Guess where Santa is?

Check it Out!

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays to all of my 4th graders!

Good Luck!

Good luck to all of my 4th graders! I hope you are doing your best for your new teacher.

Love,
Mrs. Cowan

President Obama reads Where the Wild Things Are

Aim High!

If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything! Check out this former Stanton Graduate to see what she is doing now.

Ladybugs! Ladybugs! Ladybugs!

You have to see this to believe it. It is really neat and impressive! Any ideas why there are so many? Hmm....

It's a boy!!

Tuesday evening, the Jacksonville Zoo proudly welcomed a baby boy giraffe. Congratulations!

For a fun place to visit, try Blue Springs down in Alucgua County near
Gainesville. The cost is $10 per person over the age of 5. They have
picnic tables, grills, restrooms, showers, tube rentals and much
more. It is a beautiful place to visit.

Farmers market opens in Town Center | Jacksonville.com

Farmers market opens in Town Center | Jacksonville.com

Shared via AddThis

4th Grader Gets Presidential Pardon for Missing Class | Firstcoastnews.com | U.S. and World News

4th Grader Gets Presidential Pardon for Missing Class | Firstcoastnews.com | U.S. and World News

Shared via AddThis

Photostream

The White House Photo Office has just posted 94 new photos on the White House photostream.  

Have a look.

(President Barack Obama cheers for his daughter Sasha's soccer team at a park in
Washington, D.C. on May 16, 2009. Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)


(Security guards pet a Cheetah that animal expert Jack Hanna and his trainers brought
to the White House, May 13, 2009. Official White House Photo by Samantha Appleton)


(President Barack Obama is reflected in a mirror during
an impromptu drop-by visit with speechwriters in David
Axelrod's office in the West Wing of the White House on
May 21, 2009. Official White House photo by Pete Souza)

 

Read more…

The First Lady: "Today is Just the Beginning"

In her address to the graduating seniors of Washington Math and Science Technology Public Charter High School today, the First Lady told graduates they would be more than ready for the world after high school.

(First Lady Michelle Obama hugs a student during the graduation ceremony for the Washington Mathematics
Science Technology Public Charter High School in Washington, D.C. June 3, 2009.
Official White House Photo by Samantha Appleton.)

The First Lady said she wanted to speak at a DC public school to celebrate the achievements of young people in her new hometown. WMST, which aims to provide a rigorous education integrating science and mathematics with technology, has a 99% graduation rate this year. The First Lady said the school helped prepare its students for success:

They are coming from a school that believes that all children, young people, can learn -- that's an important start; just hearing the stories of these speakers, a school that is welcoming, that is open, where teachers know and love their kids; a school that believes that all students should be able to succeed and should be held to the highest standards; a school that challenges stereotypes and proves that African American and Latino students can excel in math and science.  (Applause.) That's amazing.  So let's be clear:  These graduates will be just as prepared for anything they do, they will be just as prepared as any other student that will arrive at their new schools. 

Despite this preparation, the First Lady said it is natural for graduates to doubt themselves and question their abilities when they first set foot onto their new college campuses. She said that she had these same feelings when she first attended Princeton, but she told students they shouldn't be intimidated:

When you set foot on the soil of whatever campus that has admitted you, understand that you are responsible for your own experiences.  So what I want you to do is own your voice.  Own it.  Don't be intimidated by your new surroundings.   Remember, everyone else is in the same position that you're in.  Be an engaged and active participant in all of your classes.  Never, ever sit in silence, ever.  That first day, raise your hand, use your voice, ask a question.  Don't be afraid to be wrong, don't be afraid to sound unclear, because understand this is the only way you'll learn. 

The First Lady concluded her inspiring message by saying that graduates need to have confidence in themselves, and that they have what it takes to succeed:

So graduates of 2009, with a solid education foundation and a firm hold of your dreams, and with the support of your families and a willingness to work hard, I can assure you, you're more than ready.

