We ❤ Seuss!

Read Across America Week is coming! In ICT this week, in addition to their other tasks, most classes had a chance to briefly visit Seussville, the website devoted to all things Dr. Seuss-related. At this extensive site, there are games and activities, links to books and movie trailers, and even a spot where children can create their own accounts so they can save their online creations. My favorite place is the "Mulberry Street Parade", with music and sound and a host of characters from each of Dr. Seuss' books. I promised the children I'd post the link - so if you're looking for a fun and appealing site to use with your children, check out Seussville at http://www.seussville.com/!

Northern Lights

Image from NASA

Late in January, there were many reports of Northern Lights in Europe, especially over the Scandinavian countries. As fourth graders were coming into the room for ICT on Friday, parts of this video were playing so they could see the phenomenon. The kids showed more interest than I had anticipated, particularly when they learned that, in the past, Northern Lights have been visible over our area of New Hampshire. Mrs. Bruning shared a wonderful story about seeing them when she and her family were camping.

Students asked that I post the video here so they could access it again. If your child shows continued  interest, you might want to sign up for email alerts with a website called Spaceweather.com. When solar activity takes place that makes the liklihood of seeing the Northern Lights good, I get an email - so I know when to keep my eye on the night sky. I know some day I'll see them again!

Summertime ICT!

Happy Summer! I hope you spend lots of time outside in the sunshine. I hope you read lots of books! And, if you want a little computer time, I hope you like the Tizmos page I made for you to use at home. Click right here to find it!

DES ROCKS! Even in the summer!

Holiday Fun!

There are lots of places online where you can play games with a Christmas theme. Here are a few activities you might like to try:


Make a gingerbread friend at Jan Brett's website.
http://www.janbrett.com/trim_a_jan_brett_gingerbread_friend.html


Decorate a Christmas cookie here!
http://sprintsweets.com/


Even though we have no snow, you can still make a virtual snowman at this site:
http://cyke.com/snowman.swf

Check out the Christmas fun on Kidopop. Looks like lots of other fun there, too! http://www.kidopo.com/

See where Santa is in his travels using this NORAD site. Track Santa using Google Maps or Google Earth. Just be sure you're sleeping when he passes over Danbury! Merry Christmas!

A Gift for You!

In school, we use many free programs but our favorite one is TuxPaint! It's introduced at the kindergarten level, then used quite a bit by the primary grade children for projects and work and also for "play". Even the older kids love TuxPaint - though they don't use it for class at that age!

TuxPaint is a free download for Windows, Mac, or Linux operating systems. You can find more about this program at the TuxPaint website - and you can download your own copy to use at home!

FoodPlay

That "FoodPlay" show the DES students traveled to see must have contained a powerful message! Ever since they saw it, kids have been talking about making healthy food choices, reading labels, and "whoa-foods" and "go-foods". Here's evidence of that - Friday morning Mrs. Sprague was waiting for the milkman to come because the kids drank all the white milk!

 

If you want to see more FoodPlay, visit their website at www.foodplay.com/. There's lots to see and do - there's even a video you can watch if you want to learn to juggle! Keep making good food choices!

Countdown to Christmas

Some of you might like this website. For each day in December, there's a link to information about how Christmas is observed in different countries. For instance, in the Netherlands, children put carrots in their shoes! Why? Click around this website to find the answer!

http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/Xmas/calendar/index.html