Hawaii: Turtle Time!

This year, Mrs. Yollis celebrated her fiftieth birthday!  She and her husband took a special trip to Hawaii. One of the best parts of the vacation was snorkeling, especially with turtles!

Here are two videos shot by Mr. Yollis in Maui, Hawaii.  

Turtles are beautiful creatures!

The End

Have you ever snorkeled with turtles?

Do you know any additional facts about sea turtles?

Langwitches' Video of the Mystery Skype Call

Last June, 

Mrs. Tolisano  (@langwitches) invited Mrs. Yollis' class to be part of a 

Mystery Skype call with a group of teachers! Read about the event here. 

Recently,

Mrs. Tolisano created a video of the call to share with teachers and parents in the hopes that others will incorporate this type of authentic learning in their classrooms.

Here is her video about the event!

Mrs. Yollis used the concept of  “The Digital Learning Farm: Students as Authentic Contributors” by Alan November to create jobs for each student or group of students. 

Collage by Silvia Tolisano

 Here are photos of the students doing their jobs:

Three Inquirers who 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! Everyone worked hard to solve the mystery together.

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

Yes!

 

Kristen was the phabulous photographer!

Read Mrs. Tolisano's post about the event called

The Excitement of Learning.

If you're interesting in a Mystery Skype call, here is a site to make connections. It was set up by Mr. Avery!

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What do you think of Langwitches' Mystery Skype video?

What value do you see in this type of activity?  

Happy Fourth of July, America!

By Mrs. Yollis 

July 4th is Independence Day in America!

On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This document announced America's independence from Britain.

 

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I was with my family last Fourth of July, and we had a special event planned for the day.

 

My family had three old, tattered flags that needed to be retired. So on July 4th, we had a retirement ceremony.

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The United States Flag Code states: "The Flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem of display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning."



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First, we sang some patriotic songs!

 

 

Then, my cousin John gave a short speech. Finally, we retired the old flags to the fire.

 

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This year, my class learned how to fold an American flag. 

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What did you do on the Fourth of July?

Have you ever been to a flag retirement ceremony? 

What special national holidays are celebrated where you live?