CDO Revising Strategy

John Rosinski (co-teacher in the Warner LA class; resource teacher for the team) and I got to attend a co-teaching conference last week.  Conferences are always such an inspirational time.  You pick up a lot of ideas, get to meet other teachers doing the same thing as you and get to spend time with colleagues you may not get to see on the regular (Angela Nigliazzo and Elyse Martinson were with us!).  We learned a lot about co-teaching methods and picked up some great ideas for our writing class.  One of our favorites you may have seen the kids using at home this week: CDO Revising.

With CDO Revising, the kids go through a three step process for each sentence of their work:

1. Compare: Does this sentence match what I really want it to mean?
2. Diagnose: What is the problem?  (too long, too short, missing words, unclear...)
3. Operate: How will I fix my sentence? (write more, break it up, re-write...)

Each day in class, we've practiced this method with one paragraph of our literary argument essays. Students have practiced using the method independently and with a partner.  Partner work with this method can be especially helpful because partners don't know what you meant to say.  They can help pick up errors that your brain allows you to miss.

Each evening, we've assigned the kids to try the method again with a part of the informational writing they've completed for their Characteristics of Civilizations projects.  We're hoping this method become a lifelong strategy they are comfortable using again and again.

Characteristics of Civilizations

Students have completed their research for a civilization of choice, and they have written sections for a book about their civilization based on that research.  We are currently working on revising that writing.  Next week we will begin the editing process.

In groups, students are creating "experiences" for the class.  These experiences are based on their research, but they will allow visitors to experience the ancient civilization in a meaningful way. Visitors will be able to walk through an Egyptian tomb, tour the Great Wall of China, participate in a scavenger hunt, visit the Greek Agora (marketplace) and so many other things!  Here's a peak into the work they've been doing to prepare their experiences:

A student creates a sign for his ancient China experience.

Students work together to write a script for a game show they will
film, edit and present.

Students work together to make a model of the Roman Colosseum.

A student works with Ms. Dolkart to cut cardboard for an ancient
Egyptian artifact.

A student works on an image for the wall of his group's Egyptian
tomb.

A student works on making a replica of a flag for her Roman experience.

A student creates a necklace for her group's Egyptian tomb.

A student shows off her Greek wardrobe.

What has impressed me the most so far is the amount of stamina and perseverance the kids have shown!  Our work days have been long, but each day when it's time to clean up I hear, "That's all the time we've got today?!"  I don't have every supply that they will need, and supplies get forgotten at home, but that hasn't stopped a single group.  Students have done a great job reaching out to Mr. Greenman, Mr. Weir, Ms. Wild and Ms. Antman to get necessary supplies and workspace.  They've been very helpful and kind to one another.  It's awesome to see them come together as such a community of learners!

You are welcome to join us for our experiences on Thursday, May 4th.  Please let me be very up front with you: this is going to be organized chaos and not what you're used to when you come to our room.  The kids have worked very hard, but due to the nature of their experiences, there is no way to put exact times on the group presentations themselves.  So, to that end, please come if you can, but bring your open-mindedness and patience!

• Warner Advisory Experiences: Thursday, May 4th from 10:00-11:30
• Barbaro Advisory Experiences: Wednesday, May 3rd from 1:45-2:45 OR Thursday, May 4th from 1:45-2:45
• Egypt, China and Rome will be Wednesday
• India and Greece will be Thursday

A Book Recommendation: Powerless by Matthew Cody

It's a little bit realistic fiction, a little bit superhero sci-fi, and it's all fun!  When Daniel moves to Noble's Green, he's very aware that something is different with the kids there.  He soon learns that superpowers are real, but will the kids be able to use their superpowers for the right reasons?  "With great power comes great responsibility."  It's a great read, and it's a series!

Perfect Timing!

Spring break certainly seems to come at just the right time, doesn't it?  This will be a short post as I don't want to waste anyone's precious spring break moments.  I hope you've all had an amazing break with your kids.  I know we've had lots of fun and relaxation in our household.  Here's what we've been up to in our classroom:

Argument Writing

All students have now completed the District 36 Argument Writing Pre-Assessment.  For the pre-assessment, students were asked to read three articles and watch one video.  They took notes while they read and watched, and then they pre-wrote to make a plan for an argument essay.  Students had ample time to do their best writing in their essays.  This pre-assessment will be used to help me plan the unit lessons, and it will be a great tool to use to see the growth the students make as they learn more and more about argument writing.

