Mermaids, Mystery and Middle School

What would be your most embarrassing moment ever? 

         Real Mermaids Don't Wear Toe Rings by Helene Boudreau makes a regular day in middle school seem effortless. Jade finds that being fourteen means a little bit more to her then crushing on boys, sending text messages to friends and picking out the perfect swim suit for a pool party. When Jade finds out she inherited mermaid characteristics from her mother- meaning the unexpected morphing of a tail, her embarrassing moments have just begun!

What really happened to her mother? Can Jade help bring her back? And what will she do with this tail? These are just a few of the mysteries that keep you reading while keeping track of a possible relationship between Jade and Luke. In the spirit of Dory from Finding Nemo, "Just keep reading, just keep reading."

Last Week to Help

Are you in the "free and easy" giving mood? Click a few times and like magic my class gets new technology-but ONLY if you do it this week-THANKS! Yahoo! Homepages for Homerooms http://t.co/4LTeAjB

Picture Book Bananza

Duff Reading class is continuing their Friday Skype Share with 4th graders with enthusiasm. Every Friday, a 6th grader chooses a picture book to read and discuss with Mrs. D's class at Wing's Park Elementary. This time has created many connections between the students and with books.
Two new picture books that were favorites were More Bears and If I Could Keep You Little...

 This book created an impromptu chorus from students near and far repeating the phrase, "More bears!" during our Skype call. We enjoyed sharing the conflict between the story author and characters as the book was being created. The ending will have you giggling and wanting to read it again and again! Created by Kenn Nesbitt and Troy Cummings, this book is a must read whenever a smile is needed.

Excerpt From More Bears!

Once upon a time there was a story. This story was a lovely story with absolutely no bears in it—not a single bear anywhere. Then one day...

MORE BEARS!!

What? Who said that? The author of the story looked around the room, wondering where those voices had come from. Were those the voices of children shouting? Then he went back to writing.

As I was saying, this story had absolutely no bears at all. The author was very certain about this.

MORE BEARS!!

The author tried very, very hard to ignore the children who thought that the story ought to have…

MORE BEARS!!

 

Excerpt From If I Could Keep You Little:

If I could keep you little, we'd finger-paint our art.  But then I'd miss you creating stories from your heart.

If I Could Keep You Little by Marianne Richmond is a touching book that creates a relaxed atmosphere to share memories and "warm fuzzies." This book had everyone in class remembering what it was like to be little and how much they have changed with their families. Readers of all ages will find their own life stories falling out of the pages of rhythmic verse and warm watercolors.

Students will be using this book next semester during our Live and Dream unit. Come back to see where this special picture book takes us!

100 Best Blogs by Teachers for Teachers

I opened my email to a nice surprise this morning- Spot To Read had been chosen as a top educational blog. Spot To Read was created last school year to connect and share our classroom happenings with our families and community. Little did I imagine that it would open the door to the world and involve our class in so many opportunities and celebrations!

I plan to visit the other honored blogs and share in their on-line learning.
Thanks to On-line Schools for bestowing such an honor on our blog!

Donors Choose Celebration

Soon we will be receiving our 4th donation from Donors Choose- a web site that matches donors with classrooms. This shipment will consist of a new netbook, speakers, head set and flash drive.
Individual donors from around the world, corporations like US Cellular and Yahoo, and smaller groups all have donated money to help our classroom stay updated with technology. If you are looking for a place to donate that really makes a difference, please go to donorschoose.org You can find many Oelwein School projects waiting to be funded by a donor like you!

If you have donated to a project-- THANK YOU!

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:

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.