Bulldog Bulletin

Crockett 5GC’s First-Ever Science Hat Parade a STAARy Event

adviser — Thu, 03 May 2012 03:32:12 +0000

On Tuesday, April 24, heads all across Crockett 5GC were covered in the most amazing chapeaus, as the school staged its first ever Science Vocabulary Hat Parade! Bonnets to bowlers, ten-gallon toppers to stream-lined stovepipes, were all the rage as Crockett students used their heads (and hats) to prepare for their upcoming Science STAAR test. Students and teachers chose a science vocabulary term, illustrated it with some customized headgear, and then showed off their creations at a special assembly that afternoon. On Crockett crowns one could see the water cycle, animal habitats, sedimentary rock, herbivores, the states of matter, reflected light, and many more items straight from the science textbook.

Crockett Science Strategist Ms. Rodriguez shared some of her thoughts of the big event with the Bulldog Bulletin:
“The students spent two days choosing their favorite science vocabulary word and finding ways to express those words on hats! There were some amazing hats. Ones that lit up, some that reflected, and some that orbited! It was a huge success and a big thank you goes out to the teachers and students for doing such a great job!”

“Hats off” to Crockett’s fantastic science strategist, Ms. Rodriguez, for planning such a fun learning event!

Crockett G/T Students Have an Art-Full Day at the DMA

adviser — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 22:40:44 +0000

The students in Crockett 5GC’s Gifted/Talented program spent Tuesday of last week enjoying the sculpture and paintings at the Dallas Museum of Art. Accompanied by Crockett’s Advanced Academics specialist Mr. Hill, as well as Ms. Scruggs, Ms. Hall, and Ms. Rodriguez, the G/T students from all five of Crockett’s academic teams were given a guided tour of the Museum’s permanent collection of American art. For most of the students, it was their first visit to the art museum, and they were introduced to artworks ranging from a 3,000 year old sculpture carved by the Olmec peoples of central Mexico to one of the world’s most expensive (and largest) paintings, The Icebergs, by the 19th century landscape painter Frederic Church. Other highlights of the exhibit included a carved column from a Mayan temple, and a golden ceremonial mask made some 2,000 years ago in the Andes Mountains of Peru. After the students completed their tour inside the museum, they enjoyed an art activity outside in the museum’s tree-shaded courtyard. Museum volunteers provided the students with drawing paper and coloring pencils, and several students made nature etchings to take home. Some students went beyond the paper, and traced their etchings in the grey gravel of the courtyard, itself. The field trip ended with sack lunches in the museum’s Outdoor Sculpture Garden, and then back on the bus to Crockett 5GC just as the first raindrops of what would prove to be a very stormy afternoon began to fall.

The SGPHS Cheyennes Help Get Crockett Students Ready for STAAR

adviser — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 02:12:08 +0000

Crockett 5GC‘s Assistant Principal Chris “Bad Boy” Bayer found out Monday morning that you can run, but you can’t hide from Crockett’s outstanding student investigators as he was nailed and “arrested” for the recent “burglary” of Principal Suzy Meyer’s office. The “crime” was all part of Crockett 5GC’s recent Rotating Review activity, designed to prepare the Crockett students for this week’s STAAR reading and math tests. The Bulldog Bulletin has reports from two eyewitnesses, Crockett Principal Suzy Meyer and Staff Writer Ky’Azjah Price. Their accounts of Mr. Bayer’s crime and punishment follow.

Ms. Meyer: Crockett 5GC students were shocked Monday morning as they watched their beloved assistant principal, Chris Bayer, “arrested” by Officer Slater! The students were the crime solvers. This was the culminating event for the campus CSI activity – Crockett STAAR Student Investigators.
It all began on Monday, 2/27/12 when they started Math and Reading Rotating Review. They have practiced their problem solving skills, including collecting and charting data, making predictions and inferences, determining cause and effect, calculating area and perimeter, and many other academic concepts since then and were ready to implement them!
On Friday morning, 3/24/12, all Crockett students applied their problem solving skills to solve a mock crime – the theft of the school dance money. The perpetrator left several clues (foot prints, fingerprints, hair samples, thread from their clothes, candy wrappers from Ms. Meyer’s candy bowl, etc.). Each class had to run forensic tests and chart data…and eventually identify the criminal. Each class made “wanted” posters to display in the cafeteria, and the suspect (Mr. Bayer) was “arrested” early this morning.
At the Friday kick-off, the South Grand Prairie High School Cheyennes and SGPHS Criminal Investigation class visited Crockett 5GC. The Cheyennes gave an awesome performance, and the Criminal Investigation Class re-enacted a “crime”, then explained evidence gathering and other forensic strategies utilized to solve crimes. Crockett students participated in a Q&A session with the forensic students to sharpen their problem solving skills – which they then applied to solve our school crime.
Crockett students then spent the remainder of the day studying the evidence, taking notes, conducting forensic “tests”, charting evidence, and using their skills to solve this mystery.
Crockett 5GC is known as the “home of the best kids in the world”…every single one is a star and they are ready to prove it this week on STAAR Math and STAAR Reading.

Ky’Azjah Price: Do you know what CSI is? Of course, you do; Crockett Student Investigation. Well, during this time students have been going to different teachers every day, taking notes, and reviewing for the STAAR tests. The students have been working very, very hard. Everyone should pass. Some people might want to fail in order to stay a kid forever, but if you do, think about what it does for your future. Think of the STAAR as a ladder. You are trying to climb, but something’s holding you back. You check your work and you finish the ladder and graduate. Good luck!

