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Shawnee Team 7 -5

In Mrs. Kinney’s English classes, students are currently working with her student teacher, Miss Pfingstl. Some students are reading the novel Among the Hidden and currently working on “Propaganda Posters”. Other classes are reading Nothing but the Truth and completing “Story Stars”. In Miss Hunters Social Studies classes, students will be creating pod casts on the Apartheid system in South Africa. Miss Gardner’s science classes are studying plants. In Mrs. Blake’s Math classes, some students will be exploring the world of probability, while others are undertaking the task of mastering number sense. Some of Mrs. Coon’s reading classes have just finished reading the novel California Blue and other classes are learning about WWII.

E.A.S.D. and ESU Partnership

Plans to offer Easton teachers the opportunity to earn a K-12 Reading Specialist Certificate and/or a Master’s in Reading are complete! The cohort will begin with a summer course beginning on May 12. Dr. Mary Beth Allen will provide an introduction to the distance learning course entitled, Analysis of Instructional Techniques in Reading at Shawnee from 4:30-7:00. Information was sent to all Easton teachers via email last Friday. In addition to all courses being direct billed to the district, ESU has waived the $50.00 graduate school enrollment fee. Take advantage of this fantastic learning opportunity!

April is National Poetry Month

Young People’s Poetry Week, the third week in April is a national celebration sponsored by the Children’s Book Council. You can find 30 ways to celebrate poetry by visiting the Academy of American Poets website at www.poets.org/page.php/prmID/41.

May is “get caught reading” Month

The Association of American Publishers is encouraging everyone from celebrities to students in our classrooms to “get caught reading.” For more information, and to see the celebrity posters, go to www.getcaughtreading.org

Submitted by Janet Matthews, Associate Director of Literacy

LITERACY NEWS

Shawnee Team 8-1

This week, Mr. Childs’ students presented their projects on Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Topics included Roman military, architecture, religion, and Greek mythology. Students were able to choose among writing a paper, performing skits, or making a movie. Students had a lot of fun with their projects.

Students in Mrs. Ezzell’s classes are also working on projects that will show their understand of Newton’s three laws of motion. They will be performing skits, using props to demonstrate the laws, and some students are even writing songs. We are looking forward to seeing the results of their hard work next week. Students are also preparing for the upcoming science PSSAs.

Shawnee Team 7-6

Mrs. D’s science classes are studying plants. Mrs. McColgan’s classes are continuing their unit on the Holocaust. Mrs. Barber’s classes are doing a research paper. Mr. Pinto’s math classes are simplifying fractions, and Mr. Parrish’s classes will be concluding their unit on Africa this week.

Shawnee Team 7-4

Congratulations to Rachel R! Rachel tied for top reader in the MS Read-a-thon.

Good luck to the students competing in the Spring Reading Challenge this week!

Mr. Hink’s Social Studies honors classes presented plays based on the four regions of Africa, while the academic classes made 3-D models of selected African countries based on the past, present and future. There are several projects on display in the library. Check them out to see what a great job they did! Miss Dinsmore’s Honors Pre-Algebra classes are working with percents and finding percents mentally. Academic Math classes are working on prime factorizations, greatest common factors, and least common multiples. Miss Meashock’s classes are currently reading and responding to literature and nonfiction selections from our unit. Miss Parsons' students are currently working on a poetry unit and will produce a class poetry book at the end of the month. Mrs. Hurst’s Life Science classes are currently studying the Plant Kingdom. Students were able to observe moss and fern plants as wells as seeds using the binocular microscopes. Currently, we are growing plants for a future activity.