A Smashing Success

The boys had a blast, dropping and throwing their boxes with the egg nestled safely inside. Most survived the first drop (pictured below); many survived the toss up toward the ceiling; very few survived the optional, final slam. The good news is that it looked like everyone had a great time.

The Return of the Blacktop

With another storm potentially bringing a few inches of snow we seized the opportunity to get out to the blacktop for our morning recess period. It was great to be outside again. The last day we were on the blacktop was three weeks ago today on Thursday, February 4th. Here are a few pictures from the momentous event.

New Species of Dinosaur

Paleontologists in Utah have discovered a new species of dinosaur. There is a great article about thier new find which can be seen here.

All Good Things Must Come to an End

The last of our Super Bowl prizes wrapped up today. The prize was being line leader for a week, but the lucky lad who won had his reign interrupted by a few birthday boy line leaders. Here is the fellow leading the pledge for his final time.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Last week we wrote about the life of Martin Luther King Jr. Here is the composition one of the students turned in. This student (whose picture is below) did a great job.

One Spelling Test and Two Ice Creams

Two students enjoyed their Super Bowl game prizes today. The first was a boy who did a wonderful job giving the Spelling Test. He looks very comfortable in front of a class full of students. Perhaps he will be a teacher in the future. The second student enjoyed his ice cream and mine as well. He seemed very happy and all of us at lunch could see why.

Look Out Below!!

Check out the snow as it bends over the roof. Usually I resize the photo, but I'll leave this one in its original form. Click on it to see the amazing detail.

My New Desk

As part of the Super Bowl game one lucky lad got to switch desks with me for a day, and he picked today to do it. Check out the pictures of the student at my desk and my new view of all of the students hard at work in composition class.

Two More Photos

These were sent a few days ago but were lost in the blizzard. It looks like he had a great time.

One More Snow Photo

Here we see another boy from 9-2 whose family went to Wintergreen, WV with another Calvert family and enjoyed 3 days of good skiing.

The Return of Hemmingway

The prolific student from 9-1 has come up with two more of the six word stories:

Icicles as large as my leg

All this because the groundhog's shadow.

Follow the White Rhino

Later this spring each student will choose an animal, research it, and write a three to five page research paper. You may begin to think about what animal you would most like to research. To get your creative juices flowing I have done a little research and found a fascinating animal. We will talk more about this project when we return to school

On December 21st, a rare white rhino was born at Blair Drummond Safari and Adventure Park in Scotland. The baby named Ailsa weighed about 110 pounds at birth. Ailsa's mother named Dot and father named Graham were delighted with the new baby. To see a webcam of the baby and mother click here.

The Opening Line Challenge

The opening line of a story is perhaps the most important sentence of all. It draws the reader in and makes him or her want to keep reading. Look at these famous opening lines:

It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.

I am an invisible man.

In a hole in a ground there lived a hobbit.

Pirates have green teeth—when they have any teeth at all.

The day Helen gave Martha dog her alphabet soup, something unusual happened.

Gritch the Witch woke up grouchy, grumpy, and very hungry.

It was a dark and stormy night.

Your challenge is to create your own opening line to a story. It can be funny or serious or anywhere in between. You may create as many as you would like. Send your best efforts to me at showe@calvertschool.org. I will post them this evening at 7:00 PM. Put your thinking caps on...I can't wait to see what you can come up with.

Read Anything Good Lately?

Now that you've been stuck inside for what seems like months, how about doing a little reading? I have heard from some of your parents that you have already been reading which is great. If you are running low on books check out this website which goes along with the large blue Houghton Mifflin book that many of you use in Reading class. It has lots of great resources to get even more out of the stories you have already read. Happy Reading!!!

How About Some Math?

In the past I have seen a website called Quia, but I didn't know how easy it was to use until I visited Senora (sorry there is no accent mark) Duncan's blog and saw the Spanish game she created for the Ninth Agers. If you haven't already done so, head over to the activities she created by clicking here for picture games or here for meaning games. The math game I created can be seen by clicking here. The math game deals with customary measurement.

A Few More Six Word Stories

Here are the latest:

Two teams. One game. One ball.

More snow on Monday? School Tuesday?

To shovel or go sledding....Sledding!!

A Modern Day Hemmingway

The 9-1 student who wrote six of the six word stories is back with four more great ones:

Shovel snow, sore back, full wallet.

Heavy snow, feeling like an Eskimo.

The snow is NOT too low.

Spring break is around the corner.

Way to go, Ernest!!!

