Working With Words

Students in Mrs. Wiley's language arts class used their vocabulary skills to create word clouds online. Using the programs Tagxedo or Wordle students brainstormed words pertaining to their current topic of study. In this example, they used words from their Olympics Unit. They placed these words in customizable word cloud where they could control the font, color, size, and shape of their design. These projects were used for a culminating project to measure their acquisition of new vocabulary terms after their unit was complete. Make your own word cloud here:
Tagxedo
Wordle

Michelle Nelson Schmidt Visit

In October, we were visited by children's author and illustrator, Michelle Nelson Schmidt. Miss Michelle shared with us many of her books and paintings, all of which represented a character and message we can use throughout our lives. Miss Michelle shared her story of striving to become an author and illustrator of children's books and the many hardships she had to overcome. She taught us to never give up and always strive for things you are passionate for. She showed us how to DREAM BIG and made us do her traditional "pinky promise" that we will never give up and  always try to make our dreams come true.

Miss Michelle also introduced us to the What If Monster, from her book Jonathan James and the Whatif Monster. In this story a young boy named Jonathan is constantly asking himself questions when he thinks he might possibly fail. His WhatIf Monster helps him to see the positive side of things and how if you never try then you will never know what could happen! Throughout this heartwarming story, Jonathan learns good things come to those who try!

To celebrate Michelle's visit and everything we learned about asking ourselves positive "What If...."questions, teachers across the building wore our "What If Monster" shirts for ISTEP last week. The shirts include a picture of our favorite little green monster and questions to remind us to always DREAM BIG!

"What if you do your best?"

"What if you succeed?"

Social Studies Comic Strips

Mrs. Fritz's seventh and eighth graders used Bit Strips to create comic strips illustrating important topics in history they have studied thus far this year. One group focused on their study of Ghandi and used their comic strip to document his many important life events. Another group used their discussions of the 22nd and 23rd Amendment's to guide their creations.

This project focused on our digital learning skill of creativity and allowing our students to demonstrate their knowledge in a variety of ways. Students were given the ability to design the comic strip starring the famous character or use a cartoon version of themselves to explain the scenario. Other than the requirement to include important events pertaining to their topic, they were given the freedom to include whatever style of art they wished.

The BitStrips Comic Creator offers students a variety of storyboard layouts, allowing even our youngest students to create one-scene images. The site also includes many characters, famous people, and even a customization area to create the perfect leading roles for their masterpiece. Add in backgrounds, accessories, props, furniture, effects, and speech bubbles to finalize the comic strip.

This would be a great way for students in may grade levels to brush up on their creativity skill and be given an opportunity to display their learning in a new way. For more comic strip sites scroll down in this blog post.

Some ideas for your classroom

• Summarize a story
• Book Report Alternative
• Sequencing of Events
• Problem and Solution
• Conflict Resolution
• Autobiographies
• Vocabulary Word Review
• Creative Writing

Other comic strip creator websites:
Comic Creator from Read Write Think
Pixton
ToonDoo
BeFunky
BitStrips

For over 100 tips, resources, and ideas for using comics in your classrooms (lessons for elementary to high school) click on the link below.
Using Comics in the Classroom

Spelling Bee Winners

Congratulations to our Elementary and Middle School Spelling Bee Winners! Good luck representing us in the district competitions! In the days of spell check and autocorrect we are thrilled you have continued to understand the importance of proper spelling skills!

We are proud to call you a Tech Academy Student!

Elementary Winners Mandy Avery (also won in 2013!) and Stephen Garren

Middle School Winner Jacob Roberts