We've been preparing ourselves for the argument unit by participating in mini-debates.  The week before spring break, students read, analyzed and debated multiple topics.  For each debate, they had to be prepared to argue in favor of either side.  This is to prepare them for the "counter-claim" they'll be responsible for in seventh grade.  After each debate we debriefed to discuss the different debate tactics used, best arguments our opponents made and how it felt to argue a side you don't personally support.  Here's a peek into the debates:

For the debate, we practice being civil, talking with
our hands but not at our opponent, and listening
to understand.

One important way we learn the structure of argument is through a mock trial.  During the PARCC (see schedule in email) testing window, students will be putting together a mock trial of The Lorax by Dr. Seuss.  For the trial, we're looking for jurors.  If you can join us for the entirety of the trial and deliberate with the other jurors at the end, please sign up to be on the jury!  Both trials will be on Wednesday, April 12th.  Warners will be from 9:50-10:37; Barbaros will be from 10:48-11:35.

Characteristics of Civilizations Research

We continued our research of the characteristics of civilizations right up to spring break.  On Monday, March 20th, we visited the Winnetka Public Library.  They have so much to offer!  Students were able to browse their book collection, and we learned about their online databases.  The databases were really helpful, and you don't need to be at the library to access them.  If you (or your child) has a library card, you can access them from your computer at home!

This amazing resource tool will come in handy as students continue to finish their research over the two weeks after spring break at home, before school, at lunch and during RISE time (when we have it).  We do not have anymore time to research in class, so students will need to do the rest of their research on their own time and be prepared to move on with the project on April 17th.

Stress! Stress! Stress!

Kelly Keane, our school social worker, comes to work with the kids once a week through our LA and math blocks.  Each week she focuses on social emotional topics that feel important to sixth graders. Most weeks the kids participate kindly and then move on.  This week was a little different.

This week's topic was stress.  The minute the topic was shared, the room changed.  The kids were still kindly participating, but there was a new level of engagement.  All eyes were on Ms. Keane. Everyone had something to say.  The kids shared about stress making them feel anxious, like they have a bag of weights on their shoulders, like they can't get their mind to focus...  Everyone admitted they had felt physical, mental, emotional and behavioral signs of stress.  We all shared a moment when we looked around the room to see that stress affects everyone.

Stress at this time of year is normal for a sixth grader.  They've just visited Washburne, and that new endeavor has become very real.  They have a million questions about teams, the building, exploratory classes.  This time in their lives is filled with friendship ups and downs, changing groups, and lots of questions about who's going to stick with them through thick and thin.  It's a time when team sports start to become more and more competitive; suddenly it's not always okay to just love the game-you've got to be good.  All of this is compounded by the time of the school year we're in.  Homework is increasing, classwork is becoming more demanding, and we're in "testing season".  Just when the kids need to be the most present, their minds are drawn away to all these stressors.

So, what can we do?  Well, Ms. Keane's discussion this week focused on the signs of stress.  Her next discussion will lead the kids into coping mechanisms.  We'll have time to practice coping with stress in healthy ways.  We take time to discuss and work through these stressors with kids on a daily basis. Everything is a learning experience, and we're happy to help.  If you notice your son/daughter is feeling stressed, don't shy away from asking questions and helping him/her plan ways to cope.  Also, it's great to share your stressors and how you cope with your kids (as long as your coping mechanism is healthy;).  We share our stories with them all the time so they can see that the practice they're doing now will transfer to "real life" and help them later.  And, as always, please don't hesitate to get us involved!  We're always here to help.

Nonfiction Text Structures

Through our integrated LA/SS unit, Characteristics of Civilization, we're learning about common text structures you might find in piece of nonfiction text.  We focused our attention on: Question & Answer, Problem/Solution, Compare & Contrast, Parts, All About, Cause/Effect and Start to Finish. After learning the characteristics of these types of texts, students headed to their Junior Scholastic magazines to hunt for examples.  On Thursday, Ms. Bozikis, joined the Warner advisory to offer word clues for each structure, and those will be added to our characteristic signs in the classroom.

As students have begun their research, they've been challenged to identify the type of text they're reading.  Students are realizing that knowing the type of text gives them a sort of road map to the text, making it easier to read.  If they can identify the text structure, they can more easily know what the author means to say.  Students are also gathering examples of each of the text structures so that they will have them as mentor texts when they have to write their own pieces after they research.

