Hello Topaz Students!

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Surprise!

On Friday, my students threw me a surprise baby shower:)!!!!
It was such a fun time and I was overwhelmed by the generosity!
Look at the beautiful cake Mrs. Redding made!
I was wondering why so many boys were wearing pink on Friday.....
Thank you so much to all of the students, parents, and teachers who so generously helped out!
My family and I spent all weekend oohing and ahhing over the gifts and cards.
I promise to post pics of the new baby and big sister when she is born.
This students have made this year wonderful and I will miss them.

Life Round Here Debuts

life round here

Sparta Middle School Census

We are creating and taking our own census using google forms!
Click here to see the directions.
Due Date? April 1- National Census Day!



Photo credit: http://www.mytwocensus.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/censusbag2-lo.jpg

And the winner is...

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Doodle 4 Google Vote

Life 'Round Here

We are exited to be starting our video story boards for a new global collaborative project called, Life 'Round Here
The focus of our videos is on of the 2 topics below:
1. What is it REALLY like to live in Sparta, NJ?
2. What is it REALLY like to be a 6th grader in Sparta?

Click HERE to see examples of past winners!

Finished videos will be posted on or before April 15th!!!

How to use MovieMaker
How to use Photostory

Photo credit:http://www.mtctickets.com/cities/images/sparta-nj.jpg

This Too Shall Pass

This doesn't have much to do with anything, but we think this is cool:

2010 Winter Olympics

We are so excited about our Unit on the 2010 Olympics.
Click HERE FOR DIRECTIONS SHEET


Click here for a special medal map

Click here for an example website. Note: You must be signed into your google apps account to view.



Check out the links below for more info and videos about the Olympics:
Official Olympic Site
NBC OLYMPIC SITE
Thinkfinity Olympics

The Science Behind the Olympic Games

Larry Ferlazzo's Best Web Sites to Learn About the Olympic Games

The Origins or History of Winter Olympic Sports

Some Winter Olympic Videos

A Brief History of the Opening Ceremonies

Doodle 4 Google 2010 Rules

Click here for more info
A competition wouldn't be complete without prizes. What prizes are awarded to Doodle 4 Google winners and finalists this year?

* The National Winner will win a $15,000 college scholarship to be used at the school of their choice, a trip to New York City for an event on May 26, 2010, a laptop computer, a Wacom digital design tablet, and a t-shirt printed with their doodle on it. We'll also award the winner's school a $25,000 grant towards the establishment/improvement of a computer lab. The winning doodle will also be featured on the Google.com homepage on May 27, 2010.
* Each of the other 3 National Finalists will win a trip to New York City for an event on May 26, 2010, a laptop computer, a Wacom digital design tablet and a t-shirt printed with their doodle on it.
* Each of the other 40 Regional Finalists will win a trip to New York City for an event on May 26, 2010 and a t-shirt printed with their doodle on it.
* Each of the other 400 State Finalists will receive a "Doodle 4 Google" certificate and be featured on the Doodle 4 Google web site.


As an additional incentive this year, we are also giving out eight (8) Extra Credit: Technology Booster Awards that consist of netbook computers to schools who submit the maximum number of doodles by March 10, 2010 and have a student who is one of the 400 State Finalists. For more information on eligibility, visit the Doodle 4 Google website here, http://www.google.com/doodle4google/.

Students' doodles will be judged on artistic merit, creativity, representation of the theme, and other criteria. This year we'll also have a panel of 10 "Expert Jurors" who will help judge Doodle 4 Google. These are well known illustrators, cartoonists, and animators from organizations such as The Sesame Street Workshop, Dr. Seuss Enterprises, and Pixar Animation Studios who are the creators of Toy Story 3. A public exhibit of the 39 regional finalists and the national winner will be open to the public at the Smithsonian's, Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum from May 27 to July 8, 2010. To give your class a little inspiration, check out last year's winners at the Doodle 4 Google website.


PLUS WE ARE HAVING A TOPAZ TEAM PRIZE FOR THE BEST DOODLE!

2010 Census Project Links

Watch CBS News Videos Online
UNITED STATES CENSUS ACTIVITIES

Use the link below to answer the questions on the Counting Your County worksheet.


Fact Finder


Use the link below to complete the Collect Data About Your State worksheet.

http://www.census.gov/schools/facts/


Use the link below to print out the outline of the state you are focusing on for the final project.

http://www.census.gov/geo/www/maps/stco_02.htm


Use the link below to find the location of capital cities and major cities for your worksheet.

http://www.mapsofworld.com/usa/usa-maps/usa-major-cities-map.jpg

Gift of Age

Poodle skirts, accordians, and Howdy Doody, we have been presenting our Gift of Age Projects and learning about generations of the past.

It happens every 10 years- the Census

To learn even more about he census, click here.