It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

OPEN SESAME: It's no ordinary Monday around MPA. Quite the opposite, in fact. Today, marks the full blown Opening Day of the 2010 Major League Baseball season. (Truth be told, the very first game of 2010 was last night, Yanks v. Red Sox, which we watched during Easter dinner, of course.)

So today, baseball factored largely into our life lesson plan! Fortunately, the folks at BrainPop took note of today's extra-special-ness and their free featured movie of the week is about baseball.

We watched the entertaining video that covers some of the history and rules of the game. I had the kids take the online quiz one at a time so neither one of them (namely, Annabelle) had the chance to dominate that discussion. They both scored a 90 percent. Then it was onto the written work, where they had to fill out a 'map' of the players' positions, complete a baseball by the numbers activity (1 pitcher at a time, 2 teams, 3 strikes your out, 4 balls for a walk - that kind of thing). And lastly, they had to define in their own words several baseball terms - everything from "run" as a noun to the infield fly rule. (Just kidding on that last part. We'll save that for second grade.)

Naturally, we can't just TALK about baseball. Even though the sky was threatening and it was around 50 degrees and windy, we headed to Bayview Park's baseball diamond for some live action.

I must say, both of their batting skills have picked up since last season. Just look at Annabelle keeping her eye on the ball!

And CJ took some good cuts at the ball, too. We're going to have to work on leveling out his swing, but that's nothing some quality time with a batting tee can't solve.

And then there's the matter of base running. While their written work demonstrates that they understand you run from home to first to second to third to home, in the heat of the moment, things can get a little crazy. Case in point, CJ was up to bat and Bee was standing on first. CJ hit the ball and Bee took off for second. Seeing his sister closing in on second, baseball rules went out the window. All CJ could think about was beating her to that base so he made a beeline from the batter's box straight to second. Oops. ...

And we're going to have to work on the cardinal rule of running home: Make sure you touch the plate!

There's more where this came from on my YouTube channel.
UP & AWAY: This morning while we slept, eyes were on the skies in Florida where Space Shuttle Discovery launched on schedule without a hitch. We track all of the launches, but have been keeping an especially close eye on this one as if it were delayed, I figure the odds are it could affect the next launch - the one in May, which we're flying to Florida in hopes of seeing!
Today's launch has a local tie - a former high school science teacher from our old stomping grounds - Clark County, WA - was on board. How cool is that?!

RESOURCEFUL: This weekend I found about The Idea Book for Educators, a biannual teacher's magazine created by the Education Department at A&E Television Networks. According to its promo, "The Idea Book includes Teacher's Guides for programs featured in Classroom and a printed version of the A&E Classroom Calendar, which features air dates, program descriptions, and copyright information." Sounds good, right? But the news gets better. The book is free! Get your copy here.

PROPER ENGLISH: For some interactive language arts education today, we turned to our friends across the pond: the BBC. We could spend all day, every day on their educational Web pages and not run out of things to do. Today, we stuck to their Magic Key themed activities. (Apparently Magic Key is a series of books with a collection of adventurous characters.) The games involved capitalization, punctuation, word order and pattern recognition. They probably spent an hour playing and learning on the site.

To go along with the online games, there's also a long list of teacher and parent resources featuring online and offline lesson plans, printable worksheets and info about curriculum relevance. Good stuff!

Peeps Show

MARSHMALLOW MADNESS: By now, I'd guess most of America has heard of Peeps - a gooey confection often in chick and bunny shapes, especially popular around Easter. I'd also surmise that Peeps' fame is not due to their marshmallow-covered-in-gritty-artificially-colored-sugar taste.

Today, Peeps are famous for the semi-sadistic things that people love to do to them. Like microwaving them ...

Knowing that CJ would find the idea of microwaving and mutating Peeps hysterical, I searched YouTube for videos and I found the Most Awesomest Peeps video ever. CJ must have watched it 20 times yesterday:

Naturally, we had to microwave some Peeps of our own to see what would happen.

As I put the first one on a plate, CJ said, "Wait a minute! Let me get my shoes on first so I can run away if I have to!"

And so I waited. When he was ready to sprint, I had him hit the start button and we watched the Peep whirl and swell for 30 seconds. Mercifully, it didn't turn into a Godzilla sized monster.

We did some compare and contrast of the before and after microwaved Peeps. A bonus by-product of the big melt: Day-glo colored s'mores!

Yesterday, I promised the kids we could do some artsy-craftsy Peeps experiments. Specifically, that we'd be cobbling together FrankenPeeps or Peepensteins. In preparation, last night Christian went to the grocery store and bought an embarrassing array of the gawdawful things.