Crockett’s Purple Dogs Team Goes All In With Project Based Learning

adviser — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 23:01:26 +0000

How can we increase the probability of a positive and successful learning experience at Crockett 5th Grade Center? Well, there’s only one way to answer that lengthy question. Two hard working classes (Mr. Barker and Ms. Wirth’s) have explored this problem by doing various activities in a learning style called Project Based Learning (PBL). In Project Based Learning, students solve problems by working together with other students, making many of their own decisions, using their problem-solving skills, and reaching conclusions based on their investigations. In PBL, teachers help guide the students, but don’t provide specific direction. In the recent Purple Dogs Team project, students in the two classes were divided into learning teams, each with its own name, such as the Angel Dogs, the Brilliant Crockett Crew, and the Storm Dogs. Each of the groups had a topic related to successful learning that they explored. The topics were service, work ethic, teamwork, and leadership.
To try to find out what role each of these topics play in successful learning, the student teams worked on data sheets, group discussion, compare and contrast papers, interviews, observations and PowerPoint slide shows. When doing interviews and observations, each team’s members chose Crockett 5GC staff members to help with their investigation. Once the teams gathered their information and formed their conclusions, they put their work into Power Point slide shows. When these slide shows were ready, the teams then practiced their final products, working on their speech skills, and then presented their findings to both classes. After each group made their case, it was decided that student learning needs all four elements to be successful!

Crockett’s Red Dogs Team Tours Dallas Arboretum

adviser — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 18:59:17 +0000

Recently, Crockett’s Red Dogs Team went on a class field trip to the Dallas Arboretum, the public gardens located next to White Rock Lake in East Dallas. The Arboretum was in the midst of their annual Fall Blooms show, with special displays and activities to celebrate the season. The Red Dogs Team was also able to participate in several outdoor science activities. Two Bulldog Bulletin staff members, Mauricio Alfaro and Javier Castro, were along on the trip and filed this exclusive report:

The Arboretum was a blast! We did tons of fun activities such as looking for insects in the soil, and making bracelets according to the plant cycle. We also saw a video of the plant cycle, and took time for a short adventure around the Arboretum. Some team members went inside Cinderella’s house, made all of pumpkins! We also rolled down a big hill next to the lake, which was fun.
After our morning sessions, we went to the picnic area and had lunch, which was very tasty! It was a bit windy, but being with our friends cheered us up. After lunch was done, we went to the Arboretum gift shop, and bought some awesome stuff! At last, we headed to the bus, and back to school we went. It had been a great day!

With Salute to Nerds, Crockett 5GC Celebrates College and Career Week

adviser — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 03:56:57 +0000

It was a day for horn-rimmed glasses and pocket protectors at Crockett 5GC on Tuesday as Crockett students and teachers (Is that you, Ms. Beckham?)celebrated College and Career Week with the first annual “Nerds Day, Going to College is a Smart Idea.” It’s all part of a fun week for Crockett Bulldogs, as they mark the importance of getting a college degree. It’s estimated that people who graduate from a college or university will make over a million dollars more over the course of their careers than people without, so Crocket students want to make sure their goals include a college degree. In the meantime, everyone was having fun being a “nerd” for a day!

Crockett Student Wins School Lunch Bike Raffle!

adviser — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 03:14:17 +0000

Extra! Extra! Free bike at Crockett! That was the news last week, as Crockett Green Team member Shi’Anne Gilaspie was the lucky winner of a free bike in Crockett’s School Lunch Bike Raffle. The second week of October is National School Lunch Week, and to mark the occasion, a bike raffle was held for Crockett students who have shown respect to others and exemplified good character in the first nine weeks of school. To be entered into the raffle, students must not have received an office referral, and they must have purchased a school lunch each day of the week.
Bulldog Bulletin Staff Writer Colton Mathews was there when Shi’Anne’s name was announced, and he filed this exclusive report and interview with the winner:
“On Friday Oct. 14th, the winner was announced. Her name was Shi’Anne Gilaspie. When I heard about the winner, I rushed down to the office. When I got there, everyone was there to see. As I was doing my interview, there were two classes at the door, and they were giving her thumbs up, and saying, ‘Good job!’ I was able to ask Shi’Anne some quick questions:
Bulldog Bulletin: How do you feel?
Shi’Anne: I’m Ok, but I’m nervous and surprised at the same time.
BB: How are you going to get your bike home?
Shi’Anne: I’m going to call my mom and ask her to come get it.
BB: What are your final thoughts?
Shi’Anne: It pays to come to school every day, and to eat a healthy school lunch!”
Congratulations to Shi’Anne, and have fun on that new bike!

Laura Ramirez, Staff Member

adviser — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 03:48:25 +0000

Hey, I’m Laura Ramirez and I am a student that likes to make adventures throughout my life. I am 10 years old, and was born in Los Angeles, California, and then moved here to Grand Prairie. My favorite hobbies are swimming dancing, drawing, singing, etc. I love animals and one day I will grow up and live with all kinds of animals. I have a ferret named Forest, two dogs named Happy and Chato, also a turtle named Lemmy. I have two siblings and my parents. I would like to travel the world with everyone I know. I hope you will enjoy the articles we write in the Bulldog Bulletin!

Journeé Strode, Staff Member

adviser — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 03:46:15 +0000

Hi! My name is Journeé Strode. When I grow up I will be America’s Next Top Model. My favorite color is hot pink, and most of my clothes are that color. My best friend is Jazyria; we have been friends since 2nd Grade. When I move into a house, the dog I’m going to get is a German Shepherd.

Colton Mathews, Staff Member

adviser — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 02:50:50 +0000

Hi, my name is Colton Mathews and I’m looking forward to being on the Bulldog Bulletin this year. I love to write, and play my guitar. I’m 11 years old, and math is my favorite subject in school.