Mrs. Yollis' Classroom Blog

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Family Blogging Month :: India

Family Blogging Month is a great way to build an online learning community!

Photo by Mrs. Yollis

Heloise's aunt, Gaelle, lives in India, and she left us an outstanding comment. She shared some information about that Asian country in a comment:

In her fabulous comment, Gaelle mentioned Diwali and Mahatma Gandhi. BrainPop offers videos about both Indian topics.

Diwali Video

Mahatma Gandhi BrainPop Video

You can also learn about India via

World Book Online!

Research some facts about India and share with everyone! Remember, do NOT copy sentences! That is plagiarism! Instead, take notes and put your facts in your won sentences!

Family Blogging Month :: Palindromes

Family Blogging Month is a great way to build an online learning community!

Abigail's dad, Frank, noticed that he could make a word out of the Family Blogging Month key. Like any good blogger, I commented back to him.

Conversations in the comment section help bring the blog to life! Here is the exchange:

That comment led to a comment from Will and Frank's daughter, Abigail:

Those comments lead to a discussion about palindromes.

pal • in• drome (noun)
a word, phrase, or sequence that reads the same backward as forward, e.g., madam or nurses run.

A numeric palindrome:

Photo by Mrs. Yollis

Those comments lead to a discussion about aibohphobia, the irrational fear of palindromes!

What are some palindromes that you know?

Sunday, November 1, 2015

November is Family Blogging Month

Mrs. Yollis and her students ♥ to share what they are learning and experiencing. In an effort to include more family members in our online community, we are proclaiming:

November is Family Blogging Month!

Each student made a list of their family members. After looking through the archive, students selected specific posts tailored to the interest of a particular relative.

We're inviting everyone to comment: moms, dads, brothers, sisters, grandmothers, grandfathers, uncles, aunts, and cousins.

We welcome friends, too!

Students will be inviting their family and friends to participate in a conversation!
Maybe we'll get some 2-point comments!

(We frequently evaluate the comments that our blog has received. In order to earn the 2-points, a comment must be error-free and add something to the post. Many of Mrs. Yollis' third graders have already met the challenge!)

If you don't know what to say, here is a video made by Mrs. Yollis' third graders.

Learn FIVE tips for writing a quality comment!

If you don't know How to leave a comment, here is a video tutorial about HOW to leave a comment on our blog.

Here is the key we will use for Family Blogging Month.

What do you think of our idea?

Who are you inviting to be a part of our online community?

Please leave a comment and introduce yourself!

Monday, October 26, 2015

Monstrously Fun Collaboration

Having a classroom blog provides a plethora of opportunities to collaborate and create with classes all over the world. Recently, we were invited by Miss Jordan in Victoria, Australia, to participate in a monstrously creative writing project.

Miss Jordan's pupils are grade 4 students.
They have a classroom blog just like us!

The directions for the Monster Project:

Step 1: Students draw a monster using their imagination.

Step 2: Students write a paragraph detailing the monster.
Important descriptive details to include are color, shape, and size.

Step 3: Students trade the descriptive paragraphs with a blogging buddy. This was done via Google docs.

Step 4: Students draw their buddy's monster using only the descriptive paragraphs.

Step 5: Students share and compare the original drawings. We used a Google slide show. As you compare the two drawings, what do you notice? (Sometimes a detail or two gets left out of a paragraph. Sometimes students miss important words when reading. )

Step 6: Publish the results on the class blog and have fun reading and comparing!

Rulers were employed to be sure the measure was correct. Since our Australian buddies are on the metric system, we used centimeters.

Photo by Mrs. Yollis

Students made a chart of attributes.

Describe each body part: Color? Shape? Size?

Although we tried our best, we learned that it is very difficult to give written instructions. It is important to include all relevant details!

Visit our blogging buddies' site with their monstrous slide show!

TODAY, we looked at the monsters in our Google Presentation. In groups, we compared the monster drawn by our Australian buddy to what we actually wrote. We made a T-chart and labeled it Correct or Incorrect.

By Thursday, leave a comment!

What words or phrases did you use that were effective?

What did you leave out?

What sentences would you add to make your drawing better?

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Teaching Commenting Skills

WHY have a classroom blog?

Here is a video I made with my second and third graders about the value of blogging. I hope it convinces you to start a class blog!

