Inca Projects and Presentations

This week the class presented their Inca projects, reports. and posters. You can see their work in the Animoto videos they created.

Piclits: Having Fun Using Vocabulary

Piclits is a creative and fun website that is all about Inspired Picture Writing. I used the site a couple of years ago with my one computer classroom and then forgot about it until I checked a blog post I wrote back then. Now I am in a classroom where each student can use a netbook and it was much easier to use this program.

Students can choose a picture. Then like refrigerator magnets they can choose precise vocabulary words from lists in located below the puzzle to arrange words into poems, sentences, messages, or labels. We just spent about 15 minutes playing around with the words and came up with many interesting piclits. I was happy to see that many students chose a poetry form based on William Carlos Williams "A Locust Tree in Flower". You can view each piclit by clicking or you can go to the website an create your own piclits. While having fun, we were introduced to wonderful and useful vocabulary words. Here are a few examples of our piclits.



See the full PicLit at PicLits.com
by Heather


See the full PicLit at PicLits.com
by Cameron


See the full PicLit at PicLits.com
by Molly


See the full PicLit at PicLits.com
by Adam


See the full PicLit at PicLits.com
by Cady


See the full PicLit at PicLits.com
by Campbell


See the full PicLit at PicLits.com
by Kayla


See the full PicLit at PicLits.com
by Amanda


See the full PicLit at PicLits.com
by Zak


See the full PicLit at PicLits.com
by Cody


See the full PicLit at PicLits.com
by Ben

Everyday Math Multiplication Algorithms

Just a reminder that you can find examples of how to do the Everyday Math algorithms online. Today we are reviewing the Partial Products Method. This method gives student a good understanding of place=value and multiplication concepts. It also has the added benefit of facilitating student use of mental arithmatic as they solve problems. You can find many animations of the Partial Products Method here. Tomorrow we will be reviewing the Lattice Method of Multiplication. This is a very easy metod to use because it relies almost entirely on the recall of the basic multiplication facts. You can find many animations of the Lattice Method of Multiplication here.

The Locust Tree in Flower: Digital Poetry

This week we looked at another unusual William Carlos Williams poem called "The Locust Tree in Flower"

You can read about the poem and my lesson here on my Simply Teaching blog. Be sure to check out the "art" version version of the poem. That is strangely weird; not only is the poem fractured into pieces but so is the reader's voice.

Here are our versions of tree poems inspired by William Carlos Williams' poem. We used the animoto program again and learned to add videos to our poems.

Mixtures and Solutions

This is what I like...

Campbell came to school and showed me an ocarina. I had never heard of an ocarina. Campbell bought it during the summer and he knew what it was and how to play it. He told me it goes along with our study of the Incas, Mayans, and Azteks. I looked it up and he was right. Then he played it for me. I like when a student makes connections with things that we are studying. Interesting find and great job, Campbell!

Mysterious Inca Brainteasers

Click here to retake the Mysterious Inca Brainteaser Quiz that we used to introduce the Incas. Can you get a 100%? How much do your parents know? You can let them try the quiz too! Grades aren't recorded! This is a good way to review and learn important information.It is found on the National Geographic for Kids website.