They took my favorite saying and put in on a poster of a wolf with a lovely sentimental statement and then ALL THE KIDS in the school put their fingerprints in the wolf silhouette. The different grades had their own color and the teachers put their prints in too. The legend on the card shows the grade's color. This gift is so amazing and thoughtful and it will hold a cherished place in my house for the rest of my life. Thank you to all my friends at Grout and all the children I have worked with . . . I love you all so much and will never forget you. Thank YOU ALL!
Hi Kids, Now is the time that I must say goodbye. Many of you have heard that I am retiring. I am doing so, however, against my wishes. I wish that I could stay a few more years and run the computer lab for you. I will keep the Portaportal and my blog going for you and the teachers. I hope they still have computer lab at Grout in the coming years. Four things I want to share with you:
1. Always be KIND! 2. Always THINK FOR YOURSELF! 3. Learn to read for pleasure. 4. Enjoy the beauty of life.
These four things are the most important rules you can follow. By following these rules, you will help make the world a good place and that is all we can ask of you . .. the rest is extra. I love you! Thank you for all the good times and for being GREAT GROUT KIDS! Hugs & Kisses Ms BarbaraWolfsong
Sylvia
We say Goodbye to all the 5th Grade students. Watch as they grow in this fun video:
I had a cluster of something that looked like seeds or eggs on my deck chair. I moved the chair and it expanded to let me see that there were baby spiders in the cluster. I think they were cold and when I moved the chair so the sun was shining on them they moved away from each other. I'll keep an eye on them and maybe they will leave the nest soon and I can use my chair again.
Hi all you spider lovers . . . I couldn't resist sharing this picture I found on the Internet. I'm not sure if it is real or not, but I do know that these jumping spiders are real. The picture makes it look big. These spiders are as tiny as a pencil eraser. I'm not sure that the drop on it's head is real or Photoshop. I wish I had the time to teach you how to do that kind of thing.
The year is coming to an end and we will soon be doing our Summer things. Take the time to look for wildlife, wherever you may go . . . and I will take the time to share my discoveries with you.
Last week an Anna's hummingbird was lost in Room 103. Once it got in, it wasn't able to get out. Principal Annie tried to tempt it onto a flower by holding a potted plant up towards the frightened little thing until her arms got tired. The teacher darkened the room and opened a window in hopes that it would follow the light. The children left the room and had their lessons outside in order not to frighten the tiny bird too badly. Finally, later in the day, our custodian, Tim, was able to gently scoop it off a desk and take it outside.
Kids have asked me what the red coloring in their Flaming Hot Cheetos is, and I have told them that it is probably made from a certain kind of crushed beetle. I was wrong. The ingredients in Cheetos are:
Ingredients
Enriched
Corn Meal (Corn Meal, Ferrous Sulfate, Niacin, Thiamin Mononitrate,
Riboflavin, and Folic Acid), Vegetable Oil (Contains One or More of the
Following: Corn, Soybean or Sunflower Oil), flamin hot seasoning
(Maltodextrin, salt, Sugar, Monosodium Glutamate, Autolyzed Yeast
Extract, Citric Acid, Artificial Color (Including Red 40 Lake, Yellow 6
Lake, Yellow 6, Yellow 5), Partially Hydrogenated Soybean and Cottonseed
Oil, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Cheddar Cheese (Cultured Milk, Salt,
Enzymes), Whey, Onion Powder, Whey Protein Concentrate, Corn Syrup
Solids, Natural Flavor, Buttermilk, Garlic Powder, Disodium Phosphate,
Sodium Diacetate, Sodium Caseinate, Lactic acid, disodium inosinate,
disodium guanylate, nonfat milk, Sodium Citrate, Carrageenan) , salt.
The food coloring is artificial and not very good for you . . . not like the more natural food coloring made from bugs.
Much of the red coloring we use in food is actually made of crushed bugs. Yep, creepy, crawly bugs.
Cochineal insects, as they’re known, are scale insects that, in their pre-crushed state, look like this:
Cochineal insects can be found on prickly pear cacti in
the North American deserts, where they spends most of their lives
sucking away on the plants’ sap. They produce a bitter, crimson-colored
pigment called carminic acid, which they store in their guts and use to ward off predators.
To make red dye, manufacturers dry the cochineals and grind them into a powder. The powder then turns a bright red when mixed with water.
It may sound gross, but humans have been brightening up life with the crushed guts of cochineals for centuries.
The Mixtec Indians of pre-Hispanic Mexico even farmed and domesticated the bugs, using the dye to color their clothing and show off their social status. By the 1900s, Americans began using cochineal dye to color a variety of foods, including sausages, pies, dried shrimp, candy and jams.
But when word got out that the crushed-bug dye was in Starbucks’ beloved Strawberries and Creme Frappuccinos in 2012, people started to freak.
Starbucks ditched the dye
completely, but cochineal dye is still widely used in the food industry —
just check the labels on colored Jell-O packages, candies and yogurts
for the words carmine, carminic acid or cochineal extract.
And while cochineal dye definitely has an ick-factor, the alternatives are synthetic, including one dye that is made from coal tar sludge, according to Bob Alderink of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.
“Cochineal dye has been around for centuries. It is a natural, renewable resource,” Alderink explains in a video. “And in my opinion, it’s just plain cool.”
Look at this amazing group of K-5 principals in SE with Reed College's President and staff. Their 5K run for our schools netted a great relationship and money for our schools.
