Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Family Blogging Month Winner: Sarah Plays Chopin!



Sarah was one of the winners of Family Blogging Month! Each student won a free-choice post here on Mrs. Yollis' Classroom Blog. Please enjoy Sarah's post about Frederic Chopin!








Frederic Chopin composed music in the early Romantic Period (1820 to 1850).  The Romantic Period began as a reaction to the more formal music of the Classical period. The music in the Romantic Period had more feelings and emotions to the music and Beethoven began to write such music in some of his later works even though he lived during the Classical Period.

Wikipedia


Chopin was born on 1810 in Poland, and died in 1849 when he was just 38 years old. Chopin mostly composed music for the piano. He gave his first concert when he was seven years old and was compared to Mozart and Beethoven. No other composer could play the pinao with as much feeling as Chopin. He was sick most of his life and died from tuberculosis.

The Waltz in A-flat major, also called "The Farewell Waltz,"  was written in 1835 as a farewell piece to Maria WodziƄska. Chopin was supposed to marry Maria but her parents didn't allow her to marry Chopin because he was very ill.   

I really like this piece because I like how the rhythm changes.  In some places it is faster and in other places it is slower. When I play, I feel the music and decide where to play faster and slower. The musical term for this is Rubato, which is expressive shaping of music.  Chopin was famous for this. I also really love the melody of this waltz.










Have you ever listened to Chopin before? What is your favorite piece?

What do you think of his music?

Do you play an instrument? 

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Thank You 2KM, 2KJ, and B4!



We got some fabulous Christmas presents from our blogging buddies! First, 2KM and 2KJ sent us this clever story called 
Santa's Blogging Adventure.
Not only was the story well-written, but the hand drawn illustrations were incredible. The story includes Santa stops to the classrooms of  Mr. Salsich, Mrs. Watson, Mrs. McKenzie, and Mr. Avery's. So entertaining! To hear the story, head on over to Mr. Avery's class. They did a great reading of the story!




Just as we were about to leave on vacation, we received another surprise parcel from Down Under! A holiday card and some Pineapple Lumps from Mrs. McKenzie and B4. No one had ever heard of Pineapple Lumps, but Mrs. McKenzie said they are very popular in New Zealand! They were delicious!








We want to thank our blogging buddies and wish them a very Merry Christmas! Here is a song we recorded for you!











What was your favorite part of Santa's Blogging Adventure?

Did you enjoy your Pineapple Lump? 

 

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Family Blogging Month Winners!







Family Blogging Month was a terrific success!  Congratulations Leila, Sarah, and Sasha!


Each girl won a free meal at the Marmalade Cafe and an opportunity to publish a free-choice post on our classroom blog! Congratulations to our top bloggers!

♕       ♕     


 Thank you to all the parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends for your participation!

This When I Was Young... post is an amazing demonstration of how important and fun it is to include family in our learning. Please take a moment to check that post out! You're invited to add your story!

We hope you will continue to participate in our learning community!



♕       ♕     



What did you like most about Family Blogging Month?


Which family members left comments and how did that make you feel?

How did your family enjoy the month?

Friday, December 16, 2011

Holiday Party!

The parents in Mrs. Yollis' room spent a lot of time and effort putting together a fabulous party!

Thank you parents!

Holiday Party ~ 2011 on PhotoPeach

What was your favorite part about the party?

Where did you hang you snowflake?


Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Thank You for the Edublog Awards!


Yesterday, Mrs. Yollis' Classroom Blog won an Edublog Award for
Best Class Blog!
We want to thank all the people who nominated us and for the people who helped us win! We appreciate your support!



We were thrilled to see that our special blogging buddies Mr. Salsich’s Class Blog earned fourth place and 2KM and 2KJ (Australia) came in fifth! Go blogging buddies!

We were equally happy to learn that Mrs. Yollis' Learn How to Comment won for Most Influential Post! Mrs. Yollis is passionate about teaching students how to compose quality comments, so this award was very dear to her .




 Two former students, Miriam and Jaden, were shortlisted in the top five for Best Student Blog.   Everyone was happy for Jaden! Plus, our good friend  Jarrod from 2KM and 2KJ won third!






 Our World, Our Stories was awarded Best Group Blog! The blog demonstrates the power and excitement of global collaboration. The teachers and their students each took a week to lead.  Weekly themes included:  local environment, food, recess activities, traditional songs, and stories.



One of the culminating activities for this blog was a group song.  Here is the final video of the group members joining together in song!


While learning how to patch videos together in iMovie, Mrs. Yollis tried different advanced tools. She experimented with inserting a screen and created a fun music video with her class.

This special day seems like an appropriate time to publish the song. It is called Make New Friends, which is something we love to do. The video demonstrates how Mrs. Yollis and her students have fun learning and creating together.

We hope you like our song!





Were were also very excited for some other special friends!

Mr. Avery (Massachusetts) and his class placed third in the category called 
Best Use of Audio/Video/Podcast. 


Mrs. Hembree (Seattle) and her students placed second in the category Best Librarian/Library.






What do you like about blogging?

Have you ever left a quality comment?

What commenting tips do you have for new bloggers? 


Monday, December 5, 2011

Vote For Us ~ Edublog Awards!






The  Edublog Awards are here, and Mrs. Yollis and her students are thrilled to be nominated! 

Voting is open until 11:59 PM US Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday, December the 13th

RULES:

  • You can vote in as many categories as you want per day!
  • Please note only one vote per category per day will be counted per IP address.

There are many great nominations and we encourage everyone to look through all the categories before casting your daily vote. If you'd like to support us, here are the categories! 



