Let the Winter Olympics Begin!

February 12-28, 2010

Mrs. Yollis and her students are excited about the 2010 Winter Olympics!

The official website of the Vancouver Olympics is filled with important Olympic information.

The Olympics are special because athletes who have been training for a long time, many for their entire lives, meet together for this international competition. Each competitor represents his/her country.



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Although Mrs. Yollis' class has friends from around the world and will be following all the games,

they are very excited to watch their own Team USA as they compete with

other Olympians.

 

If you would like to sign-up and receive the latest information on Team USA, click here. 

If you would like to see some Olympic sites on Mrs. Yollis' website, click here.

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The Olympic motto is Citius, Altius, Fortius!

In Latin, that means Swifter, Higher, Stronger!

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I will be adding interesting videos/stories here throughout the Olympics: 

(Let me know if you find any to add!)

1. Halfpipe video
2. Figure skating video (a triple lutz-triple toe loop) 
3. U.S. Aerialist (double full full full)
4. Medal Count by Nation
5. Olympic Fun Facts 

6. Meet the Olympic Mascots!
7. Learn about the Olympic Medals
8. Snowboarding Half-pipe Trick Library 

 

Please leave comments throughout the Winter Olympics! 

Keep the conversation going!

What sport did you enjoy watching and why?

Which athlete or team demonstrated the best sportsmanship?

Do you know any Olympic facts to share?

Join: Internet Weather Day Project!

February 23, 2010 is Internet Weather Day!

Sign up and be a part of it!

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Last February, Mrs. Yollis' class was part of a fabulous Internet Weather Project sponsored by Switlik Elementary School in New Jersey.

We learned a lot about weather and geography from the experience.

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FUN WEATHER LINKS on Mrs. Yollis' Websiste!

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Here is some information about our experience on February 17, 2009.

The class went outside and gathered data about the weather at noon.

 

Students paired up to read their thermometers. The temperature was between 64˚ and 65˚F.

Although the air seemed still, we were able to get a reading on the wind meter.

The white ball registered approximately 2.5 m.p.h.

Switlik teachers collected and shared the information. It was interesting to compare the weather and learn about new places!

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Weather Day is February  23, 2010

Here is some information from Switlik School about how to participate.

 At noon on February 23, 2010, record the following: 

• temperature (indicate Celsius or Fahrenheit), 
• precipitation (rain, snow, or none), 
• sky conditions (sunny, cloudy, partly sunny) 
• snow depth (how many inches or none). 

• You are welcome to send pictures (jpeg format preferred) and comments about your weather. Please send the results by February 26, 2010. 
• The final results along with comments and pictures will be posted on our website. 
• We will email an Excel spreadsheet to everyone by March 2, 2010. 
• On our website: Switlik Elementary  you can click Weather Day February 23, 2010, for a list of participants. You can also check our website: http://switlik.jacksonsd.org  and click Weather Projects on the left to view our previous weather projects. 

If you are interested in participating please email: 

by Wednesday, February 17, 2010, with the following information:

Name of School:

Grade/Class:

City, State, Country:

Contact person:

email address:

We're looking forward to February 23, 2010! 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Much Love From Mrs. Yollis' Class!

What was your favorite part of the day?

What surprised you about Sweetheart Math? 

Did the box from Paul have more or less hearts?

A Variety of Van Allsburgs!

Recently in our reading textbook, we read The Garden of Abdul Gasazi, Chris Van Allsburg's first children's book. 

It is a clever and mysterious story about a dog named Fritz who runs into Mr. Gasazi's garden. Fritz is possibly turned into a duck by Mr. Gasazi, but the reader never really knows for sure. Mr. Van Allsburg leaves that up to the reader to decide.

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Because Mr. Van Allsburg is such a talented writer and has written so many wonderful books, Mrs. Yollis read three more Van Allsburg books.

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The first book we enjoyed was Bad Day at River Bend. 

The story seems to take place in an old western town. Everything and everyone in town is being covered by a colorful greasy slime. However, at the end it is revealed that all the characters are in a young boy's coloring book!

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The second one we listened to was called Two Bad Ants.  

Through their experiences in the jar of crystals, which turn out to be sugar, these ants learn that they are better off staying with their colony rather than venturing out on their own.

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Finally, Mrs. Yollis read The Widow's Broom to us. 

It was an eerie tale in which a witch's broom comes to be owned by a widow. The neighbors are very upset about this enchanted broom who does all the widow's chores and want to do away with it. However, the widow comes up with an extremely clever plan to trick the neighbors and keep her broom!

