6-19-2020 Create an End of the Year School Award for Yourself

Happy Last Day of School!  

To celebrate, check out Young Adult Author, Jason Reynolds,  the author of Ghosts and All American Boys and the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature as he shares and idea with you.  Create an Award for Yourself.  We are finishing up a very unusual year of school.  We have all had to learn in new ways.  What is something you are proud of from your school year?  What did you put your best effort into?  Think about that, and then create your own award.  Your award could be made out of paper and ribbon.  What about a trophy, or a banner? How about a video?  Get creative and show what makes you most proud of yourself and your accomplishments this school year.  We'd love for you to share in the comments. 

Have a great summer and don't stop learning.  

Martha Thornburgh: Mount Vernon Schools Teaching and Learning

6-18-2020 Skeeball Math

Mary Ellen Huggins: Mount Vernon Schools Teaching and Learning

6-17-2020 Finding Patterns

Above are Figure 1, Figure 2 and Figure 3.

How many total blocks are in Figure 3?

Can you sketch Figure 4 ?

Can you draw Figure 10?

How would you describe this pattern to your friend, using words, pictures or equations?

Mary Ellen Huggins: Mount Vernon Schools Teaching and Learning

6-16-2020 A Virtual Fieldtrip to North Cascades National Park

Join Ranger Anna as she shares about the sounds you can hear in the North Cascades National Park. 

Have you been to the North Cascades National Park?

What types of sounds do you hear in your back yard?

What types of sounds would you hear at the beach? 

Martha Thornburgh: Mount Vernon Schools Teaching and Learning

6-15-2020 Keep a Summer Adventure Journal

The Merrils Edu: Interactive Summer Learning Ideas

Summer is almost here!  Summer is a great time to explore new things.  Find out more about things you are curious about and learn how to do new things.  Why not keep up with all of your summer adventures in an Adventure Journal?  There are many ways to create a journal.  

1. You could create a summer bucket list of things you want to see and do.  As you check things off of your list, you could share pictures and stories about your accomplishments.  

2.  Or you could start with a blank journal and just add what ever adventures come your way.  

•     A trip you take.
•     Something you learn to make.
•     Books you read.
•     Movies you watch.  
•     And so much more.  It is your journal.  Add the things you want to remember. 

3. There are many ways you could make a journal.

•     You could use a spiral notebook.
•     You could staple pages together.
•     You could go digital and create a blog or slide show.  
•     You could use WeVideo and create a video of all of your adventures.  

.  The MerrilsEdu: Interactive Summer Learning Ideas

Martha Thornburgh: Mount Vernon Schools Teaching and Learning

6-12-2020 Never Ending Pasta

On September 15, 2016, Olive Garden again offered a $100 pass for never-ending pasta, bread sticks, salad and coca cola soft drinks.  The 21,000 patrons who quickly (in less than a minute) bought all of the passes will be entitled to as much pasta as they like (with toppings) from October 3 to November 20.  Ask the class to consider these questions:

• Is this a good deal for patrons?  What are the pros and cons?
• Will Olive Garden go broke?
• Is this good for the restaurant chain?
• Is the pass priced correctly?  If not how much should it cost?
• How should we start answering these questions?  What information would be useful?

What information will you gather in order to analyze the money-making, money-saving, or money-losing potential of this Pasta Pass?

The activity:  all-you-can-eat-pasta2016.pdf

Yummy Math

Martha Thornburgh: Mount Vernon Schools Teaching and Learning

6-11-2020 Learn How to Make a Paper Balloon

Practice the art of Origami and learn how to make a paper balloon.  

Find out more about this activity and learn more about how different shapes are used in architecture at this link.  

• How could you decorate your balloons? 
• Try different sizes. 
• What other shapes can you create with Origami? 

Martha Thornburgh: Mount Vernon Schools Teaching and Learning

6-10-2020 MVHS Teacher Mr. Zickler read "In the Night Kitchen"

Listen to the story "The Night Kitchen" by Maurice Sendak read by MVHS Teacher Mr. Paul Zickler.  

