4St @ Runkle

voicethread link

2011-05-02T19:04:00.001-04:00

Dreambirds artwork

2011-05-02T18:43:00.000-04:00

here are two picts I wish to use for my voicethread

My Multiplication Story Problem

2010-03-24T11:33:00.003-04:00

Here's a question for you to try solving. Click on the "comment" to submit your answer:

The Yankees #1 starter is preparing for the start of the baseball season. He is throwing 45 fastball pitches each day, and he follows that with 30 curveball pitches. To finish his workout, he throws 10 knuckleball pitches.* The pitcher will be working out with this routine for 45 days. How many pitches all together will he have thrown using this routine by the time the season starts?

*(Is C. C. really working on the knuckler? Nah, just something to make the story problem more interesting.)

FOLLOW-UP!

Well, it is good to see so many correct answers to my math problem. If you do feel like clicking on the "Comments" link below, now that many 4St students have posted (it is 3/26 now, a day after may original post) their comments, you will find a few opinions that have been offered along with accurate answers. Thanks to all who responded in complete sentences. I appreciate the many comments about the quality of my picture! We will take that under advisement. Also, even thought there aren't too many Yankee fans in this group of commenters, it is encouraging to know that many kids do feel interested in their own local team - I forget the name right now, but I know the name will come up again. It is interesting to note that some of the comments about the Yankees were very polite in disagreeing. Others? Well, not so much. In conclusion, it was a pleasure to read the comments from our awesome class, and I look forward to commenting on each of your own blogs (and answering a challenging multiplication story problem)!

Sincerely,
Mr. S.

Welcome to Open House!

2010-02-25T07:03:00.001-05:00

Happy Thursday, and a good morning to all! Welcome to parents and kids from 4St who are reading this post. It is such a pleasure to have a chance to think and talk about one of the most important – and beloved – skills we try to build in school: reading! It is important to learn how to think while we read, and this is a life-long goal for any reader to develop. This morning, I invite students and parents alike to post a comment below about what reading means to them. What is reading good for? Why do we read? You can also just post a comment about what you are reading now, or a thought about a favorite reading experience you've had.

At the start of the year, the children will probably remember that we had a discussion about this as we learned about working together in Reading Workshop. Many students said that we read simply because it is fun. Others noted that it can build vocabulary, is a way to learn, and can help us become better writers.

It will be interesting to hear if there are any new ideas, or if some of the same ones come up in today's comments. Keep in mind that new comments will not post right away, but we look forward to reading through your ideas from today and putting them up on this page for all to read very soon. So, share your ideas about reading below by clicking on the "comment" link below. Thanks for reading!

My Reading Choice

2010-02-11T08:04:00.002-05:00

I am very excited to be coming back to a book I really enjoyed the first time I read it: "You, Them, and the Others" by E. G. Frontera. This book stands out to me for the way it grabs your attention with the 2nd person narrative point of view. It has these characters that are bizarre, powerful, and a bit intimidating. Manus is blessed (or cursed?) with big hands, and Bucca has a mouth that is immense, as well as an appetite and voice to go with it. We (the main character?) are hiding in a closet amongst armor and weapons as this book begins, and we are seeing each character as they come into our bedroom, which is covered in sand and smells of the sea. It really is a book I am glad to share with the class! Oh, and I forgot to mention - there is a version of the text in Spanish that we have in the room, also. It is cool to try out the Spanish we're learning by trying to read some of this story in that language.

I want to know what you are reading now, and why you are excited about it. Thanks for reading my post!
-Mr. S.

Realistic Fiction

2009-10-25T14:15:00.015-04:00

There are many wonderful connections to be made between those works of fiction that fall into the categories of either being "realistic", "historical", or somehow both. Two books I read over the summer provided a chance to write this compare / contrast post, and also to plug a couple authors I hope I will get to read more from!

Before I go any further, I will try to give credit to the sources of the images above. The books Heart Of A Shepherd (by Roseanne Parry) and Our Only May Amelia (by Jennifer L. Holm) are both worthy of following up on by reading better and more in-depth reviews than you'll find here. I got the images I am using from the blog by a YA author; her name is Cynthia Leitich Smith. Her official author site is listed below...

http://www.cynthialeitichsmith.com/

... and I made a link to her "blogspot" page (which is a tremendous resource) in the "Useful Ideas" sidebar of this blog. This link will also bring you to the source for the two images above.

