Gurney Elementary School first-grader Jack Mooney was the Scientist of the Week on Jan. 17 in Stephanie Malley’s class.
Glowing First-Grade Scientists
Gurney Elementary School first-grader Jack Mooney was the Scientist of the Week on Jan. 17 in Stephanie Malley’s class. For his experiment, he emptied out a highlighter marker and used a black light to make water glow in the dark. The students learned that the phosphors glow with ultraviolet light.
Each week, Malley selects a student to be the Scientist of the Week. All the students are enjoying learning from their friends’ experiments including making tornados, lava lamps, hand warmers with batteries and foil and even combining vinegar with baking soda to blow up a balloon.
CFMS Students of the Month
The Student of the Month award at Chagrin Falls Middle School acknowledges students for their outstanding performance and rewards them for their efforts. The students were chosen by seventh- and eighth-grade teams to be a “Tiger of the Month.” These students exemplify the Tiger Techniques of: Think, Integrity, Grit, Effort, and Responsibility.
December’s Tigers of the Month were Elizabeth Partain, Colby Wells, Alyssa Zaffiro and Aiden Kniskern.
Elizabeth Partain is a seventh-grader who is a diligent student committed to excellence in everything she does. Her dedication to the middle school speech and debate team showed as she competed in public forum with excellent feedback during all her rounds. She is interested in the details of a problem and quickly learns from her mistakes. She brings a positive attitude to class and always presents herself with a smile. Her work is neat and on time, and she strives to do her best.
Colby Wells is described as the “whole package.” He is a seventh-grader who is a kind-hearted student. He is an excellent team member who is responsible and always aims to do his best. His ever-present smile is a delight to see each day and he isn’t afraid to ask questions and receive feedback on his writing. He is an energetic student who gets along with everyone. He does a great job explaining his thinking to classmates and stays organized. His organization helps him to improve and revise his work and he always tries his best.
Alyssa Zaffiro is an eighth-grader who is sweet and well-rounded. She asks great questions and has many clever insights. She participates frequently and is a pleasure to have in class. She is kind, thoughtful, and diligent. She brings a positive attitude and challenges herself every day. She is a talented violinist and is a member of the eighth-grade orchestra. She is ready for rehearsal and is a leader, consistently helping others in her section. She is also a member of the Select Choir where she comes in with a positive attitude. Whenever there is an extra project, Alyssa volunteers for the committee and ensures everything for her class and group is presented well.
Aiden Kniskern is an inquisitive and responsible eighth-grader. He is easy going with peers, respectful to staff, and contributes to creating a positive learning environment. He challenges himself constantly and follows directions with a smile. He is a leader in the classroom including the English Language Arts classroom. He went above and beyond to complete the advanced stations for one of his character analysis writing assignments. This is one example of how he is always participating and acting as a leader in his classes.
Third-Grade “Text” Surgery
Lisa Todaro’s third-graders at Gurney Elementary School have been using nonfiction stories to locate text features and answer questions. Text features include all the components of a story or article that are not the main body of text. These include the table of contents, index, glossary, headings, bold words, sidebars, pictures and captions and labeled diagrams.
Todaro got creative with her recent lesson and told all of her students they were physicians and had to perform “text feature” surgery on various “patients.” The students dressed as doctors and received eight patients that were in need of a text feature to be cured.
The patients represented various scenarios, such as Susan Smith complaining of not knowing the meaning of some words she read and needing to know what text feature can help her. The students searched the written work and then surgically placed the text feature they felt would help her. In Smith’s case, a glossary was the cure that was needed.
After scrubbing out of surgery, the students had to complete their post-operation reports on each patient. They reported what action they took and the reasoning for their action.
“The students loved using their Doctor of Text Features degree,” said Todaro. “It was a successful surgery!”
