What is my sentence? – For Global Grade 3

 

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Global Grade 3

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Blog Dipping

I noticed you have found your way into Blog Dipping. It’s a wonderful way of sharing with many more people around the world. 🙂

Hello Global Grade 3,

It’s hard to believe two weeks of your school year is almost over but I can see you have already learned the joys of sharing through the discussion of your treasures, passions, interests and hobbies with one another. Learning more about others, what we have in common and what may be different, helps us build friendships.

You started me wondering what I might have shared had I been in your class.

Treasures – Would I have chosen a model train I have and was given when ten? Perhaps it might be my rock collection gathered from different countries, or maybe my books or movie library.

I thought a little harder and decided what I treasure most are the memories I’ve accumulated throughout my life. From my earliest memory when I was two, I’ve stored my memories of lives now gone, of fun with friends, of experiences in school and university, of children who have been in my classes, and of people I have met along the way and through blogging.

My greatest treasure is remembering I have, in some way, been a part of so many lives and, hopefully, have added a little to their happiness.

Interests & hobbies - Now this one is very hard. I have many interests but that is probably a good thing because it has allowed me to interact with people on a range of subjects. I suppose if I had to narrow it down to only a few things now taking up much of my time, my interests would be…

Photography, filming, making DVDs and CDs for schools and community groups

Blogging and blog commenting

Hiking in national parks

Passions - Blogging and blog commenting have become passions of mine. Now I have retired from full time teaching, blogging has allowed me to again feel a part of classes. It’s allowed me to feel, in some small way, I can still contribute to the learning journey of students.

Looking at your top characteristics in your class WORDLE

I read each word on your class Wordle. They speak of people destined to do great things in their lives.

I could see some show strength of mind (curious, smart, questioning, scientific, mathematical, inquisitive), others strength of character (kind, respectful, persevering, honest, trustworthy, hard worker), more still of caring for others (good friend, friendly, caring), and some of creativity (writer, creative, artistic).

Curious was the most prominent word in the Wordle. It is a very important characteristic for a learner to have. It’s what drives me when I see something new and interesting. I need to find out more.

Did you know your post has taught me something? I see the tilde (~) is used to connect words without leaving a hyphen (-) when using Wordle. I haven’t used Wordle but the tip did make me curious. Would the tilde do the same in some other programs?

Finally, I listened to all of your Voicethread comments. Your sentences again have shown me great things await as you continue your learning journey this new school year. With blogging permissions now signed, I hope to visit at times to see what is happening in a Grade 3 now going global.

What is my sentence?

It is one I have shared with others before and is based on my entry into a writing challenge asking people to write their autobiography in only six  words. My entry was…

Seeking ways to make a difference.

My sentence is…

I will continue to seek ways to make a positive difference in the lives of people I meet whether in person or through the use of the internet.

@RossMannell

Teacher (retired), N.S.W., Australia

 Schools and students have permission to use this graphic for non-commercial, educational purposes.

 

4 thoughts on “What is my sentence? – For Global Grade 3

  1. The Battalion Hawk Bloggers

    Hi Ross!

    Thank you SO much for your WONDERFUL comment! Mrs. Renton was SO excited when she saw your extended comment on our blog. She told us ALL about how you worked with LAST year’s Global Grade Threes and OFTEN extended their learning in magical ways! We are so glad that you will be a part of our learning journey as we explore blogging this year. We know we will learn TONS from you!

    When we shared our five treasures with one another we discovered that it was a great way to learn more about each other. We had a LOT of similarities in our treasures … but … also a lot of uniqueness in the artifacts that came in. We LOVE that we have differences because it means that we will have a lot to TEACH one another!
    We would LOVE to hear more about the rock collection you have from different countries … because MANY of us collect rocks, too, but … we are also learning about Rocks and Minerals in Science right now! Some of us have crystals and fossils in rocks! ONE student even has several samples of volcanic ash from when Mt. St. Helens erupted in 1980! Mrs. Renton gave us each a fossil rock that she had found on the rocky beach by the Bow River. She finds TONS of them every time she goes. She gave us a “Triple Doggy Dare” to try to find out what kind of fossil was in these rocks. They all had the SAME kind of fossil. That night, many of us TOOK the Triple Doggy Dare. The FUNNY thing was … most of us came up with different answers! Even when she tweeted our questions MANY of the experts didn’t agree. In the end, we think they are corallite fossils! We would LOVE to hear about YOUR favourite rock sample … and WHY it is your favourite!

    We think it’s awesome that you keep memories as treasures TOO! We have lots of special memories too … of camping, special vacations, sports experiences, playing special games … but … we are still very young. We look forward to making more new memories along the way.

    We think it’s really cool that you make movies and CDs for schools and community groups! Is it hard to do? It MUST take a lot of time! How long does it take to put a DVD or CD together for these groups. They are lucky to have you sharing your interests with them … just like US!

