Monday, February 27, 2017

Teaching and Writing with Dialogue!

We have been learning how to write creative stories with interesting elaboration, high level vocabulary, and convincing dialogue. For fun, Nolan and Elie wrote a creative story The Gingerbread Mission,  but ended the story with a cliff hanger. They invited others to finish the story in the comment section. We called it, Write Your Own Ending: The Gingerbread Mission







Our blogging buddies from New Zealand picked up on the idea and are writing their own endings. They even wrote a blog post about it on their blog! 








Since we finished our unit, we thought we'd share our knowledge about writing dialogue with our buddies. Here are the rules we learned:

1. Every time a new person speaks, you start a new paragraph and indent.

2. Put quotation marks around what is being said. Include the punctuation. 

"We love learning from our buddies!" exclaimed Taranaki

Foxy Jack said, "Yes, I know all those students, and they are very smart" 




Here are two SeeSaw video tutorials sharing what we learned! We hope you enjoy learning with us!













Do you use dialogue in your stories? 

When is a good time to insert dialogue? 

How does it make a story better? 

How far away is New Zealand from Los Angeles? Answer using dialogue! 


Friday, February 17, 2017

Write Your Own Ending: The Gingerbread Mission


Gingerbread Mission


By Nolan and Elie

Photo by Mrs. Yollis 



One day, Elie was at Nolan’s house when they saw the mailman. “I’ll get the mail.” announced Nolan.


Strolling to the box, he popped open the lid, and  saw a flyer for something. The flyer read: “Come to the Gingerbread baking competition! It will be a blast! It is at Marcus Hall on Peach Street at 2:00 P.M. It is on Sunday, June 18th.”


It was Saturday, June 17th. There was no time to waste. Nolan rushed in the house while waving the flyer.


“We should really enter this!” Elie said while reading it. “We are some of the best bakers in town!”


That was true. One time Elie and Nolan entered a cookie baking competition, and the judges were blown away by their creations. They won by using a secret ingredient. The boys were going to use that ingredient for the gingerbread house. They were confident.


“We should start baking right now!” Nolan exclaimed. So, they started planning.


They got a ride to Buck’s Market from Nolan’s mom. At the store, they got the ingredients. Plus Nolan’s mom got some groceries. Back at Nolan’s house, they started baking. Gingerbread and frosting went flying as they baked and baked. Then they put in the secret ingredient. After an hour, Elie said, “I’m tired.”


“Good,” said Nolan. “because we are done!”


“Great! But it will melt if we don’t put it in the refrigerator,” Elie noted.


“Right!” concured Nolan.


They put the gingerbread house in the refrigerator and they went away. Elie was sleeping over, so they got their sleeping bags unrolled and quickly fell asleep.


The next morning, they were very excited. It was Sunday, June 18th, and it was time to go to the competition. They went to the refrigerator. Then it happened, and they saw it...


Write your own ending in the comment box!
Have fun!

(Put your rough draft ending in your Google Drive and share it with Mrs. Yollis. She will help proofread your dialogue.)

Any of our blogging guests are free to write ending too! Join the fun!



Sunday, February 12, 2017

We Failed, But Grew Some Dendrites


We love the challenge of a Google BreakOut EDU. The object of a BreakOut EDU  is to solve several puzzles while working together with other members of your team. Each puzzle unlocks one of the locks on the box. You have 45 minutes to do it, and we were allowed ONE hint per team. If you unlock all the locks within 45 minutes, you win! 




Last October, we were successful when we did the TEAMWORK BreakOut with Mrs. Garcia.  There are many games to choose from. 



This BreakOut EDU was a Valentine themed BreakOut, so Carol the red bear came out to watch the progress. Carol LOVES to watch students working together to solve problems!




Mrs. Minicozzi was there with her enthusiasm and positive attitude! She brought the district's BreakOut EDU box and all the puzzles. 






