Monday, June 15

Entry for Monday, June 15

"Year End Fun" for Mr. Hamer

Indeed, it is "year end fun" for Mr. Hamer...and Lilly too!

Ah...we've lost Lilly's attention.

Must be a bird flying near the trees outside...or maybe a rabbit on the front lawn.

And...she's supposed to be my little helper!

Yes, Mr. Hamer is taking apart the class books.

This is so he will be able to reassemble them for each student in the class.

Those portable tables Mrs. Hamer bought sure help out.

And...what a load of class books we managed to make this year!

We have over forty in total.

That's pretty good considering...

...we lost almost the entire second term...

...as we had to partake in social distancing and distance learning on-line.

Mr. Hamer enjoyed making a cover for each of his students as well as writing each child a letter on the pages beside the cover in the top row above.  It was fun for Mr. Hamer to create the autograph page.  Normally, the students would have made that and we would have passed our pages around the class to be signed by everyone...but alas...we couldn't make it back to school. 

Today in History Part 1

(with a reading activity)

followed by

Yesterday in History Part 2

then 

Last Saturday in History Part 3

(with a fun read-aloud on hiccups!)

(no math work today)

On this day in history, June 15, 1991, Mount Pinatubo, a volcano located in The Phillippines erupted.

Luckily, seismologists (scientists who study the earth) had predicted the eruption and sent out warnings long in advance so people's lives were saved!

When a volcano erupts it send out a huge ash cloud into the atmosphere.

Mount Pinatubo's ash cloud traveled up so high and it affected weather patterns for some time after the eruption.

Check out the aftermath of the eruption.  All of that ash has settled over the landscape making it look like that jeep is driving on another planet in the solar system!

 This person is cleaning the ash off their car.  Look at how deep it is on the ground around the vehicle!

Check out this Argentine airplane in another part of the world, South America.

The airplane flew so high in the sky but still did not manage to avoid an ash cloud from a different volcano that erupted on that continent.

Back to Mount Pinatubo.  This is what the crater at the top of the mountain looks like today!  Beautiful isn't it?  In fact, it is a well-known tourist attraction.  

Pinatubo means "Fertile place where one can make crops grow."

 

Indeed, mother nature can be fierce, but she can also be resilient.  After the eruption, monsoon rains filled the crater making this lovely lake at the top of the volcano

The 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption was the second largest volcanic eruption of the 20th Century.  The largest eruption occurred early on in the century in the state of Alaska in the year 1912.

Language Learning

This will be our final task for the school year.  Mr. Hamer will still teach through the blog but the students will not have to submit any work!  Yabba dabba doo!

This fun read aloud is about a boy who needs to learn to wait his turn before he calls our or even shouts out.  Yes, his mouth can sometimes be just like a volcano!

Video of Read Aloud "My Mouth is a Volcano"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuqDxU82ugQ

There are so many more words we can use instead of "said" when we write sentences with quotations in them.

I will share three sentences that are virtually the same except for one word outside the quotes.  Then figure out which sentence better describes how the person said it.

"Who's been sitting in my chair?" Papa Bear said.

"Who's been sitting in my chair?" Papa Bear erupted.

Don't you think the second sentence gives the reader more of an idea of how Papa Bear felt?  I do!

Let's try another example.

"Don't come near my puppies!" growled the big dog.

"Don't come near my puppies!" said the big dog.

I think the first sentence helps us better understand how the big dog felt.

Hey, let's use an object (thing) for the subject of the sentence.  Check this pair of sentences out!

"Someone tried to move me away from the mountain!" murmured the stone in a deep voice.

"Someone tried to move me away from the mountain!" said the stone in a deep voice.

Murmured is a lot better than said in this instance!

Check out the list above of words to use instead of "said".

How about this list?

Granny has some good ideas for more words to use instead of always using "said" in your sentences.

Your Reading Task

Remember my examples of three examples of the two  sentences, one with the word said and one with a replacement word?

Your task is to create three pairs of sentences.

One sentence must use the word "said".

The other sentence uses a better word than "said" that really shows the meaning of what is being dealt with.

It could be a person speaking, an animal...or...for fun...any object.

Remember my examples of three examples of the two  sentences, one with the word said and one with a replacement word?

Your task is to create three pairs of sentences.

One sentence must use the word "said".

The other sentence uses a better word than "said" that really shows the meaning of what is being dealt with.

It could be a person speaking, an animal...or...for fun...any object.

Yesterday in History Part 2

Yesterday in history, June 14, 1959, something very special happened at Disneyland.  That's Walt Disney standing at the right side of the picture.

The Disneyland Monorail opened for the first time.

Here we see vice president Richard Nixon and his family cutting the unveiling ribbon for this historic event as Walt Disney looks on.

This form of transportation is called a "Monorail" because the train rides on a single track.  That's right, just one track.

