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Look in this classroom. I see living things. I see nonliving things. What do you see?  Living things grow. They change. Nonliving things can’t change. Someone or something must change them. Come in the library. What do you see? Living things? Nonliving things?  Living things respond to their environment. They do different things in different places. Nonliving things don’t respond. They do the same thing everywhere. Something must change them. Let’s play soccer! What do you see? Living things? Nonliving things?  Living things find and use energy. It helps them move, and grow, and change. Nonliving things don’t need energy. They can’t move, grow or change. Let’s go to the zoo! What do you see? Living things? Nonliving things?  Living things have babies who grow up to look like them. Nonliving things can’t have babies. Come visit an aquarium! What do you see? Living things? Nonliving things?  Living things have breathe in air, even underwater. Nonliving things don’t need air. Let’s go to the beach! What do you see? Living things? Nonliving things?  Living things have cells. Cells allow living things to grow and change. Nonliving things don’t have cells. They can’t grow or change. Let’s go camping! What do you see? Living things? Nonliving things?  Living things have cells. Cells use energy to move, grow, and change. Nonliving things don’t have cells. They can’t use energy. They can’t move, grow, or change. Let’s ride a roller coaster! What do you see? Living things? Nonliving things?  Living things have cells. Cells have protoplasm. It’s the living stuff in cells that makes life possible.
Nonliving things don’t have cells. They don’t have protoplasm, and life is impossible.
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Birds do! Did you know there are 9000 kinds of birds, and they all lay eggs? Which bird lays blue eggs?
Robins do. Did you know robins are a sign of spring? Who laid this egg?
A penguin. Father penguins have a pouch between their feet. It keeps the egg warm so mother penguins can go hunt for food. Who laid these two tiny eggs?
A hummingbird. Tiny birds should lay tiny eggs. They got their name because their wings hum. Who lays giant eggs?
The largest bird of course! An ostrich. Ostriches don’t bury their heads in the sand. They lay their head down to hide. It only looks like they’re buried. Who else lays eggs? All insects do, except for flies and aphids. Do you know who laid these eggs?
Ants, of course. They may look different, but they’re both ants. Did you know we’ve named 12,500 ants? But, there may be another 10,000 without names. That’s a lot of ants! Who laid all these eggs?
Not this bee. She’s a worker bee. Only a queen bee can lay eggs. She can lay 1000 to 2000 eggs, a day. That’s a lot of eggs! Who laid their tiny eggs on this leaf?
A butterfly or a moth. They can live anywhere, except Antarctica. Did you know there are 12-15,000 kinds of butterflies? There are 150-250,000 kind of moths. That’s a lot of moths! Who laid these eggs? Hint…it wasn’t an insect.
It was an arachnid. That’s a spider. Some spiders lay their eggs individually. Some weave an egg sac that’s full of eggs. Did you know there are 40,000 kinds of spiders. They can live anywhere, except Antarctica. I guess insects don’t like the South Pole! Who else lays eggs? All reptiles do, except for boas, vipers, and garter snakes. Who’s hatching out of this egg?
An alligator! How can you tell? Alligators are dark green. They close their mouths and hide their teeth. Crocodiles are olive brown. They close their mouths and show their top teeth. Beware a crocodile’s smile! Who laid these eggs?
A lizard did. Little lizards lay little eggs. Big lizards lay big eggs. All lizards have four legs, clawed feet, and a long tail. Most have dry, scaly skin. That sounds rough to me! Who laid these eggs?
A snake did. Snakes can be smaller than a ruler. They can be longer than 7 rulers. All lizards have a forked tongue and a long body. They don’t have arms or legs, ears or eyelids. They never blink. Ever! Who’s hatching out of these eggs?
Baby turtles! Small turtles are 2-3 inches long. Big ones are 72 inches, or 6 rulers long. Turtles crawl or swim with 4 legs. They hide from danger inside a shell. I wish I had one too! Who laid these eggs?
