The Electronic Pencil

Here is the last digital math book for the school year, created by Reilly as a version of Mario.

You can either view a version of the Powerpoint of Super Mathario Brothers or watch a video version:

Last month, as we finished up our unit on poetry, Mr. Hodgson decided to do something a bit different this year. Normally, we collected poems from students, photocopy them and hand them out to students as a way to become published poets.

This year, we went a step further. All students had the opportunity to donate one of their original poems for a book project. Mr. Hodgson took all of the donated poems and then used a self-publishing site called Lulu to create a real book of poems that you can now purchase from Lulu directly. The cost is about $10 per book, including shipping. But you can download a PDF copy of the book for free.

You can order by clicking on the Lulu icon above or by following this link.

This is what the cover of the book looks like:

You can download a digital copy of the picture books by clicking on the title:

• A Day in School 1
• A Day in School 2
• Adventures of Willbur
• Adventure to Oz
• Alien Invasion
• Around the World
• Arty Arithmetic
• Ashleigh and Lauren’s Adventure
• Backpack Trouble
• Birthday Party
• Bob Knows Kung-Fu
• Carl and His Test
• Casey and Stephanie Make a Cake
• Curly the Blob
• Doughnut Shapes
• Dr. Shmoots
• Dyslexia Costs
• Floppy’s Party
• Frying up Shapes
• Geometric Jones
• Luigi’s Big Mistake
• Marty Mathematician and the Rescue of Numbers
• Math and Sports
• Math Magician
• Math Monster
• Math River Race
• Milly Moo and Hammy Hamster Make a Cake
  
• Ooie Gooie
• Pacman
• Phill’s Math Adventure
• Pinocchio the Great
• Pocahontas Has Fun
• Rakin’ in the Bacon
• Sid and the Geometric Juggler
• Snow White and the Seven Mathematicians
• Sweet Pi
• The Awesomeness of Peanut Butter
• The Math Adventures of Mimi and Arnold
• The Infinity
• The Perfect Outfit
• The Ugly Operation
• The Scavenger Hunt
• The Three Little Pigs
• Tim and the Equal Sign
• Tinker Bell’s Slumber Party
• Mr. Turtle and Buttercup Go to the Pet Store
  
• Which Pie is Which?
• Why Do We Need Math?
• World of Shapes

Thank you for reading our books.

Please feel free to leave a comment here for our young writers.

And enjoy this little video:

Here are two more pieces of student writing on the Darfur situation:

The genocide in Darfur is awful, and something needs to be done. So far the genocide has killed 400,000 people! It has left another 2.5 million people homeless! I think a way to stop the killing is to allow the United Nation’s Peace Keeping Force in. With their help I think Darfur would become a safer, less violent place. It would also help the fighting become less violent. In conclusion, I think Darfur needs help, and we can help in these ways.

I am writing to tell you what I think we should do to stop the genocide in Darfur. What is going on there is wrong and should be stopped. Innocent people are getting killed or losing their homes. We can help them by trying to re-build villages and building more shelters. Another thing we can do is have fundraisers. If we raise a lot of money we can definitely either send them food or help re- build their huts. Those are just some of the ways we can make a difference.

And you can listen to their podcasts.

As part of our involvement in a global project to bring the spotlight on the genocide taking place in the Darfur region of the Sudan, some students recorded their persuasive paragraphs as a podcast.

You can listen in:

• Mr. Hodgson’s Class
• Mr. Chamberlin’s Class
• Mrs. Rice’s Class
• Mr. Meunier’s Class

Today, you will be posting your persuasive paragraphs that call for the end of war in Darfur through peaceful means to both this blog (use the comment link) and, more importantly, to the Many Voices for Darfur Blog Project.

Here are the guidelines for posting at the Many Voices for Darfur site:

• Sign your post with your first name only, plus the state and country we live in (Massachusetts, USA)
• Click on “anonymous” in the comment section of the post
• Once you publish your comment, it cannot be edited, so proofread carefully before posting

Ready?