Nonfiction Reading Strategies

Through our current events work, we've been reviewing what strong readers of nonfiction notice and note as they read.  Starting next week, you'll notice that students are now being asked to annotate the articles they're reading to prepare for our current events discussions.  This week, we practiced annotating together.

Strong nonfiction readers notice:

• When an author uses a word or phrase that is unfamiliar
• When an author contradicts or contrasts something they know as readers OR something said earlier in the text
• When an author quotes an expert or authority
• When an author includes statistics or exact numbers
• When an author uses extreme or absolute language

Once they've noticed these things, strong readers of nonfiction ask questions to try to figure out what they can about the meaning of the text, the author's purpose and what they can infer.  Then they jot notes in the margins of the text to help them record their thinking.

Students will continue to practice annotating in their current events reading.  They will also be annotating the articles they're reading in science with Mrs. Barbaro.

Book Recommendation: A Scary List from Mrs. Gordon

Every week we get to visit Mrs. Gordon in the library!  She gives us great reading suggestions each week.  This past week, in the Barbaro advisory, she focused on scary books.  Many of the kids seemed interested, so I thought I'd share her list with you in case your child likes to be frightened! Read if you dare...

• Three Days by Donna Jo Napoli
• Terror at Bottle Creek by Watt Key
• The Stone Child by Dan Poblocki
• Life as We Knew It  by Susan Beth Pfeffer
• The Big Dark by Rodman Philbrick

Thank You for the Support!

There are certain things that happen in a classroom that need a lot of support.  As we completed the zoo projects this week, we were reminded just how fortunate we are to have the support of so many! From the parents who joined us in the freezing Arctic cold of our Brookfield visit, to the great team of teachers we have at Skokie, to the students who trust us with their learning, to the administrative team that gave the thumbs up to 20 cardboard cutters and glue guns and paint going at once, we've been truly supported through this whole project.

We couldn't have done the zoos without our parents (that's you!).  When we needed chaperones for a trip to the zoo in mid-December, you supported us.  When we reached out to you to ask for assistance at home for our students who were struggling to finish research, you supported us.  When we needed all hands on deck for the zoo build days, you supported us.  When we opened our doors for zoo presentations and visitors, you supported us.  And these are just the supports that were visible!  We know how many hours of supporting your students undoubtedly went on "behind the scenes" in order to pull off a project like this, and we thank you!

We couldn't have done the zoos without the students we have this year.  Our students embarked on this journey with us and showed complete faith at every turn.  We asked them to complete challenging tasks: the math was difficult, the notetaking was tedious, the writing required precision. They stuck with us every step of the way.  These kids showed a lot of grit.  They put in extra time and extra effort at every turn.  Students came in early for everything from writing help to hot-glue assistance and everything in between.  Many groups set up times to meet in the art room in order to add extensive details to their zoos.  We know how many extra hours went into making these zoos a reality, and we can't thank our students enough!

Finally, we couldn't have done the zoos without the awesome support systems we have at Skokie. Mr. Weir and his tech team in the Marker's Lab were a critical part of this journey.  We learned about effective Internet searching, Lego 3-D building and Adobe Spark Page from him.  The tech team was always available to help troubleshoot.  It's also amazing to work in a building where your colleagues and administrators support your efforts so much.  The number of teachers who stopped by to lend a helping hand (Mr. Greenman was in almost daily once the building started) and showed their support by bringing their classes to see the finished products was inspiring.  We cannot thank our colleagues and administration enough for allowing this thought to grow wings and fly!

The final projects were nothing short of stunning!  We thank you for taking this journey with us.  We are so proud of the accomplishments of the students!

Social Studies Unit 3: The Characteristics of Civilizations

Students began their third unit in social studies: The Characteristics of Civilizations.  We began this unit with a reading about ancient Sumer.  Students took notes to help them remember each characteristic of civilization.  This week students completed a scavenger hunt to review the characteristics and begin writing research questions that will be revised and used to help guide them through the unit.

Students used their notes to help them complete
a scavenger hunt and write research questions.

Over the next weeks in the classroom, students will begin researching the ancient civilizations looking for evidence of these seven characteristics:

• Stable Food Supply
• Government
• Religion
• The Arts
• Writing
• Technology
• Social Structure

We'll also ask them to look for evidence of these seven characteristics in the world around them. Through multiple engaging tasks, students will see how these characteristics are what make our civilizations unique and unite us.  It's an exciting unit!

