Welcome To Our First Ever Second Grade PowerPoint Preview Party

During the month of February my second grade students researched African American Achievers and then created mini reports. They took the information from those reports and produced three slide PowerPoint projects. The first slide was a title slide. The second slide gave some facts about the person they chose to learn about. The third slide was a "Meet The Author" slide where they told something about themselves and explained why they chose the person they reported on. We held a Preview Party for parents and had over forty impressed guests. This lesson incorporated several of the Common Core Learning Standards as well as, the ISTE standards.

You Can't Blend In When You Were Born To Stand Out

In honor of "I Love To Read" Month our entire Middle School participated in a read aloud with R. J. Palacio's awesome novel, Wonder. After the students finished listening to the novel they participated in a number of activities. Students found their own precepts and created a Bulletin Board Display featuring these precepts. Several students used Tagxedo to create character studies of the main characters. Six grade students skyped with another school in the Twin Cities who had also listened to the book being read. All of these activites had a tech component to them. More importantly they allowed the students time to reflect on the powerful themes presented in this novel.

Our Hero: August "Auggie" Pullman

Third Grade Authors

Beginning in third grade students learn touch keyboarding with TypeToLearn. Throughout the year I collaborate with their classroom teachers on assignments where they can apply the skills they are learning. One of their recent projects was creating a BioPoem. After their poems were typed they added them to an art piece. This project allowed students to practice their formatting and editing skills.

Happy Valentine's Day From My Kindergarten Students

I have become a huge Pinterest fan and visit the site frequently to find ideas for meaningful student centered projects. Here is an example of one project that I reproduced. For my Kindergarten Valentine Lesson I read Daniel Kirk's, Ten Things I Love About You. Each student then randomly picked another student to compose a note of kindness to. Once they typed their one sentence message I took their picture, printed them, and added their images to their notes.

Collaboration + Critical Thinking + Creativity = Awesome Persuasive Writing Assignments

One of my Middle School Language Arts Colleagues asked me if I would help her find an application that would allow her students to create Travel Brochures and Travel Flyers. After comparing and contrasting several options we settled on the Template in Microsoft Word. This collaborative, project based learning assignment produced some impressive results. Several of our other colleagues thought they were viewing professionally created material. The students enjoyed this creative assignment and worked hard to meet the requirements. This assignment matches up well with the Common Core Standards.

Every Reader Is A Star...Our 2012 Scholastic Book Fair

Our 2012 Scholastic Book Fair was a huge hit. Financially, we sold close to $10,000 worth of books and our "All For One" Coin Competition raised $400.00 for our partner school, St. Peter Claver. The festivities began with our Family Event. Everyone was encouraged to wear their team colors, or dress like their favorite "star" and join "Coach Wollmering at the Holy Spirit Mary Library Stadium. Attendees could also bring an originally designed trophy that would be on display throughout the Fair.

Here are two students proudly showcasing their creative trophies. Patrick is paying homage to his favorite stars, police officers!