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Mrs. VazquezI’m addicted to learning new things! I love DARK chocolate, need more coffee than sleep, tech-crazy, and deathly afraid of frogs. I’m a die-heart Warriors fanatic, mom, wife, and math/science coordinator. And I’m loving all of it (except the frogs)!

Magical Melting Art

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Don’t you hate it when you leave your crayons out in the sun and they melt and make a big mess? But if you look closer at that big, melted mess, you can see some pretty amazing color patterns and unique drippage! We decided to take the idea of melting crayons and turn it into some amazing art pieces.  We are really proud of our work!  Each piece is very unique and represents the unique interests and personalities of the members in “The Hornet’s Nest.”IMG_0288

Each student came up with their own unique idea and then we melted the crayons on a 12 x 12 piece of canvas.  I think they did an awesome job!  We hung these up for Open House and received lots of “OOOOhhhhs” and “AAaahhhs.”

What are some of your favorite art projects?  We’d love to hear about them.  Please post pictures or links in the the comments below!

 

 

 

 

 

Walk Our World 2015

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Foot PrintRoom One is participating in the “Walk Our World” global event.  We are working together with classes all over the world to walk the circumference of the Earth.  We need 87,653,456 steps to make a complete trip around the world.  Each student has been wearing a pedometer and recording steps in a log on a daily basis.  Each Friday, we calculate our totals and enter them on the official Walk Our World website.  To learn more about this project click HERE.

We also created a scavenger hunt for this event and we want YOU or YOUR CLASS to join us.  It’s fun, engaging, and FREE!  All you need is an Instagram account (free) and a copy of the scavenger hunt items.  So grab a parent, teacher, or family friend and get walking.  Count those steps as you cross those items off your list.  For a copy of the rules and item list, click Walk Our World Scavenger Hunt.

If you have other items that would be fun to add to the list, please leave your ideas in the comments below.  We will be happy to add new items to the list!  Happy walking…and clicking!

Hj Mohd RoCreative Commons Licensesanno Hj Omar Ali via Compfight

The Day My Crayons Quit

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My class and I read, The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt.  While reading the book, we discussed such topics as point of view, author’s voice, and evidence that supports a claim.  We decided that we should write our own letters from objects in our lives that have been misused or mistreated. Here’s an example:

photo (3)Dear Mrs. Vazquez,

Hello? I mean…is anyone there? Seriously! I’ve been sitting on the shelf next to your “Mrs. Vazquez’ Hot Read” sign for weeks now.  Some “HOT” read.  You haven’t picked me up in forEVER! I thought we had something.  I thought we had a connection. We were spending lots of time together…day after day, page after page. Where’d you go?  Did leave me for another? I’m not going to wait around until you’re ready! There are other hands to be filled.  I was anxiously waiting to fell you what happened to Paul, but you never came back.  I’m sorry if I was boring you with Eric’s story, but if you come back I promise to show you some conflict. Please give me a second chance.  I will make it up to you.

Your dusty book,

Tangerine

P.S. Erick has seeeecrets…

Check out some students examples:

The Day the Tennis Ball Left by Lucas

The Day My Pen Quit by Nelly

The Day the Bars Quit by Estella

 

MakerSpace

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makerspaceOur class had the opportunity to visit the amazing MakerSpace at our county office.  The students had a blast learning about Sandboxes and how they function.  They have been coding and programming in the classroom, but this experience allowed them to see it in action.  Some students programmed lights to flicker and change colors, while others experimented with temperature and sound sensors.DSC_0712

After tinkering with the Sandboxes, students created LED flowers out of  plastic drinking bottles. This was a perfect project for us since we just learned about recycling and upcycling the week before.DSC_0738

Before leaving the MakerSpace, Mrs. Carlson let us tour the green room.  The students wouldn’t stop talking about all the cool things they learned.  What a great experience!

Have you visited a MakerSpace?  What activities did you do?

 

 

2014 Edublogs Awards

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We are so excited to announce that one of our students was nominated for the “Best Student Blog 2014.”  Congratulations to Mateo for your hard work and dedication to keeping up your blog and making connections.  To visit Mateo’s blog, please click here!

If you’d like to vote for his blog, click HERE to use Polldaddy.  Remember you can vote once per day!

You can also vote HERE using List.Ly.  Don’t forget to like Mateo’s Blog by clicking the “Thumbs Up” symbol.

See full list on Listly

Global Read Aloud

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14th goldfishThis year my class participated in the Global Read Aloud.  This is where we read the same book as other students in different schools around the world.  We chose to read The Fourteenth Goldfish by Jennifer Holm.  We really enjoyed the book and making connections with other students who have also read this amazing book.  If you like science, you’ll love this book!

Here are some activities that we did during the GRA:

Have you ever been involved in a global project like the Global Read Aloud?  If so, please let us know.  We’d love to hear about it.

If you’re interested in participating in next year’s Global Read Aloud, click here to sign up!  

 

Your Digital Footprint…

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Room One has been learning about our Digital Footprints (also known as our Digital Dossier).  As active participants in the Student Blogging Challenge, we were encouraged to discover how our footprint can leave a positive or negative impression.  Here is what we have discovered so far…

 

Take the challenge!  Try googling yourself.  What does your digital footprint say about you?

Here are a couple links to videos that we watched.

Privacy Student Intro Video

Youth and Media: Digital Dossier

Have you found a video that helps people understand digital footprints?  If so, please add the link in the comments.  We’d love to learn more!

The Oreo Challenge

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Have you ever wondered how many OREOS you can stack?  Our class participated in the O.R.E.O project.  In the OREO project, you have two chances to stack the tallest tower you can before it falls down.  We wrote a hypothesis and estimated that we could stack about 20 OREOS before the tower collapsed.  When we were finished, we analyzed the data and found the class mean or average.  After crunching the data, we discovered that our class mean was exactly 20.  Crazy, right?

 

Our top stacker was Marcia.  She was able to stack 26 OREOS before her tower came crashing down.  But what really surprised us was our Kinder Buddies.  Later that afternoon, we visited our Kinder friends and supported them in the OREO challenge.  One girl was able to match our maximum stacker by creating an OREO tower 26 cookies tall.  Take a look at the action by watching our slideshow.

Oreo Stacking by Room One on PhotoPeach

After we were finished stacking OREOS and crunching data, we carefully scraped out the oreo guts and used them to make sculptures.  The students had so much fun and made some pretty awesome sculptures.  Take a look at our OREO gallery by viewing the slideshow…

Oreo Sculptures on PhotoPeach

In the end, I challenged the whole class to learn the OREO hand game by the end of the week.  Most students took the bait and was able to complete the challenge.  As a matter of fact, they are still perfecting it while standing in line at lunch and after recess.  They are even teaching students from other classes and family members at home.

Has your class ever participated in a challenge like this?  Would you like to participate in a challenge with our class?  If so, please comment below and share your ideas!

 Photo Credit: Daniel Oines via Compfight

Eye On It!

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After my class analyzed the lyrics to “Eye On It” by Toby Mac, we decided to create a video.  Watch the video and tell us what you think about our interpretation of the lyrics.  Have you made a video with your class before?  If so, please share the link in the comments below.

Create a WordFoto

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I came across this cool app for the ipad as I was looking for an “All About Me” project to start the year.  The app cost $1.99, but the end product is priceless.  I used my own child as a model since we are out on summer vacation (although he will be my student next year).  Do you have any other Back-to-School ideas?  Please comment below.wordfotoHere is a link to the app in the itunes store:  Wordfoto