  

Read more…

A Neat Bill Peet Video

Dear Parents,

 

     Good afternoon!  We just needed to remind you of a few things before tomorrow's field trip.  First of all, please remember to bring a bagged lunch to school tomorrow.  We will be returning to school late in the day and we will have to eat our lunch in the room. 

     It has also come to our attention that the Marriott now charges $5.00 for parking near the riverboat for the first time.  Third grade will be working hard to fit all of the chaperones on the buses in order to spare this added expense. 

      The end of the year is fast approaching and we have many events planned between now and the end of the year.  Field Day will be one day next week.  We will be sending you additional information regarding this next week.  We will also be sending you information about our end of the year party on Friday, May 22. 

     We have also been asked about FCAT scores.  As soon as we have them, we will be contacting you with them.  As always, thank you for your continued support!

 

Thanks,

Mrs. Cowan and Mrs. McGeachy

Fwd: Secretary Clinton Launches the Virtual Student Foreign Service Initiative

     I recently signed up to receive e-mails from the White House Blog.  I really like the way President Obama is utilizing technology to keep people informed and to get people involved.  The program below sounds like a very interesting program.  Feel free to read more about it.  As a sidebar, I am posting this via email rather than actually going to the blog and posting.  Blogger now has a wonderful feature that allows you to post entries from email and from texts.  Check it out some time!
 

 

Secretary Clinton launched a new initiative today to allow for a rising generation of citizen diplomats to conduct digital diplomacy.

Virtual Student Foreign Service (VSFS) Internships, announced by Secretary Clinton at the 2009 New York University commencement speech, are part of a growing effort by the State Department to harness technology and a commitment to global service among young people to facilitate new forms of diplomatic engagement. The VSFS Internships will be developed over the next year and will seek to harness the energy of a rising generation of citizen diplomats.

Working from college and university campuses in the United States, American students will partner with our embassies abroad to conduct digital diplomacy that reflects the realities of our networked world. By combining the talents of young people across America and the right technology, we can forge the solutions that our century demands.

Sign up to receive more information and updates on Virtual Student Foreign Service Internships.

Join the Virtual Student Foreign Service Facebook community.
 

 

Read more…

Lunar and Solar Eclipse

Our class has been learning about lunar and solar eclipses. A lunar eclipse occurs when the earth is between the sun and the moon. The earth then casts a shadow on the moon. A solar eclipse occurs when the moon is between the earth and the sun causing the sun to appeared to be blocked out. These events occur only when the three are perfectly lined up. Below are some videos that demonstrate these events. You will also find some links below and even a few games. If you have a chance, please feel free to check it out.



Links:

NASA: Lunar Eclipse

Sky and Telescope

Mr. Eclipse

BBC Kids

Compare and Contrast Lunar and Solar Eclipse


Videos:








Games:

Here are Sheffield's newest additions!

The Lionfish Invasion

     Today we read about species invading areas that are not their usual habitat and causing problems.  Apparently the lionfish is one of those species.  The lionfish has begun invading the eastern Atlantic Ocean (near the eastern coast of the United States).  This is now causing problems because the lionfish is a predatory animal that has few enemies in our waters.   It is consuming near 80% of the younger fish in coral reefs in the Bahamas.  Someone might think this is not a big deal but the slightest change in the food web of a habitat can be devastating.   The lionfish consuming that large of a percentage of the juvenile fish depletes the food supply for other species as well.  This ca cause those species to reduce in number and so on and so forth.  Please check out the video above as well as the ones below for more information regarding the introduction of a new species into a habitat and the effects of that introduction.

The Phases of the Moon

The class learned today about the phases of the Moon. Below are several videos that illustrate these phases. Please take a moment to check them out.

Phases of the Moon @ Yahoo! Video

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

Shackleton's Antarctic Voyage

    Our current theme in reading focuses on voyages or journeys.  This past week was spent reading Trapped by the Ice by Michael McCurdy.  It describes the ill-fated journey of Robert Shackleton's Trans-Antarctic Expedition.  His ship ended up being crushed by the ice and sinking in the Antarctic leaving his crew of 27, including himself, stranded in the freezing climate.  Miraculously, all 27 members of the crew survived the ordeal.  What is even more miraculous was that this took place back in 1916 before computers, GPS, and all of those other things that would have made a rescue easier.

