www.smithclass.org

Class Intros
Participants 2012


Participants 2011
Photos from 2010


Russia


Scroll Down the Page to see the MONSTER PARTS 

Standards

(1)Step by Step Doing the Project

(2) New Teacher Suggestions.PDF

Monster Photos
This Year
2012


Stories and Media 2012

 

Names & Votes
See the List

Monsters 2012
Global Kids Working Together
Learning Content in a real Context
Instructional & Technology Standards
Lesson Plans by Monster Teachers


 

Welcome to Monster Central!
Join the Project and Collaborate on a Monster! 

Email: smithterryk@gmail.com
Twitter:  

Monster building time
ended: October 31


We have  a TOP Monster for 2012
Master Flykenstien from New Hampshire


We are an ongoing Community. Many Educators have been 
in the project for 5 years, some for over 10 years. 
New-comers are always Invited!

     The chart below will fill as classrooms choose their parts to design and describe.

What is this Project?

Elementary classes from the United States and around the world collaborate in this standards based project. After choosing a Monster part, each class writes a description of that part. After all descriptions have been sent in, each class builds its own MONSTER using everyone's descriptions from the table below. Students discover that designing and building a monster together is a very big job. It is a major lesson in working together and learning to compromise in a group decision process. For example, the kid responsible for the head has to plan with the kids doing the eyes, nose, neck, mouth, ears and hair. Kids get deliberate practice in collaboration to construct their class MONSTER. The result is satisfying proof that a community of kids can accomplish anything!! Elissa Gerzog began the project in the 1990's calling it Monsters Monsters Monsters© using e-mail as the main interface. I began running the project in 2000 and modified it to a web-based interface, which has grown to include podcasts, wikis, and video. In its current form, the project is known simply as Monsters. If this sounds like fun, please send an email and join - smithterryk@gmail.com. I am your host at Monster central, Dr. Terry Smith, assistant professor of education at Western Illinois University.

 


"I am beautiful!"

Sample descriptions

HEAD: circular, black, red dots,  blue triangles, 
diameter 18 inches

You may use up to 
12 expressive, creepy, cool, adjectives. Be sure to give size, shape, and color!
Cm or Inches!


Greetings from Pakistan -------- And to Pakistan! Serious Monster Makers!


 

SEE

Kids at Work
HEAR


Sizwe's Message from 
Kwazulu Natal, South Africa
PLAY

a Critical Thinking Monster game

MONSTER PARTS - CAN YOU SAY THE WORD SYNTHESIS?

[
See example descriptions from a previous project
2012 Descriptions      

1. ARMS - Ms. Gallico's & Ms. Meyer's 4th grades - River Valley School, Lemont, Illinois. 36 inches long, 12 inches wide, Tie dye bones, Transparent arm, Muscular, Sparkling spikes, Unicorn tattoo, Bloody

2. TOESMiss Stickelmaier & Mrs. Young, 3rd Grade, Canton Westview Elementary, Canton, IL: BLOGEach foot has twenty toes, short, chubby, red, pink, blue, green, hairy, ugly, sharp, pentagon-shaped with slimy scars

3. EYES Mr. Humble's 5th grade & Miss Morris'4th grade, St. Oswald's Primary, Burneside, Cumbria, England: (lower) Popping out of a square socket, gigantic glow-in-the-dark orange eye dripping with green slime (upper) Iris rainbow-coloured, 13 black circular pupils, different sizes in centre. Eyeball hexagon-shaped, bigger than lower eye. [vertical placement]

4. EARS - Ms. Thonn, Hately, and Cikowski's 4th grades - River Valley School, Lemont, Illinois. Hairy, Warty, Fat, Slimy, Midnight blue, Pointy, Waxy, Huge, Bloody, Spikey, Smelly, French-fry-like

5. NECK -  Mr. Greenberg's 2nd grade, The Brainwaves, Columbus School, Bridgeport, Connecticut: Neck-12 inches long with red and white horizontal stripes or rings around the neck.

6. ELBOWS  - Maureen Gibbons’ 3rd Grade, Jaworek Elementary School, Marlborough, Massachusetts: Make fuzzy five inch blue spherical elbows dotted with orange gooey slime.

