Site of the week

This week, we're looking at the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives. This is a great interactive site for teaching your student math concepts that she might be having a hard time grasping. To me and to many math teachers, this site demonstrates what computers best educational use is: teaching difficult math concepts in a way that would be difficult or impossible with physical manipulatives.
This site requires that you have Java installed. Start out with the geometry section, and try rotating the Platonic solids, try your hand at tessellations,, or pretend you've just read Mind Storms bySeymour Papert and do Turtle Geometry

Acclerated Reading Update

Last time I reported on Accelerated Reader, I said"Today, Oct. 29th, we're at 1,507 books and 32, 684,304 words." Well, today, we're at 2,167 books read, and 43,480,623 words read.
Participation in grades 2,3, and 4 is 100%. We're clearly out to break last year's record number of books read.

Free H1N1 Vaccination Clinics Nov 14th ,19th, Dec, 15th

FREE H1N1 Flu Vaccination Clinics
Saturday, November 14th from 9 am to 4 pm (while vaccine supplies last)
Marin Health and Wellness Center
3240 Kerner Boulevard in San Rafael

Wednesday, November 18th from 3 pm to 7 pm (while vaccine supplies last)
West Marin Elementary School
11550 Highway 1 in Point Reyes Station

Thursday, November 19th from 3 pm to 7 pm (while vaccine supplies last)
Manzanita Recreation Center
630 Drake Avenue in Marin City

Saturday, December 5th from 9 am to 4 pm (while vaccine supplies last)
Location to be determined ASAP
Novato

These clinics are for HIGH RISK Marin County residents ONLY:
pregnant women
those who live with or care for infants (under six months of age)
healthcare and emergency medical services personnel
children and young adults (age six months through 24 years)
adults (age 25 to 64) with medical conditions that might increase risk
(such as asthma, heart disease, diabetes, or immunosuppression)

Please Note: Adults age 65 and over do NOT qualify as high risk; public health experts have
determined that adults 65 and over—even with medical conditions--- are less likely to become
infected with the H1N1 flu. Adults 65 and over may receive the vaccine in the future.

***** Only H1N1 vaccinations will be available at these clinics; no seasonal flu shots. *****

FOR MORE INFORMATION about H1N1 flu or flu vaccinations:

Visit our website at www.marinflu.org OR call the H1N1 flu “warm line” at 473-6823
(leave a message and it will be returned as soon as possible).




If you are a person with a disability and require this document in an alternate format (example: Braille, Large Print, Audiotape, CD-ROM), you may request an alternate format by calling (415) 473-4381 (voice/TTY) , the California Relay Service at 711, or by e-mail at disabilityaccess@co.marin.ca.us.

Web site of the Week

This week, I added a new gadget to the Blog- the Links for Parents side bar. I'll be adding sites here every week that your children are using at school or sites that I think are particularly noteworthy. This week I want to talk about the best Periodic Table I have seen yet, The Visual Elements Periodic Table. It requires Flash and Quicktime. For every element, it has the where, when, and who of its discovery; and a brief description of its properties. Used together with
WebElements and the chem4kids periodic table, you have all the information you need for a good webquest.

Reading Rate rockets at Rancho

At the beginning of September, I reported 117 books read, or.looking at the data another way,3 million words read. On Oct.14 , thirty four days later, we're up to 882 books reported read,or 21,151,123 words. Today, Oct. 29th, we're at 1,507 books and 32, 684,304 words. In two weeks, Rancho students have doubled the number of books they're reading(was appoximately 22 books/day,now is 44 per day).

Halloween Parade- OCt.30th details

Rancho's Halloween parade will be in the Multipurpose room and through the hallways on Friday, October 30.

Grades 1 - 3 parade will be at 8:45am.
Grades 4 & 5 parade will be at 9:15am.
Kindergarten parade will be at 11:15am, and ALL Kindergarteners will attend school from 8:05 - 11:30am.

Please carpool or use the United Methodist parking lot on October 31!

NOTE: The parade will run INSTEAD of the usual Friday Flag Salute, so there will be NO Flag Salute October 30.

Please help us make this a fun and safe day by adhering to the following guidelines for costumes:

Costumes must be in good taste and appropriate for an elementary school.
Costumes must comply with the NUSD Board policy dress code (i.e., no bare midriffs, spaghetti straps, etc.)
Weapons (guns, sword, bombs, etc.) and blatant messages of violence are not permitted.
For safety reasons, masks may only be worn during the parade.
Thank you for your cooperation.

Reading Progress report

At the beginning of September, I reported 117 books read, or.looking at the data another way,3 million words read. Today, thirty four days later, we're up to 882 books reported read,or 21,151,123 words. I should explain that we don't count the books read by the students; we count the number of quizzes the students have passed on the books they have read. So the number of tests is always running behind the number of books read.
This year, we started at a distinct disadvantage: our Library Clerk unexpectedly took a leave of absence for family reasons, and the school library was clsoed for the first month of school. We finally found a wonderful substitute library clerk, Martha Paulos, and the library is now functioning well again. This means the kids are reading and testing at a much faster rate than the first month of school. I'm anticipating the number of books read per week here at Rancho to take another big upswing in the last two weeks of October.

