Summer Learning

Every year I love getting questions from parents about what I recommend for student learning over the summer! Below is the list of subjects and links to various resources and websites that I think would be beneficial for my students after 5th grade.


Bible
The Bible Project is a great resource for free, fascinating videos about themes or books of the Bible. I have shown several of these videos in class throughout the year. I am passionate about these videos not only because I love watching them and learning more for myself, but also because my friend, Jon Collins, is one of the co-creators of this Portland-based project!
  Click for more: About The Bible Project | Videos on YouTube | The Bible Project's Website

Math
We have been using Khan Academy all year, and almost all of the students have told me they prefer online learning rather than worksheets. Parents are encouraged to add themselves as their child's coach in the student profile settings to better keep track of their progress, much like I did throughout the school year. Additionally, if you want to mix it up a bit with multiplication practice online or drill worksheets, peruse the following links.
  Click for more: Khan Academy | Mr. Riedl's Arithmetic Practice | Mrs. Larson's Multiplication Practice Links | Math Drills: Worksheets

Science
There are hundreds of science videos that I have listed on Riedlteach.com which I was unable to show my classes this past year! Students can continue learning on their own by watching videos of particular interest to them! I have organized the videos by topic/category, and I am constantly updating it.
  Click for more: Mr. Riedl's List of Educational Video Clips

Social Studies
Hands-on activities and crafts are great ways to learn about cultural traditions and appreciate different peoples and places. There are many creative ideas at Education.com, and you are sure to find a few that pique your child's curiosity about the world around them.
  Click for more: Social Studies Activities - Education.com

Reading
Depending on the size of the book and the student's reading speed, I generally expect my students to finish reading an entire book every 2-3 weeks. If your child needs ideas of books to read, have them browse the list of bookshelfies the other students posted throughout the year. Also, if your child wants to participate in the Summer Reading Challenge, please select "West Hills Christian School" when you sign up on Scholastic's website.
  Click for more: Mr. Riedl's Archived BookShelfies | Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge

Read Aloud
Parents, read to your kids! They loved it when I read to them each day for only 15 minutes! Other ideas include getting audiobooks from your public library to use on your mobile device and/or use Audible.com to purchase some great audiobooks to listen to. I regularly listen to audiobooks from both, so let me know if you have questions about them!
  Click for more: Multnomah County Library Audiobooks | Audible.com

Writing
A great activity to practice each day is to make a Daily Summer Writing Journal. Use the following link to creative writing prompts for hundreds of great ideas for what your child can write about. Sharing the writing during a regular meal time or rest time each day is a great way to spark conversation and get their creative juices flowing!
  Click for more: 365 Creative Writing Prompts - ThinkWritten

Spelling
I recently discovered a fun game that Google created, which is called Spell Up. It is an interactive spelling game that has many options to help support spellers at many different levels. It gets quite challenging too, as I have become quite addicted to it when I play it in my spare time!
  Click for more: Spell Up by Google

Grammar
Khan Academy has added Grammar lessons and exercises! There are videos to watch too! Be sure not to commit any "Word Crimes" over the summer! ;-)
  Click for more: Grammar on Khan Academy | Word Crimes - "Weird Al" Yankovic

Typing
Mrs. Larson has been working with our students throughout the school year at Typing.com and they are encouraged to continue practicing at home. For other resources, check out Mrs. Larson's additional links to typing games and activities on her website.
  Click for more: Typing.com | Typing Club | Mrs. Larson's Other Typing Practice Links

Fun in the Sun
It is extremely important to be safe when playing around in the sun's electromagnetic radiation over the summer! We learned in class this year that the Ultraviolet (UV) light from the sun is what can burn you if too much time is spent outside unprotected. I discovered a wonderful website by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, which shows the UV Index forecast by Zip Code! All you need to do is type in your Zip Code, city, and state, and you'll have hourly forecast in your area. It explains what time of day is most harmful, how to best protect yourself, and other helpful tips to stay safe while having fun! I use this often for my own family at home.
  Click for more: UVAwareness.org | EPA UV Index Hourly for 97219

Other?
Have you found great resources that you would like to share with me so I can spread the love? Let me know what has worked well for you and your family!


Make it a great summer, everyone!
--Mr. Riedl

The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson & the Olympians series)

The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan, is the first book in the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series. We first learn about a boy named Percy Jackson, who has dyslexia and ADHD and keeps getting kicked out of school year after year. He discovers that he is a demigod because he is the son of the mortal Sally Jackson and the Greek god of the sea, Poseidon. He discovers more about himself at Camp Half-Blood, and is eventually sent on a quest, with his "friends" Grover and Annabeth, to find Zeus's missing master lightning bolt. They encounter many mythological monsters and memorable situations that lead them through twists and turns in their journey.

