June 16 ~ School is Out!

Today was the last day of school for Mrs. Yollis' students. Here are some reflections about the year!

Goodbye to my third graders!

A group hug!

 

I know you'll do well in fourth grade!

What are some of your favorite memories from this year?

Mystery Skype Call With Mr. Avery!

Mrs. Tolisano invited Mrs. Yollis' class to be part of a 

Mystery Skype call with a group of teachers! They had such a good time...they did another one!

This time, they had to cover the screen so the caller was not identified by name.

RULES:  Two groups come together via Skype, but neither know the other's location. Closed questions, or questions that can only be answered with a YES or a NO answer, were permitted. If a question got a YES answer, a follow-up question was awarded. 

Every third grader contributed and tried to solve the Mystery. Before the call, the class decided who would be in each role. 

They used the same job titles they created for the last Mystery Call:  Inquirers, Clue Keepers, Question Keepers, Google Mappers, Logical Reasoners, TodaysMeet, Runners, Big Blue (giant atlas), and photographer. 

However, this time they added a new job. One person sat with Mrs. Yollis at Google Central. Mrs. Yollis supervised the Google searches and helped with spelling.

Inquirers, Question Keepers, and Clue Keepers worked close together.

"Are you east of the Mississippi River?"  

Yes!

 Google Mappers worked diligently to figure out the mystery location.

TodaysMeet typers had a difficult task. The speakers were out in Mrs. Yollis' room, so it was difficult to record the events. Click here to read the transcript.

Although Mrs. Yollis' class did not discover the identity of the caller first, it was still a fun game to play!

The mystery caller was Mr. Avery and his class in Massachusetts!

Photos by Tucker  (Photo of him to be added tomorrow.)

What questions would you like to know about Massachusetts? 

How was this Mystery Call different than the last?

How was it the same?

What job would you like to be next time and why?

An Olympian in our Room!

Ben's mother is  an Olympic athlete! Ben's mother is also Nonno's daughter! 

The Olympics are held every four years and the best athletes in the world come together to represent their country. It is an exciting international event!

She was a member of the U.S. Speed Skiing Team. That's the fastest ski race there is! The skis are very long and measure approximately  240 cm long. (About 94 inches)  No one could believe how fast speed skiers go. The fastest speed Ben's mom recorded was 196 km (That's 120 m.p.h.  WOW!)

Each Olympian is given a team suit to wear. In addition, she had special identification so she could get into the Olympic Village. The Olympic Village is where the athletes stay.

Students enjoyed looking at the special photos and Olympic moments.

Here is a great photo where you can see the length of the skis and the special suit she wore during races.

Nonno and Ben's mom! Notice the special helmet at the top of the skis!

The President invites all Olympians to Washington, D.C. Here is a photo of Ben's mom with President Bush. She also met Vice President Dan Quayle.

Athletes love to trade pins. Here is one side of her pin collection.

She recommends that young kids try out lots of sports and see which ones they love. Then they need to practice and practice if they'd like to be an Olympian. 

Ben's mom gave everyone some great advice. She said that it can be very difficult to stay calm sometimes. Rather than saying to yourself, "I've got to win." She would tell herself to remember the steps to success. Focusing on what you need to do is the key!  

When is the next Olympics and where will they be held?

Do you have any questions for our Olympian? 

What sports do you enjoy?

June 14 is Flag Day!

Today is the day we honor the America flag. Mrs. Ranney's class joined Mrs. Yollis', and together they learned how to formally fold our nation's Star Spangled Banner!

First, hold the flag parallel to the floor.

Fold the flag in half and then half again. Make sure the stars face up.

Starting at the striped end, begin folding a triangle.

Continue folding the triangles...

...until all you have left is one star spangled triangle.

Tuck in the end, and you have folded the American flag in a respectful manner.

Last Fourth of July, Mrs. Yollis and her family retired three American flags. Click here to watch the ceremony. 

Please share some facts you learned about the flag.

Use World Book Online to add new information. 

Happy Birthday Mrs. Yollis!

