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.

They'll remember this for the rest of their lives

I got a chance to talk with one of our new staff members at lunch today.  He was sharing a project that he's helping his students work on and lamenting how difficult it's been to steer the ship and get it all put together.  I listened to his stories and frustrations and assured him, "They'll remember this for the rest of their lives."  During the afternoon block, we visited the Egypt museum of another team, and I had another one of those same thoughts: they're going to remember this for the rest of their lives.

For weeks, Kim, John, Dave and I have been working to plan the integrated Zoo Project together.  It's been bumpy to say the least (thanks, Mother Nature!).  We've had tears and elation over habitat assignments, confusion over expectations and more tech troubles than I care to mention.  There hasn't seemed to be enough time, and looking at the calendar, it doesn't look like there will ever be enough.  But, we know this will be a project they will remember for the rest of their lives.  As they stand before us and present their to-scale zoo exhibits and findings about their animals and habitats, each of these students will have created a memory that will last forever.

As I typed this today, I heard a couple women in the hallway, "Oh!  I don't remember this at all!" one said to the other.  "Where's the library?!"  I peeked my head out the door and saw two women walking together.  Wanting to be helpful, I showed them where the library was and struck up a conversation.  They shared that they had graduated from Skokie in 61 and 57, and we got to talking.  When we got to the bandroom (which was the library at the time they attended Skokie), memories came flooding back.  Even though it was dark, one of the women exclaimed, "The fireplace!  Remember the fireplace in the back?!"  Her eyes got this far off look in them.  The other looked down the hallway, "I remember running down this hallway to lunch!  Lunch was so good here!"  They each erupted into their own stories of home ec class and homemade lunches.  These memories made here at Skokie School truly do last forever.  And we are the lucky teachers who get to facilitate them!

Zoo Project Phase 1: Book Clubs

Students have spent the last two weeks in book clubs.  The first round of book clubs wrapped up on Tuesday.  The books we read for the first round of clubs all had settings that were unique habitats.  Through their reading and discussions, students focused not only on the characters and plot but on the amazing settings presented.  Students worked in clubs to discover the nonfiction settings behind the fiction they were reading.  They created posters to show their learning.

The second round of book clubs started on Wednesday.  Students began new books with new clubs.  These books are focused on a specific species of animal.  Students will work together to uncover the facts behind these fictional characters as they wrap up these book clubs in the week to come.

Throughout our first two reading units, we've been learning the "Notice and Note" strategies.  As students have read these two books, they have kept track of their thinking either through the use of post-it notes or on Thought Tracker sheets.  These notes have helped students to have meaningful conversations about their books, and they have given us insight into the connections students are making as they read.

Recommended Reads:

If your reader has expressed interest in these book clubs, I would highly recommend any of the books that we've had going in our clubs!  Here's a list:

• The One and Only Ivan
• Never Say Die
• Jackie's Wild Seattle
• Tiger Rising
• Chomp
• Belly Up
• Touching Spirit Bear
• Flush
• Hoot
• Elephant Run
• The Summer of the Monkeys

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.