Week of January 16

Thursday Thoughts January 16
 

 This week I have enjoyed meeting with teachers to conduct the Mid Year conferences.  During the course of the conversations, I asked about the ways in which you have grown and the areas of challenge this semester.  Repeatedly I hear that being able to satisfy parents and their requests is a challenge.  I thought it most appropriate to share part of an email that I received just yesterday from a parent:

 

"I am constantly amazed at the things my children are learning and doing at school each day. I have been so impressed by each and every one of their teachers, and I cannot imagine my children attending school anywhere else."

 

The work you do is hard. Words of appreciation are far and few between.  But I believe that when you get right down to it, you do what you do because of your love for kids.  You make learning come alive for students and although all parents may not express it, we know that the impact that you have on children will be longlasting.  Thank you for hanging in there through the challenging times and making an impression on some many lives. 

Staff Spotlight:
This week I would like to shine the spotlight on Aronda Carroll.  Aronda's job is very detail oriented and quite important to the operation of our school.  You may not know this, but in her role, mistakes can be costly.  Thankfully Aronda's expertise and attention to detail over the years has kept Medlock in the clear.  I am so thankful to Aronda who does her job with a sense of pride and a spirit of excellence. Thank you for all that you do!

4C's: Collaboration, Communication, Creativity, Critical Thinking Skills

5 Projects That Integrate Art and American History

By Deva Dalporto

Given that they are both humanities subjects, art and social studies fit together quite naturally. Adding an art project to an American history unit can reinforce learning and make class more fun! Here are 5 great projects that integrate art and American history:

• Design a State Postage Stamp: Have the class create oversized postage stamps of the states. Hand out pieces of poster board cut into large squares and invite the students to fill the whole square with colorful representations of their assigned state. Encourage students to include in their designs defining qualities of their respective states like landmarks, native plants, state birds, etc. See the full instructions here!
• Presidential Sculptures: To add an artistic twist to a unit on Presidential history, have each student create a clay bust of a U.S. President. You can show them images of historic busts and teach them the history of these sculptures. Once they’ve learned about the historic significance, hand each student a large block of clay and some carving tools and have him or her set to work on a bust of the president of their choice.
• Life-Size Historical Figures: Have each of your students choose a figure from American history that he or she wants to study. Print out or photocopy a life-size image of the historical figure’s face and have each student create body and appropriate outfit out of construction paper, cardboard, or even real clothing for his or her figure. Hang the finished products up in your classroom and prepare for ooohs and ahhhs from anyone who stops by! See the full instructions here!
• Build Lincoln’s Log Cabin: Show the students a picture of a typical log cabin from the 1800’s. Hand them each a piece of sturdy construction paper or cardboard for the background, a bunch of pretzel sticks, red construction paper, scissors, and glue.Encourage the students to “build” the cabin by gluing the pretzels onto the construction paper. Have the each cut a roof out of the red construction paper and glue it on. Voila! They have a log cabin!
• Underground Railroad Quilt: Introduce the concept of the Underground Railroad Quilts. Show the students examples of the quilt code patterns and explain how they were used to help the slaves find their way to freedom. Then, hand each student a 4x4 square of paper and some crayons. Invite students to create their own individual quilt square based on one of the quilt codes. When the students are finished with their individual squares, tape them together to create a large quilt.

Technology Tidbits: (If you have websites to share please email me and I will share with all)

Check out the following website:


http://classroom.jc-schools.net/basic/science.html 
Access to hundreds of science links and resources

http://msnucleus.org/membership/guide/storybooks.html
Free  science animated electronic storybooks (as with anything, PLEASE preview these before showing)

News & Notes

Our proposed 2014-15 school enrollment is 611.  This is a decrease of about 40 students. Individual class size maximums do not appear to be increasing for next year.  As I get more information from the district I will share it with you.