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE MANY VOICES FOR DARFUR SITE

Here are some of the other schools involved:
Mr. Mayo 8th grade English teacher (Maryland, USA)
Mrs. Drexler 3rd grade teacher (Florida, USA)
Mr. Moses (Las Vega, USA)
Mrs. Morgan (World History class, Fredericksburg, Virginia)
Ms. Gilcher (10th Grade English, Naples, FL)
Mr. Woessner, 6th and 7th grade (St. Louis, MO, USA)
Ms. Fruhling, 6th Grade Humanities (Suffern Middle School, NY)
Ms. Jaffe, 6th Grade Humanities (Suffern Middle School, NY)
South Paris Collaborative, Mrs. Parisi and Ms. Southard, 5th Grade Class (Long Island, NY, USA)
Mrs. Osteen, 6th grade English (Norcross, GA)
Ms. Laufenberg, 7th-8th Grade, Social Studies, Mount Elden Middle School, Flagstaff, AZ
Ms. Toto, 11th and 12th Grade Social Studies, Upper Merion Area High School, King of Prussia, PA

The world is not always a peaceful place. On the continent of Africa, in the country of Sudan, there is a region known as Darfur that is in the midst of a crisis brought on by war. This situation has already led to 200,000  deaths and more than 2.5 million (yes, million) people driven from their homes and communities.

Unfortunately, the government of Sudan is not very interested in bringing the war to end. But we can help, as part of an effort by students from around the world, known as Many Voices for Darfur.

Here is how we shall do begin:
Click on the question link to learn more.

1. Where is Darfur located?

2. Darfur is not a country. It is a region in the country of _______.

3. Find a “fascinating fact” about the geography of Sudan.

4. Why are rebels in Darfur upset with the Sudan government?

5. The Sudan government created a horse or camel mounted army made up of
ordinary people to fight the rebels. What is this army called?

6. What does this army do to non-Arab or darker skinned residents of Darfur?

7. Read about 15 year-old Sumaya. How far did her family walk to the refugee camp?

8. The genocide in Darfur has claimed _______ lives and displaced
over _________ people.

9. Who is the dictator in charge in Sudan?

10. What is “Darfur Drawn”?

11. What is going on in Leila’s (age 9) picture?

12. List at least 3 things you can do about Darfur.
I will later explain how we will post your writing to both this blog (easy for you now) and on the Many Voices for Darfur blog.

– Mr. H

Here are the comics made by students following a few days of talking of ways to stay safe when they are online at Internet sites:

• Go to the 2008 version of the Crazy Dictionary
• Go to the comprehensive Crazy Dictionary (2005-2008)

Here are some examples from this year:

Satalementy: (2008) A type of taco that is made from muddy beetles. Listen to the definition
Scabiphobia- (2008) The state of being scared of scabs. Listen to the definition
Scunck: (2008) Something that smells. Listen to the definition
shalalenday- (2008) A big yellow puffy afro with sparkles in it. Listen to the definition
Skuzzbombs: (2008) The act of expressing anger in a humourous way without swearing. Listen to the definition
Sloggle — (2008) A device that acts both as googles and can induce sleep. Listen to the definition
Snackdidle- (2008) A food that you can eat a lot of. Listen to the definition
Sneezel - (2008)A green, soft, machine used to wipe your nose after you sneeze. Listen to the definition
Snoogle - (2008) A babyish word for ow! Listen to the definition
Sotiv - (2008) A drink like soda. Listen to the definition
Spiamster - (2008) A hamster that goes crazy. Listen to the definition
Stavico — (2008) It means you watch television. Listen to the definition
Sunamundua - (2008) A very mean person that likes too scream. Listen to the definition
Suolubaf - (2008) The act of being very smart! Listen to the definition

Mrs. Rice had students create panel stories to explain volcanoes.