Why I haven't been blogging recently...

But why I'm really happy to be alive. On my way to pick up my son from his uncle's house September 13th, I had an unfortunate run-in with a Pick-up truck. The pickup truck won. Miraculously, I walked away from the wreck alive and in one piece. But it took the wind out of my sails for a while, as you can imagine. I had to take some time off, and then I had to get all my projects back on track, one by one.
This is my week for starting up the blog again. Hopefully, I won't have this excuse for not writing again.
View every day as a gift to be treasured.

Another computer donation today

Today we recieved yet another old but serviceable Imac, which we are adding to our pool of reserve computers.
Remember, we take all working computers with the following specs:
Windows:
Windows 2000, XP, or Vista
Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent
CDrom, ethernet, usb all working.

Macintosh
OS 10.1 and up
PPC G4 or better(all intel Macintoshes)

We have given many older computers a new and useful existence here at Rancho.
Just call Cindy to make an appointment to have the computer brought into the school.

We are grateful for all donations.

Amazing Rancho Readers

Yesterday, I wrote that Rancho readers had already read a little over 2 million words.
Today, the school is up to 117 books and 3 million words. Clearly 4th and fifth grade have hit the ground running. I expect that by the middle of next week, we will have finished leveling tests for 2nd, 3rd,4th, and 5th grade, and that all the students will have the opportunity to begin doing A/R testing in the classroom.
It's going to be a good year for reading.

We're off to read again..

As all Rancho parents know, our school loves to read. School has barely started. We're just starting Accelerated Reader quizzes. With only a small portion of the student body having taken a quiz, your children have already read over 2 million words. They read 9873 books last year, up from 9069 the year before. I have the feeling that we're going to beat that record this year.

Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana

It's hard to believe that we're already finishing up our second full week of school.
So much has happened already. We've already set up Type to Learn,Math Blaster, and Treasure Math Storm. We're getting ready to start Accelerated Reader in the classroom next week. We're also in the middle of restarting Treasure Math Storm and Math Arena.

Nearly all of the third, fourth, and fifth grade classes have already done one full lesson on Type to Learn. I'm happy to say that most students did not forget their typing skills over the summer. This year, we have third graders who are already half way through this wonderful program. That's impressive.

We had two second classes start Treasure Math Storm. Because of the work first grade teachers did last year, it went very smoothly. The kids are very excited, because Treasure Math Storm is one of the most popular games in the lab for all grades.

We've started work on a "mini-mac" lab with 15 macintoshes. We're looking forward to starting podcast lessons in third grade latter on in the year.

Both of my my main volunteers have moved on to other projects, so I am looking for volunteers to work in the lab.
Friday I have classes in the lab all day. It's my busiest day, so I'll stop here.
More later.

Welcome back to the Rancho Computer Lab blog-2009

Summer seemed too short in the beginning, but by August, everyone in our family was looking forward to its ending. We had a great time in Yosemite, got to hang out in the back yard, and catch up with old friends-we had a great time. But in the end, it's good to be back at school. I'm expecting my first two classes to come into the lab this week: Mrs. Garaventa's and Mrs. Langfords are coming in to start their Accelerated Reader program. By the end of next week,with help from parent volunteers, I expect to be have all the new classes and new students entered into our system.

Thanks to the PTA, the technology program at Rancho will be growing this year. We'll be introducing video projectors and document cameras into all the grade levels this month. Eventually, we're planning on having them in all classrooms at Rancho. We'll also be evaluating and bringing in new typing software for the lower grades, and more math software for the upper grades. I'm going to be more regular in posting to this lab.
It's going to be a great year.

Update on reading on Multicultural Day

Today, as of 1:00, Rancho students have read 6,248 books or 106,353,344 words. That's 800 books since Break; far north of 200 books per week.

If I were a #15(EB)

By: EB

If I were a color, I would be blue like the sky.

If I were a song, I would a soft calming song.

If I were a car, I would be a suburban.

If I were an animal, I would be a frog jumping from Lilly pad to Lilly pad.

If I were a place, I would be sunny Hawaii.

If I were feeling, I would be exciting.

If I were plant, I would be a fragrant red.

If I were a climate, I would be tropical misty breeze.

If I were a musical instrument, I would be the squeaking clarinet.

If I were a shape, I would be the round circle.

If I Were A.... #6

If I Were A…

By: B.D.

If I were a color, I’d be green, the color of my house and car.

If I were a song, I’d be a heavy metal song such as “Paranoid.”

If I were a food, I’d be fish ‘n’ chips, crispy and scrumptious.

If I were a car, I’d be a Ford F-150 truck, big and tough.

If I were an animal, I’d be an elephant, crashing down trees, being a nuisance.

If I were a place, I’d be Massachusetts, filled with historic sights.

If I were a feeling, I’d be I’d be energetic, smart, and happy.

