NaNoWriMo Means What?

NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. This will be the first year I have OMS 6th graders participate. I plan on giving the students every opportunity to create a story that they can be proud to share with others. This means that during the WHOLE month of November,  ALL that we will be doing during English class will be writing and sharing about writing. We will have a few published authors Skype in and talk about their writing process and of course, continue learning new words through our spelling/vocabulary study. If you have ever experienced NaNoWriMo please let me know about your writing. If you are one of my students this year, blog about your experience- if you can find the time…

New York City -Oh Yea!

Authors, publishers, literacy groups  and the Today Show

June 2011

 When I was given the opportunity to visit NYC with my daughter, I grabbed my book bag and camera and headed for The Big Apple. Along with the regular tourist spots, we also did our own reading tour. Here are a few reading stops we made. I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we enjoyed our trip!

Books of Wonder Book Store: Author Speak

Lisa Schroeder- "It's Raining Cupcakes"




...cupcakes of course!



NYC Public Library

Outside NYC Library



Balto statue in Central Park



C. A. London- Accidental Adventure author is amazing!

Egmont Publishing  and Elizabeth
shared books and fun...




Vordak's evil helmet

 





Vordak's rules for reading







6 word Sidewalk Stories & Twitter

For sale: baby shoes, never worn.

The challenge is to write an entire story in exactly six words. Ernest Hemingway, a master of allusion and manipulating negative space (or what is NOT present in the story) is said to have started this form. When challenged to come up with a story in six words, he wrote: "For sale: baby shoes, never worn."

 

We finished the school year writing  our own 6 word stories and then spent a fun day publishing them on our school sidewalk with chalk.

We were also inspired to share our work when we Skyped with C.Alexander London. He was challenged to create his own 6 word story...he he trumped our idea and said he could do better and gave us some fun responses.

@naveltwins he is trying to make a four word story but he says its hard
@naveltwins his story was getting lost was more fun it was actually five because four was to hard for him to do.

naveltwins C. Alexander London

@ new short short story inspired by @OMS6th @teacher6th "went to Iowa without moving" 

 naveltwins C. Alexander London    @OMS6th Mine was "Getting lost was more fun" 

Graphic Novels hit our Classroom-POW!

Tweet from  donalynbooks (Donalyn Miller) concerning Graphic Novels:

Comics contain 2X as many rare words as avg. children's book & 3X as many as the avg. conversation w/ adult. Journal of Child Language, 1988 

 

Graphic novels are the new comic books of today. They use the same graphic concept of the old but great comics but put the prose into a visual adventure. Classic literature, bibliographies, current fiction, and even non-fiction has been artistically published with a graphics telling the story.We were able too read and share many different graphic novels these last few weeks and even meet an author that is having his published book, High School Heroes transformed into a graphic novel.
James Mascia shared his writing process and information about graphic novels over Skype with our reading class. He sent draft pages from his graphic novel that is being created as we read. It looks like another favorite with the 6th graders.  Thanks to James, we got an inside look at the creation of this fun genre.
Other favorite graphic novels in class included: Twilight, Bone, The Lightning Thief, and Sherlock Holmes.

Page from High School Heroes- Graphic Novel

Community Clean Up Celebration

Taking our lead from our very own OMS Earth Mother, Mrs. Leo, students 6th-8th grade spent the morning cleaning our community. Pulling weeds, raking leaves, sweeping parking lots, and litter/trash pick up was the activity. The mission set before us was simple: take pride in our surroundings and give back to our community.  i will update with a total number of trash bags filled, but I do know it was a lot!

Mission completed!

Thanks to all the students that gave it their all and of course to Mrs. Leo for choosing a perfect spring day to be outdoors.

5th Grade Visit at OMS

Friday brought around 70 students from Oelwein 5th grade classrooms to the hallways of OMS. Students and teachers shared time together while touring the building, visiting about next years activities and expectations, eating lunch and relaxing during recess time. Band students were able to experience a rehearsal practice in the OMS band room and all enjoyed watching a movie on the large screen in the auditorium. 

Welcome 5th Graders!

Walking by an Aquarium?

     If you plan on walking down the 6th grade hallway anytime soon, you may need to bring your diving gear. There has been an aquarium added to the hall.

6th graders in math, reading, science and English completed a long term unit focusing on one of the earth's biomes, the ocean.

     The wall aquarium was created spotlighting the major oceans and their inhabitants. Special attention was given to the beach and coastline, coral reefs and Indian Ocean, the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean, the twilight and midnight zones, and the Arctic Ocean. Animals and plants found in these ranges and habitats were added to create a very life-like appearance.

I like how it feels a little more like summer during our walk to classes...sunglasses may be needed.

Monday Munchies!

Monday Munchies gave 6th graders the chance to experience the same fried worms that the teachers enjoyed during J&P Voelkel's author visit on 3/16/11.

Many students choose to try a little taste of the rainforest.
Thank you, Jon and Pamela for sharing extra tasty tidbits with us!
Some students asked, "Where can I get some more?"
(really, I can't make things like that up...) Try this site


I came across an article that gives you everything you need to know about mealworm dining-
"Mealworms are technically not worms at all, but the larval stage of the darkling beetle (tenebrio beetle). They are commonly sold as pet food and fishing bait, and not usually thought of as food for humans. However, mealworms and other insects have long been a staple food in Asian and other ethnic cuisines. Mealworms are cheap, low in fat, and high in protein and calcium, making them a healthy addition to common foods, such as this recipe for fried rice."

