Stop Motion Academy Awards

Mrs. Holly Johnson’s 6^th Grade Quest Classes held their 1^st Annual Stop Motion Academy Awards. Students learned how to make an original stop motion film and created movies that shared something special to them. Stop motion takes lots of creativity and patience.  Students transformed the room and stepped out onto the red carpet. Family and friends helped us celebrate as we took them through the steps of what it takes to make a stop motion film. It was a great success and we look forward to seeing more productions from these bright students in the future. Please click on the film title to view student presentations. Hope you enjoy.

Ninja Discoveries

The Good Day

Russell's Story

Swan Lake

The Matthews' Family

Friends Forever

Rise of The Spooky Scary Skeletons

Happy Birthday  & Rainy Day

Fighting for Mars-Colony

Kristoff the Explorer

The Force

Short Film Collections

The Life of a Flower  &  A Normal Day

             The Wonderful Irish People  &  The Big Bad Blob

Stop Motion Animation  

Our 6th grade Quest classes are enjoying learning the art of making some great stop motion animations. We have spent some time understanding how this works and what it takes to make it great. Students are working hard and creating some awesome videos that will be an inspiration to others. Here are some pictures of the planning and scenery set up. We will post the links to the actual videos as we finish them. We learned quickly that this is an art that takes lots of patience and creativity. 

Getting Groovy with a New School Year!

MSP Quest is moving and grooving in style this year. Our class is excited about all of the things we will be doing in class. Here are a few pictures that show off our amazing work. 

Students worked collaboratively to save Fred. This was a great S.T.E.M. experience that the students really enjoyed. 

Quest is learning the art of computer programming. Code.org is a great website that allows students to practice this magnificent skill. 

Here are our Quest students working on Brain Stations.

We Did It!!

Today we ended our Quest Year with a celebration to the Yogurt Bucket. After working so hard this past semester, we enjoyed a sweet, cool treat. We have had a WONDERFUL year together!!!!

Restaurant Impossible and Sweet Genius Cook-Off Challenge

As we begin to wind down this Quest year, we dove into something that we have all been really interested in thus far. COOKING! Restaurant Impossible was a cool simulation where the students had inherited a family restaurant, but it was not in the best condition. Our Quest students had to save it before it went under. They were able to rename the restaurant and change anything they wanted with it. We ended up having some awesome restaurants and hopefully one day these ambitious students will really make it happen. Here are some pics from our presentations. 

Sweet Genius - Spring Edition was so much fun!!! Each student was given a brown bag with the same ingredients and had to create a tasty dessert for our judges. The students only had 30 minutes to create their dish. We had some wonderful and very tasty desserts.

MSP Quest Art Walk

Our 6^th grade Quest students at MSP hosted their first annual Art Walk entitled, “Over the Rainbow.” The students spent several weeks learning about artists from the past and how masterpieces can be created by using many different types of art mediums. The art walk featured abstract paintings, foil art, 3-D art pieces, clay sculptures, Ben Day Dots, sketch art, canvas paintings, and Origami. Each student worked very hard to make this year’s art walk a great success. Thank you to all who came. 

Young Author's Celebration - Field Trip

Mrs. Holly Johnson’s 6th grade Quest class enjoyed the day being able to meet and listen to authors and illustrators from around the area. This event called, “Young Author’s Celebration” took place at William Carey University, and each student experienced how to be their “Life’s Own Author.”

Prior to the trip, the Quest students spent several weeks writing their own stories that were special to them. The students went through the whole writing process and everyone published their own book.

This was a wonderful experience and gave each student the confidence they needed to realize that they can use their personal experiences to connect with others through stories. At the conclusion of the Young Author’s Celebration, students were given the chance to donate their books to the University that will be shared with many more children from other countries.

Quest Travel Agency

This week we have become Travel Agents, and each student is planning a unique and special vacation based on some pretend information they were given. The Quest students were given the family's budget, number of people, and interest. From there, they planned a 6 night and 7 day vacation. We have loved this simulation. We are now ready to book our own trip to see some neat places around the globe. 

The "AMAZE-ing" Marble Run

Our 6th grade Quest class put their puzzle skills to the test. Students were placed into groups of three and were asked to create a real hands-on maze that others could use to test their brain skills along with their ability to balance and use stability. Quest kids mapped out their mazes on paper making sure there was a final solution. From there, each group added different elements that made their maze teaser unique. Upon completing the sketch, the students used a box top and straws to create the actual maze. This was a fun and very thought out experience for each team member. After every group was finished, other teams tried to successfully complete the mazes. We had a great time. :-) 

Benefiting the Brain  

Today we spent some time really benefiting the brain and making it a bit of a friendly challenge. Our Quest students participated in three different brain games. 

1. Checkers 

2. Chess 

3. Mancala

We created a leader board and students paired off to set their best record. Once a student won a round, they marked their name on the leader board and took on their next opponent. The non-winner moves to the next brain game to refresh, refocus, and restart. The students loved this way of moving through beneficial brain games and getting a head start on this beautiful day. 

Everyday Idioms and QR Coding 

Today our Quest class had a little fun learning everyday idioms that we hear on a daily basis. But to make it a little more engaging, we used our QR code generator app on our lap tops to be our own detectives. The students loved this activity and the QR code app made it super fun. Not all of the idioms were easy, so deeper thinking was a must. Here are a few pics from our day of QR coding.