Our Little Legolas

If You Have Nothing Better To Do

This is a little random, but...

Boylee's school has a crap playground and we're trying to win $25,000 from Clorox to improve it.  This contest is purely about who gets the most votes -- and we're currently in 12th place.  You can help, all you crazy random people who read this blog!  (My site meter shows me that about 40 people per day visit.  I don't know who you are, but welcome!)

Here's what you do:

Text "clorox3905" to the phone number 44144.

That's it!  That's all you have to do.  And you can do it once a day, every day until December 9th.  Let's get these kids a playground!

(Bonus points if you share this info with your friends.)

If you're not the texting type, you can also vote here:  http://www.powerabrightfuture.com/gallery/detail/?nid=1172

THANKS!

Two Updates

#1: Boylee lost his third tooth of the week at school today. This one wasn't swallowed or lost!

 #2: As part of our Paris preparation we've been reading books and watching movies that take place in France. The latest was the movie version of The Phantom of the Opera. The movie's kind of dull and draggy, but by the end Boylee was thoroughly caught up in it, which meant there were plenty of tears.

The Teeth are Departing!

The first one fell out -- and was swallowed -- while he was at school. The second was apparently scared out of him during a visit to the school's Hauntitorium. He didn't even notice losing it at all, so maybe it was swallowed, or maybe it just dropped out as he screamed? And now there's another one loose!

Halloween Carnival Highlight!

For Nana

It's Legolas, one of the elves from Lord of the Rings!

Another Clue

A Clue to his Halloween Costume

A Lice Shave Isn't Too Bad

I think they both look cute, even though Boylee wasn't in the mood to smile.

Between the lice and the vomitous migraine, our Very Busy Weekend got almost entirely cancelled: a visit from Nana, a visit from Papa, a new gymnastics class, the regular gymnastics class, a friend sleeping over -- all were cancelled. Today we did piano, and then we absolutely, positively must figure out Boylee's Halloween costume -- his school fair is next weekend and he'll want to wear it, whatever he chooses. And then we're meeting a kid down the block who, as it turns out, goes to our school. Maybe a carpool is in our future?

Boylee's Story

(I don't know why I can't rotate these pictures! Aargh!)

Ball Time

 This book is detetacated to Mom and Dad

 Once when I was at Legoland at the pharos quest atration shooting balls out of a cannon. I spoted a man Just then a idea poped into my head I could almost imagine a lightbulb hovering above my head My idea was: shoot the man! So I grabbed my last ball

 but I decided to take a risk so I aimed and puled the triger and with a bang the ball sard throue the air and hit his back i wached as he fell to the ground. I stood in confidence because I knew my next victom would be a sucses! the END!

(Some comments are from adults and some are from kids.)  "I like your story and your colorful illustrations."  "I like the details."  "I liked how hour personality shows through in your writing!  And, bonus points: you made me laugh! : )" "I love your cericers and roun pictures."  "I like your drawing."  "Sounds like you had fun with the imagination. I love that."  "The end was cocow." (?) "I loved the slow motion description of the ball flying through the air. I could see it!"

           

Writing Celebration

Yesterday we had a little class gathering to celebrate the students' first "published" writing of the year! We got to see the book that each kid created.

The orange paper is where classmates and adults could write "put ups" mentioning what they liked about each student's work.

We strolled around the classroom and looked at everyone's books.

In another section of the classroom, I found Boylee's contribution to a board about hurt feelings:

Then as we left school we found a big display of what the 3rd graders have been doing in art class lately. This project is about "A Recipe of Me."

Toothless Again

He lost it at school -- and swallowed it. Unhelpful (but sweet) friend Lukus said that meant that Scott and I would be getting divorced!?! I've never, ever heard of that superstition before.

3rd Grade Highlights

Here's a project we can really look forward to:

Students will research, investigate, and become an expert on one landmark in Los Angeles. Students will work in cooperative groups for this project. However, over the next few weeks, you may want to enrich your child’s learning in one of the following ways: researching the landmark and pictures on the Internet, visiting the location, taking photos of the location, possibly finding books about this location. No pressure to participate in this project, but if time permits and you are interested, enjoy learning with your child! He/she will be able to tell you what location.

Double Rainbow!

It's gorgeous...but I don't have a lens wide enough to capture it all.

Starting To Get Excited!

This is the place we rented in Paris!

Autumn in L.A.

It's 75 degrees outside and my tomato plants are still sending up fresh blooms!

(Plus the squirrel seems to have backed off a bit, so we're actually getting to harvest a few!)

