Monthly Archives: October 2010

Write On!

And type on, too!

We’ve only been at this blogging business for a few weeks and already our writing is flowing from our minds, through the keyboards, and off to an online audience.

Gosh! This class is on fire for blogging–just take a look at these links. They are choice posts, meaning the topics were not assigned. They have been through several revisions and have been well-polished.

After you finish reading, why not leave a comment. Every writer benefits from feedback and encouragement.

Want to read animals stories? Check out Darion’s post about Scarlett and Kendra’s post about Team K9.
Are you planning to irritate your teacher? Read Amber’s advice.
Interested in outdoor fun? How about skateboarding by Andrew, soccer by Daniel, hockey by Matt, and scootering by Ethan.
Want to remember your dreams? Meghan has suggestions here.
Looking for a creepy novel to read? Arwen has a review.
Do you have a snake or a turtle to take care of? Learn how from Charlie and Jared.
Do you like mythical creatures like Jack? Or Silly Putty like Zach? Or fingerboarding like Jordan?
Are you a history buff? Read about tanks on Greyson’s blog.
Do you have bad luck in the kitchen? So does Maya.
Do you have a fairly odd teacher? So does Jane. Read how she copes.
Do you have a pair of mischievous cats? So does Laina!
Are you a traveler? Read about exciting trips taken by Liam and Reid.
Curious about seeds? Matthew has something to say. And Noah has something to say about talking computer programs.
Does your cat like to dress up? Neither does Max’s. Is your dog always hungry? So is Orion’s.

Watch this space–more writing on the way!

Image credit: Alt-ering by Mathieu Jarry

‘Tis the (Halloween) Season

This post is written by Mr. Carmichael (Yes, that Mr. Carmichael!) over at Building Blocks. You’ll soon find a similar post at Mrs. Braidwood’s Ripple Effect and Mr. Ferneyhough’s Chili Sauce, too. Huzzahnians, I will be sending you to these blogs to comment and connect with our Valley neighbours. Visitors, please feel free to comment here or visit the blogs above and spread the blog luv around!

Do we just want to have fun? Or are we greedy?

Halloween is this weekend. Regina’s Leader Post has some interesting information in its article.

Americans are prepared to spend $5.8 billion dollars on Halloween this year.
Two out of every five Americans are planning on wearing a costume this year.
The money will be spent on candy, decorations, and costumes for adults, children, and pets.
The average American will spend $66.28 on Halloween this year, even during these tough economic times.
This makes Halloween the second biggest money generator for Canadian and American businesses. Halloween follows behind Christmas and leads Back to School for most money spent.

This raises some interesting questions for you to ponder….

Do these statistics surprise you? What do our spending habits around Halloween say about us as a culture?

Are you looking forward to Halloween? What has been your very best costume? What is your favourite candy treat? Do you eat your candy all at once or do you ration it, only eating a few pieces of candy a day?

Looking forward to your spooktacular comments!

Image: Candy Domo by matoutah

Dragon Tales

I can imagine what it’s like when a detective interviews many witnesses–no one tells the same story! So it is for the Huzzahnian Dragon. None of the commenters on this page seems to agree on what the real deal is with this traveling creature. Even the nice folks in Mr. Miller’s class in California can’t get their stories straight–and they met the dragon first! Oh, well. We will just have to find out from the Dragon him-her-itself when he-she-it gets here! Meanwhile, here is a smurged (real word) version of the story…see if you can figure it out (click to see full size).

A new friend?

My goodness, life is exciting for the Huzzahnian Dragon! Who is that on the left? Is it a ________? Are you curious? You know you are! Read the details at the bottom of this page…

Random Chance?

Leave nothing to chance!

Two years ago, a student in Division 16 looked up the meaning of random for us: it means lacking a plan or depending on chance. But in blogging, it’s not wise to rely on chance to keep your identity safe. Take a look at my random facts below. In combination, they tell a lot about my life, but those facts don’t identify who I am, precisely where I live, when and where I do activities, or give that information about my friends or family.