1. Best Class Blog


2. Best Student Blog (These are former students!)


3. Most Influential Blog Post


4. Best Group Blog


5. Lifetime Achievement



You can cast your votes from a home computer, a work computer, an iPad, or a cell phone! Remember, you can vote daily!

Have you voted today?






Davo Devil Discovered!

Today Mrs. Yollis' class read the Traveling with Mr. 'Davo' Devil blog and was quite concerned! 



Miss W. had a News Alert! Davo the Tasmanian Devil was nowhere to be found! He had not been seen since he was in Los Angeles in Mrs. Yollis' class. The students quickly searched the room and discovered a new student!

Do you see Davo crouching behind our visitor count?

Look more carefully...there is that little Davo!


When the school principal found out that Davo had stayed behind, she had a little talk with  him. She lectured him about always telling loved ones where you are. 




Davo said he was sorry, but really wanted to do some more traveling in life.  Because he was so polite, the principal told him he could stay and be a part of our school community.

Welcome, Davo!


Davo then lined up with the boys and will be joining our class for a little while.






Since he is now in Mrs. Yollis' class, she assigned him an AlphaSmart and he has started his typing lessons. Keep your paws on the homerow, Davo!



He even listened in as Mrs. Yollis read aloud to the students from The BFG!




Davo pointed to his old home in Australia and waved the national flag!





Davo will be out in the community having adventures with Mrs. Yollis' students. 

What kinds of activities will he be doing? 

Friday, December 2, 2011

Meet Miss W. and Davo!


Recently, Mrs. Yollis' class was fortunate enough to have the world famous Edublogger, Sue Wyatt and her pal, Davo the Tasmanian Devil in their classroom! 

Miss W. runs the Student Blogging Challenge and is good friends with Mrs. Yollis. Davo has his own blog called Traveling with Mr. Davo!

Everyone enjoyed meeting Miss W.!

Miss W. has traveled to many of the states in America. Some students named a state and then placed it in the U.S.A. puzzle if she'd visited. The ones to the right are states she has not visited. How many states has Miss W. visited? What do you notice about the missing states?


Mrs. Yollis' class gave Miss W. a special book about California and a card.




Davo enjoyed reading about the state bird, the California quail.






Miss W. talked about Australia, especially her home state of Tasmania. She talked about the cartoon character called Taz.


Do you remember any of the animals that are found in Australia? Do you remember any fun facts?

What is animal #1?

What is animal #2?


What is animal #3?

Too much information to guess!

What is animal #4?


Miss W. said that many people travel to Uluru and climb it.



Many stayed after school to talk with Miss W.


Thank you, Miss W., for the wonderful Tasmanian souvenirs!

Miss W. even brought a wonderful letter from one of Mrs. Yollis' blogging buddies in Kansas, Science Girl Em!


What did you learn from Miss W.? 

What animal did you enjoy learning about?

Monday, November 28, 2011

Visitor Count Palindrome!

This week we noticed that the Visitor Count number was a palindrome!

pal • in• drome (noun)

a word, phrase, or sequence that reads the same backward as forward, e.g., madam or nurses run.







Do you see any palindromes in your life? 
Please share a palindrome or two in the comment section!
Remember, look to see if your palindrome has already been mentioned!

When do you think the blog will hit 100,000?

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Bamboo: A Global Game!

Mrs. Yollis' class is part of a global project called
Our World, Our Stories. 






One week was devoted to recess activities. Mrs. Yollis' class shared a video of a popular game called Bamboo:





Mrs. Watson's class, in Canada, liked the game and wanted to play. However, their bars were too tall. :-( That did not stop the Canadians! They adapted the game and renamed it Switch! Check it out!






A class at 2KM and 2KJ's school saw the video, realized they had the parallel bars at their school, and started playing. What is fabulous about this video is that the teacher, Mrs. deVries, joined in the fun! Way to go!


Bamboo 1 from Deb de Vries on Vimeo.



Inspired by Mrs. deVries, Mrs. Yollis took the bars for the first time! See how she did as she competes against one of her students! Sadly, Mrs. Yollis had to shout...Bamboo and the game was over.






Mrs. deVries will remain World Bamboo Champion 
~ Teacher Division ~


Thank you, Alexandra, for being a great videographer.  The video is very still and easy to watch!

Then the kids had fun playing.

Go!

Wait, who is that waiting her turn in line?



Go, Beverly, go!



Keep going, Beverly! You can win!




She tagged him! Beverly is victorious!


Do you play Bamboo?

Does your teacher?

Do you have any advice for new players, like Mrs. Yollis?



Thursday, November 24, 2011

My Edublog Nomination 2011









The 2011 Edublog Awards are now open for nominations. It is very difficult to choose just one entry per category because there are so many inspirational people and quality projects to choose from. After much thought, here are my nominations:




Best class blog    2KM and2KJ






Best student blog     Miriam’s Magical Moments





Best teacher blog   Integrating Technology in the Primary Classroom by Kathleen Morris 
 
 Best new blog   wwwatanabe by Mrs. Wantanabe 



  


Best twitter hashtag      #comments4kids by @wmchamberlain




  
Best individual blog   Teaching Literacy in the Early Years by  Kelly Jordan
  

Best librarian / library blog    The Bulldog Readers Blog by Mrs. Hembree
 






Most influential blog post    Top 10 Twitter Tips   by Kathleen Morris 



Best individual tweeter   @ozge




 Best free web tool    Twitter






Best ed tech / resource sharing blog    Langwitches Blog     By Mrs. Tolisano 






Best educational use of audio / video / visual / podcast     Mr. Avery's Blog









Lifetime achievement     Sue Wyatt






Who are you nominating for Edublog Awards?