Spring Track Meet

Please mark your calendar. 

NMS Track and Field Day is scheduled for Friday, May 2.

Students are naturally antsy at the end of the school year, and who wouldn't be? Having a field day allows them to go outside, have some fun, and run off their natural energy. Teams have been chosen, colors assigned, and events planned.

To build excitement and team spirit,  students started their morning with a Tunnel Walk.

We hope you will be able to join us at the high school track when the RED LUGNUTS compete in a number of sporting events. It's a fun and entertaining afternoon for everyone!

See you at the track . . . GO LUGNUTS!

Poetry Slam

Each year the month of April is set aside as National Poetry Month, a time to celebrate poets and their craft.  Students in Room 100 celebrated poetry with a classroom poetry slam.

Slam Defined

A poetry slam is a blend of poetry and performance in live competitions. Poetry slams gained fame in Chicago in the 1980s. Slam is a fast-paced competition where poets recite a poem to impress judges. Performers use voice and gestures to score points out of the judges.

Preparation

In preparation for our poetry slam, students decorated our Poet-Tree with their selected poems. They spent several class periods coaching each other to stand alone in front of their peers and recite poetry.

We transformed our classroom into a vintage 1980s coffee café by rearranging desks into cozy tables covered with paper tablecloths and battery-lit candles. The dim lighting set the mood for our Poetry Café. Menu boards lined the walls. Judges were selected and programs for the event were created.

The Poetry Café Opens

The day of our poetry slam excitement was high. Chalkboard tablecloths were lots of fun and creating the graffiti helped ease the nervousness before the performance.

The judges started things off by reciting individual poems they had written for the students. Their poems set the tone for a fun, enjoyable competition.

Center Stage

Each finalist had his or her turn in the spotlight. They took their place on the stage and recited a poem. Instead of clapping at the end of each poem, guests were asked to snap their fingers in honor of the true poetry slam culture. The students enjoyed the active role an audience plays in a traditional poetry slam.

Congratulations to the 2014 Poetry Slam Champions

Lauren Bosh, Gemma Mendez, Charli Bates, and Grace Day were this year's medal winners. In addition to the winners we want to thank each one of our students who inspired us with their amazing performance of poetry during National Poetry Month. 

Thank you, THANK YOU!  There are so many clever teachers who have posted and shared ideas for a poetry slam: Grace Rubensyein at Edutopia, Beth Newingham at Scholastic, and Brenda Dyck at Education World. 

Hip! Hip! Hooray!

Room 100 wins the Box Top Competition!

Students were treated to a pizza party in the classroom on Thursday. The pizza was compliments of the Middle School PTO.  

A great big thanks to all the families and friends who helped students collect box tops. The morning pizza party was great fun, but students agreed the real winner was the school. The Box Tops for Education program helps schools earn cash for the things they need. 

Please continue to clip Box Tops from your favorite General Mills products. Each Box Top is worth 10 cents - and that adds up fast!  

Happy Earth Day!

 

To share the message of Earth Day students created a giant poster. 
Each student was given one piece of the poster. This project was so much fun because students had to work together as a group to solve the problem of "How to color and assemble a grid poster?" 

And since we were pledging to make a difference, students made simple bird feeders to take care of the birds right in the school's own yard.  

A giant thanks to Art with Jenny for her giant poster pattern!

Happy Earth Day!  

Book Fair

Students preview the spring Book Fair.

The whole school is excited about our upcoming Book Fair. An amazing selection of books is headed our way! At the Book Fair you will find the latest and finest titles for kids, as well as books of interest to parents. 
Mark your calendar for April 22, 23, and 24. The Book Fair will also be open during Dad's Night Out, Thursday, April 24 from 6 to 8 pm. If you are out of town or can't make it to our Book Fair, you can also help support our school by shopping online. Please click here.

The Book Fair is a great way to get everyone excited about reading. 
Here's a brief video that highlights the importance of raising readers.

See you at the Book Fair!

Our Poet-Tree

Our Poet-Tree

Each year the month of April is set aside as National Poetry Month, a time to celebrate poets and their craft. Room 100 will celebrate National Poetry Month with a poetry slam. A traditional poetry slam is a contest in which poets recite poems in front of an audience, usually in a public performance space such as a café, and a panel of judges rates the performances by giving them numerical  scores.

Students have selected poems and they are settling in on discussions of rhythm, consonance, metaphors, and imagery. They are coaching each other to stand alone in front of their peers and recite poetry, using voice and gesture to bring their words to life. 

We're going to showcase our talented middle school students. 

Students will step up to the microphone on April 22. 

In preparation for our poetry slam, students are transforming our classroom into a coffeehouse. Today everyone's poem was hung on the classroom Poet-Tree.

A little poem will sing to you

A little picture bring to you

A dozen dreams to dance to you

With a poem kept in your head. 

~By Beatrice Schenk de Regniers

Happy Poetry Month!

Paper Blogs

Social software, such as a blog, is all about sharing and exchanging ideas to build new ideas and new knowledge. Room 100 is learning about blogging. Students completed a Paper Blogging Workshop. That's right! Paper Blogs! It's a clever way to introduce fifth graders to the idea of blogging and commenting.

Students studied the layout and graphics of several student blogs and brainstormed ideas for blogging. Students were given poster boards and instructed to create, decorate, and personalize their blogs. This represents customizing the appearance of blogs on hosting sites. Next, they wrote a post to share with classmates.  

Students were then allowed to post comments on blogs. The comments were written on sticky notes and attached to individual blogs. They practiced writing purposeful comments. Students were anxious to read the comments and get feedback from peers.  

This Blogging Workshop was a fun way to introduce the idea of blogging to a room full of middle school students. 

The intent now is to get students blogging on the web. Reading and writing texts online are basic skills that students need to be literate in the 21st century. Teaching with blogs engages students in both these activities.

When students write entries and comment on the entries of their peers, they are writing for an authentic audience (not just their teachers). Once a student posts an entry, others in the class can respond and offer additional perspectives. As a result, students focus on clear communication.  

We are using the multimedia blog found on our school fusion page. It is a safe and secure blog host, and students select code names. The plan is generating a great deal of excitement among student writers. Click the icon to follow student bloggers. 

Thank you Leonard Low and Karen McMillan for sharing this lesson on paper blogs.