A dinosaur did, millions of years ago. They never got to hatch. Instead they turned to stone. I wonder who’s inside. A Tyrannosaurus Rex? Maybe a Triceratops? I guess we’ll never know! Who else lays eggs? Amphibians do! Amphibians live half their lives on land, the other half in water.
Do you recognize these 2 amphibians? The green one is a frog. The brown one’s a toad. There’s only 1 other kind of amphibian, a salamander. Most water animals lay eggs, whether they live in freshwater or saltwater. Who’s inside these eggs? Fish!
There are more than 27,000 different kinds of fish. They live in water. They have a backbone. They breathe using gills. Both these fish live in the ocean. The first fish is a clown fish. Why? It has bright colors, like a clown. The fish in the second picture are salmon. They swim up river to lay their eggs, in the spot where they once hatched. Who laid this strange egg?
A shark or a skate. I wonder what’s in my picture. What big eyes it has! I wonder about its mouth… The egg case is called a Mermaid’s Purse, because of its shape. It never belonged to a mermaid. Some purses hold 1 egg. Others hold up to 7. Who laid this strange egg?
A jellyfish did. Its body is soft. That’s because it’s mostly water with just a little gelatin (like jello). On top it looks like a bell. It has tentacles that string down to catch or sting its prey. Jellyfish usually float in the ocean. Their top can pulse and move them along too. Who laid these strange eggs?
An octopus did. Did you recognize this one with its huge head, 2 eyes, and 8 arms? The arms have suction cups.
Squids look a lot like octopuses with their 8 arms. The difference, squids have 2 long tentacles. How do you get a chicken? You lay an egg. Then wait for it to hatch. Sorry, you can’t lay one. Or hatch one either. You need a hen, and a rooster.
Can you find the roosters? They're the boy chickens. They're bigger in size. Their combs are bigger too. The comb is that red hat, on top of their heads. Can you find the hens? They're the girl chickens. They're smaller in size, and so are their combs.
How do chickens hatch a chick? First the hen lays her eggs in a nest. She sits on them. That keeps them warm so they'll hatch. Humans hatch eggs in an incubator. It gives the egg heat. It even moves them around so the whole egg is warmed. If you’re lucky, you have an incubator in your classroom. If you’re super-lucky, you’ll watch a chick hatch. I hope you’re super-lucky!  If your class is super-lucky, you’ll have a set of 21 plastic eggs. Peek in an egg every day. You’ll see your chick change. Why 21 eggs? It takes 21 days to hatch a chick.  Look! Seven days…one week. Your chick starts as a yellow yolk. It grows a red dot, an eye. Then red lines, veins for blood. Finally, a body. In one short week!  Seven days…two weeks. 7 + 7 = 14 days. Your chick gets bigger. It has a comb and a beak. It has feathers and toes. Wait! Look! It’s a bird!  Seven more days…that's three weeks. 14 + 7 = 21 days. Your chick is covered in feathers. It has hard scales, claws, and a beak. It’s Day 21. It’s time to hatch! How does the chick get out?
Did you guess the egg tooth? You’re right! The chick taps and taps with its egg tooth. Finally its shell cracks. Can you see the chick peeking out? Does hatching look easy or hard?
I think it’s hard! Look at that first chick. I think it needs a nap. What do you think? The second chick looks better. Maybe it had a nap! Why is this chick cuter? It just hatched.  It got a nap. Its feathers dried. When a chick is born, it’s wet and covered in yolk. Yuck! Do chicks hatch at the same time?  No! Three chicks are waiting for a brother or sister. What will it be? A hen or a rooster? I wish we could see!