"Mono" means one.

Monorails come in all sorts of colourful designs.

They come in many different shapes.

Their paint schemes sure look cool!

Indeed, Walt Disney was a "forward thinker".

Some modern cities make use of monorails as a form of transit.

Transit means "to move".  A form of transit is a way of moving people all around.

Hey, some monorails ride below the rail!

We call these "suspended" monorails.

This Past Saturday in History Part 3

On this day in history, Charles Osborne was working on the farm when he slipped and hit his head, breaking a tiny blood vessel in his brain.  This was in the small area of the brain, about the size of a pin head,  that controls the body's ability to inhibit the hiccup response.  Charles, or Charlie as his friends called him, began hiccuping.  This was in 1922.  He continued hiccuping for 68 years!

Then, one day in 1990 when he was already 96 years old the hiccuping suddenly stopped!  Charlie lived for one more year and died at the ripe old age of 97!  Apparently he adapted to the hiccuping and lived a life raising eight children.

Hey,  remember we learned all about onomatopoeias?
Yes, the word "hiccup" sounds just like the sound a hiccup makes!  It is an onomatopoeia!

Language Learning

If you have time, feel free to enjoy these two read-alouds about the hiccups!

Read Aloud of "I Can't Stop Hiccuping!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQJk5w7GjJ4

Read Aloud of "Arthur's Hiccups"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyIOqlh-4nQ

Science (With No Work)

Today we finish up learning the six simple machines.
Today we learn about the pulley.

Like all simple machines, the pulley helps make work easier.

When someone wants to hang clothes on the line to dry...

...they simply pin the clothing on the line from the ground or their balcony then move the line along.

 By pulling in one direction on the line, the other side moves in the opposite direction.  It is all one line but it hangs down from both sides of the pulley.
(The pulley is a form of the wheel and axle!)

This water well is a perfect example of how a pulley helps us reach way down in the earth to get water.

This man can lift the heavy box and not hurt his back.

All these men have to do is pull down on their end of the rope or cable and the object lifts us into the air.

An elevator is another perfect example of a pulley!  When the weights go down, the elevator goes up...and vice versa!

Raising a flag is easy with the aid of a pulley!

These school children wish to raise the flag too!
They attach the flag to its clip on the pulley line and pull down on the line on the other side of the pulley.

As if by magic the flag raises!

The flags of the world are so very colourful!

A Glimpse of Canada

We begin our journey to Quebec with a look at the provincial flag.

Quebec is the large mauve-coloured province on this map.

We visit Quebec City.

It is the capital city of the province.

Some people simply call Quebec City..."Quebec".

The large Chateau Frontenac Hotel can be seen from many vantage points in the city and appears just as beautiful in winter...

...as it does in summer!

Mr Bonhomme!

Winter Carnival Time!

Yes, Quebec holds a wonderful winter carnival each year.

Tobogganing is so much fun...

and you get to see the city too!

That's the St. Lawrence River flowing through Quebec.

Vieux Quebec...

...is the older part of the city...

...in the lower section of town.  You can take the funicular up or down between the two sections.  It's like a railroad elevator.

Old Quebec has cobblestone streets and beautiful homes and buildings made of stone.

Further up the St. Lawrence River we reach the large city of Montreal.  Montreal gets its name from the mountain towering above the city, Mount Royal or Mont Royal in French.

Combine Mont Royal together and you get Montreal.

Near the top of the mountain is the famous cross which is lit up each evening.

This is a view of the city from atop the mountain.  See that round building in the foreground to the left.  That's the McGill University medical building.  Mr. Hamer graduated from McGill University...and, yes, he had to climb partway up the mountain every day to attend classes!

The lovely lake atop the mountain.

Montreal at night.

The city hosted Expo '67 in Canada's centennial year...that's when Canada turned 100 years old.

Just like the Eiffel Tower which was built for Paris's world's fair, this geodesic dome was built for Montreal's world fair.

The citizens of Montreal liked it so much that they chose to keep it and not tear it down.  We're glad they kept it!

The Jacques Cartier Bridge is lit up at night in a multitude of colours that can vary.

The lovely colours help brighten the hearts of Montrealers and those who visit this fine multi-cultural city!

Like all of our previous provinces, the rural areas are much larger than any of the urban ones.  Just seeing the leaves turn their vibrant colours in the fall is a reason to take a drive through the Quebec country side! 

Or...head out into the bush to collect maple sap... 

...that is turned into the most delicious maple syrup! 
Indeed, Quebec has so much to offer visitors!
Check in tomorrow when we cross the border into the province of Ontario.

Prayer For the Day

With this lovely poem and prayer by Ralph Waldo Emerson we bid each other a wonderful Monday in the month of June!
Enjoy your day everyone!  Mr. Hamer OCT