Yearbook

Each year I have the kids put together a 5th grade class yearbook.  I am hoping that I can get these together and ordered before the end of next week so that the print copies will arrive before school lets out.
This is the rubric I use to assess their biographical sketches, and a link to last year's yearbook:

2013 Hawthorne School Yearbook

By michele nokleby in Student Publications

54 pages, published 6/5/2013

The 5th graders from Hawthorne Elementary put together a yearbook every spring. This the 2013 iteration.

Kindergarten Writing Folders

I have two little groups of Kindergarteners who visit me for half an hour each. I am supposed to be offering enrichment activities. I've been having them practice their writing. The invented spelling they use is so adorable. For inspiration on best practices, Ive been using Marvelous MiniLessons for Teaching Beginning Writing, k-3 (Rog) I wanted an idea board inside each child's folder, so I made the one you see above.

Martin Luther King Day

Sometimes I wonder if its a good idea to have a break from school on this important date. I worry that it will go unmarked by schools, much like Labor Day or Veterans Day. This year, I needn't have worried. Quotes from Dr. King lined the hallways, student art marked the occasion, and volunteers from the Jeanette Rankin Peace Center came to read to the children and lead discussions.

In the library, we read "The Sneetches" by Dr. Seuss. Even my youngest listeners can connect this story to the injustice and prejudice that they have learned about in the classrooms. I have asset of Sneetches made of soft yellow plush for the children to cuddle. One has a star, and one is without ( I had to give it a Star-ectomy after I bought it)

Older kids use the ReadWriteThink "Found Poetry" tool from the National Council for Teachers of English. With this tool, students take the words of Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech, and create original poetry from them. The older kids can do a screen capture, then crop the poem for their blogs, assuming the testing schedule will allow us to use the lab!

There is an iPhone app version of this tool, but I don't know if I want to do the downloading. It's going to be a busy week, with my upcoming SPACE NIGHT CELEBRATION. Stay tuned!