I am so grateful...

Today we spent our block time with our second grade buddies.  Partnerships worked together to create poetry and artwork about their Thanksgiving traditions.  As I walked around the classroom, I was struck time and time again by how grateful our kids are for the families they have.  Sure, there was a lot of food mentioned (I might need some pie recipes to be shared!), but the overarching theme of the day was family.

You're heading into a season of change for your kiddo.  He/she is probably starting to become edgier and probably wants to try new and daring things.  You bear the brunt of this newfound edginess at home. We know that as educators.  Rest-assured that the snarkiness you may encounter at home is reserved especially for you (lucky!).  Even as your young pre-teen tests new limits and pushes new boundaries, please know that it is very evident how much you, their family, is loved and cherished. So many conversations today were driven by the excitement they have about the coming week and what it means to spend it with family.

This is a very caring group of kids, and we are lucky to be with them for this short time in sixth grade.  Please enjoy your holiday season.  Eat a lot; laugh a lot; love a lot.  We can't wait to hear the stories about time with family and friends that they're so obviously looking forward to creating!

Current Events: How do we talk about the issues that the world faces today?

Every two weeks, students in each advisory have participated in a seminar based on articles from the Junior Scholastic magazines.  To enter into the seminar, students have to have completed the prerequisite work: a couple comprehension quizzes, identification of main ideas and supporting details, investigation of authors' craft moves (they do this work during the two weeks preceding the seminar).

Students come to the seminar armed with their own personal ideas about what they'd like to say about the topics that were broached in the articles read.  There is no script.  There are no starter questions.

On the day of the seminar, we sit in a circle so that we are all facing one another.  We've got our articles at the ready.  We begin each seminar by reviewing the rules:

1. This is table-talk: no raising your hand
2. Get everyone involved
3. Space in (stay focused)
4. Build on (the ideas of others)

Then someone starts, and they're off.  My whole goal during the seminar is to stay out of it!  I sit in the circle and type a transcript of what's being said, but the kids' goal is that I won't have to be involved at all.  They want to lead their own conversation.  And they do!  It's amazing!  In fact, when we get to the end of the time we have together, kids get grumpy with me.  They always want more time!

I've never started seminars this early in the year, but I'm so impressed with the caliber of conversation.  The first seminar led us to a quick mini-lesson about the vague pronoun "they" before we began our second seminar.  You can see in the transcript that students really took this to heart by naming the people about whom they were speaking in the second seminar.  

The purpose of the seminars is to get comfortable discussing real issues and topics.  Many questions come up, some solutions are kicked around, but we aren't aiming to solve the problems of the world (they are only sixth graders, you know!).  The seminars are a great place for kids to try out the ideas they've got floating around in their minds about very real topics and issues.  We make our seminars a safe place that is free of judgment.  All ideas are welcome and considered.  Please take a look at the transcripts from the first two seminars if you get the chance:

Barbaro Seminar 1

Barbaro Seminar 2

Warner Seminar 1

Warner Seminar 2

Family Time: Come Together Through Service

There are some great resources out there about how important it is for families to find ways to connect through serving others.  We loved our first service project with the kids, and we know they're excited to do even more (because we surveyed them!).  If you're looking for a way to get your family into the spirit of service, there's a great opportunity that came our way from the Volunteer Center. The Volunteer Center is looking for families to fill a bag with groceries for the Good News Partners.  It's pretty simple to get involved: pick up a red bag and directions sheet from our front office, shop for the requested items, fill the bag with the items, and drop the bag off at school.  Click here for more information.  If you do participate, be sure to let us know and/or send pictures.  We'd love to show our appreciation!

