April’s book club will be meeting Monday, April 19th, at lunch. See you then!

6th Grade Selection:                                                                

Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan

7th and 8th Grade Selection:

The Diary of Anne Frank

The 2010  Newbery Medal was just announced last week. Rebecca Stead’s, When You Reach Me, took home the coveted prize. Check out the review below:

http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/1790000379/post/760043876.html

Have you read it yet? I would love to hear your thoughts. Post a message to my blog and let me know!

Are you wanting a tropical vacation? Maybe you would you like to spend some time with vampires. Or maybe you need help planning your escape from an evil villain?
I can help you with all of this and more…through books! Come down to the ITC and check out our new selections.
You never know what you might find lurking around…

Book Club will finally be meeting with 7th and 8th grade this Thursday, Oct. 8th, during lunch. While we will be discussing, Hidden Talents by Dave Lubar, we will also be brainstorming what we would like book club to be. Please come and share your opinions with us. Even if you haven’t read Hidden Talents, we would LOVE to have you hang with us!

Never fear 6th grade- we will be coming to a classroom near you soon…

Have you ever tried reading a graphic novel? A graphic what? I mean, a comic book? The ITC just purchased some great ones you may want to check out. Oh, and yes, many are on the reading counts list. Bonus! If you have any graphic novels to recommend to me, drop me a note and let me know.

I hope everyone had a great summer! I can’t wait to hear all about the great books everyone has been reading. My favorite book of the summer has to Drum, Girls, and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick. Told in the sarcasm-laced voice of 13-year-old Steven, the book describes his various adolescent trials and tribulations, all of which are familiar yet still cringe-worthy — he has a crush on the hottest girl in school, has an angelic-looking yet demonic little brother named Jeffrey, and his parents irk and annoy him constantly. It’s one of those feel-good stories! Drop me a line if you have a book you’d like to highlight!

We just got back from Aidan’s trip through the Children’s Miracle Network. You can access the blog created for our trip here:

http://2009illinoischampion.blogspot.com/

Thanks for the many well-wishes and nice emails!

From “World War I – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia“:

On 28 June 1914, Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb student, shot and killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne in Sarajevo. Princip was a member of Young Bosnia(The Black Hand at the time), a group whose aims included the unification of the South Slavs and independence from Austria-Hungary. The assassination in Sarajevo set into motion a series of fast-moving events that eventually escalated into full-scale war.[9] Austria-Hungary demanded action by Serbia to punish those responsible and, when Austria-Hungary deemed Serbia had not complied, declared war. Major European powers were at war within weeks because of overlapping agreements for collective defense and the complex nature of international alliances.

Conflicting interests among the nations of Europe created dangerous rivalries for colonies, greater national glory, and superior military might. Another matter was the so called “eastern question” of who would control Eastern Europe, including the Balkan peninsula located north of Greece.

We will be starting WWI next week. Get ready!

Next week begins ISAT testing all across the state of Illinois. 6th graders will be testing next week Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. 6th grade is tested on math, writing, and reading. The two types of writing being assessed are persuasive and narrative. We have been busy prepping through the use of Study Island and  in-class activities. Be sure your child is well-rested and had a good breakfast! Have a great weekend!

On Wednesday, students visited the new Avoca Community Preschool classroom and shared their favorite childhood storybook. A good time was had by all! Pictures are posted on the Marie Murphy Homepage, “Recent Happenings”.

Thanks, 6th grade, for being positive examples for our preschool friends!