Rachel explains creativity
6 year old Rachel did a good job “explaining creativity” as part of the Storychasing Creativity project this week. Nice work, Rachel! 🙂
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creativity, video, youtube
Category: littlesister
Hand in Hand at the Zoo
In addition to recording a bunch of AudioBoos from our Zoo trip last week, the day before school started for the girls, I also took a lot of photos and shot a few videos. This image of Rachel and Maddie, hand in hand, is one of my favorites from the Flickr set.
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oklahoma, oklahomacity, zoo
Rachel does some math
Rachel has watched her brother (going into 6th grade) and sister (going into 4th grade) work on their assigned “math packets” from their respective schools this summer. Rachel is about to start kindergarten, and she’s been keen to “do some math” of her own. This is her most recent effort, which is pretty good for a five year old about to turn six next month, who’s just been in preK! She worked out all these problems and answers herself.
Number and letter reversals at her age are very common, so we’re not worried about this right now. It’s great to see her wanting to do math on her own initiative!
Observations from Kilauea
Sarah, Rachel and Alexander recorded some observations this morning from the edge of Kilauea Caldera this morning using AudioBoo.
Audioboo Reflections from Pearl Harbor
Our family visited Pearl Harbor today. Rachel and I recorded six new Audioboos tonight, reflecting on things we saw and learned today. These are all linked from my AudioBoo profile page. Since I am mobile blogging this from my iPhone I can’t embed the Audioboos, but I will link them separately below.
Rachel: Torpedo At Pearl Harbor
Rachel: USS Utah Reflections From Pearl Harbor
Rachel: USS Arizona Impressions
Wesley: Dogfight Over Ka’ena Point, Hawaii (12/7/1941)
Wesley: USS Oklahoma Memorial Reflections
Rachel: Learning About Navy Divers At Pearl Harbor
Rachel explains LONG shadows
Couldn’t resist asking Rachel to provide an audio explanation for long shadows today at the park!
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audioboo, recording, shadow, shadows
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Getting the Black Belt and Becoming a Ninja in Club Penguin
Rachel earned the “black belt” in Club Penguin today, and also earned the ninja mask. She recorded some thoughts about this today and shared them online via AudioBoo.
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clubpenguin, game, online, club, penguin
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Rachel is marketing karate!
Rachel is taking a gymnastics and karate class this summer, and was just featured in the gym’s email marketing advertisement for a new karate class, she hired this search engine optimisation agency to help her out with the marketing. Marketing can be tricky, but with the right internet marketing company, your job will get so much easier.
Students in an earlier class are featured on YouTube, breaking boards. Rachel hasn’t done this yet!
A baby frog at Slippery Falls
Last night we visited Slippery Falls Scout Ranch for the closing campfire of Alexander’s first summer scout camp. On the way down to the campfire ring, Rachel spied this small, baby frog which her brother picked up and mommy later held.
Rachel didn’t want to hold it!
Rachel writes a note (and shares an Audioboo)
Rachel wrote the following note today as a marketing flyer for the “spa treatment business” she was offering with her sister.
I asked her to read the words as an Audioboo:
Rachel is just 5 and is finishing up pre-K. It is VERY exciting to see and help her make the reading/writing connection! 🙂
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reading, writing
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Behold, The Snack Leader! (Dad’s lyrics included)
This was a hoot tonight: Rachel and I created a five minute podcast I published on my main blog titled, “Behold the Glory and Honor of the Snack Leader!”
Here is the script I wrote and read for the first three minutes of the podcast.
In the hallowed halls of government, academica, and scientific research institutions, you may have heard of awards such as these:
The Nobel Prize.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom.
The Congressional Medal of Honor.
To a five year old preschool student, however, these awards are nothing compared to the honor, the prestige, and the glory of one hallowed title…
The right to be… the honor to be… for a single day… the one and only
Snackleader!
[Star Wars Throne Room Theme music]
Yes, the glorious snackleader!
As the chosen snackleader, it is your duty and privilege to be the unquestioned student leader of the day.
Yours is the privilege to select and bring the snack of the day. The snack everyone in your class will eat. The snack you truly love, and want to share with others.