7. HEAD - Mrs. Berkman's 5th Grade Core Connections Classes at Voyager Academy in Durham, NC - BLOG - peanut-shaped, 26 in tall, 14 in wide at top & bottom, 10 in wide in middle, red, slimy, scar-covered

8. TAIL - Mrs. Cody's 6th/Mrs. Breheny's Kindergarten, St. Paul School, Macomb, Illinois. : Spiky, Fiery, rainbow, purple and pink fluffy spots, silky, sparkly, golden, wrap around, white and blue snowflakes, 4 feet long by 1 foot wide

9. NOSE - Miss Alder's 1st grade, St. Oswald's Primary, Burneside, Cumbria, England: Long, purple pointed nose with massive, hairy nostrils and lots of red spots. The nose also has lots of disgusting, green snot dripping out of it.

10. FINGERSMr. Garrett Ferguson's grade 4 - Lafayette Regional,  Franconia, New Hampshire: 3 on each hand, turquoise sharks 8 inches long as fingers with open mouths, all the sharks from all the hands biting into one World

11. LEGS - Mrs. O’Brien & Mr. Dickinson's- 4th Grade Westview Elementary, Canton, IL: Four legs, 4 ft long x 1 ft wide, (each leg is different) Leg 1-bloody armor, Leg 2-infested & slimy, Leg 3-sparkly zebra print, and leg 4-orange with black spikes

12. TEETH - Ms. Halbert’s 3rd grade - J. Fithian Tatem Elementary Haddonfield, New Jersey - BLOG(4 in all): 2 Cone shaped (2in wide, 3 in long) moldy, butter-yellow with blue flecks, a hole in one with a slimy spider-worm coming out. 2 “J” shaped (3 in wide, 9 in long) silver with a red-tip, ridged & jagged.

13. BODY - Ms. Tarasevich's Class -Abanskaya Secondary School 3 - Krasnoyarsk Territory, Russia: 1 meter long, Pear shape, green, fluffy, sticky, sticked with bugs, snakes and lizards

14. LIPS - Jenny Kopp's Class, Miriam School, St. Louis, Missouri - BLOG - Bloody mess, Scary stitches, Porky Pine Sharp. Wet, Blotchy, Chapped, Pink and Green lips, Gigantic, Brown dots on lips, Lopsided 

15. FEET - 4th grades - Mrs Lulek, Mrs. Feltz & Mrs. Boyce - River Valley School, Lemont, Illinois: 3 ft x 1 ft, rectangular shaped with rounded edges, Green with black polka-dots, 5 bloody cuts,7 stitches on each, brown hair, 3 rainbow spikes on the heels

16. HAIR -  Mrs. Allen's 4th grade classes, Cathedral of St. Raymond School, Joliet, Illinois: spikey, orange-flamed, spider-filled, snake-infested, mohawk hair with long sideburns

17. KNEES - Miss Huseman's 4th grade, Eugene Field Elementary, Hannibal, Missouri.: Heart shaped, "I Love MOM" tattoo; Your country's flag; Four inch blue spike; Bloody ear shaped with handcuff earring.

18. MOUTH - Miss Smethurst's Reception Class, St. Oswald's Primary, Burneside, Cumbria, England: mouth is as wide as the monsters face and shaped like a cow

19. BELLY BUTTON - Mrs. Nairn's grade 2, Harold Hatcher Elementary, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: hairy, green, circle the size of an apple, smelly with warts & goo on the outside, bloody with bugs, a zombie head inside it.

20. HORNS - Mrs. Kern's & Mrs. Rush's 4th grade - West Prairie North Elem., Good Hope, IL: Horn1: 2 ft x 5 in. twisted, snow-camouflaged, shards going up. Horn 2: 11 in x 5 in, neon orange, bloody, broken, dripping flotsam, with PBR (professional bull riding) buckle on a drop tine.

