Student Artwork and Academic Accomplishments

2003 - 2004 Activities

Jackie's 9 Values

We read the novel In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson during 1st Quarter.  We then continued our study of Jackie by reading excerpts from Jackie's 9 Values.  This project culminated in a motivational poster using the definition of one of the nine values and a photograph merged using Photoshop Elements.

Wow! Two Guest Speaker Presentations in One Week!

Mr. Ron Burke & Mr. Mike Mauer, amateur archaeologists, presented part of their personal collection of artifacts.  They shared their stories of how their interests became their hobby.  They currently have artifacts on exhibit at the Saginaw Museum.  Students got a geography, history, and science lesson all in this one presentation.  Mr. Mauer demonstrated the skill of flint-knapping!  He is a real chip off the old block!

Macqua La Femme, or Sister Bear presented to the students about life during the early days of the 18th century.  She is a Native American re-enactor who captivated the students with her storytelling!

Product Game Pairs

Recently we have been working in Math on multiplication concepts.  During the course of one lesson, students worked with a partner to create an "improved" version of the product game. 

Pictures from a recent visit from "Nick" Van Frankenhuyzen, the local wildlife artist and painter extraordinaire!

Study Buddies

Cooperative Group Teamwork Exercise "Raging River Crossing"

Cooperative Group Teamwork Exercise "Stepping Stones"

Building Trust "Falling" Activity

Back in action after a restful summer vacation.  

Time flies when you're having fun!

Hard at work!

"What?  We can't come back on Saturday?  Oh man!"

 2001 - 2002 Activities

We have been working on ABC reports for Language Arts.  Students have been diligently focused on the writing process, from the initial brainstorming, through writing sloppy copies, rough drafts, peer editing, and finally finishing the final drafts.  This week we've been working on peer editing.  Below are some pictures of the castaways in action.

Operation Buckeye 2 went off as a huge success.  In collaboration with Mrs. Murray and Mrs. Perry, students practiced, drilled, and perfected the Ohio State Buckeyes fight song in addition to the famous half-time show!  Ms. Van Wagoner's class was quite delighted to see our hard work and efforts come to fruition!

   A recent immunity challenge mimicked Survivor in the immunity challenge involving the creation of a "S. O. S." signal.  A poll of adults was taken from throughout the building, and the winner was...

Teal!

Working on artifact research gave the students an opportunity to recreate an artifact for an art project.  Tribes were each given a hockey poster (1971) to replicate using water colors.  Each of the groups did well in their research (asking the Who?  What?  When?  Where?  Why?  and How? questions) and making observations.

The immunity challenge for week two of Survivor Challenges found students applying their knowledge of skyscrapers (from the Building Big video & website research) to build the tallest structure they could using only two sheets of loose leaf and a sheet of construction paper. Many groups had good ideas, but students learned the value of communication and cooperation in building a successfully freestanding structure. Royal Blue won immunity by talking, thinking, and then by "doing."

One of the early themes for our group interaction has been cooperation.  The first week of Survivor Challenges saw an eight legged race between the five teams.  Below are some shots of the action.  Maroon was able to "stick with it" and won immunity.

        2000 - 2001 Student Work

Here are some snapshots of my students hard at work on their March Madness Interdisciplinary Unit.  They have had the chance to shine while instructing students in Mrs. Perry's Class on segments of the project using computers.

And finally, on March 30th, Meyer Island students had the opportunity to sing the Michigan State University Fight Song over the school P. A. system. 

They were music to our ears!