What's App, Doc?

Please go to this Blendspace to learn more about the apps you think you know and love. 
Take the quiz and see how much you actually remembered!




Assignment: Use the Symbaloo on the home page of the catalog to find a creation site and make a product that passes on some of the knowledge you now have about apps, both good and bad. Big Huge Labs, Smore, Wordle are good places to start. You don't have to finish today.

Blendspace for Flipped Learning

Hi all, while I'm out today, please use this Blendspace Symbaloo Tutorial - it has a cool new trick for you Symbalooers!

Click here for today's lesson

Archiving - Let's start to think about it....

Hi Fabulous 6th graders,
We need to start thinking about what we want to archive, and making a list (copying the URL, otherwise known as the address, e.g., www.google.com) on a word document. Call it Archive.

There's so much cool stuff out there it's hard to think what you'd save! Like Heather's Animations or BestAnimations.com
or games....and what kind of games?
And sites you find yourself using all the time? Like I have favorite movie review or book sites
And photos, cartoons, and commercials...there's so much it's hard to grasp.

Please spend today thinking, searching, and copying URLs and pasting them into a word document.
We'll share out next week. Meanwhile let's think about why it's important to save that piece of our history. Here's two examples for you to think about:, from the Internet Archive, where your work will be saved as well:

Folger's Coffee Commercial 1960's   (web address just in case - you can paste in browser: https://archive.org/details/FolgersCoffe_2 )  and a 1948 Jello commercial.

Please consider, do you think a commercials like these could be shown today? What do they say about society at a certain time? Would they offend you?  Do they need a Reality Check? Values Check? Stereotype Check? Sexism Check? What was accepted once - why is it not okay now?
Was the spoon a "Western Invention?"Think about that!

Please respond by commenting below. And then check out the giant Symbaloo on the home page of the catalog. I'm looking forward to reading your reactions.

Hi wonderful fifth graders!! You have been doing an excellent job on Padlet.  I want you to add your 'How To" projects to our padlet page at

 padlet.com/rockthelab/howto 

First think of something you could possibly demonstrate - like "How To give your dog a bath" wouldn't work because it would need to be something you could show at school. So think about something you could really do, like make a can tab bracelet, or how to fold a napkin to look like a swan.  Take a look at what your fellow students did by going to padlet.com/rockthelab/howto. They either wrote the instructions for their "how to" on the padlet or they posted a video by opening a new window, finding an instructional video, copying the address (at the top, like this address is blogger.com/blah blah blah - not really but you get the idea) and then pasting it into the link symbol and clicking ADD.  You can add an image the same way. I made a video to help you with this but if you have any trouble just write the instructions instead. I don't know if this will be blocked or not...

Maybe if you paste this address into the browser you can see it:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrFdMKKTSiQ    
 and I will try to put it into the padlet as well.

Have a great weekend!

Snapchat - what you never knew

Think you're safe on SnapChat? Then you'd better read this: 

An article in Time Tech addresses whether the authorities, like the police, are allowed to look at your SnapChat photos. Do you know the law?

Temporarily Yours

Blogmeister is undergoing temporary construction and the blog is frozen. We will return when it's fixed, but meanwhile:

NEW:  Glogster is running a "Thousand Dollar Contest". From now until Midnight December 16th you can create a glog on any topic that interests you. You must use the new templates as the Classic Template is being phased out. Use as many Glogster functions as you can, such as inserting a film of you speaking or reading something from your glog. Photos, artwork, attachments, but most of all thoughtful well planned work will increase you chances of winning tremendously~so plan! New students, I need you to think of a new glog name, and look on with someone else. Maybe a friend can teach you how glogs work...take a look at two projects we've done under "wikis" on the home page of the catalog.

FUN:  Ever read a Newbery Award Winner? Want to create an I-Movie? Lucky you! We can either do this as a class, or you can do this with family adn friends. Do what, you ask? Create a 90 second Newbery film. If you/we win you will be sitting in New Yok City at the annual 90 Second Newbery film festival. Click on the 90 second link to see videos, and all pertinent info.