Saturday, June 11, is Mrs. Yollis' Fiftieth Birthday! Her day was so great she wishes she could turn fifty every day! One thing she discovered about having friends in Australia and New Zealand is that your birthday starts the day before!   :-)

Mrs. Yollis was brought to tears with this beautiful surprise birthday video and VoiceThread from her blogging buddies in Mrs. Morris and Miss Jordan's class (2KM and 2KJ), Mr Avery’s class, Mr Salsich’s class and Mrs McKenzie’s class (B4).

This is a special VoiceThread from all of Mrs. Yollis' friends. Students, teachers, and anyone else, please add to the VoiceThread by recording a "Happy Birthday" message!

This special day started out with a 

Country on the Green Concert with Mr. B.!

Yee Haw!

Cowgirls Ranney and Yollis were in attendance!

Mr. B. put together a fabulous concert filled with country favorites.

When Mrs. Yollis' class return to the classroom, they enjoyed a fun birthday song from the fabulous Aussie Blogger,  Bianca! Click here to see her birthday wishes and dance along with the fun song! Jaden was inspired by Bianca and created a birthday post too!
So sweet!

 Mrs. Yollis was thrilled to receive a beautiful card and a pair of amazing Aboriginal art earrings from her dear friends, Kathleen Morris and Kelly Jordan! Perfect!

Mrs. Diller surprised the class with some special, hand-made pretzel treats!

Mr. Yollis made this beautiful sterling silver pendant for his wife. Notice the five hearts...one for each decade!

To my thoughtful friends, colleagues, 

students, and parents,

you have touched my heart!

I will never forget this beautiful day you gave me!

Where is Nonno - On Summer Holiday

Dear Mrs. Yollis and Students

I know you will be on your last week of school and eager to start your summer vacation. I remember how long it took to get finished with the last week of school all the years ago when I was in the third grade.

We want to thank you for having the opportunity and fun to contribute a bit to your blog and days at school. We had fun too. I remember telling you about the Trulli, the Colosso of Barletta, showing a bit of Italy and best of all the visits to your class.

Grazie Mille and A Presto
Nonno and Cecca
Courmayeur, Italia

Mystery Skype Call With Langwitches!

Mrs. Tolisano invited Mrs. Yollis' class to be part of a 

Mystery Skype call with a group of teachers!

 ♪  ♬  ♫  We opened our call by singing the Hello Song!  ♪  ♬  ♫

Mrs. Tolsano came on and explained the rules:  Two groups come together via Skype, but neither know the other's location. Closed questions, or questions that can only be answered with a YES or a NO answer, were permitted. If a question got a YES answer, a follow-up question was awarded. 

Every third grader contributed and tried to solve the Mystery. Before the call, the class created some useful jobs and gathered resources that would help them be good geography detectives.

Because Mrs. Yollis' third graders were younger than the teachers, the students got to ask first.

We decided that three students should be our Inquirers. They asked the yes or no questions.

 Two Question Keepers sat next to the Inquirers and typed the questions and answers in Word. 

It was helpful to review the yes and no answers quickly. 

Click to Enlarge

Others were Google Mappers. They used Google Maps and traditional atlases to zero in on the clues.

A few students used our giant atlas we call "Big Blue" to find the mystery location.

 

 

Another station was filled with Logical Reasoners. They listened to the clues and tried to eliminate states that did not match the clues. 

 Behind the Inquirers were the Clue Keepers. They collected relevant information from everyone.

Jaden and Alexa took notes on TodaysMeet. Here is the transcript!

 Nick was the Runner. If students had problems, Nick would try and solve them. In addition, he would run facts to the Inquirers that the Logical Reasoners wanted to contribute.

 It was a very close game filled with fantastic questions, but we were running low on time! The adults gave the third graders a final clue that they thought would really help. They said, "Pony Express." Sadly, the Pony Express is taught in fourth grade!

So, the teachers quickly offered a geographic clue and...

Mrs. Yollis' class asked if the Mystery Callers lived in St. Joseph, Missouri...

Yes!

The students then offered a big clue: Our city has the largest population in California!

Yes!

Kristen was our phabulous photographer!

What did you like about the game?

What were some of the best clues given or received? What would you do next time with the words Pony Express?

What job would you like to be next time? Why?