Family Blogging Month Winners!

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Congratulations to our Family Blogging Month Winners, 

Jake, Ben, and Mia!

  

Each blogger received a free kid's meal to a local restaurant, a fabulous crown to wear, and a free choice post on Mrs. Yollis' Classroom Blog!

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Mrs. Yollis created the idea of Family Blogging Month back on April 1, 2010. The participation, the quality of the commenting, the interaction and learning that transpired via this classroom blog makes Mrs. Yollis beam with pride.

Not only are her students and their family members becoming superior writers, but they are also honing important digital skills like how to communicate and contribute online, how to limit personal information on the Internet, and how to develop a dynamic digital footprint. (To hone is a fancy verb that means to improve over time.)

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Mrs. Yollis would like to personally thank all the parents and family members for their constant support.Your participation is the key to your child's educational success!

What did you think of Family Blogging Month?

Who commented from your family?

Where did your family comment from? 

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Hour(s) of Code!

Hour of Code is an annual event to promote Computer Science. According to their website: 

The Hour of Code takes place each year during Computer Science Education Week. The 2017 Computer Science Education Week will be December 4-10, but you can host an Hour of Code all year round. Computer Science Education Week is held annually in recognition of the birthday of computing pioneer Admiral Grace Murray Hopper (December 9, 1906). 

We're starting Hour of Code and changing the name to Hours of Code!

Thank you, Hadi Partovi for creating this project!

To prepare for our coding lessons, we did a collaborative unplugged activity involving building. The challenge was to build a free-standing tower out of 20 pieces of spaghetti. At the top of the tower was a marshmallow. Only 1 meter of tape and 1 meter of string were allowed to create the tower. 

This building challenge was a great chance to practice the strategy of trial and error. If your design didn't work, try another tactic! 

In preparation, we watched a building video on BrainPop.

Then it was time to start building!

 Some bundled the pasta together for strength. 

Others spread out the sticks for a broad base. 

The pyramid base was an idea from the BrainPop video! 

After 18 minutes, the building time was up!

1st Place :: 47 cm

2nd Place :: 46 cm

3rd Place :: 42 cm

Fun fact, this tower is still standing today!

Everyone enjoyed the first build! 

One tower was so tall is rose above 60 centimeters! Unfortunately, gravity was not a friend. 

After learning about the importance of trial and error, the class signed into our Hour of Code class. 

We needed our secret image to sign in! What a cute array! 

Let the coding begin!

What are you enjoying about the Hour of Code?

What skills have you learned?

What can you do with coding? 

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Thank You, Veterans!

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On November 11, America celebrates Veterans Day. It is the day we honor the men and women who have served in the armed forces. Veterans Day is a national holiday! 

Photo by Mrs. Yollis

Veterans: Men and women who have served in the armed forces.

Soldiers: Men and women who are currently serving in the armed forces.

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Here is a link to a wonderful BrainPop

 video about America's Armed Forces.

What did you learn about the 

Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast guard?

Here are some fabulous mind maps made in class!


Kody's Mind Map

Chloe Sky's Mind Map

Arjan's Mind Map

Hannah's Mind Map

Micah's Mind Map

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Here is a link to a patriotic Veterans Day blog post by Mrs. Hembree in Seattle, Washington. Read about her father-in-law's service and see photos from his Honor Flight to see the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.  

Photo honoring veterans at the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Photo by Joe Hembree

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Here is some information about some veterans getting their Honor Flight. Thank you to Tanner grandfather, Nonno, for this information 

Photo by Nonno

Photo by Nonno

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To help us learn about Veterans Day and the men and women who serve, I asked my students if any of their family members are in the military or are veterans. We honor our soldiers with this blog post! 

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Navy: Meet our district superintendent, Dr. Stepenosky. As you can see, he served in the Navy. From 1990 to 1994, he was on the USS Chancellorsville which was a guided missile cruiser. It was 9,000 tons and had a crew of 330. Notice the destroyer in the background.

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ARMY: Meet Jake's great-grandfather, Sam. He served in the army during WW II.

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NAVY: Meet Ethan's grandfather, Gary Smith. Gary was apart of a squadron called para-rescue men. His job in Vietnam was to jump out of helicopter and rescue pilots that were shot down. One rescue mission was photographed and was in National Geographic Magazine. Gary got a medal for bravery under fire.

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ARMY: Meet Benjamin's grandfather, who served in the U.S. Army from 1964-1966 at Fort Ord, California. He did not serve time overseas, but was stationed at Fort Ord during this time period.

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ARMY:  Meet Jackson’s great-grandpa, Bernard Paul Cody who was a L.T. Colonel in the U.S. Army and served in WW II.

ARMY: Meet another of Jackson’s military family. Here is his grandpa, Gerald Paul Cody.  He was a Major in the U.S. Army and served in Vietnam.

MARINES: Meet Jackson’s Uncle Matthew John Stone who was in the U.S. Marines and served in the Persian Gulf War. 

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Meet the Fanelli brothers, Mia's great-uncles. These men were serving in different Battalions in World War II. They ran an article in the paper in New York with this picture because somehow they all ended up in London for an accidental reunion! The uncle on the right, thankfully, is still living and just celebrated his 95th birthday last month! 

ARMY: Here is a picture of Mimi‘s grandfather, who was too young to enlist in World War II, but was in the army during the Korean War as a member of the band. He was a professional musician who played with all the greats, including Frank Sinatra, Elvis, and many more.

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ARMY: Meet Ralph Linore, Jake F.'s great-grandfather. He was a United States Army sergeant who proudly served from 1942 to 1945 in WW II. 

Are any of your relatives or friends veterans?

Please tell us about them and thank them for their service to America!

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November is Family Blogging Month

Mrs. Yollis and her students ♥ to share what they are learning and experiencing. In an effort to include more family members in our online community, we are proclaiming: 

November is Family Blogging Month!

Each student made a list of their family members. 

After looking through the archive of our class blog and our Yollis 365 blog, students selected specific posts tailored to the interest of a particular relative. Selecting a good post for mom and dad, another for grandma.

A dog post is a great one for siblings!

We're inviting everyone to comment: moms, dads, brothers, sisters, grandmothers, grandfathers, uncles, aunts, and cousins. 

We welcome friends, too!

Students will be inviting their family and friends to participate in a conversation! 
Maybe we'll get some 2-point comments! 

(We frequently evaluate the comments that our blog has received. In order to earn the 2-points, a comment must be error-free and add something to the post.   Many of Mrs. Yollis' third graders have already met the challenge!)

If you don't know what to say, here is a video made by Mrs. Yollis' third graders. 

Learn FIVE tips for writing a quality comment! 

If you don't know How to leave a comment, here is a video tutorial about HOW to leave a comment on our blog.

Here is the key we will use for  Family Blogging Month.

 

What do you think of our idea?

Who are you inviting to be a part of our online community?

Please leave a comment and introduce yourself!

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