Thursday, October 24, 2013

The Island of Flappy Flap Radio Show



Today, students in the Home School Assistance Program's Creative Learning class, put together the final touches on their  live radio show.  Sound effects were perfected, dramatic voices rehearsed and music was cued.  They survived technical difficulties and persevered.  So proud of how they worked together.

I present to you,  The Island of Flappy Flap, a live radio adventure.  Enjoy!

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Junior Lego Creations!

The kindergarten through 3rd graders have been busy thinking and building with Lego's.  We have had a different theme each week.  The first week we had a "Snack Attack!" and we discussed our favorite snacks and where the snack ingredients come from.  We also talked about all the people who keep our food safe from the farm to the table.  There were many surprising people including veterinarians, truck drivers and the people that stock the grocery shelves to name a few.  The students worked in groups to create a lego model of where applesauce comes from by making an apple orchard, a truck for transporting the apples, and a kitchen with a cook making applesauce.  Our other group worked to create a truck to transport the ingredients needed for pancakes and also a restaurant that makes and serves pancakes.  I am amazed by the ideas and building skills of the students! 

Our second session was called "Body Forward" and we discussed biomedical engineering, which is when doctors, scientists, and engineers work together to create medical innovations to help people. Some examples of this are prosthetic limbs, Band-aids (someone had to come up with adhesive that worked on human skin!), and vaccines.  The students created a special cutting edge x-ray lab to scan the entire body for broken bones.

Today we had fun during a session called "Smart Move."  The theme was transportation and we watched a video about how bananas go from the plantation to the grocery store.  We also watched a video about all of the different way people get from place to place from horse drawn carts to helicopters! The students were challenged to choose an item that needs to be transported and then build the system to get that job done.  One group built an orange grove and moved oranges over bridges and then used trucks to get them to the grocery store.

I can't wait until next week when we think about how things are powered and where that power comes from.  We'll see you all then for "Power Puzzle!"


Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Apples and Bees Galore!








We had a great time at the 3 Bees Farm in Griswold!  After a hayrack ride through the orchard and a walk (or run) through the corn maze, we learned much about apples and bees and how they relate to each other.  Did you know that each bump on the bottom of a red delicious apple represents one bee that pollinated that apple?  The apples trees need bees to carry the pollen from flower to flower and the bees need the nectar to make honey and build their honeycomb.  We learned that the best way to know if an apple is ripe is to just take a big bite and see if it tastes right.  In the picture above, Steve is showing us how they shine the apples up and then sort them by size.  The smaller ones go into cider and the larger ones get sold for eating, baking, applesauce, carmel apples and many other things.  Just thinking about it makes me hungry!  What kind of apple will I eat today?  

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Old time radio program

      


Creativity is happening today in enrichment!  Students are working hard to write their own radio story.  Brainstorming and generating ideas for a story is the first step.  Once the story is written, students will assign parts, and then find music and sound effects to add to their production.  Younger students are working with Tina to make an advertisement to go with our broadcast.  On Thursday October 24 we will record their broadcast live!  




Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Oh Say Can You See


Last week's music class was all about patriotic music.  The kids were pretty familiar with most of the music we sang, but they were shocked, as many are, to find out that the Star Spangled Banner has three verses.  Francis Scott Key penned all of these verses after observing a British attack in Baltimore Harbor during the war of 1812.  When he realized that the Americans had successfully defended Fort McHenry, he set pen to paper and wrote the famous poem.  It was later set to a popular British tune.  In 1931 the US Congress adopted the song as our National Anthem.  


On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines on the stream;
'Tis the Star Spangled Banner, oh long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh, thus be it ever when free men shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation!
Blest with vic'try and peace; may the heaven rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just,
And this be our motto, "In God is our trust."
And the Star Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Francis Scott Key 


Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Flora & Ulysses





This book.  This Thursday.  Brown Bag and Books.

Be there :-)

Linda