Mr. Foster’s Classroom

Keynote Country Quizzes

Our students have been working very hard on a difficult technology project in Social Studies. For the past few weeks, all students have been creating Country Quizzes using the Mac program Keynote. For those not familiar, Keynote is very similar to Microsoft’s PowerPoint.

About two months ago, every student was assigned one country to study in-depth. These Country Quizzes were just one of many mini-projects that the students completed. Overall, I have been very impressed with how hard the students have worked on these Keynote projects.  Not only did they have to create the Keynote presentation, but they also added their own sound recordings to it.  These are very much like a podcast with full narration.  All students had a lot of fun creating these projects.

Below is a link to Emma R.’s Belize Quiz:

-Mr. Foster

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Using iPod Touches

Using technology in the classroom is something that I’m very passionate about.  Sure, there are kinks that always need to be worked out, but exposing students to different kinds of technology within learning can be very rewarding.

We have been given a great opportunity by the technology department.  They have purchased ten iPod Touches for classroom usage, and we are the lucky ones that get to try them out first!

During the past few weeks, my Math class has been using them to practice their math facts.  We have always had a school improvement goal of implementing a math facts program into the classroom, and who knew that an iPod Touch can be used to meet that goal?

We have also been using them to practice our spelling.  There are many cool spelling apps that allow the user to actually put in their own spelling words.  You can also play spelling games, etc.

All in all, as you might expect, the students are thrilled to be using them.  It has been a positive and worthwhile experience.  We now know that there are educational apps out there that are fun. Several students are rushing home each night to download our educational apps on their own iPod Touches or their parents’ iPhones.

Below are a few photos of us using them.

-Mr. Foster

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Ski trip

Last weekend I went skiing at Shanty Creek. It was a blast, we were there for three days but we only skiied for two days. Me and my sister both invited  a friend so we had to take two cars. The first day we went on the easy hills but the second day we went on the bigger ones. My sister didn’t like the big hills even though shes 15 but I think they were fun.

Adam N.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

College basketball

As the final four is right around the corner its been a great year for college basketball. The standings have been tight and there has been a lot of upsets. Even the big ten has a team in the the top 5 which is not MSU,  it’s Prude. Prude has been a very quite team this year but really snuck up in the standings. In the big ten this year there have been a lot of twist and turns.  MSU in 1st ,  Prude in 2nd and Ohio Stae in 3rd, its been a year.  As I said final four is right around the cornor  I think its going to be tight, espicially with #1Kansas  and #2 Kentucky its should be a great battle to watch. My picks for the final is #1 Kansas and #4 Prude because Prude is a great  team and hard to beat and Kansas has a great bench as well. We all will be watching the big games in Indianapolias as march is just about to start. Thanks for reading my blog.

-Matt L.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Parade of Latin American Countries

In Mr. Foster and Mrs. Stevenson’s class we have been doing a very interesting social studies unit. We are studying Latin America but we each were assigned our own country. We have been studying our countries for awhile now and have made a hand-drawn map, an outline of research, a research paper, and a few others. Right now we are working on a keynote quiz for after our oral presentation, a travel brochure, and a persuasive letter. We are stretching the parade of countries all the way up until the end of March, where we will give a speech dressed as a person from our country. We are enjoying our studies and having fun with the project!

Jordan G.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Boyne mountain

When go up north we aways  go to Boyne mountain. We have a cabin up there. Most of the time go in the summer but, so times we go in the winter. We  aways have a ton of fun when we go to Boyne mountain and we spend alot of time up there.

~  Noah K.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Super Bowl 44

On February 7th, the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts took charge for the Lombardi Trophy. For the first half the teams pretty much has had back to back touchdowns. Then, when the second half came along Peyton Manning threw an interception. This was what ruined the game for the Colts. When the Colts got the ball again they tried to drive down the field, but that ended in an epic fail. So with about 30 seconds left to go the Saints started to celebrate and the Clots go home crying.

Jay G.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

The Mi Zarape Trip

There are so many ways that I could say this! Mi Zarape was the best restaurant I’ve had ever been to. My class was in Social Studies (S.S) when Mr. Foster announced that soon our whole entire class would be going on a trip. All of us were RED in the face once we heard about this news. So lets cut to the chase.