That being said, the two books I mentioned are ones I would highly recommend, not just individually, but also as an interesting pairing. Both books feature very engaging characters of similar ages who are dealing with challenging demands made on them as they begin to come of age. The books are both set in different time periods, though they are both set in the far northwest of the United States, and the natural landscapes and landforms play major roles in each story's development. Each author makes clear references in "author's notes" or "about the author" blurbs which help the reader understand the connections and resources the authors had to bring their characters to life. Finally, it is each authors' ability to breathe life – through the language and authentic understanding of what a young person would perhaps struggle with in the stories each has created – into their respective characters that so thoroughly impressed me and caused me to write about these two books.

The characters of May Amelia (in Holm's book) and "Brother" (really named Ignatius, from Parry's book) are truly challenged to take on roles that seem contrary or just plain intimidating to each as the books open. May Amelia is as rough-and-tumble a child as you're likely to meet (her voice seems evident in some of the episodes of "Babymouse", which is another Holm creation), and the demands of growing up in a barely-tamed frontier setting, right around 1900 in the state of Washington, do not seem to be allowing her to begin in any way to live up to her father's wishes that she begin behaving "like a proper lady". She is the only girl ever born in her settlement, and she desperately hopes for a chance to have a new sister. Brother, on the other hand, is coming to the realization that he will be in charge of running the family ranch in eastern Oregon, once his father is sent of for a tour of duty in Iraq. With all of his brothers away at school or in the service themselves, Brother is not feeling up to the demands of the ranching responsibilities which, though he will have his grandfathers help with, he perceives as overwhelming when he considers some of his fears around the ways of handling life and death of animals in this setting. Both children struggle with parental figures that are either gone (Brother's mother) or distant and quite gruff (May Amelia's father), though each has close, yet complex, bonds with siblings among the large families they in fact grow up within. Both characters must deal with devastating family losses that arise in the course of the stories, though each does manage to find a means to grow from the difficult experiences. This is, to me, the main thing to seek out – character change and growth – while reflecting on the outcome of a realistic fiction story.

Well, so much for the opening paragraph's other items! Essays are truly challenging to compose at internet lounges like the one I am writing at now! The other points I might continue writing about must be done later. Any questions or comments? Please feel free to post... editing suggestions also welcome, as usual!

Finally, one last thing: The graphic novel titles are still "all the rage" in my book browsing. Kids in 4St are sticking with the "Bone" series, and these books need no extra publicity. I do hope to be able, some day, to get the books in the MouseGuard series out to interested readers in the classroom. Who knew it would be an NYT bestseller??!

In the meantime, please check out the author/illustrator's page – for some reason this image CAN be linked to the website "from whence it came" – Click On the Black Axe thumbnail below.

Worlds of Wonder

2009-10-12T13:53:00.029-04:00

Ever been this close to a shark? The separation between the worlds we live in are incredible to observe and learn from. Sometimes the actual barriers are – in and of themselves – what incite wonder and amazement. Without the glass, this little kid and the animals would have other concerns...

Speaking of other worlds, the two entries so far from the Stephen Hawking collaboration aimed at younger science / adventure (?) readers provide a couple more titles for a new genre of books I like to call "chapter/graphic" novels. Diary of a Wimpy Kid books are among those that engage even reluctant readers. The "George" books take it a step further and I hope will be as enthusiastically embraced during reading times. Here are the images of the covers. Click on the "Secret Key" link here:

http://www.georgessecretkey.com/

You'll be taken to the series' accompanying website. It's fun!

I got one image from a science blog that I commented on – you can visit the discusion by clicking HERE.

Another title that caught my eye - great name:

Frankie Pickle and the Closet of Doom is another title / character I could see being widely enjoyed by the 8-11 year old set. Click here (on the name of the author): Eric Wight has a link thru the publisher.

Other titles / characters / series I'd love to include mention of (and will, if any comments ask for further types of these books) would be Oliver Ho and Lunch Lady. Actually, go ahead and click on the "Lunch Lady" boldface. A quick search found a link that hooks you into the latest news and ordering info. Clickers be warned, though. I was only barely approved to explore that website; running low on time, I do not know what lies beyond the L.L.'s intro. screen. Proceed at own risk (I'll beg off any cafeteria food jokes). Again, pardons for any errors; the links take time and editing is a luxury I'll only have time for if there seem to be others reading this! Constructive edits and suggestions will be welcome. Next time: Realistic Fiction, and maybe a comic book series or two!

New for Graphic Novel / Comic Interests

2009-07-11T16:43:00.026-04:00

DRAGONBREATH!
NURK?!

