The crazy tomato sauce machine by Mahala

Dad: Today everything will change.
Me: Do we have to move?
My brother Kilo kept singing little songs, when we got to the newIhouse.
I went upstairs into my room and there was a machine.
I asked my mom if it was hers...
Mom:no it isn't mine,ask dad if it is his.
I asked dad if it was his....
Dad: Yes it is mine but don't touch the blue button.
I put up my things and moved the machine into the corner.
The next day when I was sweeping I accidently pushed the blue button!

And for a week now every 1 minute it explodes with tomato sauce... it floods our house and prevents us from leaving.
Now after two weeks we can finally go outside.
Kilo: We can finally go outside!
We all went outside...

Me: Dad where are we?
Dad:I think we are in the future.
Me: Where are mom and Kilo?
Dad told us that we would need to build a whole new time machine.

Me: Dad we need to find tomato sauce to make a time machine.
Me: Where are we going to find tomato sauce in the future?
Dad: We will have to find tomatoes and make the sauce.

1 month later...

Dad: We have been working on it for a month and finally our new machine is working!
Me: Well let's go home!

The time it happened... by Mila

Today my dad is still working on his time machine . I don't think it will work . "oh no!" my dad put spray paint in the engine !Oh my now it is floating!! Ok I take that back it is working...

 Son:  "Dad did you mean to do that? "
 Dad: "Yes son I did mean to put spray paint in the engine."
 Son: "So Dad does that mean we will go forward in time?
 Dad: " Yes son."
Son: "Ok this day keeps getting weirder. Oh my God! Dad I think we are in the future.Dad  I can see so many machines."
Dad: "Son I told you it would work".
Son: "But Dad how do we get back home?"
"I think, I think... we don't have a home, we will have to rent a hotel!"
Son: "Oh Dad you are so crazy! I mean how do we get to mom and Lizzie."
Dad: "Son all I need is spray paint."
Son: |"Dad there is one problem. How do we get spray paint?"
"Spray Paint?" said a man dressed in a black dress. "We have plenty of spray paint"
 Son and Dad: "Oh good!"
.......

Dear Diary,
We are back home and we are safe but there is one problem. I have a baby sister. Now my little sister is two years old, and she is so weird. My mom says she is new hope, but I think she is like a hurricane. I still don't understand why time passed so quickly when I came back from the future.

"Oh no, Sofia don't chew on my remote control!"

The End.

                                                                                        

Diary of a Plane by Gwendolyn

Today my mother is out of town and my parents are divorced. I am very lonely today. I have white skin and you can find copa airlines written on one of my sides. It is so weird that my mother always sings: "feeding time!" And she always says: " I'm the loveliest girl in  town."
I am very sad because my pet cat ran away. Well I never liked my dad anyway , he is always so weird when he sprays me with blue spray paint. I don't really have an engine yet . Yesterday I saw people coming with an engine and they are working on it right now. And my mother probably sent them. I am flying to New Mexico tomorrow . I am quite scared to go on my first flight.
After the flight I had 8 more flights to go. My very crazy parents said I was moving just yesterday.
I tried to tell my mother I don't want to move because I like the airport a lot. Well.. it's just that I have a huge case of home sickness. My parents said we are moving to Hawaii! but my mother did not care about that.

The End

Spring Break Assignment

Dear Gatun Room Students,

You've all worked very hard this last term, and I think we all need a short break!
However, I have decided to simply post a quick assignment for all of you ...

Write a small paragraph answering the following questions:

1) Do you or your family celebrate Easter? If you do, what are some activities you might do to celebrate it? If not, do any of your friends celebrate it and how do they celebrate it?

2) Some children believe in the Easter bunny... do you believe in the existence of an Easter Bunny?  Where do you think the story comes from?


Watch the following video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQz2mF3jDMc by the History Channel in the U.S.

and try and investigate where the Easter Bunny comes from...

In addition, if you are bored and have nothing to do, find below a video that will show you how to draw an Easter Bunny for fun!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sO4-bPQH0XI


Enjoy what is left of the holiday, and I will see you back on Monday!

Last Assignment!

I'm very proud of all the emails and work I've received.