Okay so we’re here! HIP HIP HOORAY! we all walk in with surprise choosing our tables. A minute later we all start chowing down on some delicious, warm mexican chips and dipping them in the dipping sauce. The staff that work at Mi Zarape’ bring out the “HUGE” treys of food. Everybody starts clapping and Mr. Foster calls on different tables one by one and everybody gets their choise of foods. So many yums! and mmms! I couldn’t believe the taste of those cheese enchiladas. I also liked the rice. A while later everybody’s stomachs are full and I move to Matthew P.’s table just to get some laughter out of me. We had a great time. Thank you for reading this. I really wish we could go back.

Rachel M.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Popular Author Gary Paulsen Coming to Ann Arbor!

Award-winning young adult author Gary Paulsen is coming to Nicola’s Books in Ann Arbor!  Paulson, the author of such books as Hatchet and Woodsong, will be visiting with customers and signing books on April 12th at 7:00pm.

Visit the Nicola’s Books website for more information:

Nicola’s Books

-Mr. Foster

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Dream Big Dreams!

Friday, February 5th was a magical day in our classroom.  As you may have already heard, one of my students, Matthew P., is running for President.  It’s a huge dream, but Matthew is receiving much press for his efforts.

Mr. Kerr made an appearance in our classroom on this day to tell us a story:

While down in Florida, retired Heritage School teacher Hal Morningstar had an opportunity to catch a Barack Obama speech in Tampa, Florida.  He happened to have a copy of Matthew’s article from annarbor.com and gave it to a represenative to potentially have signed.  Well, not only did the President sign it, he also read it!  Then, he scribed “Dream big dreams, Matthew!” and signed his name.

Heritage School principal Mrs. Rosen-Leacher and Matthew’s mother all stood in our classroom as Mr. Kerr told this story and presented Matthew with the signed article.

We all then had some powerful discussions about how children should not be afraid to dream big and the power of a hand-written note or letter.  As you can see, it was a magical day in our classroom!

Below is a photo of (left to right) Mr. Kerr, Matthew’s mother, Mrs. Rosen-Leacher, and Matthew P.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Lindsay’s Favorite Subject

My favorite subject is science because, all of the students and I get to create activities and have fun doing them. Science is when we learn about our envirement and the specific things that occur in our lives that we need to know about. I appreciate the events that we do so I can understand it better.  Recieveing and looking at the little things is my absolute favorite part of Science!

Lindsay U.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Matthew on Ann Arbor.com

Check it out!

http://www.annarbor.com/news/saline-sixth-grader-matthew-palmerton-eyes-white-house/

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

My Favorite Book

My favorite subject this year is spelling. Spelling is my favorite subject because it’s pretty easy. The homework is pretty easy once you learn how to do the skill. The hardest part is the test which isn’t hard at all.
-Mike M.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

My favorite subject

My favorite subject  in school is math. It is my favorite subject because I’m really good at math and fractions. Our latest math subject is on fractions which I am a master at. That is is why math is my favorite subject.

Ross D.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Jacobs Favorite subject

My favorite subject is math i like it because its challenging and fun. I especialy like it because i like to work with numbers. I also like Mrs. dandrea because she is a good teacher. This is why i like math so much.
Jacob N.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

My favorite subject

My favorite subject is literature. This is because I really like how Mr Foster gives the students a choice on what they read for book groups. My last year’s teacher assigned us a book and that’s what we were going to read, but Mr. Foster lets us have a say in what we are to read. And also , who wouldn’t want to just read books all day! Too bad we only have around twenty minutes in the entire school day, but we can also read at our house. That’s why literature is my favorite subject.

Matt E.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Matthew’s Favorite Subject

Reading is my favorite subject. I enjoy reading because it can make me feel like I am a part of the book.  I like to predict what is going to happen next, and see if I am right or wrong.  Reading lets me visualize what is happening in the book. I like to visualize and paint a picture in my head. Through reading, I can connect what I am reading with events happening around the world,  to another book, or to events in my life.  Through reading and visualizing, I can visit places I never thought I could!

Matthew P.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Adam’s favorite subject

My favorite subject is math.  I like math because you can solve problems, where in other subjects you have to memorize things.  I have always liked math and it comes naturally to me.  Math is, and will always be, my favorite subject.

-Adam N.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Savannah’s favorite subject!