Dragonbreath and Nurk are two publications by Ms. Vernon that I thought would be fitting leads for this post. I saw "Dragon" in a bookstore, and it seemed nicely designed with a good amount of text to read. The character, "Danny Dragonbreath" looks promising. A little like Tyler from the PS238 comic series (the kid at super-hero academy without any evident superpowers), Danny can't breathe fire, so he's got to find other ways to make his mark. Didn't spend too much time looking at it, so I am

limited in the info. that can be shared here. "Nurk" wasn't on the shelves, but was mentioned in some promotional material. I was intrigued with the full title - Nurk: The Strange, Surprising Adventures of a (Somewhat) Brave Shrew.

The author's website is linked:
Ursula Vernon
Sorry no link in with those cover images, like last time!

BABYMOUSE!
Jennifer Holm and brother Matthew are creators of the "babymouse" series. These books are quite a hit already with kids in the class. Ms. Holm's other books, chapter books for middle-grade readers, include some really memorable girl characters. Our Only May Amelia is one of the titles I read recently that I really found myself enjoying because of the main character. I found the historical fiction component very appealing, also.
Nice website they have for Babymouse. Click the book cover image to the right.

Jennifer Holm
Click the link above to visit Jennifer Holm's author website. As of this post date, she's got a link to Comic Con – San Diego there (doesn't seem active); I guess she was featured on a panel relating to "graphic novels for kids" there this past summer Don't even get me started on how much I'd like to check out Comic Con – just wouldn't want to wear the crazy outfits. Ugh... I forgot Halloween is this month.

Finally, the link to this season's Indie Next List for Kids is linked to the image below.

Autumn '09's list includes a new book by Kate DiCamillo and a collaboration project for Neil Gaiman among other things! Lots of ideas for next time came up while writing this post. I hope there will be a next one soon.

Thanks for tolerating any errors; gotta run and may not have read this as closely as I should. Please comment with any suggestions / edits.

Book Recommendations

2009-07-02T11:53:00.041-04:00

In honor of a couple of my

younger, eager-to-read (I hope!)

cousins from VA -Shannon and Jack-

here are two book suggestions.

If there are any 4th (or 5th) graders

reading this, don't worry. Either book

would be fine for you guys.
Shannon,
just so you don't feel like we're going easy on you (gonna be a 9th grader!?), there's a note on the end about a title for definitely older readers. I apologize for the messed up font size. Part of an experiment with HTML that's going to end in the next paragraph.

OK, here goes!

Sea Queens:
Women Pirates Around the World
is written by Jane Yolen and illustrated by Christine Joy Pratt. I love this style of illustration, first and foremost. When I saw Sea Queens, with its artfully done front image and lovely lettering, I *did* judge it by its cover and picked it up. This book's fearsome female subjects come from a wide time range (more than 2500 years, if my math is correct). The author - known for, among other things, assembling excellent collections of stories and tales with wonderful illustrator collaborations – uses short chapters to investigate a range of pirates who happened to be of the female persuasion.

I hope my technical skills are up to this: click on the picture of the book and you should be able to go to the website of the book's publisher. There you will find a wealth of reviews and other images. You'll also be able to set up an order, if you so choose.

For me, however, this book has the sort of pen/ink drawings that look almost like woodcuttings (I am a big Michael McCurdy fan, not to mention being a Barry Moser worshipper – both pretty great using woodcuttings). The artist's work adds to the kind of "nautical feel" I got from reading this book. Aside from my own enjoyment, this book will give me something to offer the kids who, when learning about the fascinating role pirates played in history (and, to some extent, how they are affecting our own global commerces today), ask: "Were there any girls or ladies who were pirates?" These Sea Queens can hold their own with any story of Captain Kidd or Blackbeard. This post is coming to an end, but move down to see the other suggestion(s).

Book Recommendation (another part)

2009-07-02T08:37:00.005-04:00

OK. That's enough messing with the font size and editing HTML. This post will stick to the agenda. Next book suggestion is one that we ordered for the classroom this year, but since it came in right before vacation, it didn't get a lot of time to be featured. A few kids were intrigued by the illustrations, though there is a haunting and surreal quality to them. While the Bone series – that's the one that most kids would grab when I took out the graphic novels bin – captivated "the masses" with its comic-book format and clear, colorful (in the re-released format, anyway) pictures, this book's layout and mysterious, thought-provoking images may have required more time to connect with. However, the reward for sticking with this book is well worth the puzzling (a reward in and of itself)! The book, already??? It's Shaun Tan's Tales From Outer Suburbia. It's a collection of short stories (more than a dozen) along with some pieces that aren't as clearly structured with the familiar beginning-middle-end format. You could just create your own stories as you scan the pictures and wonder how they all connect. Reading the text, younger readers may need some help – this is the kind of book an adult and child could share and enjoy together. I could picture a parent reading the text while the child pores over the artwork, maybe. It might take some time and even fortitude to delve into the tales, but Outer Suburbia is a "place" worth the effort. Click on the book cover image to visit the publisher's page (I hope this isn't illegal to use it here? I got it from the site I am linking it to.)

