To inspire book club members to create their own children’s book, Mrs. Cooper and Mrs. Kelley gave members the opportunity to see a live performance of some of the most beloved children’s books.

The Roughneck Book Club watched Doreen Cronin books come to life at LeTourneau University’s Belcher Center. Dallas Children’s Theatre performed excerpts from three of Doreen Cronin’s wildly popular books Diary of a Worm, Diary of a Spider, and Diary of a Fly.  The performance included the coolest ever rock-n-roll romp in a bug’s world, capturing all the droll humor and whimsy of the books. Insects rule in the diaries of unlikely best friends: Worm, Spider, and Fly. Worm eats his homework, Fly believes she has superpowers, and Spider can’t wait to grow up and molt.  Promoting Eco-consciousness, earth science and tolerance of others, Diary of a Worm, Diary of a Spider, and Diary of a Fly is a joyful, hip musical exploration of the world outside. In this performance, a bug’s life is not all that different from our own! 

Mrs. Velde’s technology class and the Roughneck Tech Club learned how to code hide and seek games this week using Scratch.  Students customized characters and backgrounds to make their games original and reflect their creativity.  In order for the game to be challenging,  students learned to make characters disappear and reappear at random intervals.  Tech club members also coded characters to reappear at random positions on their background image. Of course, it would not be a game if there was no score; therefore, students learned how to code their games to keep score and reset to zero when the game started over. Check out the code sequence below.

Ready to check out some of the games?  Play Underwater Hide and Seek. Hint: You may have to allow Flash

Click on the diver when he appears on the screen to earn points. Click on the flag to start the game.

Play Hide and Seek Reindeer! Click on the reindeer when he appears on the screen to earn points. Click on the flag to start the game.

Start making your own game at Scratch.mit.edu!

We held our first Teacher Lunch and Learn of the year today. Check out all the information by clicking on the flyer below and scrolling down.

The Lexus Eco Challenge is an exciting national STEM competition for grades 6–12 that awards a total of $500,000 in grants and scholarships to eligible teachers, students, and schools each year.  Featuring three separate challenges, the Lexus Eco Challenge gets students involved in project-based learning, teamwork, and skill building as they work to develop a solution to an environmental issue that affects their community.

Challenge 1: Land & Water Topics

• Landfills, Waste Management, and Recycling
• Forest Destruction/Deforestation and Desertification
• Endangered Species and Loss of Biodiversity
• Water Conservation and Fresh Water Shortages
• Shrinking Wetlands and Aquatic Habitats
• Threats to the World’s Waterways and Oceans, e.g., (Poorly Managed Fishing, Pollution, Coastal Tourism and Development, and Shipping)

The Roughneck Tech Club is busy designing solutions to solve an environmental problem related to land and/or water. Final submissions are due on October 15, 2018, and we cannot wait to see all the creative eco-campaigns our students’ design.

Stay tuned…

The Roughneck Book Club held its first meeting of the 2018-2019 school year today! Students began working on a new project in which they will create a ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ book using Google forms. One of the most important elements of any story is the main character.  Using a cool website named Adroidify, students spent time developing memorable characters. Students created some unique images by choosing their character’s hair, clothing, and movements from the options available. Hopefully, the students will be inspired to create unforgettable characters for their original stories. The book club hopes to have their stories finished in October to share with students at White Oak Primary.

Coding is an essential skill for students in our ever-changing digital world.  By learning to code, students are really learning problem solving strategies, how to share and communicate their ideas, and design unique solutions for our modern world.

https://youtu.be/uPSuG063jhA

Are you ready to teach your students coding? Not sure where to begin? Scratch is a project of the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab. Scratch is provided free of charge and has easy step by step tutorials for parents and educators.

The Roughneck Tech Club started Scratch today by animating their name. Students followed the step by step tutorial to create their first program. Scratch provides a series of tutorials to help students learn to navigate the coding program.

As students successfully coded their names with special effects and sounds, they began to learn that coding involves learning precise logical steps, troubleshooting errors, and being creative.

Not only did students learn beginning coding skills, but they learned teamwork. Students who had difficulty with a coding step could rely on their neighbors to give them a helping hand.

I am excited to welcome back all of our students for the new school year. The new sixth-grade class is already making an impact on WOMS. The young ladies pictured above asked if they could come to the library before school to make friendship bracelets. Soon this turned into a full-fledged club ready to make tons of bracelets. Remembering the project Shannon Miller’s students began called Banding Together, I asked the members of the Friendship Bracelet Club if they wanted to connect with students in other parts of the world. They wholeheartedly said, “Yes!” Then, I began a social media campaign to find global connections. The project is still in the development phase, but we already have classes in Egypt, England, Brazil, and New York City that want to connect and share with us. 

The members of the club also want to send bracelets to children’s hospitals and members of the armed services. I cannot wait to share the experiences and connections this club will make as they spread their kindness to others.

Ready for some fun summer reading activities? Check out the Longview Public Library!

The Longview Public Library has a wonderful program planned for children and teens this summer. Registration is open for the Summer Reading Club, and a kick off party will be held on June 8th from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.  Weekly prizes will be given for reading along with free programs almost every day during the summer. The best part is the program is absolutely FREE! Signing up for a library card only takes a few minutes for any Texas resident. Children and teens DO NOT have to have a library card to participate in the  Summer Reading Club; however, there are some amazing benefits to getting a card. For starters, check out the Hoopla App, which contains audiobooks, movies, music, comics, ebooks and tv shows. Just download the free app and sign in with your library card.  Sync audiobooks is another free service with your library card.  SYNC is a free summer audiobook program for teens thirteen and up. They have new audiobooks to choose from each week. In addition to SYNC, try out the Libby app from Overdrive. Libby has thousands of ebooks and audiobooks ready for you to check out! In addition to reading, the library offers many activities such as Family Game Night, Story Times, Movie showings, Crafty Kids Club, and Legos in the Library. Check out the slideshow below for a full calendar of events. Registration is currently open for the Summer Reading Club. Drop by the Longview Public and have some fun this summer!

Join the  Mystery Skype Selfie Challenge during the month of May!

HOW TO PARTICIPATE:  1) Schedule a Skype Call!  Organize a call with a class, guest speaker or a V.I.P. to play a #MysterySkype game.

2) Get Creative!  Think of a fun and clever idea for a selfie of your class either at the beginning, during or the end of your call.

3) Share on Social!  Post your classrooms clever selfie with us @SkypeClassroom using #MysterySkype #sweepstakes and your classroom might be picked to be one of 5 classrooms to participate in a call with a Mystery V.I.P.

4) Tag 3 friends!  Spread the fun by challenging three or more other teachers to play #MysterySkype with their students and share their creative class selfie within 72 hours.

The Roughneck Book Club had a wonderful Skype with Shannon Miller. The students shared their favorite books and asked clues to help them determine Shannon’s location.

Based on the Lunch Lady graphic novels by Jarrett J. Krosoczka, School Lunch Hero Day is an opportunity to honor all the people around the world who prepare and serve meals to our young people every day. Roughneck Book Club would like to thank our food service workers for all their hard work, compassion, and love they share with the students of White Oak.  The book club purchased School Lunch Hero t-shirts for all the food service workers and presented them in time for the special day. Please take a moment and share your appreciation for food service workers everywhere. Check out our video below of the special day!