21. NECKLACE - Ms. Broekamp-Hall's 2nd grade,  
Randall Carter School,Wayne, NJ: - 10 green bony fingers with 1 brown wart on each; fingernails alternate blood red/bat black; bloodshot orange eyeball between each finger
22. BELT -  Dr. T Smith, Monster Central, Western Illinois University: 6 inches wide, yellow, jack-o-lantern buckle with red-eyed spider in center of buckle.
23. WINGS -  Mrs. Kleist & Mrs.Wasik's multiage 1st/2nd grades - Westgate Elementary, Arlington Heights, Illinois: Bat shaped smooth-like-silk - wingspan 6 feet, Yellow & red stripes blue stars,10 baseball-sized furry cheetah print spikes, rainbow sparkles on each wing, Pink sparkles evenly placed all over wings 24. HANDS - Miss Ewing & Mrs. Brakenbury's 4th grade, Monmouth Central,  Monmouth, Illinois.: Hexagon shaped - left: silver, orange, black; right: green, silver, Big, fat; hairy, slimy, warts, cheetah print, zigzags
25. EARRINGS - Mrs.Kazakova’s  Class, 4th grade, Abanskaya School 3 – Aban, Russia: Skull and crossbone earrings. White, black and flat. Round.Size:  15 cm round, bloody earthworm coming out skull’s mouth, two blood drops on the bones  26. JET SKI - Tina Fink, 5th grade math & science, Our Lady Queen of Heaven School in Lake Charles, Louisiana: 4 ft long ; 1.5  ft wide; gold and purple body; crinkly or crumply texture; black handle bars 5 inches long and 2 inches wide; blue streamers 18 in long on each handle bar
27. TONGUE - Mr. Simonsen's math class, Colonel Mitchell Paige Middle School, LA Quinta California: The tongue is a really long and twisted, blood stained, zombified, with a dead fly and an evil eye. 28. CELL PHONE Ms. Delila Heinrichs, Gr.2, Harold Hatcher Elementary, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: made of diamonds, flip phone, large 60cm x 90cm, rectangular, rough, dirty, monster flowers on top, slimy, smelly, heavy, spider webs on it, cracked screen
29. iPAD - Ms. Stoolman & Mr. Doerfler, 3rd grade,Yangon International School (YIS), Yangon, Myanmar: Circular, pitch black with crimson droplets with gold sparkles and bumpy Diameter = about 9 inches, Circumference = about 27 inches
(See our bio for iPad Apps.)
30. XBOX - Mrs. Baker's 4th grade reading class, Valdese Elementary, Valdese North Carolina: 3 ft. tall, black robot, web covered limbs, wires sticking out, green slimed

31. WRIST WATCH  - Ms. Matsumoto’s Grade 1, Bernie Wolfe Community School,Winnepeg, Manitoba, Canada: digital, rainbow strap, spikes on the strap because that is scary, smooth strap, square face, bumpy face, about the size of a juice box (even though it’s not really square)

32. SUSPENDERS - Mrs. Chiang's 1st grade, Stevens Creek Elementary, Cupertino, California: Slimy rainbow stripped disgusting suspenders with shiny red spikes (? in wide)

33. NOSE RING  - Mrs. Daemmrich's 4th Grade, Blog - St Mary's Visitation Parish School, Elm Grove, Wisconsin: diamond shaped, 2 inches from top to bottom, made of bone,  spiked purple mace ball on the lower point of the diamond shape 34. EYE GLASSES - Mrs. Voyles 2nd Grade, Saint Edward's School, Vero Beach, Florida: funky, 3-D, oval, bright, multi- colored, scary, glittery, sideways, pointy-edged, crazy glasses with 3”tall and 5” across lenses
35. TOE NAILS  - Kimberly Brown, Teacher
George Lee School, Saskatchewan, Canada:
- Disgusting, gross, slimy, purple with green spots and look like curly fries!
36. PASSPORT - Mr. Dziedzic’s 1st Grade, Kang Chiao Bilingual School, New Taipei City, Taiwan: old, ugly, dirty, sticky, yellow, brown, messy, yucky, smelly, little, thin, wet
37. Cup of TEA - Stephanie Finley’s 4th grade, Brixham Montessori Friends School, York, Maine: round, 12 in diameter, olive green, black speckled, bloody, slimy, rusty, moldy, smelly, lumpy 38. FRIENDSHIP RING - Nathalie Roy - grades 5, Kanata, Ontario, Canada: Gold, green slimey dots, too big for the fingers symbols & letters engraved: "eye" luv Monsterella.  1 precious stone,  4 dangling charms: 1 skull, 1 bone, 1 heart,1 bell
39. CANE  - Mrs. Nation's,Mrs. Oursler's & Miss Friel's 4th grades, West Prairie South Elementary, Colchester, IL. 4.5 feet tall, 8 inches wide, curved at top, black at the top, zebra striped in the middle, flames at the bottom, dripping lava, scaly, slimy,  moldy, cobweb-covered, googly-eyed 40. SKATEBOARD Mr. Fehrenbacher's 4th and 5th grade Reading and Writing Class, Churchill Elementary, Oswego. IL : 2ft wide by 3ft, 3 inches thick, rectangular, circular wheels/blood red, two rockets attached at back, shark fin on rear top, Top: black with eyeballs, Bottom: rainbow colored
41. TOE RING  - optional 42. EAR BUDS - Mrs. McGuire's 4th grade, Eugene Field Elementary, Hannibal, MO: small, round inside; shiny gold star shaped outer with skinny silver tube wiring