  
Here is a link to an even more in-depth video about the journey of the Endurance and its crew.   There are 11 additional videos of almost 2 hours in length total that you can view.  Check with your parents before visiting though.

     Here are some additional links relating to Shackleton's voyage:

Shackleton Expedition Photography

American Museuem of Natural History

Cool Antarctica

Ernest Henry Shackleton

The Earth's Seasons

     Our current unit of study in science is devoted to the Solar System.  The class observed a video today that described the causes for the seasons.  Please check it out.

The Great Wall of China

     We are also learning about the Great Wall of China this week during our studies of the ancient Chinese civilization.  The videos below provide some background knowledge on one of the greatest wonders of the world.  The Great Wall of China is over 5,500 miles long, stretching across grasslands and mountains to desserts and plateaus.  The first emperor of China, Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi, had the wall constructed as a way of unifying the country.   Check out the videos below for more information regarding this amazing sight.

The Terra-Cotta Warriors

     We are studying the ancient Chinese culture this week in class.  The video above features the Terra-cotta Warriors that are currently on display in Atlanta, Georgia at the High Museum of Art.  The Terra-cotta army was discovered in 1974 by a group of farmers digging.   This first area of warriors was called Vault One.  Several years later, two more areas or vaults were discovered containing even more soldiers.  Archeologists were amazed by the fact that each Terra-cotta Warrior is different from one another.  They differ in facial expression, clothing, hairstyle, and even gestures.  Check out the above video to learn even more about this fascinating discovery.

A MUST SEE!

I watched this movie this evening and it was wonderful. It is a must see. If you have some free time this weekend, you may want to check it out.

Have a great weekend!

An Update

Good evening parents,
       I just wanted to remind you of the Reading Celebration tomorrow.  We will be outside most of the day so you may want to put sunscreen on your child before he/she comes to school in the morning.  Your children are also welcome to bring in a towel, bottled water, and a hat.  You are welcome to join them for lunch as well.  We will be eating at 1:10 in the classroom which is later than our usual time.  However, the day will be full of fun activities.  I will be taking many pictures as well.
       I wanted to thank everyone that joined us for our field trip on Tuesday.  The kids had a blast and everything went very well.  Thank you Mrs. Ansley, Mrs. Cooper, Ms. McKnight, Mr. and Mrs. Brundage, Mrs. Duke, Mrs. Siu, Ms. Williams, Mrs. Whitley, Mrs. Snyder, Mrs. Maxie, Mrs. Carter, Mr. and Mrs. Davison, Mrs. Vargas, and Mr. Grant for all of your help!  It was really appreciated.  Thank you!
     I also wanted to thank everyone for sending in all of the materials we have recently run out of.  We now have plenty of pencils again and enough kleenex to last the year.  We are still in need of notebook paper though.  The class goes through quite a bit each week.  A big thanks goes out to Mrs. Belch as well for the box of paper sent in earlier this year.  It is that case of paper that has helped us out these past few weeks with copies since the school is now completely out of paper.  Thanks!
      You may want to also check out the student blog at some time.  Students have been working diligently on their "how to's" and we have been publishing them as they finish (http://cowanspanthers.blogspot.com/).  I hope to have every student publish at least 1 piece.  It will probably take us until the end of the year but it will be worth it.  The students are the ones doing most of the typing.  I simply go over it with them once they are done so they have every reason to be proud of their hard work.
     As always, thank you for all of your support and feel free to contact me anytime.

Thanks,
Mrs. Cowan 

Glogster

Glogster

Countdown to Earth Day: EPA Photo and Video Projects

Begin forwarded message:

Date: April 15, 2009 5:20:15 PM EDT

Subject: Countdown to Earth Day: EPA Photo and Video Projects

Source: White House.gov Blog Feed: WhiteHouse.gov Blog

Author: The White House

We mentioned once before that the EPA is collecting videos and photos in honor of Earth Day, so for the next week we'll pick one we happen to like to tease you with here on WhiteHouse.gov.  For starters, here's "Valley View Farm Sunset 2008," courtesy of user Goddess of Green:

 

Think you can beat that? Head over to the Photo Project.

