Reading Project Showcase

We have been so busy in REACH. So busy in fact that we are just now getting to post our awesome reading projects! This summer students read a novel of their choice that they then had to share. Instead of writing a book report, they decided to share their books in creative ways. Have a look at some student samples. You can also view projects in the Office Foyer at our school.

Novel Voice Overs

This project was for the tech savvy! The objective was to advertise their novels using a voiceover. After examining several professional examples for television series, students created their own scripts and added sound effects using Garageband. The challenge was to summarize their novels in ways that will engage listeners and utilize media that complimented the theme or mood of the novel.

Walker- Tunnels 

Max- I Survived Pearl Harbor 

Nick- Mrs. Frisby & the Rats of Nimh

*Click on the student names to listen to their voiceovers. 

Theme Meme

We see memes frequently online, but not at school. Not until now that it is. For this project, students had to capture the mood and themes of their novel through a meme. Their meme had to include a word and tagline to explain the theme. Students used their advanced vocabulary skills and summarizing skills in novel ways.

Hansini: Moon Over Manifest 

Andrew: 39 Clues: Maze of Bones  

Scene It: Readers' Theater

This project was for those students that enjoy acting and making costumes. Students were responsible for recreating and acting out a scene in their book. They had to include a script, props, a set, and puppets to bring their scene(s) to life.

Character Suitcase

To explore characters, we created a suitcase for them. Students had to answer the question, "If your character had a bag or suitcase, what would he/she put in it?" This project was for students who enjoy designing and creating.

Peyton: The 68 Doors

Gabriel: Island of the Blue Dolphins

Message in  Bottle

For this project, students had to write a message to another character in their story. They also designed the bottle to send their message. This was an excellent option for those students that enjoy creative writing.

Ethan: 

Setting Illustration/Portrait

Finally, this project was meant to unleash the inner artists. Students had to illustrate a painting or picture for the setting of their story. Students researched a famous artist's style and had to recreate their setting using that style.

Emori: Mashup of Impressionism & Pop Art

Skype Sharing

Today we had our first Skype call to share projects with Ms. Lasher's class. We presented our Reading Projects and explained the products we made for our novels. Ms. Lasher's class shared independent projects such as a Cardboard Challenge Game, Perplexers, and Mystery Stories. They are even willing to send the Perplexers to our class so that we can solve them! We enjoyed seeing what other gifted classes are working on and look forward to solving some puzzles.

Career Talk: The Dr. Is In!

Dr. John Gaudet came to visit our 6th grade REACH students to talk about his career in medicine. Dr. Gaudet is a pediatrician in our city and has even treated some of our very own students. He shared some tools he uses for the trade, discussed his path in becoming a pediatrician, and explained how important it is to know all subjects because they may be useful in our future careers. He also reminded us that we must know ourselves and personalities in order to choose a career that is right for us. Thank you for the helpful advice, Dr. Gaudet! 

Career Talks: Hand It to Us!

Las week, Ms. Thu came to speak to our 3rd Graders about her career in nursing. She also taught us the correct way to wash our hands to stay healthy. The trick is to rub our hands with soap and water while humming the tune to the song, "Happy Birthday" in our heads twice. To test out our new method of washing hands we even tried an experiment with glow germs! 

Career Talks: The Science Behind Medicine

This week Ms. Deborah visited our 5th grade REACH class to discuss her career as a Medical Laboratory Technician. She introduced responsibilities and background required for her career.  As a lab technician, she does a lot of the "behind the scenes" work required for diagnosis. She also reviewed science terms such as the difference between a virus and a bacteria and some tips to help keep us healthy.  A huge thanks to Ms. Carter for scheduling this talk. We look forward to having more Career Talks with family and community members. Stay tuned!