How I Really Spend my Time

Nathan and I have been having a blast playing with the websites on the blog. I am really enjoying this eleven day sabbatical.

Sick of Being Snowbound?

If you are tired of being stuck here on Earth with all of this snow that will be here for the next few months head to outer space by clicking here.

Another Awesome Music Site

No music class this week you say? No fear, click here or here or if you like confusing games click here. The first and third games are confusing because there are not enough directions. In the first game game (called the pitch game) after you click on the "ready" arrow click on the question mark. If it is the same as the original click OK. If not click on the second question mark. If that one is correct click on the OK beneath it. Continue to the third question mark and do the same. The third game works the same as the first.

The website is amazing!!! Enjoy, but keep the volume low so you don't drive anyone bonkers!!

These activities came from here which is a huge site with lots of great things to see and do. Have fun exploring!!!

More Six Word Stories

One boy from 9-1 wrote SIX of the Six Word Stories. I love them all and they are listed below. If you would like to have yours included send it (or them) to me at showe@calvertschool.org.

Here are the stories:

Earning money shoveling, Cha Ching Baby!!!

Geese flying, I will miss them.

Cold snow attacking my face...Brrrr!

Jack Frost and I are battling.

Trees with no leaves falling over.

White Wonderland outside. We are trapped.


BRAVO..and keep them coming!!!

Prepare to Boggle your Mind

One of my all time favorite games is Boggle and I found an online version which can be played by clicking here for a 5x5 board in which each word must have four letters or more, or here for a 4 x 4 board in which three letters or more are needed. (I like the 1.0 version better beause I can either type in the letters or click on them one at a time.)

Six Word Stories

Thanks so much to all of you who sent in such wonderful six word stories. I cannot identify the authors since we don't use any names on the blog, but I will let the authors read their work in class if they would like to do so when we get back to school. I will do a reading of those who submitted and are not in 9-2.

Here are the stories:

Xander’s house. Steep hill. Fast sled!!!!!

Blizzard warning… Stuck inside. Snowboard Longing!

Avalanche!! Gasp...power is still on.

Snow blizzard!!! Ouch....Where's the sun?

No school. Heavy snow. Hit slopes.

Building forts...going through...getting stuck.


And finally a story written in 2 parts:

No school! What fun...no homework!
No homework!!! Internet working...work continues.

A Great Photo

Future Olympic Gold Medalist in action

How I've Been Spending my Time

I have been keeping busy between shoveling, blogging, visiting the dentist, and sledding. Here are two photos. After one of my students sent a picture from the dentist chair I decided to do so as well. In the second picture Storm had been lying on me but moved when he saw the camera coming. Sunshine doesn't move unless there is food involved.

Websites from Mr. Wareheim

Mr. Wareheim has kindly done a bit of research and offers these websites for the students to help stay school ready. These are optional as are all of the activities on the blog.
Comprehension

Prefix & Suffix

Antonyms

Setting

Main Idea

Welcome All Ninth Agers

If any student from any homeroom happens upon my blog and wants to send snowy photos I will gladly post them. You may also send Six Word Stories (see the post below) and enjoy all of the other posted activities. I will post the Six Word Stories at 7 PM tonight if I still have power. The way the wind is blowing there is a good chance I am going to lose power. If I stop posting and responding to emails that is the reason.

Stay Warm!!!!

Remembering Some Warm, Happy Days

Fun at the pool and fun at a church drama production

Some Sledding Fun

What a great day to go sledding!!!

Another Writing Opportunity

Now that you have tried your hand at a six word story (if you haven't done so yet, see the post below this one) how about writing a fractured fairy tale. Head over to the the site found here to check it out. In order to write your masterpiece (which could be included as a folder paper for extra credit) you may want a piece of lined Calvert paper. You certainly don't need to do so but if you want to you can download a piece by clicking here. Best of luck and I can't wait to see how it turns out.

Six Word Story...Is It Possible???

Some of Ernest Hemingway' s friends challenged him to write a story using only six words. Wow, that would be difficult to do. Boys of 9-2....are you up for the challenge? Can you write a six word story about the snow, missing school, or some other activity that you have done over the past six days since we had school. I'll give it a try in brown text so you can see some examples...

Long Driveway. No Snowblower. Three Sons.

Can you figure out what happened? Was the snow cleared from my driveway? Who helped me clear it?

Here's another one:

Class Play Today!!! Snowmaggedon....play postponed.

That one should be easier to figure out. Our class play which was scheduled for 8:45 today has been moved to a week from today.