Many of my students are enthralled in this series, so I just had to check out what all the fuss was... and I was certainly not disappointed! So much action and adventure was crammed into these pages that I have a hard time deciding what my favorite part was. One of the most memorable scenes was when they encountered Medusa, which reminded me of the scene from one of my favorite classic movies, Clash of the Titans. It makes perfect sense that since mythological gods live forever, then they would still be alive in present time. The combination of today's modern technology with history's mythological stories becomes a fresh new blend of genres and story lines. This was a magnificent beginning to a series I'm looking forward to continuing to dive deeper into!


--Mr. Riedl
2015-11-28

Our First Mystery Hangout!

The student notes below were written during the live Mystery Hangout event that we participated in today! For more information about Mystery Hangouts, please visit the Mystery Hangout community on Google+.

We are now calling Mrs. Swenson's 4th grade class. What we are doing is that we ask them questions and try to figure out where they live. The first question they asked us was "Are you west of the Mississippi River?" Natalie also just asked "Do you have a coast line?" and they said "no." That means they are somewhere without a coast line. They asked us if we live in Oregon and we said "yes." We still haven't guessed where they live yet. We asked "Do you live in Minnesota?" and we guessed right! Now they are telling us facts about their state. Now Katy is telling them cool facts about Oregon to them. Also something that is funny is that they pronounce Oregon wrong. They kind of say it like "Oregan"! It's kind of funny! I think it was fun to do this and learn more about their state.
--Leanna

Everyone is so pumped up!!! #pumpedup
They asked are we west of the Mississippi River? We said yes!
They asked are we in Oregon? We said yes!
I felt like it was fun!
--Kay Cee

Today we are doing our first Mystery Hangout! #MysteryHangout
Today we found out that our Mystery Hangout is in Minnesota.
Our Mystery Hangout had 25 kids in their class too.
The class lived in Litchfield.
The school name was Wagner Elementary.
--Hannah

We lost sadly but we did learn where they lived in Minnesota.
Today was our very first Mystery Hangout.
We were one question away from winning!
--Robby




2015-02-27

New Photo Albums on Google+

For your viewing pleasure, I currently store all classroom photos in two locations: Google+ and Facebook. My preference is Google+ for a variety of reasons, but the main one is that you are able to download an entire album of photos at once (as far as I know, Facebook only allows you to download one photo at a time). So, all of the student work albums listed below will send you to the albums on Google+. Random photos from the school year are located in both locations.

Google+ Photos is relatively new to me, as I have used PicasaWeb up until this point in time. A couple of the albums below have been transferred to G+ from PicasaWeb, so some of you may have already seen them. I absolutely love Google+ Photos and the options available on the mobile app, allowing me to take pictures and easily upload them to G+ and/or Google Drive without even having to sit in front of the computer!

And of course, Google+ creates Auto Awesome photos for fun!

Enjoy the classroom photos below (Random photos of the 2013-2014 school year so far are at the bottom!).
--Mr. Riedl

Hand Drawings 2013-10-18

Island Map Projects 2013-10-24

Mirrored Name Art 2013-11-01

Space Projects 2013-11-14

Painting landscapes (Like Grandma Moses) 2013-12-06

2013-2014 Photos (I regularly add to this album)

St. Nicholas vs. WestJet Christmas Miracle

Today I showed my students two videos: St. Nicholas - The Real Santa Claus and WestJet Christmas Miracle: real-time giving. Both videos are embedded below. Many of you may have already seen the WestJet video since it has gone viral due to its clever way to capture the hearts of those not expecting it at an airport.

We discussed how St. Nicholas was a Christian, worshiped Jesus, and with his wealth he gave to those in need. Then, watching how Christmas has become a joy to not only Christians, we talked about how the love of gift-giving can extend far beyond one man, into big businesses, blessing even those who are waiting for their luggage at a baggage claim.

My class has first grade reading buddies, who we meet with bi-weekly to spend time doing activities and read with. Their Christmas Party was scheduled for this afternoon, so it seemed appropriate to get an idea of how they were feeling about giving their $5 gifts to their buddies. It was great to hear feedback about how we should give gifts because we care about the other person, rather than because we expect something in return. Showing love by blessing others is foundational in understanding the Christmas story.

