Friday, November 9, 2012

Memorial Students Rock the Vote...and Demonstrate Respect & Responsibility

Pre schoolers await their turn to vote for Cartoon
Character of the Year at our Mock Election on Nov 2nd.
 Candidates were Dora the Explorer and Spongebob Squarepants.




Parent volunteer Maria Schmidt hands out ballots to student voters.
Last Friday, November 2nd, Memorial Students in grades Pre K through Grade 5 came out to vote!  Pre schoolers voted for Cartoon Character of the Year.   The two primary candidates, SpongeBob Squarepants and Dora the Explorer had been nominated by Pre K students.  SpongeBob came out ahead with 11 votes vs. Dora's 5 votes.

Emerson Kahle completes a ballot
at the Mock Presidential Election.
The Presidential Election was voted on by Kindergartners through Grade 5 students \
and the ballot was limited to the two primary candidates - Democrat Barack











Obama and Republican Mitt Romney. Students spent time discussing the presidential election in the school library in the weeks leading up to the election -  as well as the congressional and Senate runs in some classrooms.  Students were engaged in the process and many watched the televised debates and discussed the pros and cons of the candidates with their family members.

Trip Graves votes in an official voting booth
borrowed from Town Hall.
Students also spent time in the school library in recent weeks learning about former Presidents of the United States.  A definite favorite has been William Taft, famous for getting stuck in the White House bathtub because he has been our country's largest president!

Awareness of the imporance of voting and a lesson on respecting differing opinions was the goal and Memorial students seemed to have definitely gotten the message!  In the end, Obama received 278 Memorial votes to Romney's 185 votes....

Thursday, November 8, 2012

More iPads-Thank you Spaulding Education

Thank You to Spaulding Education Fund for the new 10 iPads that will be added to the current 20 iPads housed in the school library. The 30 iPads will be very helpful with Ms.Silag's library curriculum especially in classes with 21 or more students.  In addition to supporting library research programs and our information literacy curriculum, the iPads will be available for sign out by classroom teachers for small group activities.  Students can use the iPads to access apps, online databases and the school library catalog.  We REALLY appreciate the ongoing support of Spaulding and its contributors!

- Ms. Silag & Mrs. Seymour

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

New Addition to Specialists Family!

Congratulations to Technology Teacher Mrs. Jenna Seymour and her husband J.  They welcomed a baby boy, Taylor James Seymour, to their family yesterday!

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Internet Safety Skills

Interent Safety is an important topic at each grade level. Throughout the year Internet Safety skills are taught at each grade level and are continually reviewed. Stay tuned for projects that highlight how our students demonstrate their knowledge of safe and responsible Internet use.

Technology Highlights

We have had a great start in Technology Class this year. Below find one project highlight of each grade level! There are so many more projects to highlight throughout the year so be sure to check back to see what is going on in Technology!

Grade 5
Ancient Civilizations Project
During this interdisciplinary unit between Library, Technology and the classroom, students use World Book Online, iPad apps and books to hunt for answers to questions about the Aztec, Inca and Maya Civilizations. (See post below)

Grade 4
Web Detectives
The 4th graders put on their detective hats for this Internet Safety Webquest.
The Mission: Investigate Internet Safety by collecting answers to various clues on their detective sheet. While following the "clues", students will gain Net Smartz to make them safe, responsible Internet users.

Grade 3
Yahtzee Spreadsheets
Students in 3rd grade learned how to play Yahtzee and record score data on their data sheets. They then were introduced to Microsoft Excel and learned how to create an electronic spreadsheet using their collected data. They learned basic formatting, functions, how to create a graph of their collected data.

Grade 2
Butterflies to Bones
To enhance the classroom science curriculum students honed their Kidpix skills in labeling Caterpillars and Butterflies. They worked with partners to use an online picture dictionary to find answers to questions about the life cycle of Butterflies. They then took their online searching skills to a new level by moving between the Internet and Microsoft Word to locate information to enhance their knowledge about bones.

Grade 1
Kidpix
Students in grade 1 honed their Kidpix skills through multiple lessons that introduce them to new drawing and creation tools that allow them to create projects such as Scary/Funny Faces. Students in Grade 1 are also introduced to basic Internet Safety rules that are continually reinforced throughout the year.

Kindergarten
Learning the Basics
Kindergartners are learning the basic skills of using drawing/creation applications such as Kidpix and Tux Paint. They are learning how to access the building server to find their classroom "job" and basic functions such as printing and quitting.

~Mrs. Seymour