I would love to see your efforts (and your parents and siblings too if they want to try). Take a few minutes and try it. Send me your efforts, and I will post them on the blog. I will post all of the ones I get today at 7:00 PM tonight. Feel free to send more after that, and I will post them tomorrow. I will close with one more:

Creative boys...six words...can't wait!!!!

Falling Sand

Here is a neat application with more to it than it first appears. Choose different options at the bottom to see how they interact with thr falling items.

Do I Hear Music?

The New York Philharmonic has a fabulous website that can be found here. There are lots of great activities. Give them a try, but keep the volume down so you don't wake the baby...or the neighbors.

Try Your Hand at Some Art

I ran across a great art site run by the National Gallery of Art which can be seen here. There are a variety of links. The 3-D Twirler is a lot of fun, but I also liked Flow and Jungle. Which are your favorites?

One of my favorite toys as a child was called Spirograph. There were gear like wheels into which a pen was inserted and after trial and error beautiful designs emerged. Here is an online version of spirograph. Note that by hitting the "pause" and the "reset pen" buttons the circle sizes and pen colors can be changed to allow for very creative designs. Have Fun!!

Construct an Aquaduct

In history class we have been studying Rome. One innovation they used to get clean water was an aquaduct. Explore the great website found here to learn more about aquaducts. Nova is a great website which has other things we have studied or will study later this year. Check out the links at the bottom of the website for other things to explore.

Hitting the Slopes

Here is a great picture of two boys from 9-2 having a great time on a skiing outing.

Measuring the Depths

Here is a student who ventured out to see how deep the snow is. It is very deep, and if the forecast is correct it could get a lot deeper tomorrow afternoon and Wednesday.

How One Student Spent His Time

One student has been busy over the past few days...He has been to the dentist (I wonder if he went to the dentist I am going to see tomorrow), he observed how a table and chair can change into 2 blobs when there's a lot of snow on them, he invited a friend over to play Nerf Blasters, and he dreamed of a much warmer locale...Belize....wait a minute....did he go to Belize??? I hope he gets back in time for school.

Some Great Geography Games

In the Ninth Age we begin to learn the states to get ready for more intensive study in the Tenth Age. The following three activities will help you on your way. The first activity found here helps you to begin to identify where the states are. Click on a state and it is identified for you. There is also some information about the state on the left hand side of the map. Pay attention to to which state is which...it will help you in the next exercise.

In the next activity which can be found here the object is to click on the state spoken aloud by the friendly computer woman. To make it easier the states to choose from are in white and encompass one region of the United States. The first region is New England on the upper right portion of the map. The game proceeds from there and is very friendly when a mistake is made.

The final activity which can be found here involves dragging and dropping a state into its correct position on the map. To make it more manageable the map is again broken up into regions. This is a very difficult skill and far beyond anything I would ask you to do. Having said that, I think it is a lot of fun. Playing the game more than once will increase ability to place states more accuately. The game tracks how far away you are thus giving you a score to beat next time. Challenge a friend or parent to increase the fun and the learning!!

More Fun in the Snow

What a great fort!!!

Waltee's Quest

If you are looking for a great activity try heading here to help Waltee find the missing art. You will most likely see some objects that we saw on our recent trip to the Walter's. Good luck!!!

3 More Great Photos

Here is another 9-2 student having a great time with other family members out in the snow. In case you are wondering who this is.....I can't use his name since this is on the blog, but I can say that he is the tallest student in 9-2.

A Snowy Student

I encouraged the 9-2 students to send me any pictures of the snow, and here we have our first ones. From the second picture there seems to be about 28 inches of snow in the spot where he is measuring. What Fun!!!!

Oh...That Snow

The cats are loving the snow because it is much easier to see the birds as they dart in and around the bushes.

What Snow???

My cats, Sunshine and Storm, are apparently not too worried about the impending storm.

The 9-2 Superbowl Game

We are playing a game in conjunction with the Superbowl scores. The boys know all of the rules. They also know that they will need to abide by bedtime rules set by the parents. I will post all of the scores and the winners on Monday. They should have their gamesheet with them today or parents can get it from the email I just sent. The prizes should be fun for the boys. Up for grabs are: my ice cream on Friday, giving the Spelling Test to the class on Friday, being line leader for the week, and trading desks with me for a day.

Jacques Cousteau

In library class, Mrs. Thomas was teaching the boys about Jacques Cousteau. To go to his website, designed with stdents in mind click here.