Door Decorating Contest

This year's Relay for Life theme is "be a cancer hero." Middle school students were given the task to plan and implement a classroom door display based on the theme Super Hero. 

The rule for the door decorating contest was simple. - a snowman had to be used as the super hero. Since students haven't had a chance to get out and play in snow this year, this contest was the perfect opportunity to have some winter fun - in 70 degree weather! 

Room 102 put their heads together  - -and took off their shoes - - to create an entry for the contest.  In the midst of the project, students discovered the real purpose of the contest was to raise cancer awareness by getting involved. Room 102 learned true super heroes are the brave children who fight this disease every day. 

Leave your print.  Join the walk. Be a hero.

Penny Wars

Penny Wars is a fun way to raise funds, especially for those who are competitive by nature and enjoy a bit of teamwork.

In this Penny War, pennies are good and all other money is bad.  To benefit your team, you want to put pennies in your team’s container and put all other money in the containers of the other teams.  At the end of the penny war, each team’s pennies will be counted and all other money will be counted.  The total of the other money will be subtracted from the total pennies collected.

This year the fifth grade girls are pitted against the sixth grade girls and the fifth grade boys are against the sixth grade boys. 

The real winner is Kids4Cure. CURE is a non-profit organization fighting to end childhood cancer. They raise money to help families that have a child with cancer and also to research. 

A big thanks to the students who are participating.  The wars will continue through April 3. 

Character Education

The March Character Ed Assembly honored Karissa from Room 102.  Karissa was among several middle school students honored for the character quality of CARING.

Congratulations, Karissa! Room 102 is lucky to have YOU!

And the winner is . . .

Mrs. Brommer, Hailie, and Ali pause for the paparazzi on the red carpet.

After receiving a formal invitation to a red carpet event, Room 102 attended the showing in the library of this year's Oscar winning Short Animation Film, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. As you can tell by the title, the film has a book/library theme. Mrs. Brommer purchased the film for this event and hosted a real “Red Carpet event – just like the Academy Awards – sort of. 

Mrs. Brommer led a discussion after the film and shared several interesting notes with students:

1. There is no dialog in the film. It is almost like a wordless picture book. Everything is expressed visually.

2.  The Humpty Dumpty flip book is an amazing work of animation in this film. It's also quite humorous - especially in the morning scene. (Guess what flying books eat for breakfast? Alphabets!)

3.  A book only comes to life when it is read! Books bestow color and life upon anybody who reads them.

Thanks, Mrs. Brommer, for this award winning presentation!

Check out this book trailer for a glimpse of William Joyce's Oscar winner.

Foot Print Art

Foot print art is as unique to a child as a fingerprint, and the end result is priceless. When Room 102 got out the paint and rollers, the fun arrived - plus lots of giggles. It tickles when you apply paint!

We're keeping this project undercover for a few more days.

100 Days of Saxon Math

Students mixed math, food, and fun to celebrate the 100th lesson in Saxon Math.  Each student brought from home 100 pieces of a snack item. Everything was stirred in a large bowl to create a trail mix.  

An intense game of "Math Around the World" ended the day's celebration.  We'll conclude Room 102 knows their math facts as there wasn't one clear winner. Clearly, Room 102 is 100 days smarter.

St. Paddy's Day: A Green Light for Fun

Leprechaun lovers in Room 102 got into the spirit of the holiday. Several students walked away with a pot of gold and the class won a recess after defeating the “wee people” in a grammar game of Who Wants to Win a Pot o’ Gold.

Happy St. Patrick's Day from Room 102: 

May your heart be light

And your day be bright.

A shout out to Steph Morgan for sharing the pot of gold template found here.

March Limericks

St. Patrick’s Day is often associated with limericks, a style of poetry popularized by Edward Lear in the 19th century. Limericks aren't Irish, but there is a Limerick county in Ireland where limericks gain fame. These nonsensensical poems are a fun way for students to celebrate the season.  Students wrote their own limericks after hearing this catchy tune several times; many times. Actually, I-can't-get-it out-of my-head times!

Flip through the slideshow for a preview of student limericks. Check out the complete works on the bulletin board outside Room 102.

H2O Daze

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Comics in the Classroom

Room 102 had fun building their understanding of figurative language and humor using comic strips. Most writing can be made more descriptive through the use of figurative language. Students practiced seven common forms of figurative language:

• simile — using “like” or “as” for description or comparison
• metaphor —comparison that does not use like or as
• oxymoron — combines two normally contradictory terms
• personification — giving human traits to non-living objects
• alliteration— the repetition of a particular sound in a series of words or phrases
• onomatopoeia — a word that imitates the sound it represents
• hyperbole - extreme exaggeration

Creating the comic strips proved lots of fun. 

Click on these student samples to enlarge. 

Alliteration by Ali

Onomatopoeia by Alex

Hyperbole by MacKenzie

The "funny pages" are posted on a bulletin board outside Room 102. Check it out. It'll tickle your funny bone. (Idiom)

It's always a good sign when students want to continue a project after lab.  MakeBeliefsComix.com is available for students to use at home.  Click the button to visit the site.