This post is dedicated to Miss Harrison’s Kindergarten class who inspired it.  1. What's the main idea? 2. As you read, name the 4 hurricanes, in order. 3. Why aren’t hurricanes K and L in this post? Answers are at the end of this post.  This was Hurricane Harvey on Aug. 25th. (Post: 9/12/17) It was the first in a series of hurricanes that hit the US last fall. On Sept. 6th Irma blew through the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and Florida. Jose threatened the Caribbean but never showed up. Thank goodness! On Sept. 22nd Maria appeared. Look at the picture below. That’s what Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands looked like after Hurricanes Maria and Irma. (Post: 10/21/17)
This picture was taken mid-October. I was so surprised. Now, not so much. I just visited Houston where Harvey rained for 5 long days. You can’t see the damage outside, but inside people are still rebuilding their homes. I hope the USVI is recovering like Houston, but it’s harder. Building materials/new supplies come in by boat. It’s more expensive and takes longer. In November I decided to adopt a classroom. I wanted to help another teacher, another classroom. In December I opened my email and found this: Congratulations! You've been matched with... School Name and Address: Lockhart Elementary School, St. Thomas Mailing Address: P.O. Box XXX, St. Thomas, VI 00801 Teacher's Name: Ms. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Grade Level: 1st Grade Number of Students: 21 Primary Needs: Dry erase board markers, File Folders, Printer paper & ink, Tape, Construction paper, Crayons, Glue, Hand soap, Hand sanitizer, Disinfectant wipes, Healthy snacks, Broom & dust pan, Bottled water Message to Adopter: Thank you!
Next step, shopping! By January I had everything on their list. I boxed it and mailed it to the US Virgin Islands. Amazon sent the things I couldn’t, like bottled water and ink.
On Jan. 22nd I got an email saying everything arrived, and this picture. What a great looking class! Their happiness makes me happy too. But I was also sad. I learned half the kids moved away over Christmas vacation, off the island to new schools in new places. I can’t imagine losing half my class over Christmas vacation. These kids survived so much, 2 hurricanes, putting their homes back together again, and now losing classmates. They’re my heroes, and it makes me happy to do something for them. So… To Lockhart first graders, Thank you for letting me help you! I had a ball shopping for you. I hope you have a wonderful finish to your school year. You deserve it! All the best, Mrs. Beach  Update on an Update
1. What’s the main idea? Ex: The main idea is to update the reader about what has happened in the US Virgin Islands since the fall hurricanes. 2. As you read, name the 4 hurricanes, in order. Harvey, Irma, Jose, Maria 3. Why aren’t hurricanes K and L in this post? Ex: They didn’t affect Texas, Florida, or the US Virgin islands.  1. What’s the main idea? 2. Name one way ants and bees are the same. Name one way they’re different. 3. What’s your favorite ant fact? Defend your answer. Answers are at the end of this post. Last week I wrote about the research I’ve done on bees. This week I'm writing about ants. They’re fascinating! I googled and used multiple sources to confirm my facts, just like I did with bees. Many facts are the same. Here are the ones that shaped my ant story:  * Their jaws are called mandibles. They’re compound tools, like our jaws and hands. Ants use them for biting, crushing, cutting, digging, fighting and hunting. * Their antennae help them sense the world around them, literally. They’re used to smell, touch, taste and communicate. They’re bent in the middle like our elbows. * Ants have both compound and simple eyes. * Ocelli, or simple eyes, come in sets of 3. They’re at the top of their head. They detect light levels (high or low) and polarization (the light source). Simple eyes are weak, and they don’t seem to be important. They're not even in my story. * Compound eyes have lots of tiny lenses stuck together. They make those big bug eyes. BTW, their eyes detect motion, but send them blurry images (see below). When I googled eyesight, my sources only mentioned compound eyes. * This week I discovered a new fact, neither ants nor bees have eyelids. They can’t wink or blink so I had to change a couple sentences to fit my new fact. *Another fact I got wrong is how ants breathe. They don’t have lungs. They have spiracles or breathing holes that let air in and out. Ants can't take a breathe. They open their spiracles and wait. Go figure! *This diagram shows a stinger. Stingers were never in my story. I googled them for this post. Only ants, like fire ants, have stingers. The rest bite. That’s probably why I never read or wrote about them. * Ants use their claws to grip, climb, hang and detect vibrations/sound. * All workers are female whether they work inside or outside the hive, just like bees. * Drones ants, like bees, have one job, to mate with a queen. They’re smaller than other workers. They have wings and live outside the colony. I found no evidence that drones return to the nest after they leave. My guess, they find food outside. * Ants, like bees, have queens. They have 1 job, to lay eggs. Minor ants take care of the queen and her new children, keeping them clean and fed. Major workers are soldiers and food foragers.  As promised, here's how you look to a bee. Would you rather have your eyes, or an ant's? I like mine!
