Welcome Back, Nonno!

Buongiorno!

Today our friend Nonno was in town from Italy! Italy is a country in Europe. He brought his Italian friend, Francesca, with him.  Last year, Nonno was a fabulous guest blogger for our class. His series about the regions of Italy was called Where's Nonno?

His grandson, Ben, was in Mrs. Yollis' third grade class last year. Check out the blog he earned, Ben's Next Stop.  His current post is about his trip to Hawaii!

Nonno has many fabulous posts in our archive. However, here is a direct link to his post about Barletta, Italy. It features the giant in the fantasy story we read called The Mysterious Giant of Barletta by Tomie dePaola.
Look for Francesca standing next to the Giant of Barletta!

We learned about Italy, Mont Blanc, Italian food and regions, and how Italians greet one another! (A kiss to each cheek!)

Here are some links to a few of his past posts to peruse! 
Peruse is a fancy word for read.  

They're full of facts and photos!

Barletta 

Cisternino

Genova

Alberobello

Otranto 

Matera

Arrivederci!



What did you learn from Nonno and Francesca?

Do you have any question about Italy?

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?

Two New Student Blogs!

Mrs. Yollis is pleased to launch two new student blogs!
A big thank you goes out to the parents of Nicolas and Ben. They are the administrators of their child's blog and are partners in this 21st century project!

Please support these two new bloggers with a comment!

Click here to visit Nick's Picks!

 Click here to stop by Ben's Next Stop!

Please check out these two new blogs and perhaps support them with a comment! 

Audio Poem: ☠ Captain Conniption! ☠

Ahoy, me Hearties!

☠

     Today's poem is not for the faint of heart!     

Poetry Pirates are Kristin, Ben, Andrew, and Ileanna!

ARGH!

☠

Yo, ho, ho! Ye landlubber!

What do you make of this pirate poem? 

Leave a comment or walk the plank! 

Ben's Utah Adventure!

Mrs. Yollis' students have been learning how to write a paragraph using Step-Up to Writing. The structure of the paragraph is identified using the following colors:

Topic Sentence

Main Idea Sentences

Supporting Detail Sentences 

Conclusion Sentence

Ben wrote about his recent trip to Utah, and this paragraph is a perfect example of paragraph structure!

(Click to enlarge.)

 

Here are some great shots from the Olympic Training Park!

Go, Ben, go!

Have you ever written a paragraph using the Step-Up to Writing structure?

Do you have any questions for our writer/skier?

3-D Shape Extravaganza!

By Ben, Sydney, Trent, and Ethan

In math, Mrs. Yollis’ students have been working on geometric 3-dimensional shapes. 

3-D shapes have flat faces, straight edges, and pointy vertices. 

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One 3-D shape is a cube. It has six square faces, twelve edges, and eight vertices. 

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 Another  3-D figure is the cylinder. This space figure has two circular faces, zero edges, and zero vertices. 

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Rectangular prisms have six faces, twelve edges, and eight vertices.  

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A recognizable  3-D shape is the cone. It looks like an ice cream cone. The cone has one face, zero edges, and one vertex. 

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One very unusual 3-D shape Mrs. Yollis’ students have learned about is the square pyramid. The square pyramid  has five faces (four triangular and one square base), eight edges, and five vertices. 

  *     *     *     *     *     

 

The final 3-D shape our class  learned about is the sphere. It has no faces, edges, or vertices. 

Poor sphere.

:-(

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Here is a PhotoPeach show we put together!  See what the faces of the shapes look like!

3-D Shapes Extravaganza on PhotoPeach

3-D shapes are extremely fun to learn about!

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Thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Kim for the photo of the pyramid at the Louvre Museum!

 

Do you know any 3-D figures we didn’t mention?

How many faces, edges, and vertices did you find?