They were so excited about the marshmallow monsters, today they busted out of bed like it was Christmas morning. "It's time to make FrankenPeeps!" CJ trumpeted before sunrise.

We spread out the body parts in our 'laboratory' and I armed them both with toothpicks and knives. "Prepare to meet your doom, Peep!" Annabelle said as she sliced the first one's head off. Two hours later she was still going at it. (CJ had called it good after about one hour.)
APRIL SHOWERS: "Today it's rainy," said CJ, who's not typically one to remark about the weather. He was right. It was a downright deluge from about 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. Christian sent me a link to a really cool, animated weather map (once you're on the site, make sure you click on the 8 image animation option on the lefthand side of the screen to make the map come to life). The kids and I spent a few minutes exploring the site and the different views/options.
BRAIN CANDY: While I'm sure no one would dispute the educational value of spending HOURS experimenting with Peeps, rest assured we did do some legit schoolwork today.

As a language arts exercise, I wrote several words on the white board (April wind later because rainy today weather) and told them they had to use those words in a sentence or sentences. Annabelle finished quickly, but her 'sentences' were riddled with mistakes she doesn't usually make (punctuation, spelling, capitalization, etc.). Of course, I made her do it over. And over. And over until she did the type of work I know she's capable of. CJ took quite a while from the get-go, but he was nearly error free when it came time for me to proofread it.

We also went on a virtual field trip today - to the Peeps factory, of course. The treat is made by the 87-year old Just Born Corporation in Pennsylvania.

(April) Foolin' Around

LO AND BEHOLD: We had no ballet today so we were free as birds, schedule wise. I've been wanting to visit the central/downtown branch of Seattle's Public Library system for oh, two years now. Guess what? TODAY was the day.

A major impetus finally getting us to the Really Big Library was the fact that at 1:30 today there was going to be a free play about "Johnny Appleseed." We'd studied John Chapman last fall and still talk about him from time to time. How could we pass up a free performance by the Book-It Repertory Theatre?

We got to the library a good hour ahead of the play time. Our early arrival was on purpose - to give us time to explore the amazing edifice.

Ahead of time at home, I'd printed out a self tour guide and map of the library, so I knew the highlights we wanted to hit. We came in on the ground floor, where the children's library and auditorium are located. We'd visit those spots later - we had other things to see. To the dayglo lemonlime escalators it was!

Our first stop: The third floor, where a small cafe and gift shop are located. We perused the offerings (so many items the kids and I wanted to buy!) and then wandered the floor. I swear, it was the United Nations - so many people of so many different cultures/ethnicities. Very cool. We hit the escalator again to make our way to a balcony overlooking the third floor. What an amazing view.
We continued riding the escalator up, encountering more amazing views along the way.In case you're wondering, the central library was built using 18,400 cubic yards of concrete, 2,050 tons of rebar and 4,644 tons of steel.

Of course, the most amazing element is the glass. It's overhead, alongside and often even seemingly underfoot. There is 126,767 square feet of exterior glass on the 11-story structure and about half of the building's panes are triple-layered glass with an expanded metal mesh between the two outer layers.
PLAY TIME: We returned to the main floor a few minutes before 1:30 p.m. (playtime). In the children's area, we had a typical library experience (the kids used the computers and found DVDs to check out).
Soon, we migrated to the line by the door and by standing there for 5 minutes or so, we were able to score front-row seats. Cool!

The play was GREAT. Fast paced, with lots of belly laughs and fun songs. My kids LOVED it (but please don't get me started about other people's kids, who were allowed to scream, kick, cry, run around, etc. Grrrrr!) WE COUNT: Today is national census day. As regular readers know, we are SO far ahead of the curve, having filled our form out day before yesterday. ;)

However, to help reinforce things we learned while talking about the census, we used a BrainPop lesson about population growth. It was geared for kids quite a bit older than CeeJ and Bee, but they comprehended the concepts and got 80 percent on the quiz following.

YOU MUST BE JOKING: Long before the sun was up, April Fool's Day plots were being hatched. The first of the day - under orders from CJ and Annabelle, I was to put raisins in Christian's lunch, but amongst the raisins, I was to include a couple of Craisins (dried cranberries). Oh, the hilarity! So this all went down as I was making Christian's lunch around 5:31 a.m. Such fun !