I love these pictures. They’re worth 2000 words! The first shows how ants compare, size-wise. The queen is the big dog, I mean ant! She has wings when she leaves home for her maiden flight. When done, she’ll dig a new home, ditch the wings, and lay her first eggs. The queen will never, ever leave home again. If you follow the life cycle diagram, her eggs hatch and become soldiers (major ants) or workers (minor ant). A few eggs become young queens and kings (drones), and the cycle begins again.
Home sweet home, for ants, whether it’s a bug-created habitat, or a human starter-home. My 2nd graders had an ant farm every spring for years. We started with all our sand at the bottom. I pushed a straw in 3 times to give them starter tunnels. Within a week the ants had passages like this, and, had brought sand to the top. No one works like an ant! When our ants arrived, we sent them to a refrigerator to fall asleep. That way I could put them into their new habitat and remain bite-free. A student once got confused and put them into the freezer. Poor ants! They didn’t wake up. Cold temperatures put ants to sleep. Freezing cold kills them. My kids promised every year to keep their hands off the farm. Why? A tiny bump is like an earthquake in the ant world. Tunnels could collapse and leave our ants in danger. My 2nd graders took this promise seriously…we never had a fatality.
The best part of having an ant farm, is watching the ants. They carry food to their storage corner. They move sand from the bottom to the top. They even have graveyards. Really! Look at the black spots on the second picture. Those are dead ants, and this is their cemetery.
 Do you recognize the bugs above? They’re aphids, and they’re the most interesting thing I learned about ants. Ants farm aphids, really! Some new queens take aphid eggs to their new colony. They put them out to pasture on a juicy stem. The aphids drink the plant juice. Then when an ant’s hungry, she strokes the aphid with her antenna. The aphid poops, and the ant eats it. YUCK! The poop is called honeydew, and to an ant it’s like pure sugar. Would you believe ants even clip aphid wings so they won’t fly away? FYI…this post was easy to write. Why? I’ve been reading and writing about ants for over 6 years, but I’m still learning about them.  A Little More Research…Ants, Please!
1. What’s the main idea?The main idea is to learn facts about ants from what research says.. 2. Name one what ants and bees are the same. Name one way they’re different.Same: Both ants and bees have queens who lay eggs. Different: Ants farm aphids. Bees don’t farm other bugs. 3. What’s your favorite ant fact? Defend your answer. Ants eat bug poop. YUCK! I can’t believe any creature would do that!  1. What’s the author’s purpose? 2. Name a fiction and nonfiction detail. 3. Name 2 places I found information. Answers are at the end of this post. I started a middle grade chapter book about ants 6 years ago. I took it to an SCBWI critique and discovered children’s fiction has to be factually correct. Who knew? I’d written a sentence, 1 sentence on the first page about an ant’s heart pounding. Bruce Hale, my reader, asked if ants had hearts. I said I don’t know, and he said, you will, if you want to be published. That’s when researching became part of my writing.  Later bees came into the story so I did bee research. I googled and looked at different sources. I made sure multiple sources confirmed my facts. These are my need-to-know bee facts: * Their jaws are called mandibles. They use them to carry and construct things. They’re compound tools, like our jaws and hands. * Their antennae help them sense the world around them. * Bees have compound/multiple eyes. Drones (male bees) have the biggest eyes in the bee word. * Only females have stingers. Sorry drones, no stingers for you. * All workers are female whether they work inside or outside the hive. * Drones have one job, to mate with a queen. They don’t work in the hive. They don’t collect pollen, and they’re kicked out before winter. * Bees have queens. They have 1 job, to lay eggs. Worker bees take care of them, keeping them clean and fed. My story became a mixture of fiction/nonfiction. My ants ride on bees. Real ones don’t. I wanted 3 ants onboard. I googled and compared their size. The ants fit, at least in a story! I also wanted my ants to fly through the hive, They can’t. Why not? I called a bee keeper. He said the tunnels are only big enough to crawl through, so my ants had to crawl to meet the queen. I used the pictures below to help me imagine it, so I could write it.
