Monday, September 26, 2011

Teacher of the Year Gift!

Mrs. Yollis was awarded the Teacher of the Year in her district and there  have been many celebrations!

On September 13, her family, friends, colleagues, and former students attended the announcement at the district office. One of her former students, Miriam, covered the story on her blog! Read about it here



 After the district meeting, the celebration continued at a local restaurant!





Last Friday, all the Los Angeles County Teachers of the Year were invited to attend a celebratory luncheon at the Universal Studios Hilton. 

L to R: Mr. Scrivano, Dr. Zimring (Superintendent), School Board President Mrs. Gaines, Mrs. Yollis, Mr. Yollis, Dr. Steponosky, Dr. Dunn, and Mrs. Hibler






Mrs. Yollis got a beautiful bouquet from the district, she won a raffle prize from Lakeshore, and every Los Angeles County Teacher of the Year was given....




a Mobi View!




Here is a thank you note we wrote to eInstruction!






Raffle prizes from Lakeshore! Look: Place Value Games, Idiom Cards, and Readers' Theatre Scripts!
Fun! 



What did you like about the Mobi?

What should we do next with the interactive tablet?






Friday, September 23, 2011

Welcome Back, Mr. Salsich's Class!

Mrs. Yollis' class is Quad-Blogging buddies with Mr. Salsich's class in Connecticut! 



They just published their first post of the year. Please head over to their blog and introduce yourself. Be sure to tell them you are from Mrs. Yollis' class. Try to make a connection! Ask a relevant question!


Mr. Salsich and Mrs. Yollis are also sheriffs of the world famous Reading Round-Up! literacy blog!

Here is one video these two trailblazers created about non-fiction text features! Yee Haw!




 
Did you leave a quality comment for Mr. Salsich on his blog? 

What do you think of the non-fiction text feature video?

What was your favorite feature and why?




Thursday, September 22, 2011

Word Problem: Hoppy and Panda!


Today we learned about a new kind of math problem. It was different than other word problems we've done.   Usually word problems ask questions like:  

How many in all?         How many more?       How many fewer?


This was a new kind of word problem.
Panda and Hoppy left 25 comments. Hoppy left 5 more comments than Panda. 
How many comments did Panda leave? 
How many comments did Hoppy leave? 

Here is a tutorial Adia made illustrating one way to solve this type of problem.  




What do you think of this process?

If you want to make up one of these math problems with your parents, please do so!  We'll use it for practice in class!

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If you are from another state or country, make up a word problem about your state/country symbols! Here are California's state symbols. California's state tree is the coastal redwood. It is the tallest tree in the world! Here is a word problem using the state bird and the state tree:

The California quail was looking at two coastal redwoods. Their combined height was 480 feet. One tree was 20 feet taller than the other tree. How tall were the coastal redwoods?

We'd love to learn about your state or country!


Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Let's Taste Vegemite!

Today Mrs. Yollis' class got a chance to taste Vegemite! This Australian favorite was a gift from their quad-blogging buddy, Jarrod! 
 




Jarrod sent the class a wonderful gift package filled with candies (lollies), an Australian souvenir,  and a tube of Vegemite.



 Jarrod is a member of the fabulous  2KM and 2KJ class. This tremendous group of bloggers lives in Victoria, Australia. He has earned his own blog!






First, the Vegemite was spread on crackers. Jarrod recommended starting with a thin layer of Vegemite.



Next, the class raised their Vegemite in a toast to the Aussies!




"Raise your hand if you like it and would try it again!" asked Mrs. Yollis.


Thank you, Jarrod, for your thoughtful gift! We will never forget you!



Jarrod is a terrific blogger who always comments back to his readers. Here is a screen shot of some comments he wrote to the class:






What did you think of the Vegemite?

What is a typical American food that the Australians might not know? 

What are some other foods that you've tried from another country?

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Thank You, Jarrod!

Mrs. Yollis found a special package in her mailbox! It was a wonderful gift from a blogging buddy in Australia named Jarrod!


 Jarrod is a member of 2KM and 2KJ class. This fabulous group of bloggers lives in Victoria, Australia.






Mrs. Yollis' class knows Jarrod because he has left many quality comments on their blog! They also know Jarrod through Jarrod's Awesome Blog.



Thank you, Jarrod, for your lovely gifts of candy, Vegemite, and the Australian souvenir! Thank you too for the gift of friendship! We will be sampling the Vegemite very soon!
Please head over to Jarrod's Awesome Blog and say thank you with a quality comment!

Have you met any special friends through educational blogging?


Thursday, September 8, 2011

Back to School Night

Normally Mrs. Yollis' class looks like this.




Tonight, Mrs. Yollis' class looked like this!





It was Back to School Night!

Parents came to hear about third grade!

Mrs. Yollis shared her website, where 
homeworkspelling words, parent information, and learning games 
can be found.

Parents viewed the reading video about how to choose the right book. They also learned about searching for a Reading Counts book.



Parents  learned all about educational blogging by watching our student-created
Blogging is Learning video!






*     *     *     *     *

What are you excited to learn about this year?

What did your parents think of your organized desk?
Parents, how is third grade different from when you were in school?

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Lucky Hat Day!

This week, Mrs. Yollis' class read  The Lost and Found, a story
in our anthology by Mark Teague.

The story is about three friends who get lost in the Lost and Found bin! Their lucky hats brings them good luck at the end of the story.


*       *       *      *       *

For fun, we wore our lucky hats today!






When the students first entered the classroom, they came up to the front of the class to share their creations.  Mrs. Yollis noticed that when a lucky hat was in front of the light from the projector, it cast a very interesting silhouette. A silhouette is the dark shape and outline of someone or something visible against a lighter background. Here are a few of the lucky hat silhouettes!


 Here is what some of the hats looked like up close!

A 5-point star and a 5 dollar bill!


Bottle caps and frogs were poppin' and hoppin' on this hat!

Feathers adorned several hats. Wait, is that a bird's nest?

Eye see a lucky hat!
This number was a fascinating hat. Not only did it have lots of spikes, but it was part hat-part game!

Post-it Notes and playing cards were used!



Even Panda and our new mascot, Beverly, had their lucky hats!








Which hat was the most interesting to you?

Did your hat bring you any good luck?

What lucky items did you have on your hat?