All the Hype for Skype

Our new friend and resident Mali expert, Mr. Bruce

Yesterday we Skyped with Will's uncle, Mr. Bruce. Mr. Bruce lived in Mali, Africa for a short time when he was assigned there for his job with the government. We had many questions about Mali for Mr. Bruce...questions about everything from the crops they grow in Mali to what the weather is like there. We even had a few questions that stumped Mr. Bruce! Although he didn't know the answers, he encouraged us to do some research to try and find the answers on our own. Here are a few new facts:

Andy - "We learned that a queen never ruled ancient Mali."

Kristina - "We learned that they grow more than one type of corn in Mali."

Lainey - "There are no more kings in Mali. Now they have presidents."

Ginger - "We found out that the coldest it really ever gets in Mali is 75 degrees. Most of the time it's over 95 degrees!"

Max - "Mangoes are a staple crop in Mali. They have lots of them!"

Miss Payne - "The gates of Timbuktu actually mark the start of the Sahara Desert."

Macy - "Their roads aren't as good as ours. It might take 10 hours to make a trip that should only take 2 hours."

We all listen to Mr. Bruce's Mali stories

Nick scribbles down answers to his questions

Thanks for sharing your Mali knowledge, Mr. Bruce!

Hot Off the Press!

Maybe you thought third graders at Stony Point Elementary had officially disappeared...we're sorry!

The weeks following our Winter Break have quickly gotten away from us (as you can tell) but we're still here, doing just as much thinking, laughing, and problem-solving as ever. In fact, we have quite a few surprises on the horizon. Tomorrow we're hosting - not one - but two special guests! Both special guests are experts on the country we've been studying...Mali, Africa. You won't believe some of the awesome facts we've learned about Mali already. We still have some unanswered questions, though, like:

• Did ancient Mali have queens?
• Why was the capital called Timbuktu?

We're hoping maybe our Mali experts will be able to shed some light on these tomorrow. Check back soon to see what we find out!

ALSO, coming up soon...pictures of our authentic Mali mud cloth progress. We've been working hard with Mary Lou to design and sketch patterns that will cover our third grade Mali mud cloth. Last week we just started sketching our designs onto fabric strips. Wait until you see them!

Now, the moment you've all been waiting for: Hot Off the Press today is our brand new Mali Multiplication Book. Inside you'll find challenging multiplication stories (all set in dry, dusty ancient Mali, of course!) to stretch your brain.

Here's a sneak peek of just one Mali Multiplication Story...can you solve it?