    How long have you been blogging, Ross? This is our 17th day!!! We can’t WAIT to get more into it … but … it is taking us quite a bit of time to fit everything in. We want to reply to all the special visitors who leave comments for us. We think that is VERY important … but … we are also trying to fit in all our Math, Science, Social Studies, Art, Language Arts, and gym in, as WELL as write interesting posts and learn how to be good digital citizens who are safe on the internet. Phew … it’s a LOT of work! But, we LOVE it! What do YOU like most about blogging, Ross?

    Already, you have taught us something cool … now we know the ~ is called a tilde! Yeah! We love that we’ve ALL learned something about that little tilde!

    We really LIKE your sentence, Ross! It is awesome! You are certainly living up to it … because … you are making a difference in OUR lives … way across the world. Being a global citizen and flattening the walls of our classroom is MAGICAL!

    Have an AMAZING weekend, Ross! We will be publishing a new post in the next few days … about making our MARK, (guess what book INSPIRED it)! 😉

    The Battalion Hawk Bloggers 🙂

    http://globalgrade3.cbegloballearning.ca

    Reply
  2. rossmannell

    Post author

    Hello Global Grade 3,

    Thank you for such a comprehensive comment. I’ll answer in steps so I can be certain to answer all…

    Some of my rock collection…

    On this blog I shared information with a class in England. They were studying volcanoes. At that time I had some spare samples. I sent them 6 and created blog posts to explain them. Here are the links to the posts in this blog…
    The first shows the samples I sent…
    http://rossmannellcomments.edublogs.org/2012/05/23/this-is-the-first-of-some-posts-i-will-make-on-my-experiences-with-volcanoes/
    Scree and obsidian
    http://rossmannellcomments.edublogs.org/2012/05/23/samples-scree-obsidian-samples/
    aa and pahoehoe
    http://rossmannellcomments.edublogs.org/2012/05/23/samples-aa-and-pahoehoe/
    iron sands and pumice
    http://rossmannellcomments.edublogs.org/2012/05/23/iron-sands-nz-and-pumice-stone/

    I remember the reports on the Mt St Helens eruption. Our news was full of reports about the effect of the eruption. I have been on erupting volcanoes but only in the quieter times of the eruptions when there was mostly smoke and lava flow.

    Fossils…
    I have some fossils in my collection. I’ll have to photograph and share them in a post soon. I have nothing very big so don’t expect a T-rex fossil. 🙂

    CD and DVDs…
    I have been involved with making videos in schools for 30 years now (and still have copies from back then). These days I can use up to three video cameras to film a show. Two are fixed to film certain places and one larger camera I operate for close up shots. I also use a sound recorder. Once filmed, I use a computer to align the recordings from each camera and the sound recorder. It can take up to two weeks to complete one show. CDs are only made for a choir or singer I film. At this time I am working on 4 DVDs, one for each of four kindergarten classes. I also have a school play to edit.

    How long have I been blogging?”

    Some people seem to think I have been blogging for a very long time but the truth is I only started in the first half of last year (2011). I found it was a good way to share with people.
    I have been using computers since 1975 and in school since 1981. I started emailing around 1990 and had my first internet account a couple years later. By around 2000 I started my first website. It took me 30 years from starting to use computers in schools to using blogs. Much has changed in those years. 🙂

    What do I like most about blogging?

    The funny thing is the thing I most like about blogging is commenting on blogs. It is good to share on blogs but I love seeing what others are doing and leaving a comment for the blogger.
    I always like to be positive when I comment. I would rather say nothing than say negative things.

    Keep blogging.
    @RossMannell

    Reply
  3. The Battalion Hawk Bloggers

    Hi Ross!

    We LOVED all the links you shared with us! What? You went to the bottom of a volcano CRATER? The New Zealand scree is really interesting because we notice black, rusty, gray and WHITE rock. We wonder why! We also wonder which crater you went into. Some of us own obsidian too … we wonder if you could find it lying on the ground in the New Zealand crater too. Is this volcanic crater a popular tourist attraction? We wonder why tourists are not allowed to pick the obsidian in the crater. We love the story about how you gathered your collection of scree by descending the crater! That must have been fun!

    We think the iron sand is really cool. About half of our class has actually seen it. Mrs. Renton’s father visited the Queen Charlotte Islands, in British Columbia, and found a very black beach full of iron sand as well. We love the way when you touch it with a magnet the sand hangs down like little hairs from the magnet!

    One of our bloggers knows a TON about volcanoes … and he was telling us that the reason there are so many black sandy beaches in Hawaii is because of the pahoehoe! Most of us have never actually SEEN pahoehoe before. Another blogger said that most of the beaches in Italy are black. Too bad he didn’t have a MAGNET with him on this amazing trip … he could have been walking on a magnetic beach!
    Some of us think it’s really funny that when you walk on ‘a’a … that WOULD be the sound you would make! We just think volcanoes are SO exciting … how some of the rocks can be LIGHT because they’ve cooled so quickly … and how some are so heavy because they aren’t filled with gas bubbles and they’ve probably taken a lot longer to cool.

