IMPACT students create floats

IMPACT students at East Side Elementary, under the direction of teacher Amy Harris, created “floats” recently that gave them lessons in creativity and evaluation. Mrs. Harris said the Rose Bowl Parade was the inspiration for the project that her students really enjoyed.

Students were instructed to create a two-dimensional picture on a piece of construction paper or cardboard or to create a three-dimensional float. The entire piece had to be colored without using crayons, paint, colored chalk, colored pencils, oil, pastels, markers, pens, charcoal pencils, or any other traditional coloring media. Material used to cover the project had to be organic. “Just like the Rose Parade floats, this picture or float must have every visible surface covered with some organic substance,” Mrs. Harris said, adding that a list of materials that were used had to accompany the project.

The result - most of the 44 fourth-graders who are students in the class created some really outstanding projects. Some of the materials used on the very unique “floats” were red kidney beans, crushed barley and blueberries, sticks, corn husks, grass, dried leaves and hydrangeas, artichoke leaves, pinecones and needles, broccoli, and banana peeling. Students created everything from a “Bookworm” to a D(uck) Blind to a beach.

The second part of the assignment came after the completion of the project. Mrs. Harris gave the students a “rubric” or grading guide, and they had to select the winners. “If I had to judge these, I’d have to give a whole lot of first-place ribbons,” Mrs. Harris said, proud that her students were so creative.

The third-grade students participating in the IMPACT classes will begin the same project next week.

The IMPACT program provides enrichment classes that teach strategies for critical thinking and creativity. Students also have the opportunity to go into greater depth with a variety of subjects. Last fall, students went into an in-depth study of Egypt then visited an exhibit in Nashville on the country. “The students were so enthralled and interested in the exhibit that we really didn’t have enough time there,” Mrs. Harris said.

To qualify for IMPACT classes, students must maintain a B average.
 

East Side students entertain nursing home residents

   
Students of Ms. Kellie Davis and Mrs. Leslie Essary at East Side Elementary entertained residents at Crestview Healthcare Center before the holiday season. It was a community service project delivered with love.


There are poets among us

   
These third-grade East Side students participated in a classroom poetry-reading project assigned by Ms. Kellie Davis. Each student was assigned a poem for which they had to design a prop and present it to the classroom
 

East Side students earn rave reviews for Christmas Program

Students at East Side Elementary School received rave reviews December 13 for their performances in the school’s annual Christmas program, “Dear Santa, Letters and Songs to the North Pole.” Third and fourth graders each presented the program to faculty, staff, visitors and family members. All the children sang the songs with several featured soloists and readers added to the mix. East Side Principal Tammie Canada said everyone was so complimentary of the program and of first-year music teacher Lynn Holt’s direction. “We were amazed at the talent of our students, and everyone really enjoyed the program that celebrated all types of holiday traditions.”

East Side students participate in Read-A-Thon

On Friday, December 8, Mrs. Gertrude Robinson and Ms. Sarita Poston’s classes participate in Scholastic’s “World’s Largest Children’s Read-A-Thon.” Participants around the world took time to read on this day for 2,007 seconds (33-1/2 minutes).

Mrs. Edith Hatten, the mother of Joseph Jones, read to Ms. Poston’s class. “The students thoroughly enjoyed the books that she shared with them,” Ms. Poston said. Afterwards, students shared Christmas books of their choice with the class. The students were good readers and listeners, according to Ms. Poston.

Mrs. Robin’s class previewed the basal reader that they will be using second semester. Each student selected the story of his/her choice to read during this allotted time. After reading for 33-1/2 minutes, each student had to tell about the story they read.

“This was exciting and fun,” Mrs. Robinson said. “After completing this activity, I could tell if they read or not. Out of 17 students, 15 had really read their story.”

The reason for the Read-A-Thon … to encourage all students to become fluent readers while learning to enjoy reading.
 

Club Invention students very innovative

Prodigy and Impact teacher Abby Hooper gave the students in her Club Invention class the opportunity to use their imaginations and be very innovative. Twenty-two third-and fourth-grade students from her classes participated in this after-school program that taught them about science, physics, math, and community in the eight-week long program.

It seems that a town called “Unlucky” was destroyed by three natural disasters, so it was up to the students to rebuild the town. While using science and math principals in their projects, they each constructed a building and some added bridges and other things for the town that they renamed “Lucky” when their project was complete.
 

Copyright 2008 Haywood County Schools.