As the snackleader, YOU are the designated line leader of the day. This means EVERYWHERE the class goes, YOU are the leader. You are the one in front. You are the one all other students look to for guidance and direction. Where YOU go, the class will follow. This is the weighty responsibility, as well as JOY, of the class SNACKLEADER.
The obligations of the Snackleader do not end there, however. For it is to the Snackleader ALONE which falls the privilege of SHOW AND TELL for that day. The Snackleader is permitted, and the Snackleader ONLY, to bring something from home– a prized possession, a work of original art, a family pet, or a favored toy, to show and explain to the ENTIRE class. It is the duty of the SNACKLEADER to uncover the mysteries of this item, to reveal to everyone the meaning and significance which this single object holds in the mind of the Snackleader.
As other children in the class sit quietly and listen to the moving stories of the Snackleader, the spotlight of the educational world falls to this one individual. In the spotlight. On the stage.
Honored and recognized. Hailed and hallowed. Behold her in all her glory: The Snackleader!
Rachel (since she can’t read very much yet) didn’t read a script, she just recorded her section impromptu. It seriously IS a huge thrill for her to be the snack leader in her class starting on Thursday. I think it is great her teachers provide students with this opportunity to be in the spotlight and be able to make so many important choices in their classroom for the day.
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education, snack, leader, preschool, podcast
Mother’s Day Podcasts 2009
We recorded short, 3-5 minute Mother’s Day Podcasts for our mothers today for Mother’s Day, which is coming up this Sunday. These podcasts were inspired by Carol Anne McGuire and her wonderful students. These were the questions we used for our interviews.
1.Tell me your favorite thing about your mother.
2. What does your mother do every day when you are away at school?
3. What does your mommy look like? (How would you describe her to someone who has never seen her before?)
4. What does your mom like to do when she is not working?
5. What does your mom like to eat?
6. How do you show your mother that you love her?
7. How does your mother show you that she loves you?
8. If you could give your mom anything in the whole world, what would you give her?
9. What makes your mom smile really big?
10. What have you learned from your mother?
These audio podcasts are published to a special page created with iWeb on MobileMe, and were also uploaded to EduBlogs.tv (for free) so they could be embedded here and on other websites.
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mother, mothers, day, podcast, mom
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Documenting our zoo trip with AudioBoo
Today Rachel and I spent a couple hours in the morning at the Oklahoma City Zoo for the “READ ACROSS OKLAHOMA 2009: READING ROUND-UP” event. We used my iPhone and the free application/web service AudioBoo to share some observations from the field! This is live-blogging at its best when you’re just five years old!
The Chilean Pudu At The OKC Zoo
Galapagos Tortoises At The OKC Zoo (For this AudioBoo, we were also able to add a photo of the tortoises, which you can see if you click the previous link.)
We love AudioBoo! AudioBoo rocks!
For more on AudioBoo and other similar tools, see my ISTEconnects post from last week, “Publishing Audio at Will.”
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audioboo, fieldtrip, zoo, record, reflect, share, audio
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Videos from the Medieval Festival in Norman
This is absolutely too cute not to share. I think we can title this “Camel Ride Promo Spot.”
Yes, the annual Medieval Festival in Norman, Oklahoma, IS a good time for all. Except, of course, if you’re a teenager who gets into a child’s swing and gets so stuck the Norman Fire Department has to come cut your swing down so you can get out of it!
We did some in-the-field documentation of Rachel and Sarah’s perceptions of our evening in Norman using AudioBoo on my iPhone. These were the first AudioBoos we’ve recorded and uploaded over the EDGE network connection, rather than WiFi. It took a lot longer for the upload, but they DID work! Here are more of Rachel’s thoughts about her camel ride:
Here is Sarah’s recap of the evening’s highlights:
Sarah did pretty well learning from the “sphere play” instructor!
This was, by far, my favorite photo of the day!
We’re heading back tomorrow for more fun and food! 🙂
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medieval, festival, norman, oklahoma
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
The Wide State
Today after church, following a youth deacon meeting I (Dad) had in our church computer lab, Sarah and Rachel used one of the microphones to record this short, impromptu song. Rachel titled this, “The Wide State.”
Podcast: Play in new window | Download