Middle school students connect to book with marbles game
Students gather around for a championship-level match of marbles at the media center. Sixth grade students read a book about marbles and then played marbles to draw a connection.
October 5, 2017
At Bellwood-Antis, it is not uncommon for teachers to take lessons to the next level, making them more fun for students. The sixth grade reading classes are no exception.
Among the many stories read and analyzed in the sixth grade classrooms of Mrs. Dee Trexler and Mrs. Lauren Wagner, one is “The Marble Champ” by Gary Soto. The story follows a shy introverted girl named Lupa who mustered the courage to enter her class marble championship. In the end, Lupa’s perseverance and dedication to the game earned her the title of Marble Champion.
What better way to staple this story in students’ minds than to hold a marble championship of their own? That’s just what they did last Friday in the media center.
“The students were actively engaged in the activity and could connect with the characters in the story after competing in a similar manner,” said Mrs. Trexler.
With the help of media center advisor Mr. Tim Trexler and his assistants, Mrs. Trexler and Mrs. Wagner’s Reading Classes were entered into a marbles bracket, which was displayed virtually on the white board in
“Students really had a blast!” said Mrs. Trexler.
The competition took up an entire class period, and in the end, Chris Walls emerged the champion.
“It felt good to beat everyone else,” said Chris.
Mr. Trexler was happy to see the result of having the students do this hands on activity.
“Being able to bring them to the media center with the space capacity, the virtual bracket that they could all see, it just proves that the media center is being utilized for it’s purpose.”