Then tonight, when Christian came home, the kids were both waiting for him, eager to give him welcome home handshakes. Like that's not out of the ordinary. ... Good sport that he is, Christian greeted them with a handshake and was victim of a couple of palm buzzers for it. Then, as Christian went upstairs to change his clothes, CJ subtly suggested to him, "Go sit on the toilet, but don't look!" That sort of suggestion wouldn't make you think twice, now, would it?

You've probably already figured out that we'd scored (for the bargain price of $1.25) from Archie McPhee, a really rude little seat squirting unit. Nice guy that he is, Christian played along and made all sorts of noises about getting soaked in the privacy of the privy.

HISTORIC FLEET: I found a super short-but-sweet video about the few (less than 10) remaining schooners in what once was a large fleet of halibut fisherman on the Seattle Times' Web site this morning and showed it to the kids. We're down at the Ballard Locks (where the vid was filmed) a lot, and we've seen some of these boats before. It's nice to know a bit about them.

The Runaround

A TISKET, A TASKET: So, I found out yesterday (thanks Mom!) that Easter is this Sunday. Um, yikes! How did that sneak up on me? Is it early this year? (CJ was born on Easter, and that year it was April 20.)

I decided that we had to do something kinda Easter-y, and thought starting the day off with a craft project would be nice. I looked at several ideas online but was uninspired, so I just went to our craft supplies and started pulling things out. I decided the kids would make an Easter basket. We've never done any basketweaving with construction paper before, so I decided that today would be the day.

First I had the kids color a sheet of paper sky blue using the side of a crayon and a couple different shades of blue. Next, they cut their grass (which reminds me, I need to mow the lawn).

Then it was time for the tricky stuff - weaving strips of paper for their baskets. First I taught them how to do a 'fan fold' and them had them cut along the folds to create the strips. Then we laid out the horizontal strips, and I showed them how to weave the vertical strips (under over, under over).

CJ caught on really quickly. "This is easy for me!" he said. Annabelle wasn't too far behind him, but it wasn't going as smoothly as she would have liked.

"How long is it going to take to do this?" she bemoaned at one point.

Once the baskets were crafted, they attached pipe cleaner handles. Then the icing on the cake was pastel pom poms for Easter 'eggs.' They were pretty pleased with the finished product.

BOOK TALK: Our first stop this morning was the Magnolia library, where I picked up a title "You are a Social Detective - Explaining Social Thinking to Kids" by the amazing Michelle Garcia Winner (and Pamela Crooke). It's a colorful, cartoon-y approach to helping kids learn the social graces (because as it turns out, the social graces don't just come naturally to everyone - go figure). I can't wait to explore it with the kids.

The kids, of course, scored a stack of DVDs. The good news is, once we got home from the library, I asked CJ to pick a library book from the collecting-dust stack we have at home. He surveyed the pile and plucked out 'The Case of the Gasping Garbage" by Michele Torrey.

A chapter book with four mysteries, it introduces the characters Drake Doyle and Nell Fossey, fifth graders and science detectives. It was perfect, considering last night at dinner, CJ was telling us how he wants to be a scientist with a laboratory, and that's exactly what Drake and Nell do. In their first case, they had to figure out why a classmate's garbage can seemed to come to life. To find the answer, they formulated hypothesis, made observations, ran tests, used controls - all using good scientific procedures and practices.

As it turned out, the garbage can 'monster' was the result of ingredients (including yeast) the classmate's father, a baker, had thrown away in the can, which had been placed by a warm furnace.

The kids were rapt during the entire mystery and afterward wanted to know more about yeast. So I had them pour some into warm water and feed it with sugar and they watched it 'bloom'.

ARCHIE: With April Fool's Day looming large, CJ requested a trip to Archie McPhee for some supplies. I heart Archie's too, so off we went. Greeting us in the parking lot, on the storefront's awning, is one of my favorite sayings: "Less talk, more monkey." Words to live by, say I.SPLASH DOWN: From Archie's it was over to Ballard for CJ's last swimming lesson (a thought that thrills him). He did seem to enjoy one part of it, though - where they got to use a big flotation device to kick themselves around the pool.

Meanwhile, Annabelle and I played chess poolside. It's been waaaaay too long since we've broken out the chess board, so it was almost like the first time. I had to reacquaint her with the pieces, their names, how they move, and so on. Likewise, later in the day when Annabelle had her lesson, CJ and I kinda-sorta played chess.

They were both totally paying attention and were actively interested in learning the pieces and how they move, so that's a big plus. Must. Play. More. Chess.

