Hensel's Headlines

I know the year is about over, but if you look at the weather, you wouldn't know it. There have been some exciting things happening in the language arts room this year. The 8th graders used the game minecraft to create the setting of To Kill a Mockingbird, that was educational for me. I didn't and still don't know much about minecraft, my grandkids play it, so I brought in my nintendo switch and they brought in theirs. It was fun and they did a great job! THe 7th graders created children's book and then read it to the class they thought would enjoy it. I keep trying to add pictures, but I don't know what I am doing wrong, but I do have pictures. All of the middle school students have been going down and reading to and helping the preschoolers recognize their letters.

The middle school classes are working with the Mrs. Dinham's preschoolers, there are two, 3 year old classes and one 4 year old class. The 6th graders read books to them, and will be reading another book to them. The first book they read was a Dr. Suess book, and last week we went to the library so they could choose an informational book. They have also been looking up fun and interesting facts about their topic. They will be paired up to read to Mrs. Dinham's class next week. On Monday and today, Tuesday, the 7th graders went down to Mrs. Dinham's classes to work with the 3 year olds on recognizing their names and the letters. Today, Tuesday, the 8th graders went and worked with the 4 year olds with letters and letter sounds. The middle schoolers did such a good job with them. It helped the little ones with their letters, and will not only help the middle schoolers with century 21 skills and connecting with the younger students, it will help them be more responsible a...

 We have had an exciting month.  Going to Kansas City was a great trip.  All the kids were so well behaved and respectful.  I think they all enjoyed Science City.  Riding the bus with all of the middle school and the 5th grade was an experience.  Since we had a charter bus, we all had enough room and it was a comfortable ride.  I am including pictures from the day. In 6th grade, we are reading Number the Stars in class and they are completing packets.  When we finish they will have a final project instead of a formal test.  We are also working on how to correctly format and punctuate dialogue. In 7th grade we have been reading a suspenseful mystery book call Creep , we started it last year and didn't finish, so we started over this year.  I even fought myself not to finish it this summer so we could all find out what happens together.  They are also working on projects for their independent book which will be due on the 22nd of thi...

 Well, the beginning of the new year has already gone so fast.  I am excited to be back, as I have missed seeing all these beautiful faces every day. I was a little delayed this year, but am happy to be back.  I thought it would take me a while to learn the 6th graders' names, but it really didn't take that long.  We have been busy already.  The 6th and 7th graders have already written an essay.  I am working on getting them graded.  The 8th graders are writing and recording their own old-time radio show with sound effects.  I am excited to see how they turn out.  I have started a new beginning of the class routine, DOL and WOD.  DOL or daily oral language is where they have a couple sentences they need to fix in their notebook ten we all go over it together as a class.  They have had one quiz and will have one either every or every other week.  WOD is the word of the day, they have a word on the board they need to define then ...

       I can not believe this year is almost over!  I need to apologize, it has been a while since I have blogged.  There are so many new things I have had to learn this year, and blogging is one of them.  I have never blogged until this year, I think I was doing pretty well at the beginning, but then I forgot about it, and I just dropped the ball.  I am hoping I will do better in the future.       Let me fill you in on what we have been doing in class.  In 6th-grade, we just finished reading Freak the Mighty.  If you haven't read it you are missing out.  It really is a good book, and we can all learn a lesson from the characters.  Ask one of them about it, they seemed to really enjoy it.  Now they are working on an essay over the book and the movie.  I didn't want them to just write a compare/contrast paper, I wanted more of what they learned and enjoyed and which they thought did a better job con...

Book Project Time Get ready for a lot of pictures!  The kids have all been working hard on book projects over the last couple of months.  They are all so creative; I am so impressed.  Many of the students created games based on their books, so of course, we took the time to play them, because what good is a game if you don't play it.  During study hall, some of the 6th graders took time to decorate my desk for Christmas.  As you may see in the background, the 7th graders are also working on decorating the room.    As I said, there are many pictures, but I think the kids like seeing themselves, and this is the best way to show them off.  I really hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed watching all the presentations.    Thank you all again for sharing your children with me.  They are awesome!  

 We survived Halloween in a pandemic!  This was the first time I have ever had a Halloween party, what fun!  The 8th grade had a mystery to solve for class.  It was based on the story Lamb to the Slaughter.   We decorated pumpkins, had treats, and watched a movie.   This week the sixth and seventh grades are working on an essay contest.  One is If I were mayor, and the other is based on how Pope Francis calls us to build a "Civilization of Love".  They are doing a great job so far  We are focusing on revising, editing, and peer editing.  The eighth-graders are creating an old-time radio show.  They had to write a script and find sound effects for their program.  I am excited to hear them all tomorrow.