SMART Table in the PK

A HUGE thank you to Land O'Lakes and Pro Cooperative for their donation towards our PK SMART table! Land O'Lakes granted us $1000, and Pro Coop matched the grant with another $1000! All of this was in combination with the Kiwanis club fundraiser for the SMART table. Here is just a quick sample of what the SMART table can do.

Again, a big thanks to Land O'Lakes, the Pro Coop, and the Terril Kiwanis Club!

26 Students Publish Poetry!!!

Twenty-six Graettinger-Terril Middle School students now have the honor of saying they are published writers! On May 11, 2010, Mrs. Barb Larson, 6th - 8th Grade Reading and Language Arts teacher, was informed that of 44 entries submitted in a poetry contest, 26 of them would be published in A Celebration of Poets published by Creative Communication. The student's in Larson's class worked on a poetry unit during February and March. They learned about literary tools poets use to make their writing more interesting to the reader, as well as a variety of different types of poems. The 7th grade class worked with found poetry, identified literary tools in those poems, and then posted their work on a blog at teachthemtoreach.blogspot.com. The 6th and 8th graders wrote poetry; some of the different types of poetry being published are odes, cinquains, "I am" poetry, biography poems, and Dadas. "I am so proud of all of the students and their poetry work; they really put themselves into the project," Larson said.

(Thank you Mrs. Miller for the write up!!)

8th Grade TAG students attend Lakeside Lab Event

Three G-T TAG students joined 80 other talented and gifted students from around the area at the Lakeside Lab on West Okoboji for a day of science exploration. Students identified archaeological dig finds as to the period and possible use of the finds as well as attempting to fashion a stone piece into a tool. The eight layers of an aquifer were constructed as a snack demonstrating how water flows through the layers. Another session found the students being chemists in the water quality lab. Various water samples were tested using laboratory equipment and then compared for purity. The birding and wildlife management session included capturing a bird, finding the birds' ear, listening to a bird's heatbeat, seeing muscle and bone through the transparent skin of a bird, as well as identifying males and females including coloring and feather purposes. The day concluded with a DNR officer telling about her job encompassing seasonal changes. It was an excellent day of learning and explorations.