Month: September 2012

Sixth grade students at Southern Oaks Middle School have been coming to the media center for an orientation and a scavenger hunt using the Dewey Decimal System.  After a brief orientation, the students were instructed on how to use the Dewey Decimal System to find non-fiction books. Students were placed on teams of two and given three slips of paper with types of books written on them, such as basketball, poetry, or cooking. When media specialist Cathy Odom and clerk Kim Johnson gave the signal, the students moved through the library to find their books. When the students found a book, they … Read More

Isabella Lott in Kasey Ascani’s second grade class at Frances K. Sweet Elementary School is building “work-on-writing” stamina as a part of the Daily 5 reading block. Students have the freedom of choosing what they want to write about during this independent practice time.

Students in Charlene Carter’s reading classes at Forest Grove Middle School got to know each other recently using a series of activities meant to gather information about classmates as well as build knowledge of thinking maps, note taking techniques, Kagan structures, and cloze sentence templates. Pictured, from left, are Cicilio Ramirez and Enoc Lopez.

Fourth grade students Janyla Rolle, left, and Caleb Militello in Nardi Routten’s class at Frances K. Sweet Elementary School worked together to create large numbers. They then wrote those numbers in three different ways: standard form, word form, and expanded form. This was a fun way to practice place value.

Fourth grade students Kayla Ceasar, left, and William Nelson in Nardi Routten’s class at Frances K. Sweet Elementary School became scientists last week as they explored ice balloons. Students used their observation skills to explore the surface of ice balloons after salt and food coloring were added.They then wrote down questions their observations inspired. Questions were sorted and new investigations were designed to answer some of those questions.

Staff from the Savannas Preserve State Park was recognized at the August 28, 2012, St. Lucie County School Board meeting for their support of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education programs at Port St. Lucie High School during the 2011-12 school year. The personnel at the Savannas Preserve hosted field trips and provided community service opportunities for students. Pictured, from left, are Merle Townsend, Friends of Savannas president Merle Townsend, Florida State Parks AmeriCorps member at Savannas Mary Bennett, park manager Dylan Gavagni, Friends of Savannas Education Committee Member Jim Stewart, Friends of Savannas Education Committee chairman Henry Maursey, … Read More

Scientists from the Horticultural Research Laboratory at the USDA location at the Research Park were recognized at the August 28, 2012, St. Lucie County School Board meeting for their support of STEM (Science, Technology, Enginerring and Mathematics) education programs at Port St. Lucie High School during the 2011-12 school year. Scientists at lab hosted field trips, and served as Science Fair advisors and judges. The lab also provides summer employment and enrichment opportunities for students. Pictured, from left, are Dr. Erin Rosskopf from USDA, Port St. Lucie High School biology teacher Leslie Taylor, St. Lucie School Board chairman Carol Hilson, … Read More

Students in Marla Liberatore’s third grade class at F. K. Sweet Elementary School recently sang to their grandparents in honor of Grandparents Day. The boys and girls created cards and small gifts to present to their grandparents as well. Grandparents are invited to the school for lunch on September 7th to see the videos and receive their gifts.

Students in Maria Nunez’s fourth grade class at Mariposa Elementary did a spectacular experiment recently. Students created Spin-Copters to determine whether the mass of an object would affect how well the copters flew. The students found out that when you add a paper clip to the copter, it would fly a little farther away and spin a little faster on its descent.  However, when you did the same thing with cardstock or heavier paper, the copter did not fly so well because it had too much mass.  The students were engaged in this activity and enjoyed testing the copters further by … Read More

Mariposa’s Open House was quite a success! Students and families met their teachers, received bus numbers, and enjoyed a special PTO Carnival!  The Carnival was provided by the school’s Positive, Passionate, Progressive and Proven PTO partners for all students returning to school.  Students won prizes, threw rings, made baskets, and had such a great time!  School never started off with so much fun! Students were excited to get “back to school” at Mariposa Elementary.

Eighth grade Allapattah Flats students practiced using the scientific method to determine which type of paper will allow a paper airplane to fly the furthest. Students used prior knowledge to generate their hypothesis and develop their procedures and will apply what they learned from this lab activity to engineer a more aerodynamic plane in their lab work. Students learned to identify the value in using the scientific method in everyday life as a guide for how to think like a scientist. They are also learning to differentiate between science and non-science.   Pictured, from left, are Vincent Iapriccio, Jesenia Casado, Caitlin Cooney as they test … Read More

The Allapattah Flats K-8 School kindergartners had a great start of the school year. Students did many activities related to school and classroom rules, took a tour of their new school and met many of the great staff. The students were also asked to bring in items in a small lunch bag that would tell their friends something special about “me”.  They were all eager to share their special story using the microphone. It was a great way to warm up to their new teacher and classmates. Pictured is Ryan Cook as he shares his love of basketball with the class.