IT'S A BIRD, IT'S A PLANE: Meanwhile, between swimming lessons, we got a text message from a preschool friend (well, his mother) asking if we could play up at Ella Bailey Park this afternoon. It was a beautiful, sunny day and so we were happy to oblige. :)

While we were there, I heard a loud, low rumbling in the distance, to the northwest. It was a sound I'd heard once before - last weekend. The first time, I happened to be outside (putting glue on the backside of a hardwood floor plank) when I heard it. Today, I knew what was coming and grabbed my camera. 'It' was Boeing's new 787 'Dreamliner.' Still in the early test flight phase, we are some of the first in the world to get to see it airborne. (It cracks me up that a good number of people in Magnolia complain about airplane noise. I get a thrill out of looking up and seeing these big jets thundering overhead.)

Count Us In

I FEEL LIKE A NUMBER: We've had our official Census 2010 envelope sitting on my computer desk for well over a week now. I decided it was finally time to open it up, fill it out and send it in. I also decided we'd build the bulk of today's schooling around the census - what it is and why it's important.

The official Web site of the census has an abundance of resources to educate and inform. I started off by checking out their information for schools pages. There, I found a lesson plan for grades K-3. It's a multiple page PDF file, and I picked through it, choosing the pages I thought would be most relevant for MPA.

With the kids, I reviewed the "Census Fact Sheet" and we talked about what the U.S. census is, why it's necessary, how it's performed (via mail and census takers), who should be counted (everyone!).
To help illustrate the point of the census' importance, I asked the kids to think about a city that completed a census and when it was done, they found out they'd grown by five thousand people since the last census. What would they need to do to help accomodate all those newcomers? Between the two of them, they brainstormed a pretty good list, deciding the city would need more houses, water, gardens, food, trees (for oxygen - CJ's idea), schools, parks, teachers, restaurants, lifeguards, safety patrolmen, policemen and firefighters. I suggested more jobs and improved transportation would also likely be in order.

Next, we went to an activity called "Who Counts?" It's a short story about a child named Joey helping his grandma (an immigrant from Italy) fill out their household's Census 2010 form. Afterward, they had to take a short, multiple-choice comprehension test, and answer a couple of questions, one being, "Why do you think the census doesn't count pets?"

Annabelle replied, "Because they do not have jobs." CJ wrote, 'Becaus (sic) they just count humans."

The next question was, "Name one way that Joey's household is different from yours." Annabelle was quick to respond with "He has a cat and I have a dog." CJ, on the other hand, struggled with the question. He kept fixating on the house part of household, saying things like, "Well my room is painted like Super Mario world." I explained to him that the question was really asking about the household - the people who lived there. He just couldn't wrap his head around it for the longest time. FINALLY he came up with, "Joey's Grandma lives at his house."

We also checked out the census' Kids main site, which has kid friendly graphics and even a catchy census song. " The kids played a couple of census themed games and then I had them watch the 10-minute "From Inkwell to Internet, the US History of the U.S. decennial census from 1790 to 2000." I found it rather fascinating. The kids, maybe not so much. ;)

With their newfound appreciation for the census under their belts, I let them fill out part of the official form (for instance, their own names, ages and birthdates).
Our theme song for the day was a good ol' Sesame Street classic, "Count Me In."

One more quick census FYI: Checking the "population clock' on the census site this morning around 8, we learned there were 308,967,995 people in the U.S. By 8 tonight, that number had risen to 308,971,220. Welcome, newcomers! :)

SPEED DEMON: For today's foray into science, we turned to the supercool Howtoons, where science projects and experiments are presented in comic book format.

We chose their Speed Demon experiment because all we needed was a paper plate (got it!) and wind (got it - it was a blustery day!).

To fashion the wind spinner, we simply had to cut eight equal sized wedges from the center of the plate out toward its center of the paper plate into eight wedges and fold them outward, in alternating, opposite directions.

Then it was time to test them! (We could only hope it would take off like Howtoons' did on their YouTube video.)

We tried a few runs up at the street with limited success - there just wasn't enough wind and unimpeded open space to give it a good go. I told the kids we'd try to find something more suitable before yoga, and that we did - a windy park with a wide swath of pavement in Columbia City. The Speed Demons went like crazy and the kids were thrilled!

We took them out for another spin this evening, when we went for a jog. Funny how such a simple thing like a cut up paper plate can help teach the kids so much about wind speed and direction.

SMALL GROUP: Yoga was pleasant today - more than half of the regulars were gone, spring-break related, no doubt. I think CJ and Annabelle enjoyed the smaller group. Here's Annabelle in a rare quiet moment (yes, even in yoga she's boisterous).