smaller than bees, so I rewrote part of a chapter to make my words fit the facts. Neither major nor minor ants would scrunch down to hike a tunnel.  But my writing still wasn’t clear enough. My critique friends asked about the tunnels and the queen. You can’t write clearly if you can’t picture it. So I wrote questions for bee expert, Don Steinke. He's got his own Bee World. He tried to answer, but finally told me to come for a visit. It worked! At this month’s critique the ants and bees passed muster, finally! Here's what I learned about them:
This is Don. He pulled out a frame from one of his hives. It’s man-made but similar to what bees create in the wild. A picture, better yet the real deal, is worth 1000 words. Thanks, Don!
This is a close-up of the frame. The edge is wood. The rest is a plastic sheet with thousands of dimples on both sides. The workers add a little beeswax, and those dimples become the honeycomb. That’s where the queen lays her eggs She starts in the center of the cell frame and lays them in an organized pattern. Older queens lay less eggs and are less organized. Getting old isn’t easy, for bees or humans! A queen lays about 1500 eggs a day. They’re the size of a grain of rice. If the egg is fertile, it will become a female worker. If not, it’s a male, a drone. After 3 days the egg hatches into a larva. Worker bees feed it honey, royal jelly and plant liquids for 2 or 3 days, depending on what the larva will become. Then workers cap the cell in beeswax. Inside the larva spins a cocoon. It eats its way out in 7-14 days depending on what it is. New queens come out first, workers next, and drones last. The new adult goes to work immediately. Growing up isn’t fun! When you do research, you usually learn more than you need to know. For my writing I just needed to picture the hive, and how bees travel across it. Basically wild or domestic, the hives look a lot alike. They both have honeycombs, and the passageways are the same size. Inside either hive bees crawl across the frame, anywhere on the frame. It’s not like ants, who dig tunnels into the dirt. They only travel through those tunnels. Bees use the hole as their tunnel to go to the backside, or to another frame. (FYI, the hole is there to help the bee keeper extract honey.) In the wild bees leave holes for travel. Read on…Don told me more about bees. Who knows? I might need it in another chapter!
care for the larva. It’s called travel stain. If you want light-colored honey, use a queen excluder. It keeps the queen out so she can’t lay eggs.
 A Little Research… Bees, Please!