Blogging has many parts: the post, the comments, and the sidebar.

If you do a good job with all of the parts, your blog will be more interesting.

Today we will focus on quality comments!

Content is key!

In our class, we evaluate our blog comments. A one-point comment is a general comment that doesn't add very much to the post. Example: I like your blog. Please visit mine!

A two-point comment adds something to the comment conversation. A commenter might compliment the writer in a specific way or add new information. Another idea is to make a connection. Maybe the post reminds you of an experience that you've had. Share that connection! Try to end your comment with a relevant question. That way, an interesting conversation can develop.

What should I say in my comment?

Here is a video made by Mrs. Yollis' students called How to Compose a Quality Comment! It offers FIVE tips to help you take your comments to the next level!

We like to open our comments with a greeting and end with a closing. We choose to do this as it makes it easier for us to follow the conversation within a comment section.

-For Advanced Bloggers-

Some bloggers like to use HTML code to make their comments better. Learning to write HTML code, or HTML tags, is a somewhat simple way to take your comment to the next level.

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is a language.

* * * * *

To write HTML code, use the following symbols:

Important: Do not add a space between the HTML tag and the word or sentence.

1. To put text in italics, place this HTML code around the text:

The sentence will look like this when published:

Bloggers should always proofread a comment before publishing.

2. To make text bold, place this HTML code around the text:

The sentence will look like this when published:

Bloggers should always proofread a comment before publishing.

3. To make a hyperlink, it gets a little tricky.

Use the following HTML code around the URL and add your own link word/words:

[The URL is the address of the web page. It starts with http://www…]

The HTML code below:

Will become this hyperlink when published:

Mrs. Yollis’ Website

Sometimes it is hard to remember the HTML codes. I keep an HTML word document on my desktop with all the common codes, especially the one to create a hyperlink. Here is a video demonstrating how easy it is to a create a hyperlink if you have the code set up in a Word doc.

If you like to add fun shapes...here are those codes!

What did you learn about quality commenting?

Why is it important to proofread a comment before pressing publish?

Have you ever had a conversation in a comment section?

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Autumnal Equinox :: So Long, Summer!

FACT: Seasons change as we orbit the sun.

Spring • Summer • Autumn • Winter

Twice a year, around March 20 or 21 and Sept. 22 or 23, our sun shines directly over the equator. That event marks the beginning of spring or fall. What is the equator?

Public Domain photo

e·qua·tor

[əˈkwā•dər]

noun

an imaginary line drawn around the earth equally distant from both poles, dividing the earth into northern and southern hemispheres and constituting the parallel of latitude 0°.

In March when the sun shines directly over the equator, the event is called the spring or vernal equinox. In September when the sun shines directly over the equator, the event is called the fall or autumnal equinox.

The Autumnal Equinox occurred in Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. on Wednesday, September 23, 2015. at 1:22 A.M.

Things to look for in fall:

1. Deciduous (di•si•jo͞o•əs) trees will change color and drop all their leaves. Evergreen trees will not. Evergreen trees will stay forever green. :-) Why do the leaves of deciduous trees change color? Use World Book Online to research. Remember, do NOT copy sentences. That is plagiarism, and it is against the law! Take notes, and then turn your notes into your own sentences.

Photo by Grandma Barb

2. On the equinox, there are exactly 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night. The day and night hours are equal. However, as we continue into fall, the days will get shorter and the night hours will get longer. This pattern will continue until we reach the winter solstice. That is the longest night of the year and marks a new season, winter.

3. Because the northern hemisphere is now tilted away from the sun, the days will start to become cooler. People will change their behavior. What sorts of behavioral changes will your family make as the days get shorter and cooler? (In southern California, we have mild climate. We don't get too cold in our community.)

There are many fall festivals or holidays. Watch the BrainPop video about fall to learn about the many harvest festivals celebrated. Do you celebrate any of these autumn holidays? If so, please share so we can learn from you!

Check out the FREE BrainPop video about Fall.

4. Some animals in the northern hemisphere will change their behavior. As fall leads to winter, some animals migrate, or move, to a warmer area. Others try to fatten up for the winter they know is coming.

Again, BrainPop Jr. has a FREE video about fall.

Check it out by clicking here.