Voices of the Children is sharing videos of local community members reading their favorite children's books some in English and some in Spanish.  Check out the growing playlist here.  

6-9-2020 Microns and Masks

How big is one coronavirus? How big is a micron? How well do these masks protect against the virus? What can you observe about the size of particles mentioned? Why are we wearing masks?

Click on this link to see the resources and do the activity.  HowBigMicron.pdf

Activity from YummyMath

Martha Thornburgh: Mount Vernon Schools Teaching and Learning

6-8-2020 Reading the ABCs from Space

Take a tour around the earth and spot the letters of the alphabet made by land forms and man made objects.  As you explore, what else can you discover?  

Can you find the first letter of your name? 

What countries did you discover? 

How were the different letters formed?  Mountains? Islands? Canyons? Rivers? 

Reading the ABCs from Space

Martha Thornburgh: Mount Vernon Schools Teaching and Learning

6-5-2020 Access Resources Online with a Mount Vernon Library Card

Right now, our Mount Vernon Library is closed due to COVID19, but did you know that there are many great resources available to you online using your library card? 

Here are a few ideas.   

• You can check out audio books, music, ebooks. (Many Spanish titles) 
• You can access Tumble Books which is a great resource for children's books. (Many Spanish titles)
• You can learn a new language with Rosetta Stone.
• You can research a product with Consumer Reports
• You can learn about other countries with Culture Grams.  
• You can read the Skagit Valley Herald or find archived articles. 
• You can take online classes with Lynda.com

If you are a Mount Vernon resident, you can go online and apply for a Library Card to begin using our great library even before the doors are back open. Click here to learn more about getting a Library Card. 

Martha Thornburgh: Mount Vernon Schools Teaching and Learning

6-4-2020 Learn a Card Trick

Anyone for a card trick?

 

This is a game where you tell a friend you will be able to determine the exact card they select from a deck of cards.

Each card has a number value.* 

 

Suppose your friend selects a 4 of Hearts!

Ask your friend to:

 

1. Double the card number         4 x 2 = 8

2. Add 3                                           8 + 3 = 11

3. Multiply by 5                              11 x 5 = 55

4. Add 1 if the card is a Club

Add 2 if the card is a Heart      55 + 2 = 57

Add 3 if the card is a Spade

Add 4 if the card is a Diamond

5. Ask your friend for the number

 

Then you take the number and secretly subtract 15 from the total they give you.  57-15 = 42

Now you tell your friend that you know exactly what card they are holding.  

 

The first digit is a 4 so the number on their card is a 4.  Use the key above to see if the second digit tells whether the card is a Club, Heart, Spade or Diamond.  Since it is a 2, the card is a heart.  Your friend has the 4 of Hearts.

*Aces are 1, Jacks are 11, Queens are 12 and Kings are 13

Mary Ellen Huggins: Mount Vernon Schools Teaching and Learning

6-3-2020 Make a Sundial

You can create an accurate way to tell time using just rocks, sticks and the sun!  

Check out this article from ScienceKidsatHome.com

Sundial Materials stick rocks or chalk 1 cup of playdough (optional) watch or clock 1.Find a sunny spot in a lawn or even on a sidewalk. 2.Put the stick in the ground. If it is a sidewalk, put the stick in the playdough and use that to hold the stick upright on cement. 3. Throughout the day, place a rock, or mark with chalk for each hour indicating where the shadow falls at that time. Depending on your time, you may have to place rocks over a couple of days before your sundial is complete. 4. Now your sundial is ready to use. When you want to tell the time, just look for the shadow. In the picture above, the stones are used to mark each hour from 7am to 7pm. The picture was taken at 9:15 in the morning. In the beginning, you may find it hard to be very precise. With a bit of practice, you should be able to tell time to the nearest 15 minutes, and maybe even more closely.  It's about 12:30 in this picture. Alternative Use chalk and a ruler to draw in the shadow lines, instead of placing rocks on the hour. You can print out a sundial.