Read more…

Refraction of Light

Today we learned about refraction of light. Here is a short video about that demonstrates and explains refraction.

Happy Easter!

Where the Wild Things Are

      I saw this on Teach-Love's blog and I had to share.  This looks like it might be a really good movie.  Enjoy!

Chemical Changes

     In surfing the net, I found this video of various chemical changes. If you have a few minutes, please feel free to check it out.

SHARKS!

Today we read all about sharks in our Scholastic News. The students learned some interesting facts from an interview with Nicole Ethier. She is a shark keeper at the New York Aquirium. Check out the video above for more information.

Ancient Egypt

Check it out!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

     Good evening all!  Happy St. Patrick's Day!  Our class had a special snack today in honor of St. Patrick's Day.  We had Lucky Charms Cereal as a snack.  We also did something special with our Lucky Charms.  We counted the marshmallows in 3 boxes and then created graphs of our results.  Check them out below:

Box 1

Box 2

Box 3

     Here is a bar graph comparing all three boxes.  Our class predicted that the hourglass and the green hat would be the shapes found the most.  We were correct in our prediction.

However, we did notice that the number of marshmallows varied from box to box.  We attributed this to probability.  We assumed that since the marshmallows are put in the box at random, then the number of marshmallows would vary from box to box.  So, next time you buy some Lucky Charms, count the marshmallows to see how many your box has in it.  Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The Oriental Institute

Interesting Links

     Good evening!  I hope everyone has had a nice and relaxing weekend.  I just wanted to post a brief snippet about events for the week.  We will be studying ancient civilizations this week in Social Studies so here are a few sites of interest.

Ancient Egypt - This is the British Museum's site devoted to ancient Egypt.  Check it out!

Ancient Egypt For Kids - Awesome site with many links devoted to ancient Egypt.

Ancient Egypt - This is another site designed for kids.

Mrs. Cowan's Virtual Field Trip - These are pictures of artifacts from ancient Egypt that are on display at the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois.

Ancient Rome - This site is all about ancient Rome for kids.

The Romans - This is a site designed for kids that detail ancient Rome and major events.

We will also be focused on fact versus opinion.  A fact is a statement that can be proven.  An opinion is a statement that tells a person's feelings or beliefs.  Here are a few sites to help you tell the difference between them.

Quia Fact and Opinion Quiz

Study-zone Fact versus Opinion 

We will continue to work on using a dictionary as a reference.  On our December benchmark Reading tests, using reference materials was an area of weakness for our class.  Therefore, we are taking time each week to work on using a reference resource of some sort.  Here are some links to help you with using a dictionary.

Using a Dictionary

More Using a Dictionary

We are starting a new unit in math designed to help the students develop strategies for computing differences in numbers.  Here are some links that you may find helpful.

Number Line

Create A Graph

These sites should keep you busy for a while.  I will be posting more as the week goes on.  Thanks for stopping by and see you tomorrow.

Ancient Egypt

Our class is studying ancient civilizations in Social Studies this week. Today we watched a few brief videos relating to Ancient Egypt. Here they are for your viewing enjoyment.

Class Newsletter

ClassroomTimes3-16.doc - Get more Business Documents

Classroom Newsletter 3-9-09

Classroom Times 3-9-09 - Get more Business Documents 

News From Room 205

      Well, the FCAT has begun.  We have two more days of testing and then we are done with the FCAT.   There will be no homework this week because of the FCAT.  I want the students to feel relaxed and rested for the test.  As long as they take their time, they should all do "SPECTACULAR!"  

     In the meantime, I am going to post some cool sites the kids are welcome to visit.

Two Days in May Vocabulary - I made this for the students to use.  Parents should get an email later this week detailing how you can join this site and play the games Mrs. McGeachy and I make that correspond with what we are doing in class.