 FUN AND NEW:Want to learn to code? See your results instantly? Test drive this, I haven't even had a chance to mess around with it. Tell me what you think. Try the Code Monster at Mozilla.

If none of the above appeals, go to Cool Tools on the wiki. Or best of all, read a book.

Happy and healthy Thanksgiving to you and your families and friends. See you after the break. Image: free public domain. Source: see link below.
http://www.clipartpal.com/clipart_pd/holiday/thanksgiving/thanksgiving_10080.html

John Rocco's Newest Hair Raising Adventure

John Rocco's New Book  Coming soon to your library!

Heathers Animations to the Max!

Evan Roth makes art with a single icon from Heather's Animations! Click on these links to see them. Amazing what you can create, when you let your imagination and a bit of technology work together!
These works of art were shown at the Museum of the Moving Image, as an exhibition, this year. They were projected on a much larger screen but I think you'll get the idea!


Revolver

Heather on Cyan

Keyboard on deep pink

Hot Air Balloon

Email

Shuttle on Dodger Blue

Flower

Blimp

Fighter Jet

Shakespeare, anyone?

The Providence Atheneum (pronounced Ath-A-Nay-Um) puns on it's name in true Shakespearean style. Juliet says:

That which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet

So a performance of Romeo and Juliet in this beautiful, historic 1838 library is called "A Rose by Any Other (Athe)Name"!

Would you like to perform in it? If you're in 3rd to 5th grade, you can, and be taught acting by our famous Trinity Rep. Have your folks read the annotation below, and break a leg!

Thurs, 12/13 – 3/28, 4:00-5pm: Trinity Repertory Company and the Providence Athenaeum present: A Rose by Any Other Athenaeum, a site-specific Romeo & Juliet for 3rd – 5th Graders! Trinity Repertory Company's Education Department and the Providence Athenaeum are proud to announce a new partnership this coming winter and spring. 3rd – 5th graders are invited to take part in a 30-minute, site-specific presentation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet performed at the Providence Athenaeum. Rehearsals will take place at the library from December through March, with the final performance on Thursday, April 4th. Taught by Trinity Rep Education Director Caroline Azano along with Trinity Rep education staff, young actors will learn the basics of bringing Shakespeare's words to life before starring in an actual production of the famous tragedy in the Providence Athenaeum. For more information about cost and specific casting and rehearsal dates, go to the Children's Library website. You can also contact Caroline Azano for more information about Trinity's Education Department at cazano@trinityrep.com or 401-521-1100 x230.

Rose image borrowed from Google Images, website: lufkintxcontemplativenunsop.blogspot.com

2012 Porquoi Stories from the Third Grade Melrose

We proudly present Porquoi stories written by third graders here in Melrose School.

Reading Week

You can see the video, you can hear the broadcast! The audio is in the widget under the video. They do not mesh simultaneously, so enjoy one, and then the other.

Fifth grade's Lawn Manual

The fifth graders from the Comic LIfe after school program have created a manual for you to navigate your new school.
Click here to see what they've created.

Sue Sue's Garden

Netiquette Survey

Since we are working on wikis and glogs we need to be good internet citizens. Let's see how much you remember about Netiquette by taking this survey:

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

Here she is!!

Vini, Vidi, Voki

Handout for Voki presentation is available at https://docs.google.com. Long horrible URL at right --->

Boo to you!

A new tool for voice recording:

Using Animoto for Reports

Click on the post below to see Meg Maguire and Josie Ruggeri's report on Vandalism using Animoto to see a great example of it's use. Looking forward to seeing, and posting, yours!

Vandalism

Vandalism

Animoto Slide Show Book Reports

Lights! Camera! Action! Your book reports can take on a whole new look with Animoto. Write your script. Choose your images (and videos, too). Choose or upload your music. And Voilà! You have a presentation that you can put on a blog, wiki, youtube...whatever! This report on Nelson Mandela by Gordon Gray is a great example of animoto book reports - and I am going to post an animoto page on this blog to display the great work I know you will be coming up with. Calling Oscar...