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Which of these stories did you like best and why?

What other books by Chris Van Allsburg have you enjoyed?


Please leave a comment and give us your opinions.

Tessellation Tuesday!

Today Mrs. Yollis' class learned that when plane figures combine to cover a surface without overlapping or leaving any space between them, those figures tessellate.

The repeating pattern formed by the figures is called a 

tessellation!

Above is a radiating tessellation. 

(The pattern tesselates from the center out.)

Here is a linear tessellation. 

(The pattern is tessellating in a straight line.)

We had fun exploring and even creating some beautiful geometric artwork!

Enjoy!

 Our Tessellations on PhotoPeach

Do you see any tessellations in your house?

What is the shape? 
(We bet you're seeing tessellating squares!)

Visit the Pacific Ocean!

By Anais

Last weekend, I went whale watching with my family. It was windy, and sometimes the mist from the ocean got us a little wet. Please watch my slide show to see some of the wildlife in the Pacific Ocean!
 

Visit the Pacific Ocean! on PhotoPeach

Here are some diagrams of baleen whales

and toothed whales.

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Have you ever been whale watching?

Do you have any questions that I can answer?

Please, leave a comment!

The Polygon Movie!

Mrs. Yollis' class has been learning all about geometry.   Last week, they learned about  the CIRCLE!

This week, the students are learning about POLYGONS! 

(A polygon is a closed figure with straight lines.)

In this 2008 drama, Circle tries to get a starring role in the new movie, Polygons, but is forced to accept the fact that

A CIRCLE is NOT A POLYGON and never will be.

Don't worry, it has a happy ending!

Click here to watch the movie!


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Do you have any polygons in your house?

Which shape was your favorite character?

Join World Maths Day!

March 3, 2010 is World Maths Day!

It is a fantastic Internet project for students.

Mrs. Yollis' class participated last year and really enjoyed the experience!

World Maths Day Blog

All students were given a Username and Password today so they can prepare for March 3.

Good luck! 

Let us know which countries you have played against!

Happy Groundhog Day!

Today, February 2, Punxsutawney Phil came out of his burrow at Gobbler's Knob in Pennsylvania.

He saw his shadow!

Tradition says that:

If Punxsutawney Phil 

sees his shadow... then winter weather will continue for six more weeks.

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If Punxsutawney Phil 

 does NOT sees his shadow... then spring weather will come soon

Official Punxsutawney Phil Link

Pennsylvania's Groundhog Day Site

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What do you think of  Punxsutawney Phil?

Do you know of any other traditions?

Circular Circles!

In our class, we are studying geometry, and

we are learning about circles.
 

Mrs. Yollis' necklace was made of CIRCLES.

The playground had many CIRCLES. 

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CIRCLE VOCABULARY 

We  learned that circles have a center point. It is the same distance from anywhere on the circle.  

In addition, we  learned that a line segment drawn from the center point to the outside edge of the circle is a radius.


The diameter is a line segment. It passes through the center and has endpoints on the circle.

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After the vocabulary lesson, Mrs. Yollis' students were ready to make their own CIRCLES.

Chalk was tied to a piece of yarn. The yarn was the RADIUS. 
A student sat in the CENTER. 

Keeping the RADIUS tight,

the chalk was dragged around the CENTER creating a CIRCLE!.

 

It was hard to keep the chalk the same distance from the CENTER. 

Finally, we had a beautiful CIRCLE.  

Screech, our local hawk, was too busy hunting to be interested in circles.

 

After the class circle was drawn, 

students broke into teams to create their own CIRCLEs.

 

  

One group used the CENTER from the class CIRCLE.

Now there were two CONCENTRIC CIRCLES!

 

 

 

After the CIRCLES were made, it was time to measure the RADIUS and DIAMETER.

The DIAMETER of this CIRCLE was 6 feet.

We divided the DIAMETER in half and got a  RADIUS of 3 feet.

 

Here we used a benchmark unit of 1 yard to predict the DIAMETER. 

Some students marked off their guess using giant steps. 

Each team's circle had a different radius, and of course, a different diameter!

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Some students confuse a circle and a sphere.

A circle is 2-dimensional.

A sphere is 3-dimensional.

Here is a quiz. Do you know the difference?

Circle or Sphere? on PhotoPeach

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How do you like our circles? 

What circles can you find around your house?

Try measuring the radius of a circle you find at home and let us know what the measurement was.

Remember, to find the diameter, double the radius!