Mrs. Minicozzi started the clock and the teams got started! Some of the puzzles involved finding hidden digits that unlocked a lock. 







Other puzzles required graphing and then using the data to come up with a 3-digit number that would unlock a lock. Concepts like even and odd and place value positions were important.  






One puzzle required a lot of addition and then some attention to little details. Everything is important when you're trying to solve the puzzles! 




One particularly difficult puzzle involved a black light and some clue cards. Students had to think...what do all these clues have in common?  







Students worked together on the puzzles. Sometimes, it was frustrating. 















Some puzzles were solved and a few locks were opened. 








Unfortunately, after 45 minutes, we were not successful.



Our failure gave us an opportunity to reflect about the game. What worked? What didn't work? How did each person handle frustration? Although we would always prefer to win, it is through failure that we grow and learn. As you learn your brain grows new dendrites



Here are some question to think about as you reflect: 

1. As you look back at the BreakOut EDU experience, what did you learn about yourself

2. What would you do differently next time? 

3. What did you miss that surprised you? 

4. Without giving away any answers, what tips would you offer a class attempting to solve a BreakOut EDU?

5. How did you keep yourself going when it got difficult





Monday, February 6, 2017

How To Make An iMovie




How To Make


An iMovie


FullSizeRender (1).jpg
Screenshot by: Dylan B.

Hello! It’s Dylan B., and I’m in Mrs. Yollis’ 2016 - 2017 class. I am the 3rd place winner from Family Blogging Month. You might know me, I’m a regular commenter and I’m here to teach you how to make an iMovie on the iPad.




Here is a movie I made
called How to Make an iMovie! Watch and learn!









Here are some written directions for you! Read and learn! 


FullSizeRender (1).jpg
Screenshot by: Dylan B.

Search for the iMovie app on your iPad. If it's not on your iPad, it’s about $5. To open a new movie project, click on the little + sign in the northeast corner.

iMovie New.png
Screenshot by: Dylan B.

When you click on the + it will lead you to options, Trailer or Movie.
2.PNG
Screenshot by: Dylan B.






                                                        

Trailers

3.PNG
Screenshot by: Dylan B.

If you choose Trailer, there will be choices for themes. You will click on the theme you want and then press create. Then it will take you to this screen with an outline.

5.PNG
Screenshot by: Dylan B.

To take a photo or video you go to, Storyboard, Camera, then choose if you want photo or video
If you want the video, choose video and the circle will be red.
If you want the regular camera, choose photo, and it will be gray.

If you don't like the video you just filmed you can press the trash can, to delete it.








                                          

Movies

6.PNG
Screenshot by: Dylan B.
Once again, there will be some choices of themes. You will click on the theme you want and then you will press create.


If you choose Movie, your screen will look like this.
7.PNG
Screenshot by: Dylan B.


This time when you want to take a picture or video, you will click on the camera and operate it like your regular Apple camera.

If you want to add sound, drag the cursor into the right spot of the movie clip and click the microphone, then press record.


Have you ever made a movie?

What would be a good subject for a movie?

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Global Play Day ~ 2017






☼     ☼     ☼     ☼     



First, we talked about the rules. 
There would only be , the Golden Rule.








In the morning, we joined our young Journeys buddies for some play! They were having a super hero party! Check out the fabulous Ms. Regina in her super hero outfit! 

Photos by Mrs. Yollis 


There were many powerful super heroes in the room!





Board games were popular! 








The referees call field goal!









Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots was a real crowd pleaser! 














After a great session, we headed back to our 

classroom for more play!





Towers were built, yet needed more engineering! 









Board games brought big smiles! 












 Students played Scrabble! 





Origami was available! 







Many were drawn to the magnets! 













This was a fun game. What was the name of this

 game? What was the object of the game? 








Some students went outside to play! 











What is your opinion of Global School Play Day? 




Would you recommend it? 


Support your opinion with some examples. 




Convince me!