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March 23, 2005
Baseball Vocabulary
There is an air of excitement around Norwayne as the Spring Break holidays are right around the corner. And the kids are pretty excited too!
We did a vocabulary review activity today that we borrowed from Mrs. Williams and Mrs. Lierly called Baseball Vocabulary. The kids picked up teams and compete against each other to see who knows the most about the definitions, synonyms and antonyms, parts of speech, and pronunciation of this vocabulary unit. From their comments and NOISE I think they had a pretty good time. Attached at the bottom of this blog are the Game Board and the “Rules” as .pdf documents so that you might better be able to see the work we were enjoying.
The All-Stars are well represented on the Hoops for Heart court today and will be tomorrow. I promised Josh I would get plenty of pictures so they will be in an album this evening. It is a great thing that Coach Andrews does with the Hoops for Heart. She teaches the kids how to have a GREAT time and do a wonderful community service project. Last year Norwayne was the 8th highest fundraiser in the state of North Carolina! It doesn’t show up on any EOG’s but it shows up in the character of the individuals that we are helping to raise up. Thank you Coach Andrews for your hard work and dedication to this worthwhile cause!
Posted by hlperson at 12:35 PM | Comments (10)
Grant Writing Workshop
Thank you to all the teachers who had such positive comments yesterday after the Grant Writing Workshop we held for Middle School Social Studies teachers at Goldsboro High School. Pamela and I enjoy being able to share the experiences we have had with other educators who care enough to go that extra mile. The ones who really benefit are our students.
I am attaching the materials we handed out as they come in this morning. I hope they are a benefit to you in your pursuit of the funds you need to make your classrooms and student learning experiences the very best they can be.
Good luck in all your endeavors.
Elements of a Grant Proposal
Lee's Grant Resources
Pam's Grant Resource
Pam's Bright Idea Grant
Blank Learn and Serve Application
Posted by hlperson at 08:43 AM | Comments (4)
March 16, 2005
Last Nine Weeks
We took our Vocabulary Test for Unit 10 yesterday. One group used the eInstruction system while the other had the old paper and pencil test. I am unwilling to do the fun stuff with groups who are not working to their full potential. We had some young ladies from the Teacher Cadet program at CB Aycock come and visit with us. They had never taken part in the eInstruction program so they were really impressed. As future educators I want to show them the tools that are available to make life in the classroom more productive where they can spend the time working with their students.
Marvin Daughtery came and spoke with us about Severe Weather Week and really shined some lights on the upcoming Hurricane Season. Warm weather we all love causes the oceans to heat up and these monster storms are created. I know we all hope this season is a lot less active than last year.
Today we had a Tornado Drill. It was funny to say the least. If you do not remember this drill – it is the one where you get down on your knees and tuck your head between your legs.
The 4th nine weeks is beginning and we are seeing some of the (for lack of a better word) pathetic work habits creeping in. I will be assigning After School Detentions to these students who refuse to do their work. I am very willing to stay after school every day of the week in order to force them to complete their assignments. It is a shame that it has to come to this, but alas this is where we are.
Posted by hlperson at 04:31 PM | Comments (9)
March 07, 2005
ACC Tournament Ladders
Today we completed our ACC Tournament Ladder of exactly how we predict this week's tournament will progress. On Tuesday there is a special reward for the people who score the highest. Hey, the ACC tournament is once a year; you have got to have some fun with it.
We began another Vocabulary Unit and hope to take our test on it on Thursday. It is a little quick but we have got to get it done. As I introduced each of the words, I used them in a sentence about yesterday’s ballgame. There were a lot of teeth smacking and some happy faces mixed in. Got to have some fun…..
We began working in the Middle East today in Social Studies. The kids know that now that they have begun the unit, a map quiz will follow. Be prepared for the Political and Physical map quiz.
Posted by hlperson at 08:15 AM | Comments (18)
March 03, 2005
Big Newspaper
We have been working on our Big Newspaper today. We learned how to use the scanners and how to harvest our cover art from our favorite books from websites like Books-A-Million, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon.com. We also discussed changing the main pictures we are going to use on our newspapers since so many of the kids have changed so much since the beginning of the school year. We all had a lot of laughs looking at those earlier pictures.
In Social Studies we began reading Beshet the Burial Priest. It is a short play that really focuses on the burial rituals and practices of the ancient Egyptians. It has extremely difficult vocabulary and a tremendous number of items to discuss so it will take us several days, but it is an extremely good play and the kids always enjoy it.
The nine weeks ends next week. Make sure you discuss with your students the need to make sure their missing tasks are caught up and they have earned all of their AR points. We all have a big part in making sure the kids reach an acceptable level of success.
Posted by hlperson at 03:23 PM | Comments (17)
March 01, 2005
The Writing Test is Finished!
Today we took our Seventh grade Writing Test. I can tell you from speaking with the students; they are almost as happy as I am to be done with it! From walking around and discussing it with them, I believe we might have done pretty well. It is not and easy task but we worked hard, practiced smartly, and I think we conquered!
Special Congratulations goes out to Brittney B. and Jeff C. for making the All County Band. Brittney is Wayne County’s 8th seat clarinet and Jeff is our 1st seat Baritone. Way to go to these two outstanding All-Stars!
The All-Stars were also well represented on the Saturday League Championship squad. Isaac R., Kaisheem B., and Josh W. were all members of the Fremont Bulldogs basketball team and they won the Championship Monday night. Congratulations gentlemen, had work pays off all around.
Jessica P. and Ashley M. made the first ever Girls Soccer Team and Coach Lipcsak has some great things to say about these two ladies. These two All Stars are working to bring Girls Soccer to Norwayne and to Wayne County as a middle school sport.
In Social Studies we have spent a little time comparing the Egyptian idea of the afterlife and our own. It has been pretty interesting looking at the similarities between a society 5,000 years old and our own. We watched a short 5-minute video clip about mummification and demonstrated on Kaisheem (well everything except for the pulling the brains out part). We are going to be Mummifying Barbie and making an African Map Chocolate Chip Cookie here pretty soon. Be on the look out for those pictures.
Posted by hlperson at 10:33 AM | Comments (16)