Observations from Kilauea
Sarah, Rachel and Alexander recorded some observations this morning from the edge of Kilauea Caldera this morning using AudioBoo.
Category: littlesister
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
Rachel’s Splinter
Don’t bother me Dad, I’m on Club Penguin
This was of the more notable scenes around our house this past Christmas break which I had to photograph. Rachel was playing Club Penguin.
Rachel set her protective blanket (to fend of the bright rays of the sun) herself.
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games, online, clubpenguin, club, penguin
Rachel’s writing and drawing skills developing
It is amazing to see how fast our 5 year old is growing up. Last night before Rachel and I watched the movie “WALLE” together, she drew the following picture on our living room whiteboard. If you click on this image and view it on Flickr, you can read the annotation notes I added with Shelly’s help. These explain what the different parts of the drawing are, according to Rachel. She is showing a great deal of attention to detail here, and also starting to try drawing in three dimensions instead of just two.
Rachel REALLY enjoys using our family iTouch and my iPhone whenever she can, and this morning spent some time watching part of the first Harry Potter movie in the living room.
During the morning, Rachel (who is 5 but has not started kindergarten yet since her birthday is after September 1st) wrote the following note to her mother:
In case you can’t read all the words, here is the text:
Dear Mom:
Do not mess with my movie.
Love, Rachel
We can see Rachel is not yet getting the idea that text is written and read from left to right and top to bottom, but this is her best effort writing to date I’ve seen. This is great work developmentally for her age, I think.
Even more amazing than seeing her attention to detail in drawing and writing, however, is hearing her observations and questions. During WALLE, for instance, she asked me if our earth ever WAS really “like that.” (All full of trash.) We had a discussion about pollution and our responsibility to be good stewards of the earth, keeping things clean and working to pick up trash.
She had lots of other good questions during the movie which I don’t remember now. I love the movie WALLE. Like all other Pixar movies, it has important themes which are big but also simple, straightforward messages that are easy for anyone to understand. The love story here, and the journey WALLE and EVE take to eventually hold hands, is very touching. It was special to share this movie again with Rachel! How amazing we can watch a movie like this, which we own on DVD, anytime we want. That was not the case when I was growing up, before the advent of the VCR. My kids probably can’t relate to the idea that there was a time when we couldn’t listen to a song or see a movie with just a few clicks on a screen.
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walle, drawing, art, draw, write, writing, development