January Breakout

Did anyone else feel like January lasted forever? I'm pretty sure toward the end of January, we made it to January 75, 2020. But, we finally broke out of January and headed into February now!

"The Outsiders" Breakout Box

Our 7th grade English classes just completed the novel study over THE OUTSIDERS by S.E. Hinton. I was so excited that they had asked me to be a part of their study, and I helped introduce last month. And now I was able to end the unit with a FUN breakout box activity. 

The students had to use the clues and their knowledge of the novel to be able to open the locks. One of the clues, students had to match the quotes to the characters. On the backs of the quotes were colors, which gave students the color code. Another clue was a cipher code, that spelled out "Who was Johnny's least favorite of the gang?" This gave the word clue. 

They all worked really hard and collaboratively to solve the puzzles. The fastest team from each class period received candy, but at the end of the week, the group with the lowest time overall (with no hints used) got to choose a new book. 

Shakespeare Research

Our theatre group is putting on a play over Shakespeare's MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, but set in the 1980s. I cannot wait to see it! Meanwhile, the 8th grade English Enriched Honors classes are starting their unit on Shakespeare's works. To set the stage, I created a hyperdoc and an internet scavenger hunt so that students could get more background knowledge over Shakespeare. I think they were most fascinated by the fact that Shakespeare married an older woman!

STEAM projects

Since we are an academy, all of our students are required to participate in at least one competitive science event. This year, I was excited that some of the events are taking place on campus, which means I can be a bigger part of the event. The event in January was the Gumdrop Tower competition, to see which group could build the tallest free standing tower out of gummy bears and toothpicks. My  main  job was to monitor, but I loved talking to the groups about their designs.

There were tons of squeals happening this afternoon as some towers stood on their own, but others CRASHED!

Books, Books, and More Books

Soon after coming back from the Winter Break, one of our book orders was delivered. It was like Christmas all over again! My library aides helped me unload and check the invoice, and my book club was able to have first dibs on checking out the new books. 

Our display for the month was "Reading with our Friends", and I displayed books that the library had more than one copy of. Mostly, our female students used this display, but I'm proud to say that this display is now almost empty. I have several friends that checked out the same book to read and discuss. 

Now we are into February, and it is Book Fair week! I love seeing the excitement on their faces!! 

Speedy September in the Library

The month of September has come and gone, and what a whirlwind it was! We started the school year with construction throughout our entire building. Construction is still going on, and I can't wait to see what our school will look like once all the construction is finished. I know it will be amazing!

CyberSafety

I spent quite a bit of time in September collaborating with the 5th grade teachers on the best ways to teach cybersafety and digital citizenship. With the increase in technology use, especially the ability to add comments to Google Classroom, we thought it would be a good idea to start off the school year with discussion. 

The first week we talked about bullying and cyberbullying with the students. I use a PearDeck presentation and placed several discussion points for the 5th graders. They were able to add their thoughts on several different situations, and see others statements as well. 

The following week, we decided to look at the positive aspect of the internet and how we can control our digital footprint. Students traced their foot, then wrote/drew what they want to have in their digital footprint.

Book cover reveal

One of my favorite parts of my job is getting our students connected to people around the world. We had an amazing opportunity to connect with the author of one of my students' favorite series, FENWAY & HATTIE. The author, Victoria J. Coe, hosted a Google Hangout, and we were one of the schools chosen to participate. Victoria J. Coe talked about her series, then revealed the cover of her new book coming out in 2019. We cannot wait to read the 4th book in the series!! After she talked about the upcoming book, our students were able to ask her questions. It was an amazing morning for our second graders.

Dot Day

One of my favorite days of the year is Dot Day, which falls around September 15th each year. It all started with the book THE DOT by Peter H. Reynolds. If you have not read this book to your students, do it today! It has an amazing message of how we can make our mark on the world, no matter how insignificant we think our talent is.

The art teacher and I collaborate on this day every year, and we come up with grade level activities. She brings her art classes to the library where I read the book, discuss the theme, and then students participate in activities having the do with dots. 

Start with a dot and see where it takes you.

Our first graders received a framed page where they started with a dot anywhere on their page. Then, they changed their simple dot into their own creation. We had dinosaurs, snowmen, cars, flowers, and ducks just to name a few! 

Every student in the school was given a dot to decorate any way they wanted. Thanks to some amazing parent volunteers, the dots were all put together into a school wide collaborative art creation that is now hanging in the library for all to see! Isn't it BEAUTIFUL!

I can't say no to a fun Breakout EDU activity! I found a Breakout that was based on THE DOT, so I set it up in the library for our 4th grade classes. We did 4 Breakout sessions in just 4 hours! MAN was I TIRED!!

In the hallway, we hung up another school wide collaborative art project. Each student in the school received a dot sticker to place anywhere on the poster. This project was based on Yayoi Kusama's Obliteration Room. The kids had so much fun with this! 

Whew! September was busy busy busy!! Now we are into October, and I just recieved 7 boxes of brand new books. I cannot wait to get these books ready, and I know I have some students that are patiently waiting to get their hands on these new books. 

Many more activities are coming in October, so stay tuned!!