Your last assignment is a simple reflective assignment, but a very important one. You will bring your final product to class on Monday Jan. 11th. Our first day back to school after the holiday season.


Step 1: I want you to think about the experiences you've had this last month during your holiday season. You will create two lists  on two different sheets of paper. The first list will include your FAVORITE SPECIAL MOMENTS in which you had fun or enjoyed the season. Opening your presents on Christmas day? Maybe you learned to fly a kite? Maybe you had a wonderful meal with mom?
 The second list will include DIFFICULT MOMENTS. In this list you will write specific times when you felt sad, frustrated or simply did not enjoy the holiday season. An argument with a friend? Bored with nothing to do? Lost a game on the computer? Missed your friends at school?

 I would like to see at least 5 moments in each list.

You can choose to draw or write the moments. THE CHOICE IS YOURS!

Step 2: Interview ONE of your immediate family members (mom, dad, sister, brother etc..) about their FAVORITE SPECIAL MOMENTS and their DIFFICULT MOMENTS in the last month, and make a separate list. Record their perspective just like you did for yourself in Step 1.

Step 3:  Think about the differences and talk to your family and friends about things you might have been able to do in order to make some of the difficult moments special ones for both yourself and your family member.  Think about the following questions:

What are some solutions in order to turn the difficult moments into special ones? would your family agree with these solutions?
Did you or your family member learn anything from these special or difficult moments? Are some of these moments necessary?
Do you agree with your family member and their list?



Step 4: Bring your lists to school on Monday Jan. 11th and leave it on my desk as soon as you arrive to class.


See you all very soon!

Assignment # 3 : Lifehacks for Kids!

 Hello Gatun Room Students,


Happy Holidays all the way from Peru!

For this weeks assignment I will ask you to think about different lifehacks. A lifehack is a trick that makes a usual process in your life a lot easier. An example of a lifehack is using a toilet paper roll to create speakers!

Step 1 : Watch ¨"lifehacks for kids" on youtube. I'm sharing a few videos from the youtube channel, but I invite you to watch a few episodes and get some ideas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=26&v=xQK4yPsEJsQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DCPkkJSo4M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuPtht9xAfQ

Step 2: Select 4 lifehacks from the videos and attempt them during the week.

Step 3: Create your own lifehack notebook.  Give each lifehack a page and write the title, your materials, your procedure, draw a picture, and write whether YOU think it was helpful or NOT.

Step 4: Think about a lifehack that you want to create for others to use, or one that you have already created and would like to share. This could be as simple as using a toilet paper roll to collect string.

Step 5: Comment on the blog by typing the name of the lifehack you created, and bring your lifehack  notebook to class on January 11th to share with everyone!

Assignment #2: Create your own Holiday Board Game (Monday Dec. 21st 2015)

Dear Gatun Room Students,

I hope you enjoyed last weeks assignment!

This week, I want YOU to be creative and try to design your own board game, I hope that this will be an opportunity for you to use your ruler and some of your math skills! Keep in mind most board games have numbers or point systems.

1. Pick a Game Style -  I'm sure there are a lot of board games you might have played with family and friends (Monopoly? Risk? Clue?), you might even have some at home! Get some ideas!
This link provides a large list of board game https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_board_games. You could investigate one.

2. Look at some Ideas - In this video two kids describe how they created their own board game. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QGSxy-72jg. Look through more videos and ideas.

In addition look at how this teacher uses an egg carton to play math games https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCGXEy4RM2g.

3. Write the Rules- every game has a set of rules. On a piece of paper write the rules to your future holiday board game ( Use first, second, third, also, finally, after, etc..) .

Some examples:

- Every player gets two turns
- First you roll the dice, and then you move your piece.
- If you get a 4, you must pick a card.


4. Design and Complete your Game- Find some materials at home, create cards, a board (using paper, colors, cardboard etc..), maybe use wrapping paper or holiday stickers. Does your game involve money and buying items? maybe you need to create a currency.

5. Send a Photo- Take a picture of your game and send it to maria@gamboaschool.org

6. Comment on the Blog- Write as a comment below this post the name of the game you created by Sunday Dec. 27th.