During their library block, the 7th Graders spent a few weeks refining their information search skills, learning new strategies to help them research more effectively. These skills were utilized in their History/English project, which included a written paper and slide presentation. Then, they honed their communication skills by exploring the elements of good story writing.  The students’ culminating project combined all of these skills and creativity using Google’s Search Stories Video Creator.  Using this fairly new online application, the students created short videos combining their actual search terms with music. Their work is showcased below in a playlist that includes all of their videos, and we think you’ll agree that they’ve done a great job on this new project in digital storytelling!

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The Fourth Grade students have completed a unit on poetry appreciation.  After studying about the basic elements of poetry, the students enjoyed reading the poems of children’s poet laureate, Jack Prelutsky.  They adored his book Scranimals, which is a clever collection of imaginary creatures.  In the book, illustrator Peter Sis created great pictures of these new creatures, which are combinations of animals with fruits, vegetables or plants. The students spent a few class periods combining the characteristics and the names of different animals and objects and were inspired to create their own original drawings and poems. They are proud to present their creativity in this slide show:

Our Fifth Grade students have just held their Invention Convention, a culminating experience for a library research unit. In addition to learning about famous inventors and the invention process using books and online resources, each student  had the opportunity to design an invention. Working individually or with partners, the students developed original ideas for new products, some of which help to solve everyday problems.

This creative group of students worked enthusiastically, brainstorming for ideas, developing models and prototypes, and creating ads to market their inventions.  Some groups even wrote “commercials” to go along with their inventions.  The students presented their inventions to an appreciative audience at school, and all were impressed with the level of creative enthusiasm.

The video below highlights the students talking about their inventions and features some of their commercials. Enjoy watching and please feel free to leave a comment on this post!