Media Recommendation: Planet Earth and Planet Earth 2

I know I usually reserve this space to recommend a book or two, but I have to take a moment at the end of our zoo projects to highlight the Planet Earth series.  These documentaries are true feats of cinematography!  Many of the moments they've captured have never before been seen.  The landscapes are stunning, and the animals are the stars.  We've had a chance to watch clips at school recently as we've put our rooms back together, and the kids' wonder at the natural world has truly been sparked!

Current Events Seminar: A Window into Character

Thank you to all the parents (and grandparents!) who were able to join us for our most recent current events discussion.  It meant a lot to the kids that so many were able to witness their preparation and dedication to talking about the events happening in the world today.  We really appreciate those parents who participated right alongside us.  We learned a lot from you!

After the discussion, a compliment was given to the class.  A parent complimented how respectful they were in their discussion.  I cannot emphasize enough how important that has been for our sixth graders to hear!  Respectful discourse is exactly what these seminars are meant to help them practice. And they do an amazing job!  They are patient with those who share differing viewpoints, kind to those who stumble over their thoughts, and encouraging to those who are reluctant to share.  They listen with open minds and open hearts as others give their view on world events, and they respectfully disagree when that does not match their own.  They are eager to share, but they refrain from tearing anyone else down in order to do so.  Though these sessions are just practice, they are a great window into the lovely young men and women you are raising!

These are caring, empathetic and kind students who want to understand the world.  And, to do so, they are interested in embarking on discourse with one another where they learn, share and, possibly, change their minds completely.  They are preparing themselves to be informed, interested and passionate citizens, and we are so proud of them!

Zoo Project

By now, you've no doubt heard from your sixth graders about the zoo project.  It has slowly consumed more and more of our day as we strive to combine our language arts, social studies, science and math curriculums into one unifying project.  Next week, for two whole days, it will literally consume our entire time together as students bring their zoos to life in an epic 3D building project!  Many of you have signed up to join us on these days (there is a special place in heaven for you!), and we can't wait for you to help the students put their ideas into motion.

For a little background, here's what has gone into what you'll so innocently walk into this coming week:

• Students began this journey well before winter break with fiction book clubs.  They read books that were about habitats and animals.  The discussions about these fiction books and characters centered around very real topics and issues: habitat destruction, mistreatment of animals, the ethical nature of zoos, global warming.  Students followed themes and patterns across four different books for this experience.
• Students chose habitats that interested them the most in the science classroom.  They broke into groups to study these habitats.  You may have joined us on a cold day in December to see these habitats and study the animals at The Brookfield Zoo.  Students continued that research in the social studies classroom.  They researched their habitat and created an annotated map (complete with circuit lights) to culminate our geography unit.
• Students chose two to three animals from their habitats on which to become experts.  In the language arts classroom, they have embarked on an informational reading and writing unit. Students have practiced research skills to gather information about their animals, organized that research into topics and subtopics, created main ideas for the topics and subtopics and turned their notes into complete paragraphs.  
• Students designed a zoo to scale in the science and math classroom.  They worked together with their habitat group to design the best zoo for the animals in their habitat.  They learned about scaling to create their blueprints.  They then turned their blueprints into 3D Lego models with the assistance of Mr. Weir in our Makers' Lab.
• Students have used their research reports in the language arts classroom to begin another round of the editing process (see more about our methods below).  Once edited, the students will be turning their research reports into e-publications to display alongside their final zoo projects. They will learn about text structures and text features as they build these e-publications.

Please join us on Thursday, February 23rd, in the classroom as the students put these zoo projects on display and present their research.  For the formal presentation (with all group members presenting), please join us from 1:15-2:00 on Thursday, February 23rd.  For an informal presentation (with just your student showing you his/her project), the classrooms will be open from 7-8pm on Thursday, February 23rd.  You do not need to attend both; we just want to be respectful of our working parents.