If I were a plant, I’d be a tulip, bright and colorful.

If I were a climate, I’d be rainy, cold, and wet.

If I were a musical instrument, I’d be an electric guitar.

If I were a shape, I’d be an oval, the shape of my head.

If I Were A... #9

If I Were A…

By: B.F.

If I were a color, I would be orange, like a bright opal.

If I were a song, I would be a jazzy, quick-paced melody.

If I were a food, I would be a tasty delicious ice cream cone.

If I were a car, I would be an energy-efficient hybrid.

If I were an animal, I would be a brown sea otter, riding the waves.

If I were a place, I would be Mars, with its mysterious nooks and crannies.

If I were feeling, I would be happy and creative.

If I were plant, I would be a tall oak tree with children climbing all my limbs.

If I were a climate, I would be warm.

If I were a musical instrument, I would be a group of noisy drums.

If I were a shape, I would be the 3-D pyramid.

If I Were A... #19

If I Were A…

By: C.V.W.

If I were a color, I would be green like the light green leaves of the waving trees.

If I were a song, I would be “Climb Every Mountain” from the Sound of Music.

If I were a food, I would be a sweet delicious lollypop.

If I were a car, I would be a shiny silver Nissan Pathfinder.

If I were an animal, I would be a graceful soaring white bellied sea eagle.

If I were a place, I would be an historical village.

If I were feeling, I would be proud that makes people smile wide.

If I were plant, I would be a bright purple water lily floating on a fresh blue pond.

If I were a climate, I would be a damp breezy wind.

If I were a musical instrument, I would be a quiet peaceful violin.

If I were a shape, I would be a rectangle, the shape of a book filled with wonderful words.

Author's day at Rancho

On Wednesday, famous children's author and illustrator Elisa Kleven was our guest at Rancho. She has written and illustrated many wonderful books such as Sun Bread , The Lion and the Little Red Bird, and many more.
The entire school had a chance to listen to hear talk about her books, show illustrations, and teach a little about how she draws:


The kids were very excited about meeting a real author. They asked more questions than she had time to answer. Many continued their conversations into the classroom and out into the playground. Everyone agreed this Author's Day was a great success.

Progress Report from the Lab

First things first:5202 books read, 64,551,672 words read. Rancho students are the best.
Over the last 30 days, participation in the upper grades has been over 95%, the lower grades over 85%. These are truy amazing percentages. When you consider that these children are just discovering reading, this participation rate truly shows how successful the Rancho community has been in convincing the children that reading is not only important, but it fun. Remember, Success in College has a very high correlation with reading for pleasure.
I'd like to take this moment to put a plug in again for two of my favorite sites. The first is the Marin County Free Library site. The second is the Accelerated Reader Quiz finder site. With the first, you can locate almost any children's book you or your child want to read. With the second, you can make sure it has a Accelerated Reader quiz associated with it. From Sheila Rae the Brave to the Alanna series to Nothing at all to Thirteen Clocks the Marin Library has it all. And if you check the books out on your child's library card, it's free, no matter from which branch the book comes. As I continue to say, it's one of the best deals in Marin. More on what's happening in the lab tomorrow.

Rancho technology update

On Tuesday, I filmed Mrs. Dee's lesson on understanding how cultures differ. She used the simulation training program BaFa'BaFa, one she has been using for years. She split her class into two; one portion stayed in her classroom, the other went to the Music Portable. What did I film? Well, the BaFa'BaFa site describes the training this way:

What happens in BaFa'BaFa'?

After an initial briefing two cultures are created. The Alpha culture is a relationship oriented, high context, strong ingroup outgroup culture. The Beta culture is a highly competitive trading culture. After the participants learn the rules of their culture and begin living it, observers and visitors are exchanged. The resulting stereotyping, misperception and misunderstanding becomes the grist for the debriefing.

What I filmed was the students in the act of observing and visiting another culture whose language they do not speak. They must pick up clues to how this culture works using only their powers of observation. It was truly a wonderful experience to see them so engaged, so passionate, and so perceptive. Ms. Dees was amazed at the quickness with which her students divined the rules of the "other" culture. We're planning on showing them the video we took of them in this "teachable moment" as a way of reinforcing what they learned last Tuesday.

QuickJanuary update

Reading: Rancho students have read 4,068 books, or 67,678,903 words. That's a lot of words. If each word were an inch long, and a carwidth wide, you could drive on them all the way to Butte, Montana.
January has been a time for gearing back up for more exciting times. Lots going on under the hood, but little to show for it yet.

We have installed the new color printer in the lab. 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade parents should expect examples of the use of images in exposition to come home soon.

Fourth grade has started Power Point presentations again, and 5th grade is starting to do a presentation.

We're planning on making a student produced video of Ms. Dee's Wax Art Museum.

The 1st graders are beginning their annual migration to the lab. They seem to be enjoying it, but then they always seem cheerful, no matter where I see them.

We will be posting the same links that your children use in the lab on the Rancho Website. Watch the Library page for more.
Enjoy the warm weather.