Go DATA

Something to be proud of!
http://msapcenter.com/granteecorner.aspx

Blinky Bugs!

We made mini robots called Blinky Bugs!
Students did a great job reading technical directions...

Roman Mosaics

For the past few days we have been exploring Roman contributions. The perfection of Mosaics was a great enhancement to the arts. We studied the Roman style, learned about a famous Load excavation (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSq5Xc29XPA), then made our own.
Before making our own in the Roman style, students created one on line at:
http://gwydir.demon.co.uk/jo/mosaic/index.htm


Students making their Mosaics

Well done Champions!

This is How Much We Care!

A video made by DATA Leadership for our students to encourage them to reach for the GOLD!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dqa1etz6QC8
We find out our scores in a few months!

Space Camp

Space camp had students building launchers and rockets, then trying to hit a target. Students built the launchers in our class, and did most of the other awesome Space Camp activities with Mr. Wulff!
Super job student Champions!

DATA Chess Tournament

Students getting ready for the first ever DATA Scholastic Chess Tournament to be held next week.

Our Silk Road

The Silk Road of China.... Let's see where it leads us...

Today we created the "Silk Road" in our classroom. Students "traveled" through the various sections of the Silk Road trading goods and money. The goal was for the students to collect as much as they could. At each stop along the way they completed a "journal entry". At the end, we counted the money and reflected on how hard it would have been to trade back then. Students also made "movies" on what was traded along the Silk Road using WindowsLiveMovieMaker. Our final activity on the lesson was for students to write letters to the class as if they were actually traveling and trading along the Silk Road (see below).

Journal notes from the Silk Road Trades

 Students bargaining and trading

 A student presenting her Silk Road "Movie"

Student letters from "The Silk Road"

Maya A. to

Lynch p. 1-2 Champion students

          I started out in Egypt, my home. The sun beamed mercilessly down on me, and the load I was carrying seemed to get heavier with each step I took. Looking back, I could barely see the familiar pyramids of my home in the distance… these first few weeks were going to be tough, I could already tell.
         After walking quite a while, I was finally capable of finding a small waterhole to drink from. The cool water tickled my throat and made me feel sleepy. I dragged on, however, t later stumble upon a small camel-renting shop.
The shop owner was nice, and let me take the camel for free. I thanked him and continued on my journey.
         Shortly after leaving the shop, another camel-riding trader waved me down. She had dark hair and a thick accent, which implied that she was from far away. She asked if I had any pearls on me and I nodded, pulling out the small bag I had packed. We bargained for a bit, then finally settled on a deal; my whole bag of pearls for her 40$. As I rode away I clinked the coins I had gotten, fairly pleased with myself.
        Then I had my first encounter with a tax collector. She had narrowed eyes that seemed to look you up and search you out. Something told me to quickly give her my 10$ and flee.
After slugging through the desert for what seemed like years, it happened. A spider, bigger than my fathers hand, jumped out and struck my camel. He crumpled to the ground with a howl of pain, then just sat there, shivering as its life drained away…
I felt pity for the creature, after coming so far with it. Luckily, I could see some buildings in the distance. Hopefully it wasn’t a hallucination, because I didn’t know how long I could last out in the desert by myself.
          On hunch, I led my dying, limping camel towards the group of buildings. My hunch was correct, there were buildings there! Sadly, my camel died, but I got another one for a cheap price.
I decided to stay in the village for a while, to see what I could trade. At one stand, there was the pretties green jade. The stand keeper told me that it was a valuable mineral in china. Enticed, I got it for 30$ as a gift for my mother.  Sadly, I never got to give it to her, as I had to trade it away for money for food, but in the end, I returned home with 440$ and a bag full of goods.

 

marina b. to

Lynch p. 1-2 Champion students

Dear Fellow B9 Classmates,
            Today I went on a journey along the silk road starting in Egypt, were I traded four dollars and fifty cents for some cotton and got tricked by a Sphinx. She just barley let me pass by. I know, I am gullible. Anyways, after that I went to east Africa and traded with my friend Macy. She gave me three dollars and fifty cents for some frankincense/myrrh. This was my first and last victory throughout my long and parlous journey.
After that though, I found out that she happened to be the tax collector and I gave her two dollars. What bad luck! Next, I traveled to Sumatra where I traded some amount of money that I don’t know for cinnamon. After that, my last stop was China where I got some copper for three dollars and twenty-five cents which the local dragon took from me in the intent of some fun trickery which was not fun at all.
           After my journey, I came to know just how gullible I can be when it comes to money. All in all, my journey was not so successful seeing as in the end I had less money that I had started with, and my goal was to get more along the way. -Marina B

Published!

Some of our students amazing work in persuading the Ventura Community to help restore the Ventura River were published in this weeks Ventura Breeze!


Check it out here (page 7)
http://www.venturabreeze.com/4.3.13.pdf

Student Work!

Students River Art Projects were on display at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. Parents, teachers and students were able to view the amazing work!

Amazing!
A Special Thanks to the SBMA for supporting us at DATA!

A VTS Lesson on Urban Lights

Students participated in a VTS discussion using the following activities.

When we were done students made their own poem about what we learned about.

The final step was turning the poem into a song or rap.