Read more: How to Eat Mealworms | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_5637725_eatmealworms.html#ixzz1HqNO0qnO

The worms....

the adventurous...

...the brave!

Middleworld Magic Author Visit

Jon, Pamula, and 6th graders attending small group Q & A session

 2 terrific authors, amazing publishers, 2 fantastic books, 600 excited students, many adventurous teachers and...fried worms =
a day to remember 4-ever!

The Jaguar Stones series first two books, Middleworld and The End of the World Club set in Central American was the backdrop of the hour long program presented by Jon & Pamela Voelkel. 

Highlights:  rainforest bug videos, electric guitar jamming, teachers eating worms and jungle rain.

Jungle rain -
delivered in double dose.

Yes, it really was Jon playing
with his volunteer band.

Did you say fried worms?

Getting a signed book was a fantastic souvenir!

World Read Aloud Day: March 9, 2011

 Introduction from World Read Aloud Website:

Celebrate the Power of Words and Stories and Take Action for Global Literacy

Nearly 1 billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their name. What would you miss most if you could not read or write? Imagine your world without words.

World Read Aloud Day is about taking action to show the world that the right to read and write belongs to all people. World Read Aloud Day motivates children, teens, and adults worldwide to celebrate the power of words, especially those words that are shared from one person to another, and creates a community of readers advocating for every child’s right to a safe education and access to books and technology. By raising our voices together on this day we show the world’s children that we support their future: that they have the right to read, to write, and to share their words to change the world.

Across the globe nearly 171 million children could be lifted out of poverty if they left school with basic reading and writing skills. Quality literacy education is the difference between life and death, prosperity and despair. This is literacy for survival.

Kidsblog ! We learn!

After sharing so much on this blog, I'm ready to hand over the responsibility and fun of blogging to students in my English classes. They will be learning how to blog using a great secure site:  Kidblog. We will start with learning the etiquette of blogging and commenting and review internet safety. After the introduction of why and how, students will be able to share their writing with an audience of peers and parents. Please share comments on their blogging and become apart of our lives!

Student View: Write a blog entry

http://screencast.com/t/NTE0MDk4MG

Students View: Writing Comments

http://screencast.com/t/NmViYTJhMmY

 

Book Title Challenge

December 31st  Out With A Bang Readathon brought a fun challenge from Reading Teen that I will pass on to our class.

Our mini-challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to find 3 or more books that you have laying around, and use them to make a sentence. Post your sentences in the comment area.

 For example:

1.Strangely Enough Bran Hambric Sabotaged The Unfinished Angel
2. What If The Mysterious Benedict Society Found The Shadow of Thieves Beyond The Valley of Thorns
3. Spilling Ink Ruined The Jaguar Stones MiddleWorld

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!

Tangram Enrichment

Enrichment 7th hour has focused on Asian activities.
One of the activities is the Tangram Puzzle.

The Tangram is a Chinese ancient game called Chi Chiao Bread, which means table of the wisdom. The puzzle is made of seven pieces or "tans" that are created by cutting a square in five triangles of different forms, a square and a trapeze. The game consists of using all the pieces to construct different forms.
Students are given the opportunity to use 2-D and 3-D puzzle pieces along with an iPod application and computer challenges. Students can create their own Tangrams puzzle pieces and share with others.
Try your luck at this web site:

Dotty-Dots can help with Spelling

c Need a place to study your spelling and have fun at the same time? I found just that place at Dotty-Dots     http://dotty-dots.appspot.com/?h=4f656c7765696e
I'm not sure why seeing our spelling words jumping around a computer screen makes me smile, but it does...try it and see if you can do it without cracking a smile.

Students Learn and Teach the Teacher

After viewing some of the other Global Read Aloud projects, my students couldn't get enough of voki an online talking head graphic. I had looked at this site before, but hadn't had a chance to play/learn.
The excitement was explosive to say the least.
Students: Teacher6th:
"How do you do that?" "I don't know."
"Can we do that?" "Go for it!"
"LOOK WHAT I DID!" "Wow, I need to try this!"
"You need to try this!"

The Little Prince Global Read Aloud

E2 Class has been participating in a global read aloud focused on the book The Little Prince. While listening to the story concurrently with about 60 other school around the globe, students shared predictions, facts, and opinions pertaining to the chapters being read. It was fun to read the wiki, blogs, and tweets from the other classrooms. Our students a were able to use Twitter to meet and share with a class from Canada in real time. More activities and networking is being planned along with individual student projects being created to share with others.

Effigy Mounds and Outdoor Day Memories

Two favorite activities in the fall find us outside enjoying the sunshine!
This year the 6th graders had many opportunities to share the sunshine with others.
Outdoor Day was celebrated right in our back/side yard. Prairie plant identification, Introduction to archery, BB gun safety, Haiku poetry writing, and Environmental games brought the students and adults together under a windy blue sky.
Hiking at Effigy Mounds is always an adventure. This year the students could see and hear many birds and chipmunks as they walked along the trails and mounds in this spectacular park.

Have you found any good books this summer?

I've spent all summer on the lookout for good/great books. I'll post my reading list soon, but wanted to give you a chance to share books that you feel are worth searching for!

Linger is the sequel to Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater released 7/13/10

teacher6th avatars

Avatars are a great way to share yourself on-line without giving out too much personal information (like your photograph). Sue Waters, from the edu blogger, shared some great sites to help create your own avatar.

http://theedublogger.com/2009/11/29/creating-and-uploading-your-comment-avatar/

I had fun creating the different avatars trying to stay true to my photograph...not easy!