3rd Grade Begins

Here's a little bio of Boylee's teacher:

I was raised in a small mining town of union workers. My parents taught me and my siblings the importance of faith and hard work. We loved keeping active in mind and body, and I spent a great deal of time living and learning in the desert. At the University of Arizona I studied education and sociology, and in high school I was very interested in world history.

Schools build community and help define us as a society. They are essential to maintaining a strong democracy and providing the skills that spur innovation. As a teacher, I feel I am fulfilling my civic duty. Input from parents, administrators, and teachers help build quality schools. 

I think it’s important that schools work as teams. I welcome volunteers into my classroom, and I appreciate when coworkers share feedback and information. Education and learning have helped make me a happy and healthy person. 

My favorite classrooms channel a child’s energy into learning. The ideal school engages students through varied stimuli and it honors each student’s distinct abilities. I think children learn effectively as they work together in groups and that this maximizes student engagement. I hope to encourage risk taking among learners with varied skill levels. When learning content, practice and memorization have a place, but students need authentic learning experiences. 

I enjoy running and better living through healthy eating. My wife and I enjoy practicing yoga, and we have worked through injuries with our practice. We spend a great deal of time going to movies and reading, but we live in a full house where there is no lack of distraction. We also share a great love of music.

And here's our first Friday update about what the kids have been learning lately:

In an effort to increase communication between home and school, the 3rd grade team will begin sending home an e-mail each Friday highlighting the Guiding Questions (GQ) and Essential Questions (EQ) for each subject area of our homeroom curriculum. ‘What are these questions?’ you may wonder... We will use an analogy to explain. The guiding question is like a rainbow where you can see all the beautiful colors. A guiding question is the over-arching idea or the big picture concept. An essential question is like each distinct color in the rainbow (ROY G. BIV= red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet). Each essential question is a zoomed-in, closer look at the content area. Enjoy reading each week about our rainbow of learning!

Handwriting GQ= How can I print letters, words, and sentences legibly? EQ= How can I print capital letters F, E, D, and P? How can I print capital letters B, R, N, and M? How can I print capital letters H, K, L, and U? How can I print capital letters V, W, X, Y, and Z? How can I print capital letters C, O, Q, and G? 

Reading GQ= What does Reader’s Workshop look like? EQ= What does it look like to silently read? What is my responsibility during Reader’s Workshop? What do you think about when you choose a book to read? How do I choose a just right book? Why would you abandon a book? How do I think about my reading? How do I talk to others about my reading? What is the difference between a fiction and non-fiction book? What are the different kinds of fiction books? What are the different kinds of non-fiction books? What can I do to celebrate after finishing a book? What have we learned about our role as a reader? 

Writing GQ= How can I get ideas for writing? EQ= What do I already know about narrative writing? How can I plan to write about a person who matters to me? How can I plan to write about a place that matters to me? How can I plan to write about a thing that matters to me? How do I zoom in on a small moment? How can I use sequence of events to write my small moment? How do I fill in the gaps in my small moment narrative by using exact details? How do I talk about my writing? How do I edit my personal narrative?

Math GQ= What is multiplication? What is the place value of each digit to the ten thousands? EQ= Where can we see real life examples of multiplication in groups? How can I represent multiplication in different ways? How can I represent multiplication in different ways? How can I use an array to skip count? How can I memorize my multiplication facts? How can I practice my facts with a partner? How can I use a bar model to solve a math problem? How do I identify the place value of a digit? How can I use a place value mat to represent numbers? How do I write numbers in expanded and standard form? How do I identify the place value of a digit?

DWOK GQ=How are we linked together as a community? EQ= How do we honor our similarities and differences? How am I linked to my classmates? What makes me special? How am I linked to my classmates? How can we celebrate what we have learned about how all our classmates are linked together? How do special qualities come together to make a recipe? How can we use symbols to represent our special qualities?

One thing we learned at Back-to-School Night is that this focus on handwriting is to prepare them for cursive, which will start in a few weeks. (I remember not doing cursive till 4th grade, and also I clearly remember doing the times table then, not in 3rd.)

A Quick Look Around 3rd Grade

(at night, without flash)

3rd Grade!

Tragic News

Today we got the class list for school (which starts Wednesday), and Boylee isn't with his best pal. Or his other best pal. Or any of his friends, really. Of all the kids who are his key buddies, none are in his class. So, for example, of the kids who he invited to his birthday party? None of them. Ugh. He cried. I'm sure it'll work out just fine but for now he's feeling sad.