By the way, if you think you recognize the name of the author, it might be because of his previous book, The Arrival. That was some kind of awesome addition to the library – "a wordless graphic novel", as some call it – and I talked about it so much last year, I needed to chill out on it. BUT, do visit Shaun Tan's website for a look at all of his other titles and some other interesting stuff!

Well, this is really a problem with my writing style. It seems these blog entries are too long! Anyone who made it this far must be a good reader, and probably can endure a lot of rambling. So, rather than make a new post for my final suggestion FOR OLDER READERS only (grade 8 and above) I'll bury it in this post.

I bought the book The Knife of Never Letting Go, by Patrick Ness, after a month or so of the title knocking about my skull, like a strange tune on the radio (ever hear "Day N Night" by Kid Cudi?) that I would try to remember and listen for again. The book is the first in a series called "Chaos Walking" and after I finally picked it up, it sat around for another month collecting dust. I was struck by some of the clever tricks the printing features – no pictures in this one – and some of the ways the narrator "worded" things. After struggling through the first forty pages or so, I found the book's momentum and there was no putting it down after that. It deals with the protagonist's forced flight from his home, alone, as some menacing developments in his community suggest a fearsome battle or event is about to happen. I don't want to give away any more of the plot by explaining any further – this blog entry is soooo long already! I just gotta say, though: one event in the story threw me for such a loop, sticking with me the next day in school to the extent that I found I had to explain to my class why I seemed a little distant for an hour in the morning. The book has some powerful scenes that are quite strong in imagery and intense at an emotional level (call me a sucker). I remember reading Stephen King's stuff in middle school, so I might not have minded some of the stuff in this book as an adolescent kid. While it is scary at times, however, there isn't much that's inappropriate for a seasoned teen reader – one or two bits of colorful language along with the aforementioned imagery which captured remarkably the "chaos" and fear which you'd imagine occurring as you flee a menacing force. I cannot wait for the next installment of this series! Hope you enjoyed these suggestions! For more, try the Indie Next List for Kids.

Do you think
all these links work?
Thanks for reading...

Timing Is Everything...

2009-06-27T14:22:00.002-04:00

...or nothing. It is a little awkward to be still posting on what is going on in the post-4th grade lives of our 4St Blogging Alumni. However, there are some new additions to our "Link List", as well as a more prominent placement (higher up on the right sidebar). So, check out Patrick's and Alex's work. See new of the trip Sam is on, and if you have any new blog addresses to share, please post them via the "comment" feature. It's gonna be a great summer!
-Mr. S.

P.S. Found this image of John D. Runkle and thought it gave a nice inspiration for any summer scholarship endeavors!

Bloggers of 4St - Keep It Up!

2009-06-26T16:57:00.003-04:00

We have finished our year in 4St for the 2008-9 school year. It is a little sad to have to say goodbye to students I have enjoyed working with all year, but it's a little easier when I know I can hear from them over the summer. Perhaps the newly-minted bloggers will provide us withy links to their pages. As I hear about kids exporting their blogs successfully to their own new oogle accounts, I will try to post their web addresses on this page. Look to the right sidebar – near the bottom – to see the links we have collected for now. Please, if you visit one of the kids' blogs, leave a friendly, positive comment. Everyone, have a great summer!

P.S. The image to the left was drawn by a former Runkle student (I want to check spelling before I give false/errant info.) who gave me a hand-drawn copy to put on a yet-to-be-realized Runkle Ultimate disc. What I hope to order, some day, is a set of discs that are known under the name "Ultrastar". These are made by a Minnesota-based company called Discraft – not the product referred to as a Frisbee® which is very similar, but not the same. Discraft will print discs with custom logos, so we could perhaps get a disc with this image (provided the artist will still give permission!)
Incidentally, we use the Discraft Ultrastar for most of our after-school ultimate games.

Let's Get Updated!