Author Recommendation: Jordan Sonenblick

We finished our read aloud of Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie this week.  There was laughter; there were tears.  But most of all there was an intense connection with Steven, the main character.  The voice Jordan Sonenblick is able to give his characters resonates with students.  Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie is not the only book in which he is able to do this!  If your child mentioned liking the read aloud at all, he/she may really enjoy any one of Sonenblick's other books:

• Notes from a Midnight Driver
• Zen and the Art of Faking It
• Curveball
• After Ever After (sequel to our read aloud)

Epic Fail

So I've been using the three questions around my house.  You know!  The ones I wrote about in the last blog... How were you brave; how did you fail; how were you kind today?  And they've worked! Noah (usually) has so much to say about each one.  One day we walked out the door in the morning and went to get in the car.  "Oh no.  I forgot my keys!" I lamented.  We climbed in the car (that I had, ironically, remote started from inside the house), called my husband and waited.  As the wait dragged on, Noah looked over at me and said, "I guess I know what your fail is going to be today."  I love that he could joke about it and that he's always looking for the answers!  The best part is that he asks the questions right back to me each day.  Even when he doesn't have an answer from his day, he asks me about mine, and we start some great conversations.  Knowing that the questions are coming right back to me at the end of the day has caused me to live each day more aware, and I have to think it's causing Noah to live that way too.  If you haven't tried them yet, I highly recommend giving them a go!

Narrative Writing: The Scary Story Project

On Halloween, students wrapped up a month-long scary story writing, speaking and art project. Thank you to everyone who was able to join us Halloween afternoon for a spooky showcase.  These projects will come home on Monday, but let me share with you what we did:

Students began the project by listening to two scary story mentor texts: "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "Buckle My Shoe".  As we read, students jotted down ideas, craft moves they appreciated and quotes that resonated with them.  They spent the next day planning and writing a completely original scary story.  This was a quick writing assignment, meant only to offer me insights into their narrative writing abilities (something of a pre-assessment, if you will).

Students worked with partners to identify the most impactful scene of their story, and we went to town revising just this scene.  Our lesson was "When I write narratives, I ADD: inner thinking, action, dialogue and details."  This is the heart of our elaboration expectations in the sixth grade narrative writing rubric.

While we spent time writing and revising in the classroom, we also had time to turn our scenes into artwork with the help of Mr. Greenman in the art room.  Mr. Greenman taught us about mediums, lettering techniques, using light, and he had amazing ideas about how to best replicate blood in our artwork.  Take a look at the students at work:

Mr. Greenman helps a student. 

Students try the light table technique using a window.

Students try the light table technique using a window.

A student tries the blood drip technique with paint.

Another student tries the blood drip technique with markers.

Finally, students also took on the task of creating a GarageBand recording of their revised scenes. Students in the Barbaro advisory helped me create the rubric for this project.  Though GarageBand was not an app with which the students were 100% comfortable, they showed great perseverance as they put together projects.  Please enjoy these exemplary projects:

Trick-or-Treat for Canned Goods: How can we help those who are food insecure?

Since mid-September, we've been looking into food insecurity in America.  When we looked at the issue on a local level, we learned about The New Trier Food Pantry.  Students were very interested in the struggle many on the Northshore are facing with food insecurity.  We decided to help by gathering items for The New Trier Food Pantry.

We are so incredibly proud of the students, parents and community members who helped us gather 600 items for The New Trier Food Pantry.  What an amazing feat!  Take a look at a photo history of our work on this project:

Students work together to create a poster for the community to see from Mrs. Barbaro's window.

Students work together to create a goal tracker to keep in the front hallway.

Students work together to create a poster for the cafeteria.

Students work together to create fliers for the community.

Students created a challenge for the rest of the school to get involved.

A group with their items after their trick-or-treat adventure.

Another group after trick-or-treating.

Students work together to load the boxes into Mrs. Barbaro's car.

Students work together to load the boxes into Mrs. Barbaro's car.

Students work together to load the boxes into Mrs. Barbaro's car.

Loaded and ready to go!  600 items in one mini-van!

Thank you to everyone who volunteered to make this experience a reality for our students.  It was a truly special experience, and they helped a lot of people in need on the Northshore.

Book Recommendation: Moo by Sharon Creech

Few authors have the ability to get me out of a funk like Sharon Creech.  Her newest book, Moo, did not disappoint.  Told in a mix of poetry and prose, Moo tells the story of a family's move to rural Maine.  The relationships that develop between both human and nonhuman characters is heartwarming.  It was a book I couldn't put down and would highly recommend for the whole family.