Jan. 28, 2014

Mrs. Donna Mann, first grade teacher, reading to our first graders.

On Tuesday, January 28th, many students and staff spent an extra long day at school due to snow. I was very impressed with our students. I didn't hear any squabbling among the students, and each child followed directions when asked. Our older students were particularly helpful! Here are just a couple of examples:

• Before I could assist some of our younger students at the computers, Valeska would be up and helping. This happened more than once. She was fabulous.
• Amaree sat with one of the Pre-K students and let the younger child choose which apps to play. He also helped Mr. Mendez get the mats for everyone and was on the floor helping to clean them.
• Jaylen also worked with the younger students. He also helped Mr. Mendez and Abraham clean the mats for everyone. Every time I looked up, he was being helpful.

4th graders evaluate websites

Fourth grade students are evaluating websites in the media center. Students are encouraged to use information only from sources that they know are reliable. Broken links and words that are misspelled are clues that the website may be unreliable. If the webpage has not been recently updated, perhaps a more current source is needed. Helpful hints on website evaluation are found at

https://multcolib.org/homework-center/evaluating-websites

Woodland's Spelling Champions

On Thursday, Jan. 9th, the Woodland Elementary School Spelling Bee was held in the media center. Mrs. Elizabeth Sapp coordinated and hosted the event. Mrs. Kamisha Botts, Mrs. Aimee Range, and Mrs. Deana King served as judges. Two students from each 4th and 5th grade class participated in the contest. Madeleine Rosenberg won the Woodland Elementary Spelling Bee. Armani Dill was the first runner up! Both girls are in 4th grade. Madeleine is in Mrs. Sanford's class and Armani is in Mrs. Blair's class. Congratulations to both girls!

Statistics - Dec. 2013

December was a short month. Students only visited the media center for 15 days and yet 2,563 items were checked out. Wow! We have been busy. In addition, 61 classes visited with their teachers for instruction. Over 1,100 students came to the media center independently.

Pre K serenades the media center

 

Minerals in the media center

To enhance the third grade geology curriculum at Woodland Elementary School, Mrs. Deana King, Media and Educational Technology Instructor, utilized a “Rockin’ Roller” kit from the Tellus Science Museum. The kit contained twenty different examples of minerals. Students had the opportunity to handle and observe the specimens noting the unique colors, luster, streak, and texture. The oohs and aahs from the students indicated that they may have a better appreciation of minerals as a result of the hands-on activity.

Students used encyclopedias to look up information on each mineral. Students also used the Story Creator app on the iPad to explain which mineral he liked best and why.

November 2013 Statistics

In November, 2,927 items were checked out from the media center and about 1,265 students visited the media center independently. In addition, classes visited the Scholastic Book Fair to preview the items on November 14^th and 15^th. The following week, the Book Fair was in full swing. We had wonderful participation.