We’re back from a wonderful week break and are starting to read new novels! Grade 6 has just begun reading about the adventures of Professor William Waterford Sherman in the book The Twenty-one Balloons. The seventh graders have read the … Continue reading →

For the past week students have raced into the language arts classroom, eagerly checking to see the next clue about where we’ll be going for our Middle School camp in May. First, there was a bottle of sunscreen… then a … Continue reading →

Every year the seventh graders read The Outsiders, the poignant story of two competing social groups- the greasers and the socs.  It provides wonderful topics for discussion: peer pressure, group as well as individual identity, whether violence/fighting is ever a … Continue reading →

In addition to wonderful trips, lazy days at the beach, BBQs with friends and family… lots of books were enjoyed by Middle Schoolers !  Here are some of the titles: Treasure Island, The Help, Tales From the Odyssey, The Bread … Continue reading →

The top awards for children’s books 2010 are announced in The Los Angeles times: January 10, 2011 |  9:48 am “The American Library Assn. presented its top honors for books for children and young adults at a ceremony in San Diego … Continue reading →

My class loves creative writing!  One activity they particularly enjoy is writing a short continuation of a “story starter”.  I have been delighted with the interesting directions they take the story.  I wrote the first story starter-  “I sat straight up in bed, … Continue reading →

Although we’ve only been in school a month, we have a lot going on:  We’re choosing independent reading novels  this year from dfferent genres.  During the summer  they read a fantasy; this month they are all reading a mystery. A mystery seemed … Continue reading →