Christmas at OHS

Every year, Student Council has Christmas at OHS to celebrate the last day of school. We can purchase hot chocolate or treats, and we can even get our picture with Santa and Mrs. Claus!
It's a great way to end the first semester and kick off the break!

 Mrs. Troester with Santa and Mrs. Claus!

 There are so many yummy treats to choose from!

Several students at our school get a snapshot with our visitors from the North Pole.

Open Mic

After posting our winter stories to our blogs, we had an open mic for those who wanted to share. We even had an impromptu performance! Sharing our words fills the classroom with life.

Cozy Winter Writing

We enjoyed a couple days to write poems and stories about the winter season and holidays.
Having time to write creatively and have choice about what to write is so important as we develop writing skills but also enjoyment of writing.

 The crackling fireplace was set. 

 Christmas music was being played.

And we settled in to write.

Cozy socks optional. 

We Are Writers!

8th Graders are fabulous writers!
Here are some lines from different pieces of writing from students this year so far...

Claire: As I floated in the pool, it felt like I was floating in the warm summer breeze. 

Minlu: That day was hot; I felt like I was in a microwave heating up.  

Tucker: The snow tiptoed across the roof.

Bethany: I am from memories/As big as trees/Yet small enough to fit in the palm of my hand

Autumn E.: Fear comes slinking out of the corner.

Tate: My wandering shadow follows behind.

Emma: That faucet of inspiration in my brain turns on.

Avery: I am from hot chocolate...

Nahomi: I felt like a sad tree that doesn't have leaves.

Learning While Using iPads

There was a late start and an early out today; this makes for a very short day, but we were able to have Mrs. Morrow come demonstrate to the 4th Period Class some of the engaging things we can do on iPads.
Using Keynote, we were able to record ourselves reading a poem, capture or create visuals to represent the poem, answer questions about the poem, and explore the Clips App to make a movie about the poem. Mrs. Morrow taught us a lot in a very short amount of time.
We love having visitors come to our classroom to help us learn and explore new things.
Thank you, Mrs. Morrow!