1. What’s the author’s purpose? My author’s purpose was to inform how and why I research fictional details. 2. Name a fiction and nonfiction detail. Fiction example: Ants ride on bees. Nonfiction: Queen bees can lay 1500 eggs a day. 3. Name 2 places I found information. Google and Don Steinke’s Bee World  1. What did we find? Name the animal and its bones. 2. Why could my husband see the remains when I couldn’t? 3. Do you see details like my husband, or the big picture like me? Support your answer. Think about how you solve a puzzle, do a math problem, or read a book. Answers are at the end of this post Do you see anything?  How about now?  No? That’s because there’s nothing there…now…but there was. My husband kicked something away before I could take a picture, but I took one anyway. Why? Because it tells you something about me. Here’s the story of what we found: My husband called for me to come outside. He was mumbling something about Halloween and Tennessee. I scanned the path beside the house and wondered what he was talking about. He led me up the path to this spot, and told me to stop. Then he asked if I saw anything. I said no. I was still scanning the woods and seeing nothing. He said look down, and this is what lay, literally, between my feet. Another step and I would have landed on top of it.  Can you believe it? I wouldn’t have, but there it was, right there between my feet. I looked down to find eye sockets staring up at me. Now that is Halloween spooky! I cut and pasted these two pictures close together. It's pretty much what I saw, except, eye sockets aren't looking up at us.  In all my years on the planet, I’ve never been this close to a skull. Ever! I'm a city girl. You don't find animal skeletons in town. I’ve only seen them in books and museums. And no, I didn’t get any closer, but I was fascinated enough to take pictures.  But it gets better...Look at this picture. It’s what I saw when my husband told me to look at his feet. You see two skulls and a spine, but originally, that top skull was between by my feet. I’ve still can’t believe I was that close. I didn’t bend down, and I definitely didn’t touch it. ICK!!! Do you know what animal these skulls once belonged to? I didn’t, but my husband knew right away. I looked at the bones slowly, carefully. Then I saw a clue. Do you see it? Look at the bottom skull. There’s something beside it that says “deer.” Can you find it?  If not, look at this picture. Do you see a deer’s leg? I found the black hoof first. Look for the hoof, and you’ll find the leg. Above it, the leg actually had hair on it. It’s a creepy detail, but it made me wonder how long the poor deer was dead. Did it happen two weeks ago when we were still there? Before? After? We’ll never know. We also wondered how they died. Was it natural causes, like sickness or disease? Was it a predator? Our house is in the Smokies where black bear and wildcats live. We’ve never seen them, but who knows? The skeletons do, but they wouldn’t talk. My husband noticed teeth marks on the bones. I didn’t, but I wasn’t going any closer. They were probably made by animal scavengers. They come in later to feed on the body and clean up the mess. They eat whatever’s left, including the bones. That’s where they get their calcium. It’s sad, but it’s the circle of life.
 Do you recognize this shape? It’s a snakeskin. It was left behind when a snake molts off his old skin and leaves it behind. I didn’t take this picture. I found it on the internet. Would you believe we found a skin, something like this, hanging from our deck stairs? I wish I had taken a picture.
My lakehouse is beautiful. It’s heaven, but it’s also part of a wild kingdom. I forget, till l see a deer watching me from the road, or a lizard run across my deck, or till I take pictures like the ones above. I’ll be back in 2 weeks. I wonder if my skeletons will be waiting for me. I’ll let you know in another update.  Can You Guess What We Found at the Lake?
1. What did we find? Name the animal and its bones. The skull and spine of 2 deer 2. Why could my husband see the remains when I couldn’t? My husband can see details in a landscape, like the skeleton. I see the big picture and then go down to detail. I saw the woods. I probably wouldn’t have looked down to see the skull. 3. Do you see details like my husband, or the big picture like me? Support your answer. Think about how you solve a puzzle, do a math problem, or read a book. Possible answers: I see details like your husband. When I’m working a puzzle, I can see the small parts of pictures, and I can put them together. I see the big picture like you. When I do a puzzle, I have to look at the box. I go back and forth from the box to the pieces until I see parts of the picture.  1. What are 3 things you’d lose if you lived in the US Virgin Islands? 2. Name 2 groups who are helping families or schools. 3. What could you do to help children in the US Virgin Islands? Answers are at the end of this post Sept. 6th Irma hit the US Virgin Islands. Nine days later Maria made landfall on Sept. 22nd. Today is Oct. 20th. It’s 45 days later, and there’s still so much damage left to repair.  Can you imagine surviving Irma, then Maria, and returning home to this? That’s what happened to people who live on St. Thomas, St. Johns, St. Croix, and the minor islands that make up the US Virgin Islands. I can’t imagine living like this for a month-and-a-half with your home open to the elements. Water’s leaking or blowing inside. YUCK! You’ve also lived with a boil-water advisory for 45 days. If you don’t have bottled water, you boil or add a few drops of bleach every time before you drink or brush your teeth. What a pain! YUCK! October temperatures average about 86F with high heat and humidity. You’re on an island so you can go to the beach. Except, no swimming. Bacteria in the water could make you sick. Here’s a tiny bit of good news: the water system is now 90 % restored, and there’s 4-9 days of emergency water.
