Summer Bucket List

What a fantastic way to end the school year.  Room 102 was asked to create a summer bucket list.

With the whole summer stretching before them, I wanted to remind students to include math, reading, and writing skills in summer activities. Hopefully the bucket list will hang on the family fridge and spark some reminders to weave in math and literacy reinforcers during summer. 

Room 102's top vote-getters:  

1.  Storybird  I'm anxious to read your summer stories!

2.  Good Reads Summer Book List with Mrs. Full

3.  Blog with Mrs. Full

4.  Math Facts

5.  visit Aqua Venture - Norfolk's new water park 

* Remember bold, colored font is a link to take you to the site. 

Discover how to make learning a fun part of your everyday summer routine. Read more at FamilyEducation by clicking the button.

Click here for the bucket list template.

School's Out!

Dear Parents,

It has been an amazing year. It was a privilege and a blessing to have your child in my class. This blogging experience has been fun. The highlights from our year have been recorded. As I sit and reread posts, I’m reminded of the learning experiences and the eagerness of these students to learn. I treasure each one of  these kiddos. 

I appreciate your support.  The cards, gifts, and kind words brought a smile. Thank YOU!

Kiwanis Award

The Morning Kiwanis Club honored Ali from Room 102 as the Outstanding Fifth Grade Middle School Student for the 2011-2012 school year.

Ali was honored for her academic performance, community activities, and the service and leadership she performs at her school and in the community. 

Ali recieved this certificate and plaque at today's year-end assembly.

Congratulations, Ali. 

One Smart Cookie

Room 102 ended their year with a creative writing assignment titled, “One Smart Cookie.” First students wrote a recipe listing both the ingredients and directions to whip up a smart cookie. 

Once the recipes were written, the chefs got cooking. It was hard to resist the tempting cookies, but the recipes and cookies are stored away to hand out in the fall to incoming fifth grade students. These new students need to know some of the ingredients listed in a recipe for success.  A few of the class favorite ingredients are study skills, pencils, textbooks, positive attitude, and learner's position. 

According to the Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms, a "smart cookie" is someone who is clever and intelligent. A “Smart Cookie” theme was chosen for our year-end celebration. Students in Room 102 are indeed “a batch of smart cookies.” 

A milk and cookie bar was set up for the celebration.

The entertainment was the game Minute to Win It /Face the Cookie. Using only the face muscles, contestants had to move a cookie from the forehead to the mouth.  Three students proved they were not only "Smart Cookies" but also very clever.

A shout out to Kerri and Lindsay @ teacher bits & bobs for the lesson idea and recipe template.

The Pledge of Allegiance

Family Circus

By the time I get students in the fifth grade, it is almost comical the words they substitute in the Pledge that make sense in their world. Before students head into summer and celebrate Memorial Day, Flag Day, the Fourth of July, and Labor Day, Room 102 decided to study the text and the vocabulary of the Pledge of Allegiance.  After students defined all the difficult words in the Pledge, they created posters to take home with them.

  

Students display their posters before taking them home.

(Click pictures to enlarge) 

Big Huge Labs

Oh! You know what's fun? Big Huge Labs. 

It's that time of year when many students are working on year end projects. Room 102 has turned to Web 2.0 to plan projects and spruce 'em up.

Several students went to Big Huge Labs to turn their digital images into authentic looking magazine covers. It's a clever idea for book review covers. Click on images to enlarge.

Is it possible to have a magazine stand without a tabloid issue?

Students can continue to do cool stuff with their photos at home.  Click the button to visit Big Huge Labs.

A Shred Party

Most parties are about getting together with friends, snacking, and creating fun. But what if you add a year of intense work to the celebration? What if you want to acknowledge the completion of 120 math lessons?

You throw a Shred Party.

Here’s the scoop: a Shred Party involves one class of year-end math students and the biggest paper shredder available in the building. Students then gather their workbooks and go nuts.

Lukus is buried in a year of Saxon math!

Before the silliness began, students recorded 120 math concepts from the 2011-2012 school year. Room 102 completed the entire book . . . front to back  . . . 120 lessons!  Woo! Hoo!

Summer Reading Program

Norfolk Public Librarians visit schools each spring to promote reading.  Children Librarians, Karen and Marci, talk to middle school students about this summer's  reading program.  

Read more about the Library's 2012 Summer Reading Program by clicking on the bookworm.  Be sure to greet the librarians when you register.

Figurative Language

While reviewing figurative language, Room 102 realized this would be an excellent way to incorporate Mother's Day into the curriculum. Students were asked to complete the similes using sticky notes. 

And since Father’s Day follows close behind, a second chart was created with metaphors to describe Dad.

Parents are such special people. Students had fun during this activity choosing words to describe parents instead of just telling classmates about them.  Descriptive writing is all about figurative language.

A shout out to Mrs. Lemons for her simile lesson.

Digital StoryTelling

Students have been working with iMovie™  technology to integrate all aspects of language arts: reading, writing, listening, speaking, viewing, and presenting. Room 102  created a movie to send to their pen pals in Arizona and Washington.  

Our digital story used the text from the poetry book, C is for Cornhusker. As the name implies, digital story telling usually contains a mixture of computer-based images, text, video clips, and music. Along with the DVD, the book was sent to our pen pal classes in Arizona and Washington.  The book is a wonderful resource about the Great Plains state of Nebraska. 

Lettuce Say, "Thanks!"

This week students have the opportunity to thank dietary and food service staff at NMS. May 7 through May 11 is Food Service Week. Without a doubt, Room 102 enjoys their cafeteria time. Working in groups of three, students create chef posters and write puns. Room 102 wants our cooks to know we think they're grate and we knead them. Click on photos to enlarge.

A shout out to Cara Carroll for sharing her chef pattern over at TPT.

Track and Field Day

Warm temperatures led to a fun day for the annual Norfolk Middle School Track and Field Day.  The school's physical education department plus sixth grade teachers, Mr. Lichty and Mr. Hughes, organize the half-day event of competition. Field Day is a series of athletic events in which students participate for ribbons. It is a great way for a school to let loose at the end of an academic year.  

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Adopt-A-Classroom

Adopt a Classroom . . . Build a Community

This year Room 102 partnered with 106 KIX radio. 

The Adopt-a-Classroom program strives to encourage high self-esteem in students and support teachers and strengthen the business community's commitment to education.

Today 106 KIX visited Room 102. These program volunteers used their personal experiences to make the curriculum practical and realistic. All three were able to share the importance of language arts skills and extra curricular activities. Thanks, KIX, for providing these students with illustrations to build self-confidence, develop skills, and find avenues of success.  

Jim Curry, news director at KIX radio, speaks to students.

DJs Abe and Billy capture students' attention. Thanks, guys, for all the fun.
I am certain students will never read the school lunch menu the same ol' way.

Happy May Day!

Room 102's March of the May Pole

May Day is one of my favorite days. I shared with students the idea of showering friends with unexpected sweetness. Students shared they like the idea of the “ding and dash”!  After reading the history and traditions of May Day in literature class, Room 102 created May Baskets using this patern. Hopefully students are ringing doorbells after class today. 

A shout out to Printables4Kids for sharing the May Day basket pattern.