Giving and receiving all started with God. As we are image bearers of him, continually seeing examples of this throughout history and now, today, it is amazing to see how God can work in the lives of others to bring joy.

Enjoy the two videos!

St. Nicholas - The Real Santa Claus

WestJet Christmas Miracle: real-time giving

Embossing Incan Heads

This past week, Mrs. Golsan, one of our many awesome parent volunteers, came in to teach our students about Incan culture. The activity that went along with the lesson was learning how to emboss a picture into sheet metal. Using a ballpoint pen to press hard on the lines of the drawing, it embosses an imprint of the sketch. Very fun! The students enjoyed it, but I wasn't able to photograph all of them.

https://picasaweb.google.com/102454439242306386310/IncanSheetMetalArtLiteracy20130514

Mr. Riedl is now on Instagram!

I have absolutely fallen in love with Instagram! It is such a wonderful collection of photographic artwork. Now, in a fun, new way, I can simply utilize this resource with the photos I have already been taking of the classroom, students, and our school community!

Photos are a great way to capture memories and are even easier now that we have smartphones and other mobile devices. Although I am too young to remember the Kodak Instamatic, I do remember using Polaroids and often used the catchphrase "Kodak moment." Maybe we will soon be saying "Insta-moment"?

Many of my students have told me they are already on Instagram, so be sure to connect with me!
UPDATE: I just discovered the Instagram Terms of Use states that one must be at least 13 years old to use the service. Please understand that I do not condone breaking the law.

My user name is mrriedl. Check out my first two photos below!

Crispin: The Cross of Lead

Crispin: The Cross of Lead, by Avi, is the first book in the Crispin trilogy. Crispin is a 13-year old boy living in England during the 1300's. He grows up as a peasant with no friends other than his mother and the priest in their small village. His mother dies at the beginning of the story, and in his grief he runs into the forest to witness a secret conversation between his selfish master and a mysterious traveler. He barely escapes and is framed for a crime he did not commit. His only other friend, the priest, is murdered for trying to help him. Crispin ventures out from his small town on his own, risking his life to discover new mysteries, freedoms, and friendships.

At the beginning of the book, it was difficult to connect with the setting, as the culture of the 14th century is very different from today. As I kept reading, I identified with Crispin as he was feeling very sad, hopeless, and lost. From that point on, I couldn't put the book down because it was full of excitement, mystery, and fugitive-chasing suspense. This is a great story about Crispin's trust in God, his newly-formed friendships, and his developing confidence as a young man.


--Mr. Riedl
2012-07-25

The Cay

The Cay, by Theodore Taylor, is about an eleven-year-old American boy, Phillip, living in the Caribbean with his family. The story takes place during World War II, and the German U-Boats are threatening the island's oil refineries just off the shore. Phillip and his mother were traveling back to the United States, and their boat was torpedoed. An older man named Timothy saves Phillip's life by pulling him onto a life raft. The two, along with a cat, survive on an island and learn to appreciate each other.

What makes this book so good is the relationship between Phillip and Timothy. Phillip is young and inexperienced, while Timothy is old and wise. Phillip is white, Timothy is black (a big deal in WWII). Phillip is educated, Timothy is not. There are a lot of dichotomies in the book, and it is wonderful to see how they must depend on each other to survive. There are many things about this story that are memorable, and even Jen has told me that it was her favorite book when she was growing up. Great book!


--Mr. Riedl
2012-07-15

Number the Stars

Number the Stars, by Lois Lowry, is a book about two girls, Annemarie and Ellen, who are best friends during World War II. They are living in German-occupied Denmark, where food, clothing, and even electricity is regulated by the Nazi soldiers. Ellen's family is in danger when they begin hearing that Jewish families, like theirs, are being "relocated". Annemarie and her family go to extreme measures and risk their own lives to keep their friends out of the hands of the oppressive soldiers.

This is a great book that looks into what family life looked like in countries such as Denmark. The relationship between the girls in this story was a good enough reason to read this, but adding in the suspense and fright from the German soldiers made it even more exciting to read. For many years I looked at the cover of this book and thought it was about science fiction and some creepy little girl I though could control the stars or something. But in fact, this historical fiction depicted the tragic situations in World War II and the hope that God gave families like these to make it through the hard times. What a wonderful read!


--Mr. Riedl
2012-07-07

United States Debt Problem

My good friend Patrick has been explaining to me the big hole that the United States government has got itself into regarding spending money and debt. According to USDebtClock.org, the United States is over 14 billion dollars in debt! That basically means that they have borrowed that much from other people (or countries) and need to pay it back.

