S-p-e-l-l-i-n-g B-e-e

Spelling Bee 2012

Today our students participated in the annual Knights of Columbus Spelling Bee.   Some of the more challenging words were: chrysanthemum, psychology, itinerant, and parallel.   The winning word this year at the Scripps National Spelling Bee is:

guetapens

 Do you know what this word means?

Dog with a Blog

You’ve got mail!

Teddy has been busy sending lots of postcards from his travels all over the world.   Make your own Teddymap, similar to a Clustrmap, to follow Teddy around the globe.  How many countries has he visited?  How many of the United States?

Did you travel anywhere over the Thanksgiving holiday?  In the United States, Thanksgiving is the busiest travel day of the year.  

You can read Teddy’s postcards on his blog, Teddy Tours.  http://teddytours.edublogs.org.  He loves to get mail, too, so be sure to write back to him.  Let him know where your adventures take you!

And the (hopeful) winner of the 2012 Eddy for Best Class Blog is…..

HUZZAH!!!  (Wild applause!  Cheering!  Loud clapping!  Standing ovation!)  That’s what we here at Hey, Kids! hope to hear from those there at Edublogs when they announce the Best Class Blog for 2012.

My computer screen with my favorite class blog

As you can see from their post on Nov. 12th, the class motto at Huzzah! is “Do Good”.  As far as we’re concerned, they live that motto every day.   Huzzah has “done good” even when they didn’t know they were doing good.  Their blog has served as a model for our class as we navigate the new frontier of blogging.   Every time we return to visit, we learn something new that helps us on our journey to read, write, think, and share.  We love their:

  •  videos about trips to the forest
  •  very humorous job applications for positions as 7th graders
  •  travels with class pet unicorns, Epona and Stephano
  •  Shelfari recommendations
  • cool commenting slide shows
  • class motto!  “Do Good!”

Not only do we learn through their example of what makes a good post and a good blog, but their teacher, Ms. Smith, has taken the time to encourage our many students through her kind responses to their comments.  She has also sent an email to our teacher with step-by-step instructions for setting up email addresses for each of her students and for using Flickr Creative Commons.   Huzzah! writes new posts frequently so that there is always something new for us to see when we visit.

In addition, the Huzzahnians write excellents posts and comments on our pages.  They are courteous and thoughtful.  They continue the dialogue with a question, and use their best writing skills.  We are honored to be one of their blogging buddies, and we hope to hear good news from Edublogs soon that rewards them for consistently “doing good”.

Visit them and see why they are so good and deserving of the Eddy for Best Class Blog.    http://huzzah.edublogs.org/

Sincerely,

The Hey, Kids! kids

 

 

Huzzah! ECS Medieval Fair 2012

Hear Ye, Hear Ye!  The Middle Schoolers hearby extend their humble thanks to all those who attended our fair!  We are most grateful for the assistance of many lords, ladies, knights, mummers, friars, and serfs who allowed us to see our literature come to life.

Journey with us back in time to see, hear, taste, smell, and touch life in the Middle Ages. 

What did you like most about the fair?

The Medieval Fair at ECS 2012 on PhotoPeach

A Medieval Webquest

Goodspeed Grade 8!   I trust this note finds you all in good spirits and health.  From what I have seen, you have been advancing well in your studies of Medieval literature and life.  As you have immersed yourselves in the Middle Ages, you have eaten some of their food, played their games, acted in their plays, made their wares, dressed in their garb, listened to their music, and read their poetry.  Today you will continue your journey….

Learning a new game

What game are Aaron and Kyle playing?  Visit this website.  http://www.jamesadamshistoricenterprises.com/treasuretrove/gameschessninemensmorris.html

Could Beowulf have played this game?  How did you come to this conclusion?  What else did you learn about this game?

Rehearsing “The Boy Who Cried Wolf”

Would our actors be acceptable for our play in the Middle Ages?  Visit this website. http://medievaleurope.mrdonn.org/plays.html

How are the actors in morality plays different than those in mystery and miracle plays?

Doll artisans at work for the fair

Read this page. http://medievaleurope.mrdonn.org/tradefairs.html

How will our fair be the same as an authentic Medieval Fair?  How will it be different?  List as many similarities and differences as you can.

A Medieval Castle

Perhaps Herot Hall looked something like this.  (Does anyone know where I got this picture?)   Visit this site. http://medievaleurope.mrdonn.org/literature.html

What epic poem was written after Beowulf?  How many years lapsed between the two poems?  What was this poem about?

The Middle Ages were an age of exploration as well.  Keep up your own quest for knowledge.  Visit these websites:

http://edselect.com//grade-4-medieval-times#Music

and

http://worldhistory.mrdonn.org/middleages.html

Find out how the people of the time lived.  In a comment on this post, share at least five new ideas/facts you’ve discovered in your search.  Teach me something I don’t know!

Have fun and learn lots!

~Lady Donofrio

We would be most happy to have visitors other than Grade 8 students enjoy our webquest as well! 

 

 

Hear ye, Hear ye!

Let it be known throughout the land that official preparations for the annual Medieval Fair have begun!  Our artisans created banners and coats of arms in order to transform our courtyard into a Middle Ages marketplace for peasants and priests, jousters and jugglers, knights and nobility.

While we worked, we also listened to Medieval music.  Here is a link to some music that will bring you back to the days of lords and ladies, serfs, knights, mummers and minstrels.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPkLhSVtPS4

Have you ever read any stories about life in the Middle Ages? 

Have you heard of King Arthur, Beowulf, or Robin Hood?  Have you read the books Crispin by Avi or Sent by Margaret Peterson Haddix? 

Would you like to live in the Middle Ages?