4th Grade - February 2/2014 - New Winter Olympic events

The Olympic Winter Games are currently happening. They started on February 7th and go until the closing ceremony on February 23rd.

Below is a video describing the new events at these Olympic Games. These are events that have never before been Olympic events.


Watch the video and answer the questions below...

Your questions:

• What did you think about the video?

• Which of the new events looks most interesting to you? Why?

• Have you watched any of the Winter Olympics this year?

• Have you seen any of these new events? 

• Do you currently do any winter sports? Ice skating, skiing, hockey, etc?

Please respond in full and complete sentences, paragraph form. Double check your work before posting your comment. Once you post your comment, Mr. Casal will be notified and he will grade and approve your post. Your comment will not appear on the blog until Mr. Casal has read and approved it.

Have a great week off, watch the Olympics, and have fun!

Remember - Comment as "Name/URL" and use your first name and last initial (proper capitalization, no URL). Please respond in full and complete sentences. Double check your work before posting your comment.

3rd Grade - February 2/2014 - Which Olympic sport is for you?

The Olympic Winter Games are currently happening. They started on February 7th and go until the closing ceremony on February 23rd.

Below is a video of celebrities and athletes (not Winter Olympic athletes) answering the question: "In which Winter Olympic Sport would you want to compete?" 

Watch the video and answer the questions below:

Your questions:

• Have you watched any of the Winter Olympics this year?

• What Winter Olympic sport would you, as a 3rd grader, like to compete in?

• Do you currently do any winter sports? Ice skating, skiing, hockey, etc?

Please respond in full and complete sentences, paragraph form. Double check your work before posting your comment. Once you post your comment, Mr. Casal will be notified and he will grade and approve your post. Your comment will not appear on the blog until Mr. Casal has read and approved it.

Have a great week off, watch the Olympics, and have fun!

Remember - Comment as "Name/URL" and use your first name and last initial (proper capitalization, no URL). Please respond in full and complete sentences. Double check your work before posting your comment.

3rd Grade - Christmas 12/2013 - Technology & You

3rd graders, please answer these 2 questions over the Christmas Vacation....


(click "Read More" to see the questions)

1. What was the first piece of technology you remember using?
2. What do you think "technology" will look/be like in 5 years?

Please respond in full and complete sentences, paragraph form - double check your work before posting your comment.


Remember - Comment as "Name/URL" and use your first name and last initial (proper capitalization, no URL)- Comments with last names will not be published! Please respond in full and complete sentences - double check your work before posting your comment. 

4th Grade - Christmas 12/2013 - Into the Atmosphere

Have you ever looked at the sky and just watched the clouds go by?

Have you watched the stars imagined the earth spinning?

Have you ever wanted to watch a sunset but dind't have the time?

Time lapse photography is a great way to see things in a way you haven't.

Your assignment...



Watch the time lapse video below and answer the questions underneath it.

What is time lapse you ask?

So, what exactly is Time Lapse?

According to Wikipedia, “Time-lapse photography is a cinematography technique whereby the frequency at which film frames are captured (the frame rate) is much lower than that which will be used to play the sequence back. When replayed at normal speed, time appears to be moving faster and thus lapsing.”

Generally, a video comprises of 24-30 frames of photos per second (called fps). At this rate, our eye is not able to identify the individual frames and we perceive them as a continuous stream of images. So when we watch a 3-minute video on YouTube, technically we have seen 24fps x 180 secs = 4320 frames or images. So, if you set the time-lapse recording for 4 seconds and record a 40-second video, the resulting time-lapse video will be of 10 seconds and thus time flies by, super fast.

In other words, why wait for 12 hours from sunrise to sunset, by using time-lapse, watch the sun set it in a matter of minutes.

(courtesy of http://www.globaldelight.com/blog/2011/07/what-is-a-time-lapse-video/)

Here is the video:

Into The Atmosphere from Michael Shainblum on Vimeo.

Here are your questions

• What did you think about the video?
• What did you see in the video? Describe some things that stood out to you?
• Does time lapse give you a different perspective about what you were watching?
• Any thoughts or comments about the idea of time lapse video/photography in general?

Please post your answers to all 4 questions as a comment below. Remember, use full & complete sentences and check your spelling and grammar.

Enjoy the video and have a great vacation!


Remember - Comment as "Name/URL" and use your first name and last initial (proper capitalization, no URL)- Comments with last names will not be published! Please respond in full and complete sentences - double check your work before posting your comment. 

5th Grade - Christmas 12/2013 - The possibilities of technology

Technology provides a wide range of possibility and opportunity.

There is possibility to create in ways previously unavailable. Opportunity to see & experience things previously out of reach. Possibility and opportunity to discover and question all the things in your world.

The greatest power of technology is that possibility and opportunity to question what you see & find answers for yourself.

Your assignment...

Watch this video:

Impressive, right?

Question 1:

• Do you think it is truly possible to create that drawing with only an iPad?

Now, watch this video:

Questions 2 & 3:

• Does it change your thinking now that you can see his hands on the iPad?
• Does your idea of possibility change seeing another example?

Read this short article...
Why the Morgan Freeman Finger Painting is Probably Not Fake


Final Question

• Having watched those 2 videos, and read the article, What do you think? If is possible to create something so realistic with just a finger and an iPad? 

Please explain your answer with detail and examples from what you saw and read.

Please post your answers to all 4 questions as a comment below. Remember, use full & complete sentences and check your spelling and grammar.

Enjoy the video and have a great vacation!


Remember - Comment as "Name/URL" and use your first name and last initial (proper capitalization, no URL)- Comments with last names will not be published! Please respond in full and complete sentences - double check your work before posting your comment.