they would do as president. Click the play button below each photo to hear from "3rd party" candidates.

Fall Narrative Gallery

2012 Fall Harvest

One of the highlights this week was harvesting banana peppers and okra (plus a few weeds). Seonni and others discovered a handful of wiggly neighbors living in the soil, while Atticus and Lena befriended some pollinators. Later that afternoon, volunteers forked (turned over the soil) the beds, then added compost. Next week we'll enjoy the mild peppers during snack. What would you like to plant next?

Week 3 Wrap-Up

One weekly highlight is Friday morning's spelling spinner game, following the test.  A random student's name is chosen from "the sticks."  Next, they tap the board and then the virtual needle spins and falls on "describe" (the least favorite), "sculpt," "act," or "draw."  Strangely, this week it landed on "describe" most often.  

While the class determines which word is being communicated, they're encouraged to use open-ended instructional conversation stems such as, "How can you explain why the word is…?"  Click here to see more examples.

In the video above, Sasha's illustration isn't even close to completion, when Penny's hand shoots into the air.  Using the process of elimination, and her knowledge of Sasha's interests and personality, she narrows the choices down to ones that can include an illustration of a person doing something, and which ones Sasha prefers.

With almost a month behind us, the year's off to a wonderful start.  Congratulations to everyone who went to lunch bunch every Friday in August for completing all homework assignments!  They will get to choose a Cubbeecraft, or Desktop Gremlin to create on Tuesday.

Desktop Gremlins offers free paper sculptures built without glue, tape, or knives.  Each character has a unique story, and there is even one for Kazu Kibuishi's Amulet graphic novel.

Print them on 8.5 x 11 photo paper, cut out the pieces, then put it together.  Click the images above, or right here to get started.

Cubeecraft offers foldable figurines from popular movies, games, and TV shows.  The cuts are more challenging than Desktop Gremlins, and require parents' help.  Click the figures below, or right here to see more free, downloadable characters.

Thanks to everyone who brought box tops in last week.  The money buys supplies for the school gardens, so keep them coming!