One of the fun things to do on a computer is make animations. An animation is a cartoon and there are many different ways to learn how to do that. I plan on adding a little application called Stykz to these computers. It is a downloaded application and cannot be used on the Internet. However you can download to your personal computers from here: http://www.stykz.net/
You can also get more information on making animations from this web site.
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I made a little video to give you some idea of how to use Stykz. . . . watch:
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You can also make an animation on ABCya. Make sure you watch the tutorial before you attempt to make your animation. http://www.abcya.com/animate.htm
Here is a simple little GIF I made at abcya: ABCya Animation page
A GIF is a small movie which repeats itself over and over. I usually have a little GIF at the bottom of my blog.
Here is something fun to try out. The picture looks like a mish-mash of green leaves, but if you stare at it, real close, as if you are looking at something in the distance, you will see the secret 3d picture inside. It's kind of tricky. I pretend I am looking at trees far away and then the hidden picture appears and I can slowly move my eyes away to enjoy the special effects of the art.
See if you can figure out what this is and enjoy!
This next one should be pretty easy . . . but take your time and see if you can make the 3d art pop out at you . . .
Click to pop out the picture
Don't be discouraged if you can't see the 3d picture. I wasn't able to do this trick until recently. You've got to relax those eyes . . .
On September 22, 2016 an owl was trapped under the playground shelter. It finally was able to free itself and being exhausted rested on the chain link fence. One of our 4th grade teachers, Ms. J. Williams, was able to get this snapshot of the bird. Many of the kids enjoyed this vision until it was gone.
Since we are near the Kenilworth park, with all its big trees and spaces we have been able to see some great birds. In the past we have seen Bald Eagles, Red Tailed Hawks and other birds of prey and many flocks of song birds.
The teachers are learning to blog! We already have several blogs published. Remember that a blog will change as time goes on. Just like mine does.
The teachers will learn how to add pictures, videos, links, slide shows, documents and all kinds of exciting things. They might even add homework assignments. Now I am sure that you will love that!
Sometimes in our lives we all have pain We all have sorrow But if we are wise We know that there's always tomorrow
Lean on me, when you're not strong And I'll be your friend I'll help you carry on For it won't be long 'Til I'm gonna need Somebody to lean on
Please swallow your pride If I have faith you need to borrow For no one can fill those of your needs That you won't let show
You just call on me brother, when you need a hand We all need somebody to lean on I just might have a problem that you'll understand We all need somebody to lean on
Lean on me, when you're not strong And I'll be your friend I'll help you carry on For it won't be long 'Til I'm gonna need Somebody to lean on
You just call on me brother, when you need a hand We all need somebody to lean on I just might have a problem that you'll understand We all need somebody to lean on
If there is a load you have to bear That you can't carry I'm right up the road I'll share your load
If you just call me (call me) If you need a friend (call me) call me uh huh(call me) if you need a friend (call me) If you ever need a friend (call me) Call me (call me) call me (call me) call me (Call me) call me (call me) if you need a friend (Call me) call me (call me) call me (call me) call me (call me) call me (call me)
Together, we will learn to be polite and safe on the Internet. We will remind ourselves that anything we put on the WWW (World Wide Web) will often be available to anyone . . . anywhere. We will learn that anything we put on the Internet will be a reflection of ourselves . . . is it kind? is it cruel? These are important lessons for us all. We will learn to respect ourselves and others at all times. In the Portaportal under the "Technology" headings I have links to Digital Citizenship games. Here is one we use often for 3rd - 5th grade: https://www.digitalpassport.org/educator-registration/studentLogin username = 1st initial and last name | Password = 1st and last initial and birthdate
Hope your Summer is making you healthy and happy. I hope you are finding good books to read.
I am enjoying my summer. My two cats, Sylvia and Lucy, are so happy to have me at home. I have been enjoying reading a few books and getting some chores done and hanging out with friends.
I've taken a few pictures of creatures in my back yard and in my house. I have a new picture of a cellar spider (Daddy Longlegs) with her newly hatched babies. I put that picture in the "Be Kind to Spiders" page (linked on the right of my blog). Here is one of a Swallowtail butterfly on a purple butterfly bush flower in my back yard. I took this one and shared it on public media and then Ms J. Williams shared one she took of the same subject!:
Ms. Wolfsong
Ms. Williams
I have been having the best time of all following groups of scientists on their study of the ocean. This is the Nautilus explorations which they broadcast live via this link: http://www.nautiluslive.org/. They discuss the creatures of the deep and we can watch and listen as they discover species, take samples and just marvel at the richness of the sea.
Here is a shot of "A Swiftia Pacifica
stretching out behind a crinoid, with a few shrimp clinging to its
structure. A shark, ray or skate egg casing is seen to the left. " This was seen off the Oregon Coast.
Right now the Nautilus (the ship) is off the coast of California. The scientists have their equipment and cameras on board the ship and manipulate the equipment on the diving vehicle, the Hercules.
Hercules
Go to http://www.nautiluslive.org/ and watch the activities live. Even if they are not diving you can watch the scientists and others working on the ship. I have been making lists of some of the creatures I have seen so I can look them up later in Google or a marine web page: Glass sponge; brittle stars; bamboo coral; tunicate; sea pen; black coral; bivalves; sea cucumber; primnoid; basket star cup coral; squat lobster; and sea star wasting disease . . . and more! Keep enjoying your Summer and keep track of the cool things you see, learn, and do. Hugs to all! I will add more here if I come across anything more interesting . . . back to watching the Nautilus activities. Ms. Wolfsong
