Stranded on an Island

Over spring break, my best friend, Mike, and I went on a backpacking trip on Santa Cruz Island. This is one of the Channel Islands off the coast of Santa Barbara. This is basically where Spanish Explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo was taken down by the Chumash.

Before going on the trip, the boating company that takes you to the island told us to bring extra food in case they couldn't pick us up.

This backpacking trip was planned to be a two-night trip. We would get there on Monday afternoon, hike 3.5 miles to the first campground, wake up early, hike 11 miles to the other side of the island, camp there, and then get picked up on Wednesday. Sounds great right?

Well, when we arrived on the east side of the island, after hiking over the tallest peak on the mountain, we found a note from the Ranger telling us that the boat could not come until Thursday. AHHHHHH!!!! We wanted to go home on Wednesday.

The reason was because the island was experiencing Gale Force winds. This means that the wind was blowing at about 50 miles per hour. Here is a video of Mike and I at the top of the mountain during these strong winds. You can really tell just how windy it was. Imaging hiking over a mountain with a big back pack on in Gale Force winds...not easy.






Here's another video that shows just how windy it was:



Here's what the ocean looked like:




And just a bonus... here's my "Jeff Corwin Moment" in search of the rare Santa Cruz Island Fox:



See what happens when you're totally bored?

Tell us about any Spring Break adventures you had.

Jerry Fixes His Injured Water Bottle

Everyday in our class, silly things happen. Sometimes they are words that I say or revolutionary object lessons that I try to use to teach a point. Most of the time, however, the silliness is brought on by the students themselves. Hard to believe right?

This is Jerry's water bottle. He informed me, after the morning bell, that his frozen water bottle had a hole in it. I asked him to take it over to the sink. Before I knew it he had come up with a brilliant idea that only he could think of. Jerry had gotten a band-aid out of the first-aid kit and used it to cover the hole...BRILLIANT!

Actually, Jerry soon learned that this quick-fix would not keep the water from dripping out of the tiny hole. Sorry Jerry, but you tried :)

The only thing better than Jerry's unique solution to this dilemma was Sharon's comment, (Which she made without displaying the proper "I have a comment" hand signal), "Eww now your water is going to taste like band-aid water!"

Band-aid water????

Sharon, is there something we need to know?

It is these silly moments that make coming to class every day worth it. Tell us about your favorite silly moment in Mr. Laing's class.

Mission Report Part I Sample

DUE: Friday, Januray 30

The following is a sample of Part I of the Mission Report. Please remember that this should be used as a guide and not copied word for word. Your Part I needs to include information that is specific and true to your mission. You may paraphrase some of the sentences here but the information must be about your mission.

Have you ever been to one of the California Missions? Let me tell you about my favorite mission, Mission San Francisco Solano. This mission is located in the Coastal Region of California just north of San Francisco Bay. It was founded by Father Altimira. The Spanish missionaries needed to start this mission because the land at Mission Dolores was no longer fertile and could not grow crops. The purpose of the mission was to teach the natives about the Catholic Religion. Mission San Francisco Solano was the last mission to be founded in Alta California. The mission founded before this mission was Mission San Rafael. Water for Mission San Francisco Solano was obtained from many natural springs that were all around the mission. The fertile land around the mission provided crops for growing food so that the people of the mission could eat. All of these crops surrounded the beautiful buildings and structures that made up the mission grounds.

Great Mission Web Sites

I told the class that I would post some websites were they can find information for thier mission reports. Please remember that the internet should not be your only source of information. The students are required to use books and encyclopedias as well. Also, don't forget to write down the web address where you find any information as well as the time and date that you found it.

Happy Surfing

Mission Site 1

Mission Site 2

I Got a Tree!

Look at the newest addition to my tiny apartment.  Today Laura and I went out to get a tree to celebrate the holidays.  The problem is that we live in a small apartment so we had to get a small tree. Luckily the CCY had just the right sized Noble Fir.  We ended up with this great four footer.  We just finished decorating it.  Doesn't it look nice?

How does your family celebrate the holidays?  Tell us of any unique customs or traditions that your family does to make the holiday memories last.

Yes, those are my lovely socks...

Forgot your book at school? No problem!

Did you know that you can find your child's Science and Social Science Textbooks online?
It is easy and can even save your child the trouble of lugging around heavy books.

For science just click this link: http://activities.macmillanmh.com/science/ca/

Just click on the book cover for fourth grade. This will lead you to all sorts of activities to help your child learn more about their current science lessons.
In order to view the actual textbook just click on this link and enter the login info found below: http://www.glencoe.com/sites/common_assets/science/ose/
Username: casci04
Password: redwood

For Social Science it is just as easy.
Click on this link: http://mhln.com/UnregisterController?ACTION=POST&MANAGER=LOGON&OPERATION=LOGON&JSP=index.jsp

Simply click on the " For Students" tab (on the left side) and enter our class code: Owen2007

You will get a list of the textbooks in grade order. Just click on fourth grade.

Both of these sites have games and extra resources to help your children expand there knowledge in the sciences. How great is it to live in this day and age where your child's books can be found on your computer. My back still hurts from carrying all of my books around as a youth.

Please comment to this post and let us know how this resource has been helpful for your family.

Get AR information at home!

Become a more informed parent.

Now you can view your child's academic progress online (via the Accelerated Reader Program).

It's called Home Connect:
Home Connect builds a bridge between school and home and keeps parents informed of their child's progress toward Accelerated Reader goals. This useful information will not only keep you up to date on AR points as well as books your child is reading, it will also motivate them to read even more!

I encourage you to visit the website and view your child's information. It is totally awesome!

Just copy and paste this link into your browser and you are good to go: https://hosted22.renlearn.com/265629/HC/Reading/ARReadingPractice.aspx

or click HERE

You will need to enter your child's ID# and password. If you have misplaced the information just email me and I will send it to you.

Please post comments of how this program has improved reading at your home. We would love to hear your stories.