2009-06-08T11:16:00.003-04:00

It has been a long time since our last post. We'll be working on finishing up any incomplete posts today. If you have time, you will enjoy leaving a picture of your faithful rock for all of us to remember it by!

Click HERE to check out a website you might enjoy working with! You can always use KidPix, as well!

4St Students' Posting Begins!

2008-11-17T19:59:00.004-05:00

Today, with the patient help of Ms. M. and lots of persistence from the students in the class, we learned how to log in on Blogger and upload our first self portraits! Many kids have their first post finished, and everyone should be officially "bloggers" by Wednesday! Indeed, these kids are a handsome, interesting group! Y'all are so intriguing, it seems we have a mystery follower posting friendly comments on each of the blogs (see photo above)! Though the disguise makes it really hard to tell who this reader could be, perhaps you might want to see the image left behind.

What a Week!

2008-11-05T18:38:00.022-05:00

The end of October and the beginning of November have been filled with a number of exciting happenings for all of us in 4St. There have been two recent field trips, a class open-house breakfast, a little Halloween celebration, and a few little lessons on a very important and memorable Election Day 2008. Having the help of so many parents and the energetic participation of our students throughout these last couple weeks has been quite invigorating to experience, from this teacher's point of view! I will post a few photos – something visual to help convey an idea of several of the happenings. I want to explain that the photos are purposefully missing specific faces of us, since I have some questions to clarify about posting pictures of any of us in a public way. I believe we will get to have more lively and personal images up here soon, but to keep it easy for now, let your imagination work – or ask your child to talk – as you read a little about some of our days' happenings.

Lots of opinions and discussions as Election Day approached! We learned about the Electoral College and made predictions about the number of Electoral Votes the winner would receive. As of this morning, Obama had 338 votes, and Isaac's guess of 334 is stunningly close! But, if any other states go for Obama, Emma's guess of 350 could be the closest.

After a late Election Night for many of us, Wednesday's trip to Plimoth Plantation required us to perk up and travel to a "living history museum" in Plymouth, MA. It was a balmy fall day!

We visited the 1627 English Village ...

And we also got a chance to talk with museum guides dressed in traditional attire and recreating daily life in a Wampanoag village while explaining how various tasks were performed.

Last week, just before Halloween, we took a trip to Cambridge to investigate some science concepts around rocks and minerals. We toured the Harvard Museum of Natural History's gorgeous Hall of Minerals exhibit, and hung around...

for a while to take part in a "Discovery Class" where we realized the vast array of minerals we use each day in our lives!
Here are a few:

Many of us were inspired by our focus on rocks to bring in a favorite rock, and others just looked out for one that could be used in class for an observation activity. I tried my hand at capturing the spirit of my rock using a drawing program at Art.com and I hope to introduce this to the students for them to create portraits of their rock. Here is the portrait I made of my wishing rock, "Hope."

It was a lot of fun making this! Click here to watch the process, and maybe make your own!

Finally, it is time to say thanks to all the parents and kids for a great couple weeks. Thanks to all of our chaperons (too many to list here!) , photographers (a couple of Debby's pictures are used here), and pumpkin contributors (Sandy and her daughter Alex)! We had a lovely pumpkin to add some atmosphere to our breakfast, and after cleaning it out and giving it a quick carving treatment while the class was at "instrumentals" – we had a festive jack-o'-lantern!
Behold, the Great Pumpkin!

Cooperation in Action!

2008-10-23T17:05:00.003-04:00

The 4th grade class in room 201 – better known as "4St" – was so pleased to have Brian join us this week! We're proud of our welcoming spirit and our work creating something festive to hang in the hallway. We're now at an even 20 students, and looking toward the rest of our year together. This week's exciting change to our class, and the success we have all had – 20 strong, now – getting some images on the student pages (and this one, too!) deserves a new post! We'll be posting more in the near future, and you will be able to soon check out our self-portraits (not quite yet!) by clicking on any of our names to the right. Hope to have you back as a visitor again.
-Mr. S.

Greetings to 4St Students!

2008-10-20T18:54:00.002-04:00

You are seeing a "practice post" that I thought would give you a way to know you have arrived at our future class blog. This is the "main page" which will link to all of your blogs, and also to some other sites we might look at. Who knows what will be linked here in the future? It is exciting to think about, and I look forward to the things we accomplish together, and as individuals. Happy blogging! Welcome to Ms. Murphy, also, as one of our contributors and administrator!
Sincerely,
Mr. S.