Quite a Year!

This has been an amazing year with great projects, great fun, and great learning! The best part is working with the Excel students and seeing them grow in problem solving and higher level thinking! It is a joy to watch!
Have a great summer, everyone!

A huge THANK YOU to H. V. for putting this year's final stories together after interviewing many students, writing the stories, and posting them on the GT Blog. H.V. may be a "budding" journalist! Great Job, H.V.

Mrs. Erbentraut

A Second Opinion

C.D., a member of the 4th grade Academic Excel, sure had a lot to say about her group. "We do alot," she says. "So far this year we've done a play and researched animals: lots of fun!" C.D. says. "I like Excel because it gives me something to do throughout the day and something to look forward to during the week." C.D. says,"Oh, and Mrs. Erbentraut is an amazing teacher too."

Sounds like C.D. really enjoys 4th grade Academic Excel!

Get a Job!

This year in 7th grade Academic Excel, we've done alot of great projects," K.C. says about her year in the Academic Excel group. "They're really fun to do. That's why I like Excel."
7th grade Academic Excel sounds great. I'd definitely want to get recommended for this group. "This year we did a Roomies project,"says K.C. "That was the best!" The students had to get a job, make a food budget, buy a car, and decide on having a pet or not along with many other adult choices.

Well, 7th grade Academic Excel sounds fantastic! What a great group!

We're on our way to Math 24! Oh, and don't forget your Dream Room blueprints.

"This year in 6th Grade Math Excel, we've done a variety of projects," says H.V, a member of the group. "We have participated in the Math 24 Competition, a fun and exciting math game which consists of a 4 number puzzles and is lots of fun. We have also been working on a dream room design. We got to design and then build our very own dream rooms!" she says. Sounds GREAT! "I liked Math 24 the best. It was the most interesting project ever! And I got a high score at the competition too," H.V tells. "I love it!"


Sounds like the 6th Grade Math Excel has had a pretty amazing year. Math 24 and Dream Room Design sound fun!

The 7th Grade Battle Cry!

"In 7th Grade Academic Excel, we've done lots of great projects," says M.T, a member of the group. "Right now, we are building a medieval battle field as our end of year project. It's really a good time," he says. However, this isn't the best part of Excel for M.T. "I like how we can do pretty much anything we want to at Excel... When it comes to projects. We have no limits, no boundaries. We can expand our creativity to whole new levels. It is GREAT!" he says.


Well it sounds like the 7th Grade Excel had a great year!

A Great Debate

M.M and S.P are both part of the debate project in 8th Grade Academic Excel."This year, the debate was my favorite project," says S.P. "I also like hanging out with others in the group. We can all have a laugh," she also tells. M.M also shared his favorite parts of Excel. "We all get to work together to achieve one specific goal," he says. "It's a lot of team building, I find it fun." S.P and M.M think Mrs. Erbetraut is a great teacher too, and Excel gives them something to look forward to during the week!
Sounds like a great debate!

Brushlets, Bracelets, and Sing A Songs. Can It Get Any better?

B.B and E.S are both members of the 8th Grade Academic Excel group at Randall. "This year we've done a lot in Excel. There are the brushlets, send-a-songs, friendship bracelets, and so much more!" they say. "I really like making the stuff, " B.B says. "I like the freedoms we get and hanging out with friends," says E.S. "And we can't forget about the candies Mrs. E gives us at the end of class!" they say.


Sounds like fun!

The Wonderful Days of 4th Grade

E.H, J.B and L.C are all participants in the 4th Grade Academic Excel group. "This year we did alot of fun projects," they say. "One of them is a futuristic city," say L.C. "Another was the play we did,"says E.H. So, why do they like it? Well, that was an easy to answer question. "We get to skip class, build some cool stuff and show off our tecniques," says J.B. "And we have a blast doing it!" L.C and E.H also added that Mrs. Erbentraut is a great teacher and that they like to hang out with friends.


That sounds like some great fun guys!

Working On Logic

"5th Grade Math Excel is GREAT!" says S.O. "It's my favorite class! I wish I had it more than once a week!" she says. "This year we have been working on logic cards. The problems are challenging, but we have a good time with them. They're really odd questions, with surprising answers, but Mrs. E explains them well!" S.O tells about the 5th Grade Math Excel group. "Oh, I almost forgot, Mrs. Erbentraut is a really good teacher too! It has been a great year!"


Wow that sounds fun! They must have a really great time! I would definitely want to be nominated for that group!

Math-OPOLY!!!

"This year in Math Excel, we've done lots of great different projects," says S.V about the 3rd Grade Math Excel group. "We have lots of fun with math, and we get to have a laugh over our games and ideas. It's pretty exciting!" he says. This year we've played the game Mancala, a puzzle game called Rush Hour, and we're making math oriented board games. They're sort of like Monopoly, but they are having to do with math. I like to play the games and hang out with my friends. I mean, it's the best part of Excel!" S.V tells. "We have LOTS of fun with math in Excel!"
Sounds like it has been a great year for the 3rd Grade Math Excel! They've had lots of fun!

3...2...1... Blast Off!

E.D was pretty busy, so his interview went by quick. However, he did give us some pretty interesting information about the rockets project that the 8th Grade Academic Excel is doing. "I really like the rocket project," he says. "It's great. It covers one of the few topics I actually know about, and it helps me expand my knowledge about it," he says. "Well, that's pretty much all I have to say," E.D tells.
Maybe you could stop in sometime and check out the rocket! They sound really cool! Get ready to blast off with this awesome 8th Grade Excel project!

The Slime Factory

J.S was part of the "slime" project 8th Grade Academic Excel is doing. "Wow the slime profect is fun,'" says J.S. Making it, playing around with it, I have a good time!" she says. Sounds neat J.S! "Once we make the slime, kids at Randall are allowed to purchase plastic baggies of it. The slime comes in the colors blue, green, purple and red," she says. "I like being at Excel, and Mrs. Erbentraut is fun to be with too," J.S adds.
The slime project sounds like A LOT of fun! I might just have to come down and buy a bag!

City Construction

D.S and R.F are both participants in the 5th Grade Academic Excel program at Randall. "This year we're doing a city project," they say. "We each built a building to put in the city, and then we got to present the creation to other grade levels." Sounds like fun! "I like building these projects, I have a great time," says R.F. "D.S and I think that it's a lot of fun to get out of class and do cool projects with Mrs. Erbentraut. It's the best part of Excel!" they tell.
Wow! It sounds like they can't even describe how much fun 5th Grade Academic Excel is! D.S and R.F must have a great time.

Battle of the Businesses

"The 6th Grade Academic Excel has had a great year, and there's still more to come!" say R.D and S.D. "We've done lots of great projects; Monopoly, CSI Bootcamp, Business Building. We go on great trips too." R.D says his favorite part of Excel this year was CSI Bootcamp. "It was great," he says. "We learned lots of interesting things." S.D says her favorite part was brainstorming ideas. "It's fun and it makes me feel smart!" she says. "We get to hang out with friends and miss class too."
This year, this Excel's end of the year project was business building. "We're making items to sell to younger kids," say S.D. The groups are also competing. "We're divided into 4 groups, and the group that earns the most tickets for their items wins!" She also says, "It's a great experience! I hope our group wins!"
Well I guess that sums up the year for the 6th Grade Academic Excel. What's not to like about such a fun class?