Are you ready to be a star? Our media room (inside the WOMS Media Center) is now open for students and teachers to film amazing green-screen videos. Using the iPad app DoInk, creating one of a kind videos has never been easier!

Come by the media center and create your video today!

The media center was busy this week with Squishy Circuits, book club and our first lunch & learn.  Sixth, Seventh &

Eighth grade tech clubs learned how open and closed circuits work by building and designing their own circuits.  Using a Squishy Circuits kit, students connected their battery power pack to a special homemade conductive playdoh that has extra salt added to the recipe.  Students chose colored LED lights, sensors, buzzers and motors to complete the circuit.  Their one of a kind creations were quite creative.  The students have been challenged to create an invention with their Squishy Circuits for the next tech club!

Lunch & Learns will be offered every two weeks on Wednesdays in the Think Lab.  Everyone is invited to attend. This week we learned some Google Tips & Tricks! Click on the graphic below to see the presentation.

Book club met on Friday to start the book Fish by L. S. Matthews.  The book highlights a family’s struggle as they are forced to leave their homeland. Students spent time discussing the topic of modern refugees and the challenges they face.

 Students also learned how to make book trailers. Over the next few weeks students will produce their own book trailers for the students at WOMS!

You can find it all at the media center.  Last week every student at White Oak Middle School came to the library in their reading classes to find books that sparked their interest and imagination.  All the usual questions popped up. “Mrs. Cooper, is this a good book?” “Do you have any good books in this library?”  “I don’t like reading. Can you still find me a book?”  The answer is always YES!  I firmly believe there is a right book for every student. Maybe they have not found it yet.  Maybe they don’t know where to look.  Maybe they need a little help discovering their interests.  This is my favorite part of the day.  I get to start the investigative process. What are you hobbies? Sports? Animals? Video Games? What do you like to watch on television?  As soon as I glean enough knowledge about what they like, I can direct them to a variety of great books. I love watching students get excited about finally finding a book they enjoy.  I always make the students a promise when they check out. I tell them that if they don’t like the book to bring it back, and we will find the perfect book next time.  There are so many wonderful genres of books for our students to discover.  I love the inspirational words of Garrison Keillor, “A book is a gift you can open again and again.” I hope our students find lots of gifts in the library this year.

Have you ever wanted to play the piano on bananas? Play Pacman or Tetris with Playdoh? Create a 3D dot?  These are just a few creative activities students explored this week.  In tech club, students learned about a little device called a Makey Makey that will help them create inventions that could possibly change the world.

In just a few minutes, the students connected their Makey Makey to their computers using a USB cord and alligator clips.  To complete the circuit some students used bananas and others chose Playdoh.  I then challenged the students to learn to play Mary Had a Little Lamb on their devices.  In just a few minutes, the students had mastered their piano!  As the students explored all the possibilities, they began to learn about open and closed circuits.  Students realized if every group member held hands, they could create a large circuit whereby all members could play notes on the piano. Seeing their excitement was definitely contagious!  Book club celebrated #Dot Day by reading Peter H. Reynolds children’s book The Dot.  As students listened to the tale, I hope they were inspired to make their mark this year.  As the new year starts, it is a chance for us all to make a difference.

Using the Quiver app, students created their own 3D dot. Students loved watching their creations come to life.  Then, they wanted to re-design their dots and make more dots, just like Vashti.  I truly hope the students of WOMS are excited about the possibilities this school year offers.