X-Editing: The Method behind the Madness

Students in sixth grade resist editing whenever and however possible.  You wouldn't believe the excuses I receive for why capital letters aren't getting used to start a sentence, but I digress!  We do our best to make editing painless but purposeful, and our major goal in sixth grade is to help students take ownership of the process.  To that end, we go through two major steps with our editing:

1. Students are taught tools that will help them edit on their own.  This time around, we taught students about "command F".  This function helps them to search and find anything in their document.  Want to see if you put a capital after every period?  Command F ". "!  Want to know if you accidentally capitalized jellyfish in your whole paper?  Command F "jellyfish"! The best part of this feature is that once you've found what you're looking for, you can have it replaced throughout with the "find and replace".  I'm not doing the tool justice with this paragraph-if you want to learn more, ask your sixth grader to show you!
2. Students go through the x-editing process.  In this process, students turn in their "best copy" to me.  As I read it, I note at the end of each line the errors in punctuation, capitalization and spelling I see that I know they can fix independently.  When they get their papers back, they work to fix up these errors.  X-editing is powerful because it helps the students train their minds to look for these editing mistakes.  Many times, when a student has turned in a paper riddled with errors, it is not that he/she cannot fix these.  It is that the student is unable to see the errors because his/her brain is not yet trained to see them.  X-editing helps to put the power in the students' hands when it comes to editing.

This is what x-editing looks like.  P=Punctuation error;
C=Capitalization error; S=Spelling error.

Book Recommendation: Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March

During our MLK Day activities, many students expressed an interest in learning more about how people have peacefully protested for the rights that we have as Americans.  This is one of the best books I've read this year, and it fits the bill!  This is a non-fiction book, but it reads like a fiction novel.  I read it in one day because I just couldn't put it down.  The reason I think it's so powerful for students is that it shows how Lynda Blackmon Lowery used her voice and actions to inspire change, and she did it at such a young age.  It was such an encouraging and uplifting story.  I hope you'll check it out!

Snowflakes with No Snow

This week we welcomed our second grade buddies to our classroom.  We used our time together to learn about snowflakes and the life of Wilson Bentley, a.k.a. "Snowflake Bentley", and our buddies worked together to make 3D snowflakes.  As we read the picture book Snowflake Bentley aloud, students had a chance to hold and page through Bentley's book of snowflake photographs Snow Crystals.

We learned that Bentley fell in love with snowflakes at a very young age.  The buddies each had a chance to share something they love to do more than anything else in the world. We learned that Bentley struggled greatly to make his dream of sharing the beauty of snowflakes come true.  Each buddy had a chance to share a time they had to struggle to make something really important happen in their lives.  We learned that Bentley had to beg his parents for the camera that would allow him to realize his dream.  Oh boy, did all of them have stories to share about asking their parents for something!

After we learned about Snowflake Bentley and shared our own stories, buddies worked together to make amazing 3D snowflakes.  These were very challenging!  Buddies had to struggle just like Snowflake Bentley to create their projects.  As they struggled, they worked together and shared more stories.  They encouraged one another and created awesome snowflakes to take home and decorate our room!  We hope these snowflakes remind them of Snowflake Bentley, the beauty in small things and how our hard work can help us accomplish anything.

Efficient Internet Searching: A Lesson from Mr. Weir

Students have been researching animals in preparation for their zoo projects for a couple weeks now. Before I would allow them to switch from book research to internet research, we had a great tutorial from Mr. Weir (my old partner and one of our Makers' Lab specialists).  Mr. Weir gave us some great tips for searching the internet in an efficient way.  As he shared each tip, the kids got a chance to practice on the spot.  They were as impressed as I was with all the time these tips saved and how they really streamlined the search!  The students have a copy of these tips, but I'm including it here as well so you can make your searching more efficient and effective.  Enjoy!

Self Advocacy and Time Management: Skills we're growing from now until June

Many students found themselves "stressed out" this week.  Their notes were due for their animal projects, they had Wordly Wise homework, current events homework and a book club book to read. Students found themselves crunched for time like never before.  And it led to great learning experiences.  Here are the lessons we're hoping the kids took away from their struggles this week:

1. Stay on top of your work.  The work you decide not to do today gets compounded by the work you're going to be assigned tomorrow.
2. It's okay to be confused; it's not okay not to ask for help.  We all need help sometimes.  We're here for students in the morning, at lunch and during skills period.
3. Use the organizational tools we provide.  Kim, John and I all write the homework on the board each day.  I break down their current events work so they are only doing a little bit each day.  

We had a great discussion about how the students have the power to impact their own learning and their own organization.  They've got the power to do the work when it's assigned.  They have the power to come in early, stop by at lunch or seek us out during skills period.  They have the power to take a picture of our homework board or write down the assignments each day.  We encouraged them to use these powers to avoid the stressful feelings they had this week.  We want students to feel empowered to make the decisions that will help them be good students.  These skills of self-advocacy and time management are skills we will continue to work on throughout the rest of sixth grade.