So here are my 7 Random Facts:

I am the eldest daughter of an eldest daughter of an eldest daughter (and my only daughter is also the eldest!)
I love to make quilts.
I have sailed around the world in a tall ship.
I didn’t have any pets as a child, but now we have two Golden Retrievers named Luke and Solo.
My favourite place in the world is Fernando de Noronha, an island off Brazil.
I repeated Grade One, and didn’t learn to read until Grade Three.
I can say “Your baby is beautiful!” in Swahili.

Your task:

Look at the random facts of these students Sophie, Daniel W., and Haley. They have used a numbered list to organize their posts.

Write your own Seven Random Facts. As you write your own, think about covering a broad range of facts that your close friends and family would know about, but that don’t give away too much about you.You are writing a quality post, so proofread and get a second pair of eyes to review your work.

Finally…

After you have written and posted yours, visit and comment on the 7 Random Facts of other Division 4 bloggers: notice surprises and connections–I bet you’ll find other bloggers whose random facts are similar to your own!

Image: Seven about to happen three different ways by fd Creative Commons license

Huzzahnian Dragon heading this way!

This is just too exciting!

Our friends in Mr. Miller’s Room 162 in central California have included us in a very exciting project: they are sending a travel bug our way. Now, who sends their friends bugs? Geocachers do!

Here is our cute-as-a-bug bug, the Huzzahnian Dragon:

According to Geocaching.com, there are 1 210 622 active caches all around the world. It’s an outdoor sport–a hide-and-seek sort of game–that’s only been around for a decade. Geocachers hide things for others to find. Some of the more active geocachers have thousands of finds. Such is the case with VCTrails, an avid cacher who is currently transporting our dragon: he has over 3400 finds to his credit! Some caches contain travel bugs that are on their way somewhere. The Huzzahnian Dragon is travelling to a cache near us!

The dragon started in California, near San Miguel. He/she/it was placed in a cache by Mr. Miller, then sat in the dark for three weeks. Luckily for us, he/she/it was was found by VCTrails who is heading north to–of all places– Vancouver, British Columbia, just a ferry ride and one hundred or so kilometres away!

And what an adventure he/she/it is having! Take a look at these photos by VCTrails (captions added–but I am sure that is what the dragon was thinking): All three were taken at Redwoods National Park. The map at the bottom shows how far the dragon has gone–more than a 1000 km. We are really grateful that VCTrails is going out of his way to show our dragon a good time.

Huzzahnian Dragon: hero, villain, or just a regular guy?

So what is this dragon like? Well, cute for sure, but about other important things? Is it a boy or a girl? Young or old? Friendly? Quirky? Intellectual? What does this dragon eat? Drink? Read? What does he/she/it sound like? Does he/she/it miss the kids in Room 162? (If you are from Room 162, please let us know how you are managing without him/her/it.) Would this dragon be a good partner in charades? Does he/she/it have good table manners? What do you think? We are starting a new page with our best guesses about the Huzzahnian Dragon. Please feel free to add your thoughts there! But if you just want to say hi, or tell us about your geocaching experiences, please comment below. And VCTrails, we’d love to hear from you!

Image credits: Dragon indoors–Mr. Miller Dragon outdoors–VCTrails

Our Year-Long Mission

Believe it or not, we do stuff here all day. Reading stuff, writing stuff, creating stuff, asking questions about stuff, talking about stuff, figuring stuff out. And we find people who know stuff and we get them to tell us about the stuff they do.

All this stuff, well, it would be worthless stuff if it wasn’t stuck together with meaning. Everything we do should lead us to more questions. Especially the Why? questions. Sticking stuff together is our purpose. Our year long mission is to CONNECT.

In thinking about this mission, we brainstormed the ways things, ideas, and people can connect, literally and metaphorically. Then we drew these ideas on puzzle pieces. Being devious, I didn’t tell students what the puzzle would make. And being truly evil, I forced my minions to solve the puzzle in total silence. It was fascinating to watch the hand waving, facial expressions, and written strategies. And, gosh, everyone was pretty excited when they finally figured the puzzle out.

Take a look at the process:

And here is the finished product:

We are serious thinkers.

Ok, not really.

What’s your mission?

Drop us a line, we’d love to connect!