With high heat and humidity, you miss air conditioning. It doesn’t work without power/electricity, which you lost 45 days ago. That means no AC, lights, running water, or toilets. If you’re lucky, you have a generator. But it only works with a tankful of gas or diesel fuel. Gas and diesel are in short supply, like everything else. They must be shipped in, then delivered or picked up. Roads are damaged, like everything else in the US Virgin Islands. Little by little the power’s coming back on. By Christmas 90% of the electricity will be restored. That’s still 64 days away. I hope things go faster than expected. Worst of all, if you live on the US Virgin Islands, you might feel forgotten. People talk about Puerto Rico, and not you. But it’s not true! There are people who want to help.  Adopt a Family, USVI is one of the groups trying to help. They’re behind these packages that were delivered to the US Virgin Islands. Can you imagine how great you’d feel if one arrived on your doorstep? Adopt a Family matches a supporter with a family in need. It’s a wonderful way to help families living without power, hospitals, or running water. Life doesn’t feel safe anymore. Sending a book or a t-shirt means the world to parents and children who’ve lived through a hurricane.  This is a picture from their Facebook page. You can also visit their website at: http://www.adoptafamilyusvi.com/. I hope you’ll check them out!
Homes got hit, and so did schools. The first picture is a pair of twins from the Lowcountry of South Carolina. These 4th grade girls spearheaded a drive in early October that brought in about 1,000 books. If my classroom was destroyed, I’d be grateful for their help. The second picture is from adoptafamilyusvi.com. They came up with the idea to adopt a classroom. The need is still great. I just read a post today that showed a building like the one in my first picture. It read “This is not an old picture.” That post was 4 hours old. If buildings look like this, so do schools. Some were condemned while other were severely damaged. So, Adopt A Family decided to sponsor Adopt A Classroom, USVI to help classrooms in need. I checked them out and signed up. I should hear early in November who I get to help. I can’t wait!  Here’s the basic supply list. There are so many things that I, as a retired teacher, can buy, and I get to help 1st/2nd graders. I’m so excited! I'm ready to start shopping! There’s also an adoption form/contract. It says: 1. We’re committing to adopt (1) classroom in the USVI for three consecutive months. 2. By adopting a classroom we are committing to sending enough supplies for a classroom of 15-35 students for three consecutive months. 3. I understand Adopt A Classroom, USVI suggests we send (4) Large Flat Rate USPS priority boxes per month OR the equivalent. 4. A pen pal relationship is highly probable however we ask you to please send a return envelope and stamps. 5. I understand that our preferred adoption grade is NOT guaranteed. 6. I understand our primary resourced for questions/concerns is: http://tinyurl.com/launchclassroom I hope you'll consider adopting either a family or a classroom. For parents, teachers, and schools, this is a great opportunity to help others, and maybe, to find a pen pal from another culture. Just think how many children you can help, when you help one classroom.  Facebook Sources: 1. Adopt A Family USVI 2. Adopt A Classroom USVI Link: http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/10/20/559026813/st-john-could-get-electricity-turned-back-on-6-weeks-after-hurricane-irma  Update: The US Virgin Islands Work to Repair Hurricane Damage 1. What are 3 things you’d lose after the hurricane? Possible answers: drinking or running water, electricity, air conditioning, toilets, swimming at the beach 2. Name 2 groups who are helping families or schools. Adopt A Family USVI Adopt A School USVI 3. What could you do to help children in the US Virgin Islands? Talk to your parents or teachers. Show them this post. Decide together how you’d like to help. This week I’m editing from a new angle, from my back yard. The first picture is from last winter. When we moved in, our trees were so thick it looked like a national park house instead of a lake house. Would you believe we have so many trees that in the spring and summer, you can’t see the lake for the forest in between?
