Love That Poetry on Twitter

Reading and writing poetry was made into an adventure by following Jack and his teacher Mrs. Strechberry. Love That Dog by Sharon Creech guided us through the sharing of many famous poems and poets. While Jack struggled with his understanding and writing of poetry, our class wrote and shared using Twitter, class partners and even created our own yellow "Love That Poetry" booklets.

The highlight of this activity was our interaction with Sharon Creech and other classrooms around the world via Twitter. You can see all of our tweets by visiting us @OMS6th on Twitter.
Below are some actual tweets from our classroom and replies we celebrated:

OMS6th @ciaobellacreech starting "Love That Dog" celebration Thursday-will last a week or so :D Follow our tweets

OMS6th I think Love That Dog is going to be a great book!!!!

OMS6thWe have to write about what we would say if we were the teacher. I wrote about how you have to at least try to write.

ciaobellacreech @OMS6th Happy LTD celebration!

ciaobellacreech@OMS6th Hi! Thanks for your notes. . .I'm glad you're enjoying LTD and think it's cool you're making your own booklets. . .

OMS6thSo much depends upon A big warm bed Covered with warm blankets Beside my white wall

Gill_Villeans @OMS6th We want to add one! So much depends upon apps working properly, typing in small spaces, and seeing small words. Can you guess?

ChocolateAir @ciaobellacreech @OMS6th So much depends upon a bloodsucking leech stuck to my ankle from the dark green lake.

ChocolateAir @ciaobellacreech @OMS6th Winning Shot...So much depends upon a basketball dribbling in my hands with thirty seconds left.

OMS6thI am reading a book during study hall/ the story takes me to a different world/I would like to stay and play/ you come too

OMS6thI'm going out to get the mail/all the way down the road/ I'll say hello to the toad/ I'll not be gone long you come too.

ciaobellacreech @OMS6th I'm going out to get some chocolate / in the storefront window / I won't be gone long / You come, too . . .

ciaobellacreech@OMS6th ohmygosh, I love these 'you come too' poems!

Gill_Villeans @OMS6th We like reading your patterned tweets! Can you tell? :)

Gill_Villeans@OMS6th We're learning about Newfoundland. We'll present our findings to other classes. We're going on a learning journey. You come too! :

OMS6thLove using Twitter/Like a bat loves a ball/Love using Twitter/Like a bat loves a ball/Love 2share w/the world/Using it daily/Learning it all

ciaobellacreech @OMS6th Love the ongoing tweets--the 'love that. . .' ones. Love those tweets /love that class . . .

OMS6th@ciaobellacreech Thanks for all your tweets while we "Loved Your Book" We will follow Jack through his next year during our own reading time

Old Creamery Writing Contest

2011 Writing Contest : The Old Creamery Theatre Company

“You can make a difference” is a phrase that we hear all the time, but what does it mean? We want to know what it means to you!

There are lots of ways you can make a difference in the world.
You can make a difference by doing bigger things, like raising money for the needy or helping clean up a city park, or smaller things, like showing your teachers respect or helping a friend with their homework.

Students often make a difference when they follow the Six Pillars of Character: Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, and Citizenship.

For this year’s writing contest The Old Creamery Theatre is looking for stories about characters that make a difference!

Use your imagination to write a story about a character or characters that make a difference in some way.

How do you make a difference?

Write a story where your characters really make a difference.
Maybe a character doesn’t care about making a difference and another character shows them how important it is.
Maybe a character wants to make a difference but doesn’t know how.
Maybe a character doesn’t understand why everyone needs to pitch in to make a difference and has to be shown.
You can be inspired from own imaginations or even our own experiences.

The sky’s the limit!

Yahoo! Homepages for Homerooms

Easy way to give our classroom a gift and it is free!

Quick one time (per computer/email) way to bring new technology into our classroom.

Yahoo! Homepages for Homerooms

Help this classroom project get funded by making Yahoo! your homepage.

Going Global: Connecting Communities

Mrs. D

Using technology is limited to times the lab is available. This doesn't allow for teaching/learning moments. Having netbooks in the room would give us instant access! Details

The world of learning is as close as our computer - too bad we have to share the media lab with all 6-8th graders in our building. Using technology is limited to times the lab is available. This doesn't allow for teaching/learning moments. Having netbooks in the room would give us instant access!

My middle school students are amazing! They are a part of a small rural school district that strives to achieve on all levels. Like many rural communities, we have been effected by the lingering economic situation. Our school has a very high rate of students participating in the free and reduced lunch program. Many families have lost their income because of businesses closing and jobs being scaled back. A majority still do not have Internet access at home. Resources at school have also been cut drastically because of declining enrollment when families look for employment elsewhere. Hope within our community has declined as well. With all the hardships, our students still see their classroom as a place to grow and connect. Sharing the world with them using on-line projects has shown many that there is hope and possibilities, not only to help themselves and their community, but to help others that are less fortunate then themselves.

Students in my classroom have been introduced to the wonders of technology. This introduction has started a movement of learning and motivation. Growing up in a rural community, my 6th graders have had limited interaction with other cultures, geographics, and experiences. Skype, Twitter, Blogtv, and ePals are just a few of the programs we have interacted with. Each virtual visit not only gives us new insight to the lives of people around us, but also has given us the opportunity to share with others about ourselves. Our latest adventure will be to travel the world into 80 classrooms through a program using Skype. Having a multi-media center and computer available throughout the day will help make these activities a regular occurrence, instead of having to wait our turn in the media lab. Just being able to check in with our ePals on a regular basis will help the students think outside their daily rural experiences and go global!

I have seen the on-line projects create a spark among my students. Emailing back and forth with students in Asia, talking with an author on the east coast through Skype, and sharing their activities on the class blog, has opened the world to them. They no longer feel land-locked in the Midwest. Seeing this spark of hope is why I am asking for a classroom netbook and multimedia system. Lifelong learning happens when the world is readily available at students' fingertips! Hide

My students need a netbook computer, with speakers, a flash drive and a clearchat headset.

Please send this to friends and family -it's that easy!

Veterans' Day 2010

Veterans' Day 2010

Students at OMS showed their pride and gratitude to all US Veterans and Soldiers on 11-11-10. The local Honor Guard and Veterans honored us with their presence and participated in the ceremony. Students and guests watched in silence as the flags were presented and then shared in saying the Pledge of Allegiance and the singing of patriotic songs. Sixth grade chorus sang a wonderful tribute to our heroes. The program's highlight was when the veterans shared the meaning of each fold when the American flag is presented in ceremony. Thank you to all that were with us and those we remembered during this special event!

The Power of Twitter

author lover blogger technology fan life high education grade teaching science gifted educator teacher English book social learner books writer reading middle school coach music love specialist media tech great literacy educational coordinator resources learning web world kids gr8 edtech
students classroom teachers
learning sharing

The above word cloud was created from profiles of our Twitter contacts. "Sweet" would be one word to express how much Twitter means to our learning experience.

Tweeting and learning in the classroom is becoming a common activity in room 12 at OMS. Introducing Twitter to 6th graders has been a lot of fun! Students are sharing what they are learning, asking questions, and connecting to the world with their Twitter friends. Some recent highlights would include discussing chapters from a shared read aloud, The Little Prince, with a class in Canada and hearing from Sharon Creech while tweeting about her book, Love That Dog.

If you want to follow our class on Twitter add @oms6th to your list of amazing contacts.

Places in the world we are connected through Twitter: