Good-byes

The last day and I have been promising to post some pictures!  What a year!  Just think of all the field trips alone- Writers' Festival at Granville Island, Robin Hood at Waterfront Theatre, the Symphony at the Orpheum, a couple of trips to John Oliver for JOlympics and to see A Midsummer Night's Dream, Sun Yat Sen Gardens, Science World, and Spanish Banks.  We also hosted lots of interesting guests with whom we have done great activities and learned new things from the aerodynamics of paper airplanes to moodling to photography to visual journals, to how to write a thriller, how to conserve energy, and even sang the National Anthem of Dormia.  We learned lots about the Olympics and got to be part of the thrill of being in the host city.  We also helped make a difference in the world with our fund raising for the Haiti Relief Campaign and the Nepal Library Foundation plus of course being peer helpers and supporting the Me to We efforts. 
Anyway a few pictures

Here are our friends in Division One at Spanish banks. At the right you can see our grads-what a gorgeous group!  Do you think they will come dressed up the last day of school?

Here's a picture from our afternoon with the buddies.
I will try to post more pictures so check in later on.  It's been a fun year and I hope you all have a great summer!

Sun Yat Sen Gardens

I lured you to Sun Yat Sen Gardens with promises of making gunpowder but in the end we made rockets.  I think that everyone really enjoyed our visit and really got a picture of life in Ancient China.  It is such a beautiful place and I know how much you all enjoyed the fish!  Also I think making and launching our rockets was more fun than making gun powder would have been! 

And I think Neil enjoyed being a scholar and the head of that household of 200!

  And then we got to launch the rockets we built...

And finally after a look around Chinatown we got to go and play in Andy Livingstone Park! 
I hope you have an opportunity to visit Sun Yat Sen Gardens and Livingstone Park again this summer!

Science World

We had a great time at Science World doing a chemistry lab and watching a movie all about gold and checking out all the exhibits.  Our lab included learning about catalysts and acids and bases.  You can see how attentive you were except for that guy eying the camera.

 And below here are a few scientists at work.  Do you think Harjot looks a bit like a Einstein?

  And how surprised were you when you saw what was happening in those bags???  

News from Dormia

I think we had a lot of fun doing wolves today and really enjoyed having our guests from Ms. Heinrich's class as well join us.  We hope all the track meet participants had a great day as well!
I had an e-mail that I thought I would share with you... I am afraid you will have to finish reading Dormia on your own-I promise to read some more though!  This letter is from Peter.  I think you all should enter his contest!
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Dear West Coast fans of Dormia -

Before the school year ends, I thought I'd drop you a quick update about Dormia-related happenings.  My road trip up and down the West Coast has a special place in my memory, because it kick-started all of the Dormia activities listed below. 

- Because of strong nationwide reaction to the first book, Houghton Mifflin decided to move up the release of the second book in the Dormia series.  WORLD'S END is now being released in November 2010, just a few months away.  We're so excited about the book - Alfonso is 3 years older (15), and the adventure begins when he starts sleep-walking in the Paris catacombs.  We just received the cover sketch for the second book (it's done by John Rocco, the illustrator of the Percy Jackson series and illustrator of our first book)

- We're on the verge of signing the movie rights to the Dormia series!  Over the next few months, we'll be working with our producers to choose a screenwriter, director, etc.  If you have any suggestions based on movies you've seen and would think will really get into the Dormia series, let us know!

- We have an updated electronic newsletter - the Dormian Tribune.  The most recent issue featured the first cover sketch of World's End, and other hints about book 2.  We'll be sending out a newsletter every 6 weeks or so.  You can sign up on our website. 

- You might also want to let your students know that for those who sign up for the Dormian Tribune between now and the end of the summer, they will be automatically entered in a contest.  The lucky winner will receive 1) an advance, signed copy of World's End, and 2) THEIR NAME will be a character in the third book!

- And last of all, the paperback version of Dormia just released and is in bookstores everywhere.  It's $8, significantly less than the hardcover  :)

I'll keep it short and end here, but if you'd like to continue following the exploits of the Dormia series, make sure to sign up for the Dormian Tribune.  And I'm hoping to return to the West Coast sometime over the next 18 months or so.  Hopefully, we can arrange a return to your school!  You can always keep in touch with me via this e-mail or by e-mailing us at info@worldofdormia.com

Thanks again, and sleep well,

Peter

Wolves

Tomorrow I am planning to celebrate wolves, fact and fiction, and since some students from Ms. Heinrich's class will be joining us, I thought I would put a link to a National Geographic article on wolves here so it's easy to access.  We are going to practice on note taking skills on this article but we are going to be exploring some fun books as well, while the athletic students are off at the track meet.  Go Trudeau go!