If you would like to help out in the bookstore, we need lots of volunteers. Please call Kelly Posey at 706-253-1730 to volunteer. Donations of wrapping paper, bows, tape and name tags are also needed.

Our 5th graders have jumped right in to research for their Social Studies Fair projects. We are attacking research using the Big 6 research model. See the link listed at the right side of this page to learn more about the Big 6 model. I’m looking forward to seeing the projects our students produce at the end of September.

I’ve added a new page of Internet links that are useful websites for students to use when doing research. See Webpages of Interest listed above. I’ll talk more about Internet research in my next post.

We’ll begin storytimes the week of Aug 15 for K – 2 grades. First up will be stories about being responsible for your library books. During the week of Aug 22, I’ll meet with 3rd and 4th grades to explain the changes to AR and to book talk some new books and favorite series.

Our first Bookfair will be the week of Aug 29. We will be open during our PTO meeting on the 29th. We’ll have refreshments in the cafeteria that night and have door prizes. Plan to eat, win and shop that night! A brand new 2012 JES Yearbook (coming in the spring) will be given away as a door prize!

The nationally acclaimed Camp Invention program is coming to Jasper this summer June 6 – 10.  Created for children entering grades one through six, the exciting Camp Invention program is a weeklong adventure in creativity that immerses its participants in engaging, hands-on activities in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), as well as history and the arts. 

“We are focused on the STEM subject areas that will help the United States address a critical shortage of scientists and engineers in the global workforce of the 21st century,” explains Michael J. Oister, COO for the nonprofit Invent Now, Inc, which operates Camp Invention.  “Our programs nurture creative thinking in children, providing them with open-ended opportunities to explore ideas, make mistakes, and reinvent solutions.”

Each day, children rotate through five integrated modules that employ creative thinking to solve real-world challenges.  Children learn vital 21^st century life skills such as problem solving and teamwork through imaginative play.

This summer, in the INNOVATE program, children at JES will explore alternative energy as they help a mysterious scientist power robotic creatures to life in the Power’d^™ module.  They will work to understand the importance of economics by rebuilding the marketplace of a disappearing virtual world in the Hatched^™ module.  In the SMArt: Science, Math & Art^™  module children will uncover the beauty of math without numbers as they unearth the surprising connection between soap bubbles, honeycombs, and lightning bolts.  By popular demand, all Camp Invention programs include a module in which children participate in high-energy games that challenge their minds and bodies, as well as a renowned invention module, where children upcycle pieces and parts of discarded household appliances and other donated materials to create new machines.

Since Camp Invention’s inception in 1990, the program  has grown to include over 1,100 school partnerships in 49 states.  In 2010, more than 65,000 children participated nationwide.  The Camp Invention program was created in partnership with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, which continues to support Invent Now’s mission to inspire creativity and inventive thinking in children of all ages.  Regional program sponsors include JES PTO, HCES PTO, TES PTO, the Lions Club, the Optimists Club, and Joe Hendricks. 

The Camp Invention program has been featured in Child, Principal, and Better Homes and Gardens magazines, as well as dozens of other publications and educational journals. The program has also been the focus of National Public Radio’s Science Friday and was studied by Harvard’s Graduate School of Education.  In a recent survey, 90 percent of parents said that the Camp Invention program helped their children to enjoy science.  

Every program participant receives a Camp Invention T-shirt featuring clever, new artwork.  To register a child for the program or to learn more about Invent Now programming, visit www.campinvention.org or call 800.968.4332

The Camp Invention program consists of five exciting modules that are designed to provide a unique opportunity to explore the unknown, tinker with ideas, and satisfy an innate sense of curiosity. Children entering grades 1 through 6 will tap into their creativity to solve real-world challenges and work as a team, using problem solving as a portal to discovery.

Check out the website at www.campinvention.org to register. Call Kelly Posey at JES if you need more information.

Classes will also collect spare change to donate to the media center. The class that collects the most change will win a free paperback book for each student in the class.

Don’t miss out on all the great books! See you on Valentine’s Day at the fair.

Every year the students at Jasper Elementary School draw names at Christmas time and give a small gift to a classmate. This year PTO is sponsoring a Christmas Bookstore for all the students to shop for their classmate’s gift. Paperback books will be available for purchase for only $2.00 each. 

The book store will be set up in an empty classroom at JES and will be arranged by grade level. After the students have drawn names in class, they will come to the bookstore to shop. After purchase, books will be gift-wrapped and a name tag attached so that the students can place the gift under their class tree that day. Classes will sign up for a shopping time the week of December 13 – 17. Look for more information in your child’s classroom newsletter in December. If you would like to volunteer to help at the Christmas Book Store, please contact Kelly Posey, media specialist.