If I borrow ten bucks from my friend to buy a pizza, I feel pretty bad if I haven't paid him back in awhile. I can't even imagine what it would be like to owe people 14 billion dollars. That's crazy!

Here are a couple videos to help you understand the situation. The first video is a helpful visualization of how big a trillion dollars actually is. The second video is a CNN Student News clip explaining what the debt ceiling is.

My Great-Grandfather Designed the Tommy Gun

In this video (below), my grandmother, Betsy Hanak, talks about her father (my great-grandfather), Theodore Eickhoff, who was an engineer who designed the Thompson submachine gun (a.k.a. the "Tommy Gun"). He worked under Colonel Thompson, and their team had good intentions for soldiers during World War I when making this gun. Unfortunately, it ended up being a gangster icon in the 1920's. It was finally used for what it was intended for in World War II, which likely pleased my great-grandfather. My grandma also mentioned that she had a chance to fire the gun when she was younger... I sure would've loved to see that!

South Sudan

Today is the day that South Sudan celebrates independence from the rest of Sudan. It is of special importance to a Sudanese neighbor of mine. She is one of the other gardeners in my community garden, and she told me (in broken English) that she is having a much more difficult time growing plants here since it is a different climate than what she is used to in Sudan.

She came to the U.S. with her seven children because she said her husband was doing a bad job taking care of them. She is a Christian, from the southern region of Sudan. The northern region of the country is mostly muslim, so many of the disputes were because of that clash. The civil war, death, and pain has been going on for a long time.

Now, there are two countries, and hopefully more peace in the area. South Sudan is one of the world's poorest countries. We will see what happens in the coming weeks, months, and years as they begin to develop separately. My neighbor is glad that things are looking good for the new Republic of South Sudan.

Talk With Students About Osama Bin Laden

After the talk with my students about Osama Bin Laden, I mentioned to them that they should feel free to learn more about September 11th, 2001 online and read or watch videos about what happened.

Here is a good tribute video I found that I wanted to share:

http://www.youtube.com/embed/-4OeYvOdL8o

Weekly Update! May 3-7, 2010

Our very last Colonization Settlement Round takes place on Monday. We had a great time simulating colonial interactions in the New World. We learned a lot about history, social interaction, and basic needs for survival. The American Revolution is coming up next in social studies.

This week is the last week before OMSI Camp (May 10-14). Please be sure that your child has a packing checklist and is well prepared before next Monday when we leave.

In our math group, we are beginning the individual work samples in class. When working on homework with your child, please remember to encourage them to show all of their work and have them explain all of their steps, including checking to make sure their answer is correct.

Lastly, Art Night is on Thursday night at 6:30pm! It will surely be a wonderful event, and I hope to see everyone there! After all, over the past two weeks our 5th graders have worked hard on art projects with their Kindergarten buddies, and it has been delightful to see them work well together. A few pictures are included below.

--Mr. Riedl

Weekly Update! April 26-30, 2010

We have finished our wonderful colony models, as you can see from the pictures below. We will be wrapping up the unit this week, as we look forward to see which simulation colony earned the most wealth in the New World. In our math group, we will be starting our math work samples as we wrap up the fractions unit. We will also be cranking out the memorization for the States and Capitals over the next few weeks, thinking up some fun mnemonic devices to help the students remember them. OMSI Camp is only two weeks away, so please bring money in as soon as you can!

--Mr. Riedl

Colony model pics - Finished!

Colony model pics - Day 1

Settling in the New World

As you can see in the photo, we have landed our ships in the New World and each of the colonies have settled on land that they have chosen. Over the next couple of weeks, we will continue to expand our settlements, trade with the Native Americans, and learn what it is like to build a new colony in early America.

Getting ready to set sail!

Well, we have decided to set sail for the New World! We are but humble pilgrims on a voyage across the Atlantic Ocean...in search of freedom! Both religious freedom and the hope for gaining wealth in owning our very own land drives us into uncharted territories. Although, we must certainly remember to do our best to be at peace with the natives in America. After all, we have heard many frightening rumors about them!

Here, in the photo (click to zoom), are the classroom maps of the Old World (England and Holland) and the New World (America). We are beginning to fill up our word wall with terms that we are learning throughout our colonization unit, and also marking wealth unit points to the colonies that deserve special recognition. Above the maps, we have a 2-dimensional representation of the Atlantic Ocean, with a few ships from the colonies lined up and waiting to set sail! We are planning on loading cargo onto the ships this week and starting the long voyage very soon!