Week 9: The Arctic Trivia Challenge!

Hey Kids! Happy November! 

For this week's response, click on the following website and play The Arctic Trivia Challenge.  Once you have finished answering the questions, send me one interesting fact you learned about the Arctic!

Time for Kids - http://tinyurl.com/yuj79z

Your comment will not be seen by others until I approve it. Please respond before Friday, November 5!

Walter's Trip to Tacoma!

10/20/10-10/25/10

Hello!  I am glad to finally be out of my stuffy little travel box, but whoa! I have landed among giants! I am only 1/24^th of their height!  Do you know how TALL that makes them? I heard a baby and thought, “Phew, someone my size!” She rolled right over to me and thought I could be lunch! That’s right! She put me straight in her mouth! Yuck! Thank goodness the tall lady saved me! It turns out she is a teacher with WAVA. She started to tell me and the baby our schedule for the week…I have to tell you…I think it will be fun! We get to travel all around the Puget Sound area and visit with her students! I saw the camera get packed…I think there will be some photo ops, too! I’m just hoping she keeps me away from the gums of that baby!

During the day she lets me hang out here:

This is where she works with her students. Every now and then a deer wanders through her yard or a blue heron lands on the water feature. Pretty cool! Most of all, I like listening to the students as they ask questions. Sometimes she reads their k-mails out loud to me! She has a cool bunch of students!

While I was with Mrs. Stegeman, we were on the road nearly every day. She was meeting with her students to talk about writing. Let me tell you, there are a lot of good writers out there! I especially enjoyed all of the Personal Narratives and Memoirs! One of the days, we met at a coffee shop with another teacher, Mrs. Ritchie. I sipped some cocoa and visited with the students. Here I am with Mrs. Ritchie and two of her students:

I also had a picture with Mrs. Stegeman, her baby, Carolyn, and one of her students! We had fun chatting about her lessons and writing!

All in all, it was a busy week! The time flew by and then she said she had to put me back in the box and send me off on my next adventure. I can hardly wait to see what else I will do and who I will meet!

Week 8: Lesson Learned!

Can you believe it's the last week of October? I'm sure you learned a lot of new things this month! For this week's response, tell us about something you learned in one of your courses in October.

Your comment will not be seen by others until I approve it. Please respond before Friday, October 29th!

Wen's Trip to Bellingham

10/20/10

Today I arrived in Bellingham! YIPEEE!!! My friends here were very excited to see me. They took me on lots of adventures. I went on a bike ride and got to try Ethiopian food for the first time at a restaurant called “Queen Sheba’s” in Seattle. From there, we went to a hotel in Renton where I will swim and play tomorrow. I am so anxious for the thrills that lay ahead.

10/21/10

What a fun day I had today! I spent most of the day today in Renton with my Bellingham friends. I hung out by the hotel pool with my friend, Greysen.

 

I was afraid to get my beautiful fur wet, so I hung out in the life preserver just to be safe. 

 

From there, we went to the Fun Center where I played air hockey and rode my first motorcycle.

 

I had a great time and was so exhausted at the end of the day, I slept all the way from Renton back to Bellingham in the car.

10/22/10

Today was a restful day in Bellingham. We hung out inside most of the day because it was rainy and really windy. I was afraid I might blow away, so I played the car game with my friend, Greysen, and read some books. We read about mammals and reptiles. I learned all about the tuatara of New Zealand.

After that, I hung out with my other friend Olive-that is, until she tried to eat me. I was saved just in the knick of time, but had to shower to get all the baby drool off of me-yuck! Babies are cute but boy can they slobber. Overall though, I had a great day.

10/23/10

Today was another cold and rainy day here in Bellingham. We spent the morning resting and then went to a birthday party in the afternoon. It was a lot of fun! We painted pumpkins and ate cake and ice cream. We sat by the fire afterwards to get dry and warm and then watched a movie before going to bed.

10/24/10

Today was pumpkin carving day! I woke up early and had eggs and pancakes for breakfast-yummy. Then we picked out some pumpkins from a friend’s garden and spent the rest of the morning carving. I helped my friend, Greysen, carve a scary bat pumpkin. We roasted the seeds and gobbled them up by the handfuls while sipping mulled cider. I just love Fall!

Tomorrow is a big day for me. I will hop back in my box and head off to my next stop on my journey around Washington. I have had fun in Bellingham, but I am anxious to see more sights and meet more friends along the way! Stay tuned for more updates…

Week 7: Norman Rockwell

Norman Rockwell is one of my favorite artists. Every painting tells a story. I especially like the way he captures childhood memories. I'm sure all of you can relate to his paintings. I know I do.

For this week's response, look at the painting and answer the questions below. For a better view, you can click on the painting and enlarge it.

     1) What is happening in this painting by Norman Rockwell?

     2) What season is represented in the image? How do you know?

     3) What should the title of this painting be?

I will publish all comments on Thursday, so you can see what others have written (without spoiling your own creativity). Please respond before Friday, October 22nd!

Week 6: Grace's Show & Tell

party on Storybird

The Storybird above was created by Grace, a first grader in our class! For this week's response, let Grace know what you think of her book by leaving a compliment or question in the comment box. To read her story, click on the book above. Click again to turn the pages. 

If you would like to share something that you created this year, k-mail it to Mrs. Sol. Students will have a chance to admire your work in our Author's Chair Elluminate on October 27. Who knows, it might just end up on this blog in November as well! 

Your comment will not be seen by others until I approve it. Please respond before Friday, October 15th!

And They're Off!

This was an exciting day for us! We were packed into our boxes and shipped. Our adventure has finally begun! Sixty, yes SIXTY families have offered to take us in for a few days. This is going to be an amazing trip! We can't wait to spend time with WAVA families, travel around their towns and see the sites. Each stop will be a new adventure!

Walter is on his way to Tacoma...

and Wen is making her way to Bellingham!

Thanks for dropping us off at the P.O. boys! Goodbye for now!

Check back soon to see what we are doing as we travel around Washington!

Your pals,

Week 5: Barn Owl Observation

Click the link below to spy on a real, live barn owl family! Right now there are two owlets living in the owl nest box. Ashley hatched on August 7 and Carrie hatched on August 8, so they are almost two months old! Depending on the time of day, you may also see the mother and father owls. You can tell who the dad is because he has a white chest and face.  

For this week's response, go to this Live Owl Nest Cam and tell me what the owls are doing!

Extra Credit: In addition to your observation above, send me one important fact about barn owls.

Your comment will not be seen by others until I approve it. Please respond before Friday, October 8th!