December is a month full of special days, and Room 100 capitalized on students' excitement. Lessons combined fun and learning to deliver a holiday presence in the classroom.
This month's lessons were alive with excitement and enthusiasm; these faces capture the joy of teaching.
Happy Holidays! Enjoy the break. Classes resume January 5, 2015!
We all love winter holidays for their special charm and for the “warm and fuzzy” feeling they give us! Today NMS added to the season's fun with a day marked for holiday sweaters. Room 100 decided to sprinkle in some extra fun with a photo booth and props.
Thanks, April, at Catching Fireflies for sharing the crazy cute photo booth props.
Room 100 is having some seasonal fun with one of the classic Christmas characters - Rudolph. Students have been studying poetry, paying lots of attention to rhyme scheme, rhythm, tone, mood, and figurative language. We read one seasonal poem about Rudolph's nose changing colors. Students were asked to mix it up a bit and design a new nose for Rudolph.
The noses decorate our classroom door. I could not resist placing these noses front and center during the holiday. They are so clever and festive.
Descriptive writing and art transform our bulletin boards and serve as a wall-to-wall portfolio of student work - just in time for the holiday season.
It's been a busy first semester with lots of writing. Students are learning to write in descriptive mode. Descriptive writing is an art form. It's painting a word picture so the reader "sees" exactly what the writer is describing. Descriptive writing relies on the five senses to create a word picture.
Students work through the writing process in order to help them become the best writers they can be. Clearly, that last stage - - publishing - - brings a smile.
Investigation 5 in Saxon Math was all about organizing data in a frequency table. Students were excited to extend the investigation to our November estimation jar.Time spent “teaching” students to estimate, and evalate estimations, is valuable. These types of activities are critical in students’ development of number sense. They provide students the opportunity to learn and hone a skill that they will use in the real world. Mental computation is an important part of number sense.
This Thanksgiving season I am truly thankful for my students.
Fifth grade students celebrated GIS Day and Geography Awareness Week at Northeast's Lifelong Learning Center. Everyone was intensely engaged. Students wrestled with the content, a raft of skills, and some pretty compelling GPS.
GIS is one fun day!
A planetarium is a sky theater where it is possible to stimulate the night sky at any place on Earth at any time of the year. The Wayne State College Planetarium with its special effects explored topics such as the moon, constellations, planets, and galaxies. In the planetarium concepts were denonstrated in ways that are impossible in a classroom. This translates into enhanced learning for students.
The planetarium was an excellent addition to the science curriculum and these students were all smiles as they traveled "to infinity and beyond."
Room 100 found a fun way to say "Thank You" to the Veterans who have protected this country. Students decorated postcards for Veterans at the Norfolk Veterans Home - a reminder to the residents their sacrifices are acknowledged and we are grateful.
Most of the students know someone who serves in the military, and a few students know some extra special Veterans . . .
The speaker at our Veterans Assembly is a very familiar face to so many students at Norfolk Middle School. Mrs. Thompson is a fourth grade teacher at Westside Elementary.
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“How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!” —Maya Angelou |
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| Don't get tied up in drugs! |
We had a very successful Red Ribbon Week with participation from so many students and staff! The highlights were neckties, crazy socks, hats, and flip-flops. It was a silly mix of accessories with an important message to live drug free and healthy.
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| Sock it to drugs! |
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| Put a cap on drugs! |
October's Estimation Jar was filled with candy corn taffy. After estimates were made, students drew tally marks for the given data. Tally marks is a review skill for fifth graders, so I tried to add some fun with the estimation jar.
Brian was the winner of 53 pieces of taffy. He is now a big fan of tally marks!
More Exciting Math News to Share
NMS has added IXL for our students. IXL is a math software program. Since IXL is web-based, your student can access the program from your home computer. Whether your child needs some extra practice, or just something fun and educational to work on, IXL can help them improve their math skills. I hope you will take advantage of this wonderful educational opportunity for your child.
Home Login Information
Go to https://www.ixl.com/signin/norfolk
Students have a username and password.
Becoming good at math takes a significant amount of practice. When practice is fun, students are more likely to spend the time mastering necessary math skills.
Let's do some math!
Red Ribbon Week is October 27 through October 31. Red Ribbon Week is a week to raise awareness about the importance of being drug free. In 1988 President Reagan proclaimed the last full week in October as National Red Ribbon Week. It is estimated that more than 80 million participate in Red Ribbon Events every year.
Norfolk Middle School students will participate in activities and projects to support the anti-drug message of our school. Teachers have linked Red Ribbon Week to the current year's Energy Bus theme, "Stay Positive and Overcome Challenges."
It is a week of fun themes and serious messages.
Please mark your calendar and encourage your child to participate.
To say we are ecstatic is to put it mildly. Why? Because Google Classroom and Chromebooks are truly a winning combination. Paired together they are motivating students and making our classroom more efficient and collaborative. It's only been a couple of weeks, but we are having a great time. And this is just the beginning!
A Chromebook is a laptop that uses the Chrome OS (operating system). All programs on the Chromebook actually live on the web so there is no installation of traditional computer programs. Please view the video. This short clip does a great job explaining these unique devices.
Finally, today's post is giving a shout out to Mrs. Fehringer. This is our second year co-teaching and sharing students. We certainly share a passion for teaching and we are working together to make this the best year for our students.
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Erin and Mrs. FehringerWe've started second quarter with a new energy and the Chromebooks have definitely added excitement to the room! |
Truly, we have some bookworms in Room 100.
Students will be participating in the Accelerated Reader (AR™) program this year. Accelerated Reader helps all children become better readers. When children read books at an appropriate level, they experience success. You may click here to learn more about the AR program. If you have addtitional questions, you are welcome to contact me.
Each month your child will have an AR goal. Please encourage reading at home.
Thank you, parents, for attending your child’s conference this week! We enjoyed the opportunity to sit down with each of you to discuss your child’s progress and goals for the upcoming months. If you have questions or input that you believe would be beneficial to your child's success, please do not hesitate to contact Mrs. Pieper, Mrs. Fehringer, or Mrs. Full. We appreciate and value your involvement and support!
The whole school is excited about our upcoming Book Fair. An amazing selection of books is displayed in our library! At the Book Fair you will find the latest and finest titles for kids, as well as books of interest to parents.
It is happening this week! Mark your calendar for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. The Scholastic Book Fair will be open during parent/teacher conferences.
The Book Fair is a great way to get everyone excited about reading.
Pumpkins make everyone think of fall and fall holidays. Room 100 is having their own kind of fun with pumpkins as we prepare for Parent Teacher Conferences next week. Notes were sent home with your child. Please mark your calendar and plan to attend.
During conferences you are invited into our pumpkin patch to pick a pumpkin and learn more about your child. Room 100 is feeling rather festive.
I look forward to our conference. Thanks for your help in making your child’s year a successful one!