    The crater in New Zealand looks SO high up … some of us would be SO afraid of falling in. You played a funny trick on the students you were with. Good thing they knew you really well … and knew that you were JOKING!

    Ross, if you have been close to an erupting volcano, even in its QUIETER times, weren’t you SCARED? Did you have to wear a mask to keep you safe from the gases? Did you have to wear a fireproof suit too?

    You sound VERY busy Ross. We feel SO lucky that you take the time to share your learning and knowledge with us because you have so many other projects on the go. You sound a little like Steven Spielberg and George Lucas with all the amazing CDs and DVDs you work on for schools and performers.

    Mrs. Renton also only started blogging half way through last year! We have something in common – we are very new bloggers too. You seem like a professional blogger to us, though!

    We can’t wait to check out the fossil comment you left for us. We are sorry it has been taking us so long to respond to your amazing comments, Ross. We are trying to catch up on our comments as they have come in … and won’t even do another blog post UNTIL we’re caught up. We really think it’s important for us to take our time to answer each comment that is left for us carefully and thoughtfully. Our readers are VERY important to us. 😉

    Ross, thank you SO much for being one of our very special readers!
    The Battalion Hawk Bloggers 🙂

    PS We cannot WAIT to get to the fossil page you sent us. Mrs. Renton gave us a “sneak peak” at the surprise dinosaur “fossil”. Be prepared for a WHOLE bunch more questions!!! 😉

    Reply
  4. rossmannell

    Post author

    Hello Global Grade 3,

    My apologies for the week’s delay in replying. During last week I delivered the DVDs I made for a school over the last two weeks. For many children in Australia, we have just started the final term of the school year. Our summer vacation starts in December, although my blog commenting rarely takes a holiday. ☺

    I’ll answer some of your questions in this reply but I have something special at the end you might be interested in. It is a link to another extended comment where I share photos I have scanned from 35mm slides I took many years ago in two countries, New Zealand and the US state of Hawaii. They come from possibly over a 1000 slides and negatives I have started to archive.

    You will be the first to share them, one from 1986 (sulphur), one from 1995 (NZ) and others from Hawaii (1996). Who knows what other treasures I’ll discover as I get time to digitise my collection.

    + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

    The volcanoes in New Zealand tend to normally be more ash volcanoes than lava volcanoes. I have seen magma thrown out in photos but I am not aware of any recent lava flows.

    Mt Tarawera is a popular tourist attraction. You can hike up its slopes or go on a four-wheel drive tour. I have taken the easy way up twice now. Once on the rim, you have to hike and climb along a trail to the far side of the main crater before going down a steep scree slope the bottom of the crater.

    The different colours in scree come from the different rocks. Scree is really broken bits of rocks and can be found in many places such as around cliffs where it was weathered out or, in the case of Tarawera, from an explosive eruption breaking up rock. At a guess, white may have come from deposits of quartz, rusty might be from ironstone. Black might have come from heated silica (sand)/quartz but these are guesses.

    One of the problems with a location being very popular with tourists is the danger too many hands will take important samples in protected areas. On my first visit to Tarawera, the guide said he normally showed visitors a large piece of obsidian but it was no longer there. It had been taken.

    Gas bubbles in molten rock? Have you heard about thundereggs and geodes? Thunder eggs and geodes are formed in lava flows. Thundereggs can also be geodes if they have hollows, although not all geodes are made from lava flows. Isn’t that confusing?

    They are fascinating finds. I have purchased some volcanic samples from rock shops over the years and will share some photos in the extended comment link below. The only ones I have found are plain by comparison.

    Scared of volcanoes? I suppose we could say many things we do in life can have risks. I am much more worried if I have to cross a busy road when there isn’t a pedestrian crossing. In the New Zealand eruption, I was at the bottom of New Zealand’s South Island. It took a few days to get a flight north because of the ash danger for planes but my aim was to get as close as a tourist was allowed.

    Where I was it would have needed a massive eruption for me to be worried instead of the smoking and small activity on that day. If I had been at a similar place on Mt Tarawera when it erupted in the 1866 or on Mount St. Helens in 1980, I wouldn’t have survived. That level of eruption is rare and we are getting better at predicting them.

    In Hawaii, Kilaeua had been releasing lava for quite some time so I didn’t consider it very dangerous to be on or over it provided I obeyed the rules set down for visitors. Walking the trails on the crater area can be fascinating.

    Lucas or Spielberg? I don’t know whether I’m particularly good at making DVDs. I make them for community groups and schools. Schools are given a free copy. If lucky, some parents want to buy copies so I am able to make costs back. The biggest can have sales of 200+ sets whereas some are simply given away to those interested.

    Over the year I don’t make any money from DVDs but I do get many smiles. ☺

    Now for the promised link…

    http://rossmannellcomments.edublogs.org/2012/10/14/more-on-volcanoes-for-global-grade-3/

    @RossMannell
    Teacher (retired), N.S.W., Australia

    Reply

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