Prefixes and Suffixes

Maggie's Prefix and Suffix Game

Funbrain's Root Words

GameZone - Past tense practice

Virtual Manipulatives

     Well, these sites should keep you busy for a while.  Remember to check out the poll for the next field trip.  It should be a blast!  Have a great evening and remember to get some rest. :)

Bill Nye The Science Guy: Atoms and Matter



Part 1



Part 2



Part 3

Reading FCATrivia

Reading Trivia

View more presentations from Christine . (tags: reading fcat)

     We held our first FCATrivia Reading event yesterday.  The kids seemed to enjoy it.  I wish we had more time because we were unable to finish it.  Have a great weekend!  Rest, relax, and play!

Women's Rights

Probability

     We are studying probability this week in math.  To help your child better understand this, here are a few links that may be of some interest.

Interactive Probability - This site allows you to adjust the spinner, tally the colors selected and so on.  

Math Goodies -  A site that explains probability and provides a short quiz.

Fish Tank - Another site that allows you to practice using probability.

New Species of Mekong

 
     Our recent issue of Scholastic News featured new species found in The Greater Mekong in Asia.  Mrs. McGeachy found this video that features some of those discoveries to go with that issue.  If you have a few minutes, please check out the video.  Scientists have discovered some very interesting animals in recent years.  What is even more exciting is that scientists can share those discoveries so much faster now with the use of the Internet.

FCATrivia

      Today we held our very first FCATrivia Event. The kids had a blast! It was a fun way to review for the FCAT. Check it out below.

Math Trivia

View more presentations from Christine . (tags: fcat mathtest)

UNF Robot Competition

Polygons

Click here for full screen version

Check It Out

Click on the picture above and it will take you to a neat site where you can put a puzzle together "virtually."

States of Matter

We have begun to learn about the states of matter in science. Here is a video I found that may interest you. Please take a few minutes to check it out.

Happy Birthday President Lincoln

Links for the Week

Spelling City (words for this week)

3rd Grade Skill Builders

FCAT Resources

Fact and Opinion

Evaluation

View more presentations from Christine . (tags: readingstrategies evaluation)

Kingsley Heritage Celebration

Punxsutawney Phil's Prediction 2009

Punxsutawney Phil's Prediction

     Here is video of Punxsutawney Phil's 2008 prediction.  He predicted 6 more weeks of winter last year.  What do you think he will predict for this year?  6 more weeks of winter or an early spring?

Global Warming and Polar Bears

Today in class we read the latest Scholastic News. One of the articles featured polar bears and how global warming is affecting them. We even viewed a few videos on YouTube to further illustrate the growing threat the changing environment plays in making life more difficult for the polar bear.

And now a word from your teacher:

Get a Voki now!

Northside Storytellers League

How much usable soil is there on Earth?

Our class has been studying rock formation, properties of soils, and minerals in Science class the past few weeks. Today the students were able to see a visual representation of the amount of water on the planet versus the amount of soil that can be used for farming. This was eye-opening to say the least. The apple in the photo below represents the planet.

We then cut the apple into 4 equal slices. Three of the four slices represent the water that is found on Earth. This includes both fresh and salt water.

This leaves 1/4 of the apple to represent the land on the Earth's surface.

Of that 1/4 of the Earth's crust, approximately 1/8 of that is considered to be soil that can be used for producing things for our use and consumption.

That is not much soil when you compare it to the size of the Earth. Here is a shot of the apple after we cut it according to the fractions described above.

Latest Wordle:

     In surfing the net this evening to learn all about today's historic event, I came across President Obama's Inaugural Address.   I then placed the text into wordle and this was what I got.  If you have a moment, see if you can spot any patterns.

Drawing Conclusions

Uploaded on authorSTREAM by ttravis

Check It Out

Try This Out!

Here are some sites that may be of interest to you:

Spelling Practice

Fraction Practice

How Rocks Are Formed

Check them out if you have a chance.