The second picture is from a couple weeks ago. Over time my husband cut down lots of small trees from the front and backyard. A professional just cut down 6 huge trees. I hated to see them go, but they were too close to houses, or had roots in the septic system, or simply blocked the view. Can you see the difference? I hope “editing” over 50 trees will tame the forest so we can see the lake and the trees. Editing/cutting is an excellent thing!
 This is me when I visited Cozumel, Mexico. I met my dolphin friend. His trainer taught me a few basic signals. This one got me a ride.
I posted this comment on 11/29 Have you ever wondered what a dolphin’s skin feels like? Me, never. I only imagined swimming with them, gliding through water, dolphin speed. My picture is from last February, but I’ll try to remember, for you. When you think fish, you think of bumps and scales. And if you think mammal, you think of your own skin. But dolphin skin is different. I can’t think of a single animal I’ve touched that felt the same. Their coat is smooth, soft, and a little cold. Have you ever coated something to make it water-proof? It’s feels a little like that too. I suppose it has to be to survive living in water. I love dolphins, but I’m not sure I like their skin. It’s like touching a solid plastic lifebuoy or wearing those rubbery lifejackets. They’re all oily, and plastic-y, and solid. So is a dolphin beneath your hand. My male friend here probably weighed close to 400 pounds. I felt small beside him. But…the best thing about touching dolphin skin was being able to grasp a pectoral (side) and dorsal (top) fin, and then hitch a ride. I loved it! (Other than the water splashing me in the face. Yuck!) If you’d like to read more about my dolphin friend, click on this link. I learned a lot! I hope you will too! https://seaworld.org/en/animal-info/animal-infobooks/bottlenose-dolphins/physical-characteristics Then I posted this comment on 12/6 Curiosity killed the cat, but I wonder what it did to the dolphin… Did you know you can’t wear jewelry, or anything sparkly-interesting when you swim with dolphins? Why not? They’re curious and have to check it out. That’s not a problem…unless your sparkly-interesting thing has a sharp edge. Then you’ve given your dolphin friend a cut, and Band-Aids are awfully hard to wear in water. Luckily for your dolphin friend, he has great skin. If you visited the SeaWorld link from my last comment, you know that dolphins shed their skin, every inch of it, every two hours. No wonder their skin’s so soft and smooth! If a cut goes deeper, it just takes a little longer to heal. Lucky dolphins! So, remember if you’re ever lucky enough to swim with a dolphin, leave your sparkly-interesting things in a locker, or at home. You’ll both have a wonderfully safe time!!! This was from the original post. I hoped students would write and comment. They didn't, but if you're reading this now, please comment! I love to hear from kids! Now students in grades K-5, it’s your turn…. My photo will be up for a month. At the end of that time, I’ll award the class with the most posts an autographed copy of our writing. For the month’s best post, I’ll publish your work right below mine so everyone can read and admire your work. I’ll also send you an autographed copy of our writing, of course! Suggestions… You can write about my ride, guessing what kind of signals I used, how I felt, or what else we did together. OR, you can put yourself in the picture. You’re visiting a dolphin. What would you see and do? Maybe you’ve already hung out with dolphins. Remember it’s YOUR turn to write. Anything is possible, fiction or nonfiction. The post is yours! Happy Writing! Rinda Beach PS…please head your piece with your first name, school, teacher, and grade level. Don’t forget to reread and edit so I'll want to read it over and over again! PPS...then email your writing to rindab59@gmail.com. I can't wait to post it on my blog! ************************************************************************************************************ If you’d like to comment about my picture or on someone’s comments, click on comments and write a note. Anyone can comment, even teachers and parents! Students, please post using your parents’ or teachers’ email. Remember, first names only when you sign in for safety sake. |
AuthorWhen I write, I can only have one voice in my head, mine. A little noise is fine. But too much, or worse yet, WORDS, and I must change rooms or pull out headphones. Then I can write on! Archives
November 2018
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