A Mobile Blog to For a Mobile Blogger

I have started a mobile blog at Tumblr.com. The blog will be used to record my trip to Walt DisneyWorld, but if it is as easy as it seems, I will probably continue to use it. If you want to follow my trip, here is the link: http://wmchamberlain.tumblr.com/

Do I Have a Right? Learn Your Constitutional Rights

Do I Have a Right? is a game where you get to pretend to be a lawyer. The game helps you learn about Constitutional law (which is pretty important!) I would love to see what you think after you are done playing, so leave a comment letting me know.

Samorost

Samorost 1 is a crazy cool game. The idea is to get the character, Samorost, to explore the space ship that he finds flying towards his planet. To play this game you simply point and click until you find out how to progress. You will have to collaborate on this one, don't be selfish when you figure out the puzzles!

Now for your assignment: I want you to write Samorost's story. Why ishe scared when he sees the spaceship? Why does he decide to explore it? What does he find along the way? You will need to take notes as you travel with Samorost.

I will leave you this picture as a clue for the first puzzle. Can you see what has changed?

Secret Builders

 Secret Builders brings something new, the opportunity to converse with other people outside of the classroom. Use common sense and the online safety practices we have talked about in class. I am not saying you cannot have a conversation, just remember that you are looking at an avatar and not the person. You really don't know anything about them, so don't let them know anything about you!

Library Media Survey

Here is the link to the annual Library Media Survey Please fill it out to the best of your ability.

Rube Goldberg Machines

Here is a GIF of 8th graders working on their Rube Goldberg machine. The GIF was created using Gifture with my iPhone.

Halloween in April?

Because I won't have you next October for Halloween, I thought you might like to check out the fun today. The first site is online pumpkin carving. What kind of face does your pumpkin need? The second site is Zap-A-Ghost. How many ghosts can you click on? The last site is Hidden Spirits. Can you lead a scientific investigation to debunk a haunted hotel?

Online Pumpkin Carving

Zap-a-Ghost

Hidden Spirits

You will need headphones to play Hidden Spirits so I hope you brought yours :)

Can You Survive Jamestown?

The colonists at Jamestown lived (and died) through a variety of choices, both good and bad. Now is your chance to see if you could do better. History Globe's The Jamestown Online Adventure is your chance to pit your intelligence against the intelligence of the original settlers. Can you do a better job? Click this link to try.

Leave a comment about what you learned.

Web Sudoku

Following this weeks theme of working with math. Today and tomorrow you will be doing online sudoku puzzles via websudoku.com. See if you can get a puzzle done in under 50 minutes.

Create a Comic Starring The Avengers

Here is the opportunity you have been waiting for, creating your own comic books. Since the Avengers movie is coming out this summer, I thought you might like the opportunity to create your own story line.

Click here to create your comic.

Why Do We Need Fractions?

Why do we need fractions? Leave a comment after watching the video.

Building Bridges

A couple students caught me playing X Construct on my phone during lunch today and wanted to play themselves. I told them I would find a PC equivalent so they could try it out on their own. Here is one I found called Bridge Building Game. The purpose of the game is to construct a bridge that will allow the lemming like pink dinosaurs to cross safely across a chasm.

 Here are links to similar games:

Cargo Bridge
Bridgecraft

Which Movie Would You Prefer to Watch?

Free Rice

 FreeRice.com is a quiz site and a way to help the World Food Programme end hunger. For every answer you get right, ten grains of rice will be donated. While this may not seem like a lot of rice, it adds up. An added feature is that you can now pick from several different categories of questions.

Isle of Tune

It is about time I find an interesting music game/sim. Isle of Tune allows you to create music by creating roads, lining them with musical items, and then sending cars down the street. It is hard to explain, but it is very cool watch/listen.

Create a Drawing in Paint

Marissa's Picture

Today you will be creating a picture for your creative writing story using Paint. While paint can be hard to use, the possibility to do something very interesting is there.Don't believe me, look at Marissa's picture above. When you are finished, save it to the computer pictures folder on the student shared drive.

