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" 

Summer Reading Skype!

Baxter

Students and teachers were gifted with an end of the school year reading special when C. Alexander London and his sidekick Baxter joined us over Skype.

London is the author of a newly released book  An Accidental Adventure-We are not eaten By Yaks -see my review

Although it was the end of the school year, it was a day of firsts.
* This was our first Skype in our auditorium and we shared our experience with other 6th grade reading classes. The large screen really helped us feel like we were talking face to face with London.
* This was C. Alexander London's first Skype with a classroom. We hope he enjoyed sharing his writing and reading adventures with us.
* This was our classes first Skype with a dapper dog- Baxter- He was very professional in his tuxedo!

We want to thank London for sending us his books before the Skype- not only did we get a signed copy of We Are Not eaten By Yaks, we also got a signed ARC of We Dine With Cannibals!

This 6th grade adventure with London (@naveltwins) was made possible by one of our favorite authors, Tom Angleberger creator of Origami Yoda (@origamiyoda) and Twitter. We returned the favor to Twitter World by documenting it all on our accounts @OMS6th and @teacher6th.

The "Hot Seat" during our Skype

Twitter Table:Students using accounts @OMS6th and @teacher6th

Twitter Connections Visited

Followers of @teacher6th
We are connected!

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!

Author Visit !!!

They Are Coming to Oelwein!

Through the power of social networking and Twitter, Oelwein Middle School will have two amazing authors, Jon & Pamela Voelke, visit on March 16^th. They will give a comprehensive presentation on their many travels through Central America and research of the Maya civilization. The presentation is targeted to a 5-8^th grade audience.

We are using Voelkel’s web page, http://www.jaguarstones.com/Home.html and the lesson plan links in preparation for the visit. http://www.museumofman.org/sites/default/files/journal_maya.pdf  is one of the sources we will be using. We are also sharing excerpts from the published books. 

          

Publisher Note: Authors Jon and Pamela Voelkel traveled with their three children across Central America to over twenty Maya sites across Belize, Guatemala and Mexico, canoeing underground rivers, tracking howler monkeys in the jungle, and visiting catacombs and underground temples as part of their research on Maya culture. These adventures made it into the first book of The Jaguar Stones, Middleworld. The book received rave reviews and was featured on the "Today" http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/37361677/ns/today-today_books/ show as Al Roker's Book Club for Kids pick. Their second book, The End of the World Club was released in December.

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

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:

Does New Technology Scare You?

Introducing new technology and applications to students isn't usually hard to do. Students at OMS jump at the opportunity whenever I am able to present it.

ITAG2010 Presentation

Recently, I was offered the chance to share how I use technology in both my classroom and in my own professional development at the Iowa Talented and Gifted Conference in DesMoines. My English Enrichment students were able to "attend" and be guest presenters using Twitter to share their thoughts on using social networking in our classroom. The response was a positive sign that technology isn't as scary as it used to be.

Reply from Kate Messner on Twitter:

Check out the "cool" thank you cards @teacher6th and her students sent after our Skype author visit! http://bit.ly/aP2PgW

If I Were A Tree...

UPDATE-Tweet message from Kate Messner: Love this! RT @teacher6th: Student video inspired by Kate Messner's "The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z"



How would you answer this question? After taking a tree quiz supplied by Kate Messner, the students pondered their answer. They created the leaf poetry mural in the background comparing themselves with their chosen tree. Here are few OMS students and staff sharing their tree personalities.