Symbols, Symbols, Symbols!

Ahoy, me hearties! I loved me Valentine's Day! A parrot could get used to eating chocolate and getting presents. But, do you know what me favorite part of Valentine's Day is?-----Knowing that I have great first mates like you! (Tear) Today, I want to take you to the land of Australia. Can you find Australia on the map?

Here's a closer view of it.

I bet you want to know why our merry vessel sailed us here? Well, it all has to do with making ye better map readers. Whenever you look at a map, you'll see little pictures on it, like this one.

These pictures are called symbols. What are the pictures and what are they showing you? Why are these pictures important? Now, use this merry knowledge to learn about how symbols are used in math! Me hearties, you'll soon be captain of this ship if you keep using your noggins like that...but don't tell Captain Moonbeard. He may not like that too much. Fair winds! Sparky the Parrot

Another snow day?

Ahoy, me hearties! I missed you during the blizzard. Did you build me a snowman? Captain Moonbeard's ship was stuck in the ice momentarily, but the friendly whale I told you about came and pushed us out. With that, we hoisted our sails and headed toward the Island of R. Why do we dare to make this treacherous voyage? So we can catch us some magical words, me hearties! Something happens when you put an R beside a vowel...they change their sounds! Get Silly Stephenson to show you more about R-controlled vowels. They're very intERRRRRRResting! Fair winds, Sparky

Thar she blows!

Ahoy, me hearties! Have I got a story for you! Captain Moonbeard and I were sailing on our merry vessel, minding our own business in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, and all of a sudden we felt a HUGE bump! It rocked our ship so hard that we were seeing stars. After we found our sea legs, we looked to our right, and we saw a GIGANTIC water spout! And, lo and behold, there was a whale smiling at us. Can you believe that he just wanted to play with us? Captain Moonbeard and I know that the whale must have been pretty large to make such a giant bump, but just how large? That's what we need ye to find out. Silly Stephenson has put ye in groups to go around the room and measure our whale friend with different objects. Now, hoist yer anchors and let's get measuring! ~Sparky the Parrot

What's yer pirate name?

Ahoy again, Mateys! Have you picked out a pirate name yet? Silly Stephenson told me you learned about what a pirate is, so now you can pick a pirate name. Most pirates pick a name that describes the way they look or their personality. A word used to describe something or someone is called an adjective. I can't wait to hear what names ye all come up with! Fair winds, Sparky the Parrot