A Good Long Full Day

We just finished up Day 2 at ScienceWorks' Read It! Write It! Draw It! Do It! camp.

June 27 – July 1 (1 – 4 pm), ages 7 – 10
Read it!  Write it!  Draw it!  Do it!
Anjie Reynolds
The tale is in the details. We’ll use alliteration, rhyme, and stark lines to create word-image poems like Shel Silverstein; we’ll blast dry ice like Doyle and Fossey, Science Detectives; and we’ll assemble homemade batteries that could light up a dragon’s lair (or at least a squirrel’s nest!). The world of literature will inspire our art, math and science endeavors as we read it, write it, draw it, and do it!

My students (ages 7-10) are amazing in that they're totally engaged, super good listeners, curious story buffs, and creative artists and scientists. I seriously couldn't ask for a better crowd.

Today we read Shel Silverstein's Runny Babbit, wrote our own Runny-Babbit-style story, and made our own Dry Ice Blasters based on a Doyle and Fossey Science Detective Mystery, learning about carbon dioxide and the process of sublimation (solid straight to gas). Along the way, we drew, sculpted, and played in the museum.

Before class, Dane and Aubrey went to our friends' Jim and Linda's to take part in a little 3-family summer camp session. (Jim and Linda, my friend Lisa, and I have arranged nine separate sessions divided evenly between our families for extended learning for our kids throughout the summer.)

Today Linda, a high-risk pregnancy obstetrician, taught the kids from 9-noon. First, she taught them about the digestive system. They had some homework to do beforehand, regarding a cup of corn, some asparagus, and drinking lots of water. (I'll let you do the deducing there.) She also had them bring a stuffed animal with a hole in it and taught them to do sutures -- yes, with the actual tools, and by their actual names! Needless to say, it was pretty sweet. Their kids Eli (going into 3rd, like Aubrey) and Sam (going into 2nd) were there, while their oldest daughter Alex had to miss out because she got into a cool 3-week summer camp in Chicago at a university. (Alex is in Dane's grade, going into 5th.)

After ScienceWorks camp today, we got a drop-in visit from my friend Colette. She swung by the camp to give Dane an All-Star cap her husband Drew had made for him. Drew was the All-Star coach this year, which Dane was selected for but couldn't join due to wakeboarding camp. Dane practiced with the team, though, for a full week before wakeboarding camp just because... well, because he loves baseball. Ike, Drew and Colette's son, gave the cap to Dane, saying in his husky little voice with total sincerity, "Even though you couldn't be on the team, we wanted to thank you for coming out to practice with us, and we wished you were at our games."

On our way home, Dane adjusted his new ball cap and said today was an amazing day. He also said it was one of those days that lasted a long time, but was the best kind of day because it lasted a long time and it was awesome every step of the way.

My American Girl...

magazine reader.

Two more reasons to love Dane:
1 - This morning he got up and read Aubrey's American Girl magazine for thirty minutes, and
2 - He's now made her a tent for said doll and wants me to buy him a zipper so he can sew the doll a sleeping bag.

Aubrey Does Plasticine

Hi I'm Aubrey. This is a project that our class did. We watched a children's book illustrator, Barbara Reid, make a book page using plasticine clay. She taught us that we spread plasticine in the back ground, and how to make little clouds and a mouse. Above is a drawing I did first of what I wanted to do with clay. Below is my final product. It took me the whole time before lunchtime.

This is the first one I ever did and I like it a lot because it is a bunny in the sunset, and it was really really fun to make. It took me a really long time but it was worth it.

Now I want to make another one! And I get to at ScienceWorks Camp next week because my mom is teaching a camp called Read it Write it Draw it Do it. She's going to read a book called The Subway Mouse and our class is going to make a bunch of little creatures in big scenes.

The Spirit of Little League

After an intense playoff game resulting in a Cubs loss to the Phillies, we get down to what's really important about baseball.

Box R Brrrrr....

Thanks, Uncle Garth, for capturing this crazy cold 

unforgettable moment in the life of a Box R Ranch 4th grader.