I seem to be into wild animals lately. I came across this site from the Minnesota Zoo that is funded by the Save the Tiger Fund. It has 5 games . The first is called "Tiger on the Loose" where you have to help the police track a tiger that has escaped from the zoo. The last is "Survive!" where you are a Begal tiger. Can you survive in the wild? Which one of the games is your favorite and why? 

Take a look at this site that gives you a piece of an object and you are to guess what that object is. Some are easy, others harder. How well did you do? The menu on the left side has additional things for you to look at.....

Only 4 to go!!! I don't know about you, but it seems like I've been saving these state quarters forever! We get done with the quarters then they come out with Presidental Dollars. Here is the site from the United States Mint that has games, cartoons, news and even a page for teachers. Lots of activities. Have fun! Do you collect the quarters? Are you going to collect the Presidential Dollars?

I found an interesting science website with games. Here's one I especially like, it's called "Copse and Robbers "  and it's about a pigeon that was found dead and you need to solve the puzzle of which animal is responsible. I know, sounds a bit gross, but it really takes some reasoning. Look around the games and you'll find more to try. Let me know if you like it.

You have got to see this site on optical illusions! What an awesome site...and the author gives explanations that go along with each one. Check it out here. Tell me what you think and which one is your favorite.  (It is suggested that if you feel dizzy or sick that you should leave the page.)  (Picture is copyrighted by Walter Anthony (c)2007)

(Update 3/22/08: Melissa liked optical illusions so much that while we're waiting for Mr. Anthony to add more, try out the site from the National Institute of Enviromental Health Sciences, click on NIEHS and you can see up to 40 more.)

The Heart Run and Walk will be on Saturday, March 8th. Since it is the same day as the Odyssey of the Mind tournament, I will be walking with the 2nd graders at the Sangertown Mall on Thursday morning. WUTR came to our school to tape a commercial for Team Alyssa/Poland for Ben. Click here to see a copy of what's been running on WUTR. (It works best using Windows Media Player.) (Update 3/6/08) If you click here  you'll find today's WKTV's picture and article! 3/10/08 Our final amount collected was over $9400! Thanks to everyone who contributed.)

With Valentine's Day around the corner, I thought you might enjoy trying to guess candy bar that has been sliced  in half. Click here and tell me how many of the first 12 you know! Good Luck.

Yesterday brought the announcement of the 2008 Caldecott winner. With our 5th and 6th grades working on a Caldecott project, this link here shows more links on the winner, The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. I'm reading it now, the illustrations are awesome! Let's hope the story is good also. I'll let you know once I finish it. (Update: 1/16/08 Click here to hear the author read the first chapter. [If you have a problem with this link, would you comment me? Thank you!]) (Second update: 1/25/08: If you click here, Barnes and Noble online will let you do a finger walk through some of the illustrations!)

Time to revisit a site from last year. I hope everyone is enjoying their vacation. Are you ready for more snow? There are a couple of websites that allow you to make virtual snowflakes. The first one, click here , is basic. At this next site , you can rotate the snowflake you make so that it is 3D. How cool is that? Have fun. Update 1/12: Here is another site for snowflakes, very basic but if you like these kinds of sites, try this one too .    Update 2/20/08: Here's another site called "Snowdays" that allows you to cut inside the paper. 12/3/09 : If you'd like to make snowflakes the "old-fashioned" way with scissors and paper, here's a link to give you some patterns to print out. 12/14/09: Found another site! Click here .

Just heard that the Soccer Team won 2-0 and will be playing tomorrow at 1:00 against Chazy. Congratulations and Good Luck boys!!! (Sunday, 3:05 pm Poland loses to Chazy 1-0...what a great year they've had!)

Take a look at this site here and tell me how many you can get correct. The average person can only get 7 right. It's questions on common things you either see or should know. (Update 11/20/07) Ready for a different site to try over Thanksgiving break? This "Test Your Senses" activity has you try to copy or line up some pictures using your keyboard. Looks easy? NOT! Check out the explanation to find out why. Good Luck. 

Some of you are into "string figures" and this site has some awesome illustrations and even a few videos on some different ones besides the basic "cat's cradle". Let me know some of the new ones that you've learned.

Are you interested in building animated pictures, stories and movies online. Try out a great site called "Kerpoff"! Make sure you read the directions under the "How to Play" link, it looks like a lot of fun.

This is a game where you guess the correct animal by using written or picture clues. The clues are based on habitats, eating habits, size, protection, etc. It includes reptiles, amphibians, mammals and birds. How well do you do? 

Tuesday, September 17th, is Constitution Day. Click here for a "Treasure Hunt" with 20 questions to answer. If you find at least 10 answers, and they are correct, bring them into the library and win a prize! Good Luck! (Click on the picture to bring you to one of the websites that may give you some of the answers.)

Welcome Back Everyone! I'd like to start a discussion on "The Most Interesting Thing I Did This Summer!" If you've been reading the blog, you know I've been traveling, along with my action figure, Nancy Pearl. Las Vegas, Arizona, around NY...and by looking at the website, you can see I've changed and updated lots. Spend some time...look around. And tell me, what interesting things did you do this summer?

(clipart courtesy of www.artie.com )

Nancy joined my son, Jon and his friends Dave and Tiffany along with "Queen Elizabeth" at the Sterling Renaissance Festival a few weekends ago. The festival's last weekend is August 18th and 19th. Click here to go to the website that tells about this fun activity you might want to do this summer!

(UPDATE: Nancy had such a good time traveling with me this summer she decided to join Mrs. Favata in her travels. This time she kept a diary to go along with the pictures.  Can you figure out where Mrs. Favata and Nancy went?

Here they are:

I'm so excited! Airplanes are so much fun. Here I am with a model of an airport worker who helps direct the airplanes in and out of the airport.

This is the aircraft carrier called the Midway, it is huge! You can see only a small part of the harbor that edges this famous city. A nice breeze blows over the water. I had a problem keeping my hair nice.

  We went to a special place that had lots of animals. Many people dream of seeing panda bears. However, there were so many people the line was too long! The next best thing was to go and see the stuffed panda bears. Aren't they cute? 

This is Petco Park, the home of the Padres baseball team. I never knew that a stadium was that BIG!

Have you figured out where Mrs. Favata and Nancy went yet? You might need to click on the blue underlined words to take to you to the websites of the places they visited. Send a comment to me if you have an answer.

 WHERE DID MR. & MRS. SUNDBERG AND NANCY GO?

Congratulations to Priscilla and Mathew for guessing the destination of Nancy's trip correctly, Las Vegas, Nevada. Thanks to all who participated. Prizes will be awarded in September.

We are very fortunate to have a children's author visiting on Tuesday, June 19th. Bruce Hiscock, grandfather of Tempest, Finn and Max Morrisey is coming to talk to our fifth grades about his writing. Visit his website at www.brucehiscock.com !

Before our 6th graders leave for their trip to the King Tut exhibit, you might want to check out this website that has an animated gallery of some of the artifacts! (UPDATE [6/16/07]: OK 6th graders, how was the trip? Write a note to tell us about it!)  

 Click on the calculator and find out that it has a problem, it's broken! Using the only buttons that work, you must reach the numbers they give you in order to move to the next level. The first level is easy but it gets harder! Tell me how far you get.

 You've just read a great book in a series and now you wonder what the next one is. That was Devin's (5th grade) problem. He wanted to know the third in the series of the Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins and I couldn't tell him right away. I told him I would do some checking and get back to him. I found this great public library site in Missouri that gives lists of series and sequels by series title, subject, book title and author. Click here to check it out!