My favorite subject is English, it is my favorite subject because i get to learn about different kinds of sentences everyday! its like there is a million kinds of sentences! i also like english because Mr.Foster makes it fun! We get to write the answers to the questions that are in the book on white boards and i just like white boards for some reason. And we have a packet with all the english skills that we do in it and everyday we have to do them and on each skill there is bonus triangle and Mr.Foster has a “rule book”that has the rules for each skill in it. And if we are lucky we get to remove problems thanks to the “rule book”. ( mr.foster says there is a rule book that nobody is allowed to look in because its “top secret” but the truth is he just makes them up he just wont admitt it!) And this is why english is my favorite subject.

Savannah B.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Nicole’s favorite subject

My favorite subject is English/Writing.  I like this subject because I love spicing up sentences with adjectives and other descriptive words.  Although the editing takes a long time, the end result is always worth it.  I also like reading and when I read the different style of  an author’s writing I learn more exciting ways to write.   I hope to be a writer when I grow up!

-Nicole P.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Matts favorite subject

    My favorite subject is social studies, one of the reasons that its my favorite subject is that I like to learn history so thats  perfect. The other reason is that we do big projects that are really a challenge, like the parade of  latin american countries the one we are working on now. We also use the computers alot wich I love to do. The last and final reason is because I have Mr. Foster and he rocks as a teacher!!!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      - Matt. L

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Challenging subject

The most challenging subject this year for me has been science.  Science can be very confusing to me and hard to keep on task.  I feel that  they give us a lot of homework in science, most of the time  it is very hard to talk to the text and finish a whole packet in just two days.  That is the reason why science is the most challenging subject for me this year.

Ryan J.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Noah’s Favorite Subject

My favorite subject in 6th grade  is Social Studies. I like Social Studies because we get to learn about other countries and regions.  Social Studies is a lot of fun in our class because, usually, we get to work with a group or partner.  I like how we learn about the capitals and the population of each country.  In our class we do a big project and have fun with it. 

~ Noah K.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Sully’s Favorite Subject

I would have to say my favorite subject would be literature. I like it because we get introduced to new books, and talk about them in book groups. (It’s fun to talk to people about the book you’re reading.) I also like Literature because when Mr.Foster reads to the class, you get to all listen to the book and, (In this case,) solve the mystery together. I really love to read, and think Literature is a great way to get kids who don’t read much, start reading! Also, doing the bookmarks, and T-charts help people, (including me,)  climb the reading ladder. All in all, Literature is a great subject to me, and other students.

- Sully B.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

David’s Favorite subject

My favorite subject is Social Studies.   I like Social Studies because we get to learn about other countries.  It is fun to learn about their cultures.  It is interesting to learn about what they eat ,drink and where they go to school.  I am excited to do my class project on Chile.

David S.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Jordan’s Favorite Subject

My favorite subject in school is reading. When you read its like you’re somewhere else where no one can reach you. Its like taking an adventure but not having to move. I like this feeling beacause it can take you away from whats happening around you. Things can happen in books that would never ever happen here, and sometimes things happen in books that you can relate to. There are just so many possibilities for things to happen. It can also spark an interest to learn about different subjects and topics. For example, when I read the book 13 Little Blue Envolopes I got really interested in Greece. Because of that I started reading Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. This really got me interested in Greek mythology causing me to read other books on that subject. The chain can continue until you are on a new topic all together. I think with an open mind and a big imagination anything is possible in books.

Jordan G.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Emily’s favorite Subject

Art is my favorite subject because I love drawing, sculpting, and coloring.  I like drawing my thoughts on paper.  I can’t wait until we go back to Art class.  This year in Art we made gargoyles out of clay, I thought it was a interesting and a fun project.  I always loved art and always will.

Emily L

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Jay’s favorite subject

Spelling is my favorite subject because I’ve been a good speller all my life and know all the tricks words throw at you. Another reason I like spelling because I get good grades in spelling. Who doesn’t like good grades. Even though I don’t do that good on the pre-test I get awesome grades on the real test. Now you know why spelling is my favorite subject.

Jay G.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

My Favorite Subject

My favorite subject in school is definitely writing. Writing is my favorite subject because I enjoy being able to get my words out on paper. Someday I think it might even be fun to be an author. I also like how there isn’t only one way to write there are many different things you can write such as, poems, stories, etc. So now you know why writing is my favorite subject!

Anna B.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

My Favorite Subject

My favorite subject in 6th grade is social studies. I like this subject because in this unit we are doing the parade of Latin America and are presenting our Latin American countries, my country is the Dominican Republic. I enjoy studying this country because it’s interesting to see the types of differences between our two countries. I’m so glad I got the privilege to study this country.

Lexi H.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »