No TV Week 2019: Spuds in Space!

May 20th to the 26th was "No Time for TV Week" at Ashaway School!  (Although I realize we really should start calling it "Screen-Free Week".  A lot has changed since I started doing this program twenty years ago!) 

The rules were the same as always: students were challenged to pay attention to which activities they were choosing for their free time.  They earned points for non-screen activities, and they earned bonus points for each full day with no screen time at all.  Students who earned at least 100 points get a prize, and those who earned at least 100 points and had no screen time for the entire week get two prizes! 

This year, just for fun, I encouraged the students to exercise their creativity by decorating a potato to look like an alien, or anything else space related! (This extends our Reading Week theme "A Universe of Stories" while also urging students not to be “couch potatoes”!)

Students brought in their creations all week to be displayed in the library, and we all loved admiring their creativity!  We got lots of cool aliens, some rockets, a couple UFOs, an astronaut, and an asterism!!  (Click on the word if you need the definition; I didn't know that one until my student taught it to me!)

Neil Spudstrong!

UFP : Unidentified Flying Potato!

Since "A Universe of Stories" is also going to be the summer reading theme at the public libraries this summer, I asked Miss Heather at the Ashaway Free Library if she'd be interested in co-hosting a potato-decorating workshop.  She enthusiastically agreed, and on the evening of May 21st many children gathered in the library's new community room for "Potato-palooza!"  We had a blast, and I transported (not teleported!) the kids' incredible creations to our school library for everyone to admire.

Big thanks to Miss Heather and Miss Cheryl for co-hosting this fun event with me!

All this week students have been bringing back their papers to show how many points they earned by exercising their minds and bodies, and there are a LOT of them!  I'll be handing out the prizes next week for those who earned at least 100 points, but today I got to announce the 10 winners of the $10 gift certificates to the Savoy bookstore in Westerly!  While the deadline has passed for being included in the drawing, I will continue to accept participation forms from those who earned at least 100 points.  These students will be allowed to select something special from the library "prize basket" next week!
  

Congratulations to our ten lucky gift certificate winners!

Thanks to all the families who participated and supported their children during the week!  I am also grateful for the sponsorship of our wonderful Ashaway School PTO, who provides the funds for the gift certificates and "basket prizes"!  
 

Reading Week 2019: A Universe of Stories!

Reading Week 2019:

"A Universe of Stories!"

We enjoyed another amazing week celebrating readers and reading!  Events were planned for every day of the week, and we had a blast!  One of my favorite activities involved our students creating bookmarks to donate to the Ashaway Free Library.  ❤️

Students in every class were given a blank bookmark to decorate which included the library's hours.  At the end of the week, a big of group of the kids met me at our local public library to present them to the director, Miss Heather! 

 

 

The bookmarks are on display at the circulation desk for members of the community to choose from!  "A Universe of Stories" was our school's Reading Week theme, and it will also be Ashaway Free Library's theme for their summer reading program.  We hope that, by participating in this project, our students will be encouraged to visit the library themselves to see their bookmarks and experience this wonderful community resource.  (If you haven't stopped by recently, you should definitely visit and see their incredible new program space!) 

This student visited the library recently and found her own bookmark!

Do stop by the library soon!  In the meantime, here are some examples of the incredible designs our students created.  Enjoy!!

(Click any image below to enlarge!) 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Screencastify in Action!

Earlier this school year I participated in an online class called "Screencasting 101".  Offered by the wonderful Chariho tech fellows Jess Geremia and Rene Rosivach, I learned a lot about how to use webcasts in my classes.  I had already experimented with creating my own to use as part of my lessons, but now I was inspired to introduce my students to this resource!

As part of a unit review of Internet basics, each of my fourth graders focused on a related vocabulary word and created a Google slide that would teach another student its meaning.  Then each student was challenged to create their own screencast to present what they learned.

This is the first year I've had a class set of Chromebooks housed in the library, and the students made excellent use them! 

I got the idea for the "recording studio" boxes from Miss DeVito, librarian at Chariho Middle School.  Each box is lined with foam that we recycled from packaging received in the technology department!

Recycled packing foam helps screen out some of the background noise when recording.

A paper pocket in the bottom of each recording box stores an index card that lists some handy Screencastify keyboard shortcuts!

Students put a red cup on top of the recording box as a way of saying, "Recording in Progress! Do Not Disturb!"

To see some examples of student-created screencasts, please click on the links below!

Click here to watch Genevieve's screencast about copyright!

Click here to watch Hazel's screencast about the word "legal"!

Click here to watch Noelle's screencast about plagiarism!

Click here to watch Sawyer's screencast about plagiarism!

Click here to watch Nola's screencast about copyright!

Celebrating Seuss: What Pet Should I Get?

This year we celebrated Dr. Seuss's birthday with a school-wide "What Pet Should I Get?" activity!  All of the students enjoyed listening to the story read aloud in their classrooms, and then each student created their own pet poster.  I really loved their artwork and writing.  Here is just a small sample!

If I could get a pet, I would get a lizard.  I would choose a lizard because it changes color.  Also it can blend in with different objects.  A lizard is the best bet yet!  -Brady, Grade 1

 

If I could get a pet, I would get a puppy.  One reason is they are so cute.  Another reason is it could be fun because they like to play.  Puppies are the best pets ever!  -Kapri, Grade 1

If I could get a pet, I would get a cardinal with nice red feathers that can fly so high they can touch the sky.  The cardinal's name should be Rodney.  Rodney should land on my finger and not my thumb or shoulder.  That's why I want a cardinal for a pet.  -Everett, Grade 3

If I could get a pet, I would get a hydra baby because it has four heads and that means four times the fun!  It has four snake heads.  I'd love that.  -Gabe, Grade 3

If I could get a pet, I would get a taco cat!  I would get this because it will produce a taco whenever I wanted one.  -Landon, Grade 3

If I could get a pet, I would get a turtle.  I would get a turtle because they are slow, easy to feed, and very cute.  -Maddy B., Grade 4

If I could get a pet, I would get a lemur.  I would get this because I love fuzzy things and small things.  -Riley, Grade 4

If I could get a pet, I would get a giraffe because he will trim the tree.  -Lily, Grade K

If I could get a pet, I would get a fish, a cat, and a dog because I love pets!  -Weston, Grade K

If I could get a pet, I would get a macaw.  I would get this pet because you can teach it to talk.  -Emma I., Grade 4