The following are PowerPoint slides from the lesson.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some amazing student poems:

micah w. to

Lynch p. 1-2 Champion students

Calm, night, black sky,
Watch the bats flying by
Calm night, black sky
Until the light blinds your eye
Blinding lights, artificial daylight
Gives these poor bats quite a fright
Blinding lights, artificial daylight
It throws off the bats and hurts their sight
Dark house, dim lights
We should help these poor bat’s plights
Dark house, dim lights
We should help these bats fight their fights

Calm, night, black sky,
Watch the bats flying by
Calm night, black sky
Until the light blinds your eye
Blinding lights, artificial daylight
Gives these poor bats quite a fright
Blinding lights, artificial daylight
It throws off the bats and hurts their sight...

Fun lesson!

fatima g. to

Lynch p. 1-2 Champion students

Wings
BY: Fatima Gallardo
Butterflies fly away
They don’t come back until I say
I see a bat
Wait does it have a hat
Flap! Flap! Flap!
Amazing wings

macy m. to

Lynch p. 1-2 Champion students

Here is my poem on the picture of the lights on the Earth at night:

Lights, lights, everywhere!
Lights here! Lights there!
Can’t you leave us in the dark of night?
Complete darkness doesn’t give me a fright.
Let the stars light your way,
The stars and the moon don’t come out in the day!

Well done Champion Students!
 

DyKnow at DATA

With one-to-one computing at D.A.T.A., teachers have the opportunity to use DYKNOW, an amazing classroom management and interactive learning software. It allows teachers to monitor each student's computer screen, broadcast PowerPoint presentations on their screens, have students participate in interactive quizzes and checks for understanding, open an educational "chat" room for students among students or students with teachers, poll student progress, and many more features. Check out the YouTube video below highlighting DYKNOW and D.A.T.A


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIRg5RmF6NA

VTS Ventura River Project

Working with the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and Friends of the Ventura River, our students have been learning about how to protect and preserve our natural resource. Connecting art to critical thinking using Visual Thinking Strategies has provided our students with an amazing educational opportunity.

Field Trip Pictures:
Students taking pictures of the Ventura River (the good and the bad)

 Students reflecting using VTS 3-2-1 bridge

Student art using sketches from the Ventura River and Art Lessons from the Santa Barbara Musume of Art:

Putting the student art to a poem:

Student Persuasive Essays about Protecting the Ventura River:

March 6, 2013

 To: Ventura residents

                Can you imagine families from all over Ventura zip lining, swimming, and kayaking in the Ventura river wilderness? I can. That is why the Ventura parkway vision and other organizations are getting together to help restore the Ventura river ’s lost beauty and animal habitats. I believe that the Ventura River should be saved for several reasons. First, it has been invaded by species that are not native to Ventura, such as eurendo. This plant can grow up to 30 feet tall, and looks like bamboo. It removes poisons and metal from the water. This may sound good, but when animals eat it, the eurendo still has the poisons in it, so enters the food chain. This can kill the fish, frogs, and other animal species that thrive in this environment. Organizations have helped remove these invasive species, and so can you.

My second reason for saving the river is because waste water has been dumped in this ecosystem, and the population of species has declined. For example, when I went to the river yesterday, I saw a lot of dead crawfish in the dried out areas of the river. I suspect this is also because of the small dam built near foster park. Also, have you ever seen pictures of people holding huge trout or salmon that they caught in Alaska? Well those fish used to swim freely in the Ventura River, until it became polluted and littered. You can join a clean-up today to help restore the lost aquaculture and species in this environment.

My third reason to clean up the river is that it can be a community park. Here is my vision for this future park: Imagine families spending the day at the river. There would be zip lines, kayaking, picnics, and swimming. Kids could explore the river banks and look for frogs and crawfish, while parents could enjoy bird watching and fishing. Artists could come and paint the small dam, the mountains and plants. This is my vision. If this vision comes true, the river could provide a free park for the kids who live on the avenue, where there is not very much open space and parks.

Some people might argue that the river is not worth being saved, and that money should be spent on more important things. I would respond by saying the river is a lost treasure, and that it is worth saving, so that families and friends can enjoy it for free. In conclusion, it is my firm belief that the river is worth saving for the community to enjoy.

Sincerely,

Laura Gurney


Next up..
a field trip to the beautiful Santa Barbara Muesum of Art to see our art presented to the community!

Pepperdine

We had a wonderful day in Malibu checking out the Pepperdine Campus and enjoying a wonderful show. Many students want to attend college at Pepperdine now that they had a day there.

Handmade Valentines

Students made a Valentine card and flower for someone special. Each one included an Ode...
Sweet

Ancient India with Asoka!

We learned all about the kind ruler Asoka and his amazing pillars (http://www.iloveindia.com/history/ancient-india/maurya-dynasty/ashoka.html). Then students created their own pillars with "DATA Rules to Learn BY". We then shared them and placed them around the school! Learning is fun!

All this information and a picture of their pillar was uploaded on their Ancient Civilization slide.
Awesome job champs!

Anceint India st 6.5.3

Focusing on standard 6.5.3 and how Ancient Hinduism influenced the Indian people long ago, we read about and created our own deities out of play doh. Students finished products were digitalized in their ancient civilizations power point on a slide. Students summarized the importance of the deities to the people, and researched one to replicate with play-doh. Once they made their replica, they summarized the information in a slide with a VTS "circle of viewpoint" of what that deity would have said. Students did an amazing job!

Well done!