Seventh Grade Olympics Held at PCMS

The 2010 Winter Olympics was the inspiration for a seventh grade project recently completed at Perry County Middle School. The project called, "Seventh Grade Olympics," brought the games to life for the students and extended their research beyond Vancouver.

All seventh grade communication arts classes participated in the assignment by completing extended research projects on the Olympics from ancient to modern games.

"Students could research any special event or athlete from any Olympics," said Jane Narrow, seventh grade communication arts teacher. "Students did projects on a variety of topics including the Olympic symbols and what they mean, where the Olympics have taken place, different Olympic events and athletes. The science class even did a "Metric Olympics" to coincide with this project. The students used a poster/display board to show their research and to share with the class. The students even wrote poetry about what they learned."

Students worked on their projects prior to and during the Olympics. "We wanted to have a meaningful conclusion to this research project," said Narrow, "so we held our own 'Olympic Games' as a culmination of the unit."

All seventh grade team-time classes participated in this event and they each had special names for their teams. Those participating included the Ninja Penguins, the Ninja Pirates, the Medieval Monkeys, X-Factors, the Flying Squirrels, the Stud Muffins and the Mad Volcanoes.

"We had a flag procession and opening ceremony just like the real Olympics," said Candy Mueller, seventh grade teacher. "Our team-time classes made their own flags and many dressed in matching shirts or had tee-shirts made for the event. We also had a torch made out of polymer that looked very realistic. A student representative carried it into the gym to begin the event. The kids worked hard to make this ceremony as special as possible."

Students were asked to sign up for the events they were competing in so that all students had a chance to participate. Events included:

Egg Curling -- push a hard cooked egg with a ruler down a track.

Cross Country Carpet Skiing -- shuffle across the gym floor on a piece of carpet.

Discus Throw -- toss a bean bag through a target.

Ding-Dong Hockey -- use an indoor hockey stick and have student try to shoot a Ding-Dong through the goal. The 'goalie' used kitchen oven mitts to block the shot.

Toboggan Race -- three students on scooter boards were pushed by a fourth student down the floor and around the cone and back with all participants staying on their boards.

Relay Races -- 1) hula hoop course; 2) sling-shot event; 3) crab walk; and 4) ice-cube race.

Winners of each event were presented with "gold" medals while the song "We Are the Champions" was played. "The kids learned a lot about the Olympics through their research projects and had a great time with the competition," said Narrow. "Any time the kids are motivated to learn and they have a good time doing it, it's a win-win situation."