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History of Monster Names



Frank says,
"What class will it be in 2012?



Master Flykenstien 


Mr. Ferguson's Class in New Hampshire



Fiesta Foo Foo the Dragon Dude 11 (New Hampshire)
Tokoloshi-Afrika 10 (South Africa)
Wee Nit Wit 09 (New Hampshire)

Chucky 08 (Connecticut) 
Bilbatauri Nussa Chauri 07 (Pakistan)
Boo Hoo the Foo 06 (Virginia)
Bling Monster-G 05 (England)
Devil of Doom 04 (New York)

Big Daddy 03 (Missouri)
Mean Green Star Machine 02 (Texas)
Cuckamunga 01 (New York)
Double-Decker-Bushmonster 00 (S. Africa)
Frankenspots 99 (Texas)

 

Link to Past Monster Name Lists

2012 Monster Names  Votes
1. Steve - Grove, Wisconsin  7
2. Slimy Sticky Smelly Big Nose Samuel - Lake Charles, Louisiana 16
3. Mr. Green - Kanata, Ontario, Canada 29
4. Fergus - Macomb, Illinois 13
5. Dr. Slimy Long-legged Frankin Beneeny - Canton, Illinois 8
6. Bakkajuju - Berneside, Cumbria, England 48
7. El Geezer Biscuit Bot - Berneside, Cumbria, England 18
8. Abbagabba - Berneside, Cumbria, England 35
9. Optimus Grime - Bridgeport, Connecticut 11
10. Mr. Mundo Mondo Monster Mark - Marlboro, Massachusetts 3
11. Master Flykenstien - New Hampshire 109
12. Maddy Monster Lado - Yangon, Myanmar 5
13. Wooty Wooty Ga Ga - York, Maine 6
14. Mr. J. T. Puvuvaled - Good Hope, Illinois 28
15. Jake - Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada 4
16. Mr. Newcomer - Abanskaya School 3, Aban, Russia 9
17. Mr. Mr. Hubberflube - Lemont, Illinois 4
18. Miilie Jack-2012 - Abanskaya School 3, Aban, Russia 17
19. Monty the Monster - Lemont, Illinois 3
20. Mr. Chubby McChubster -  Lemont, Illinois 31
21. David Freese - Canton, Illinois  3
22. Hodgepodge - St. Louis, Missouri 9
23. Craman Spikus Stichabobbo - Durham, North Carolina 1
24. Fuzzy Bunny - Durham, North Carolina 9
25. Count Fluffaladuffa - Durham, North Carolina 3
26. Bobo McCringleberry - Durham, North Carolina

3

27. Count Snuffaluphagus - Durham, North Carolina 5
28. Spike - Cupertino, California 8
29. No No Yes - Taipei, Taiwan 10
30. Hancock - Valdese, North Carolina 5
31. Dr. Bones - Monmouth, Illinois

4

32. Blue Raven - Lemont, Illinois 7
33. Monster of the Night - Colchester, Illinois 3
34. Twisted Tongue - La Quinta, California 4
35. Fangy - Cupertino, California 1
36. Mr. Scary Bob - Arlington Heights, Illinois 7
37. Monsteropolis - Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

3

38. Sandy Survivor- New Jersey survivors of Hurricane Sandy

72

39. Billy Bob Joe - Lemont, Illinois 3
40. Big Fat Toe Eater - Hannibal, Missouri 9
41. Mr. Jacslimchat Monster - Hannibal, Missouri 2
42. Big Diddy Bug - Oswego, Illinois 7
43. Big Stevie Smalls - Joliet, Illinois 7
44. Mahiko - Berneside, Cumbria, England 21

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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