Poptropica

"Poptropica is a massively multiplayer online game and virtual world, targeted at children ages 6 to 15, where players can travel, play games, compete in head-to-head competition, and communicate safely with each other. There is a role-playing component as players are encouraged to finish "island missions" and get medallions."
Wikipedia.com

There is a lot of critical thinking involved in this game. Can you complete a world in one day? Can you collaborate with others to figure out the answers?

Make My Disney Trip Magical!

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/parks/magic-kingdom/

As you know, I am taking a trip to Walt Disney World after school is out this May. I thought it might be fun to "outsource" some of the work to you.

You will need to partner up with someone in the classroom. You will draw for the specific "jobs" from these:

• Transportation and Lodging- How will we get there and back? How much will it cost? Will we fly, drive, or do a combination of the two? Will we rent a car or take Magical Express or both? Where will we stay while at WDW? Will we need to stay at hotels on the way there or back? How much will it cost for all of us? 

• Restaurants- Where will we eat at WDW? What park restaurants are the best and which should we avoid? Should we eat at any of the restaurants at the Disney World hotels? What should we do about food on the way there and back?

• Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Animal Kingdom, Disney Studios- What rides should we ride? Which rides should we avoid riding (keep in mind who will be on the trip!)? How many days should we spend here? What order should we ride the rides (touring plans)? Don't forget tickets, which should we buy and how much will they be?

 Here is some information you must have to accomplish this activity:

1. There are ten of us traveling together; 4 senior citizens, 4 adults, one 10 year old, one 6 year old (who will turn 7 while we are there.)
2. Two of the seniors will need to have wheelchairs. One will take the wheelchair with them, one will rent them at the parks.
3. We can leave any day after May 18, but must be back by the 29. We are only planning on being gone 7 days (but 8 might be alright too ;)
4. My wife and I will be celebrating our anniversary and Quinci will be celebrating her birthday. Is there something "special" that we can do while we are there? Should we have a special dinner to celebrate?
5. Downtown Disney is a place we love to go to shop and spend some time. When should we fit it into the schedule? Where should we eat while we are there? What stores should we visit?
6. We don't go to the water parks so you don't have to worry about them.
7. We want to have on "sit down" meal a day. That means in a restaurant. The other two meals we will have as "counter service". This means getting food from places like the food court at the mall. All the Disney hotels have food courts, if you decide we need to stay off property you need to figure out how/where we will eat.
8. Lunches are much cheaper than dinners at sit down restaurants.
9. We need to keep this trip as inexpensive as possible, the budget is tight and we need to watch the $$!
10. We love souvenirs, but usually only spend about $60 per person. Any recommendations? 
11. Not all attractions/rides will be open while we are there. Don't put those rides on the touring plan.

I have a lot of resources for you to peruse to help you get the job done. Below are some of my favorites. I would suggest you use them to help you accomplish your part of the task.

•  WDW Today podcasts are excellent resources that can be used. Here is a link to the podcast archives. Here is a link to their wiki. I would suggest you look for podcasts that talk about what information you are looking for. I have listened to all of these podcasts (over 1000 of them!) and they are great, but you don't have that kind of time. 

• TouringPlans.com Is a great place to find out information about when to visit specific parks and what order you should go on the rides. I have a paid account with them and you can use my log-in to get the personal touring plans made for me.

• The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World is my favorite resource for WDW. I have several copies including on the Kindle so make sure and borrow them from me.
• AllEars.net is a great site with lots of restaurant reviews. Make sure to check them out if you are doing the food task.
• Mouse Planet is another really good resource for WDW information.
• MouseSavers is a great place to find out about discounts and important information like ride closings.

7th Grade Kicks

Did you know you can design your own Converse shoes? Not only that, you can also buy them after you make them just the way you like them! Go to the Create Your Own Custom Converse site and make the best pair of kicks you can. After you have finished, capture the picture by pushing the shift and Prt Scr (print screen) buttons. Then go into Paint and paste the image. Save it as a .jpg and print it out. Can you make the best looking kicks in junior high?

Math Games: Review Your Math Thinking Skills

Today we are going to be doing some math work. First we will start with logic puzzles from the Puzzle Baron Presents Logic Puzzles site.

 Next we have Math Playground. There are a lot of good math skills you can check out.