Book Recommendation: Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith

This is a great historical fiction book about a young girl who dreams to fly.  She joins the WASP during WWII, but there's a problem: she's African American.  Her skin is light enough to "pass", but will she be able to hold onto her secret?  Is her dream of flying more important than her own heritage?  She has to become a completely different person and leave her family behind to pursue her dream.  It's a wonderful, intense read about an important time in our history.  Definitely a "girl power" type of book!

Light Circuits: Connecting More than the Current

This week I gave the kids a challenge: Use a light circuit to enhance your map project.  The idea was born from a CAMPUs (Creating A More Powerful Us) Monday meeting we had at Skokie during the first month of school.  During that event, our Maker's Space teacher, Kathy McDonough, allowed us to experiment with the light circuits in the Maker's Space that the kids can use before school and during lunch period.  After a half hour of tinkering, failing and trying again, I successfully created this:

My little guy, Noah, holding the light circuit!

When it finally worked, I was so proud!  The final activity Kathy asked us to complete was a reflection, and on that reflection was this question: How could you use this in your classroom?  From that, the map project idea was born.  When I originally planned it, I thought the light circuits would make for a really sharp looking map, but this week showed me how much more this challenge could really be for the kids.

The majority of the team had no experience with light circuits or circuits at all.  Though there were some who were hesitant because of this, most of the kids' faces lit up (pun totally intended!) at the idea of trying something new.  And as more and more kids struggled, failed and finally found success, those who were hesitant at first grew wings and soared with the challenge!  The most amazing piece of the challenge, however, came in the relationships that were formed.  Students worked together in ways I'd never before witnessed.  They came together over successes and assisted each other through hurdles with empathy and compassion!  I'm proud to report that over 90% of the team successfully used a light circuit to enhance their map projects.  Each student has a picture of the project on his/her iPad that I'm sure they'd be happy to share with you!  The batteries may die in these circuits, but the bonds that were made between the students will be long lasting.

Please Join Us Friday, January 27th

On Friday, January 27th we'd love to have you join us for our Current Events seminar.  Students will be leading the discussion based on the most recent issue of our Junior Scholastic magazine.  The issue includes an atlas of demographic information about each region and country of the world. Students will be studying the information and preparing their ideas over the next three weeks.  We'd be really honored if you'd join us for this seminar.

If you can join us from 10:40-11:40 for the Warner Advisory or from 1:05-2:05 for the Barbaro Advisory, please add your name to this Google Doc.  If you'd like a copy of the magazine the kids will be using for this seminar, please email me at meghanwarner@winnetka36.org.  I will send a copy home with your son/daughter.

Coat Drive

Students on the Williams/Skydell 5th grade team are running a coat drive to collect coats for the homeless in Chicago.  They are accepting used coats of all shapes and sizes.  There are students on the team that are even willing to sew up any patches that may be needed, so please don't hesitate to send in a coat or two that needs a little TLC.  Skokie students were really supportive of our efforts to collect food for the New Trier Food Pantry, and this is a great way for us to show our support in return.

Welcome Dave Zalesky: Student Teacher Extraordinaire!

We are very fortunate to welcome Dave Zalesky as our student teacher this year.  Dave has been with us since the beginning of the school year, and he will be taking over teaching responsibilities for the Warner advisory now that we're back from winter break.  A letter from Dave and from Northwestern University was sent home with Warner advisory students last week.  In these letters you can learn about Dave and some of the requirements he must meet in his student teaching experience.  Please sign the permission form on the last page of this packet and send it back to school with your student as soon as possible.  Dave will primarily be working with the Warner advisory, and he will join us for the upcoming conferences in February.  He has already been a great addition to our team, and we warmly welcome him in this more prominent role!

Book Recommendation: The Animal Healer Series by Lauren St. John

Martine isn't just your average tween; she's got the power to communicate with animals.  Her parents tried to shield her from this reality because they were warned that it could bring danger to her.  Now that her parents are gone (all the good YA books kill off the parents!), Martine has moved onto an African animal sanctuary with her grandmother.  Each book in the series highlights a different species of animal that Martine must interact with.  I've read the first three (The White Giraffe, Dolphin Song and The Last Leopard), and I have not been disappointed yet.  The best part for me is that the author lived in Africa, so her detailed descriptions of the setting are amazing.  She also thoroughly researches the animals, so there are many facts you learn along the way.  It's a great realistic fiction series with a fun fantasy twist that many readers will enjoy.