We are taking a brief hiatus from novels in order to work on our Readers' Theatre of The Hundred Dresses. We are also spending a significant amount of time on our interesting version of our student magazine, Storyworks. Rich in current events, we are grateful to the A.P.P.L.E.s for providing it to us.

5/6 Grade

As you may already know, we are hosting author/illustrator David Catrow on Wednesday. In preparation for his visit, we've been creating our own illustrations for the hilarious Take Me Out of the Bathtub, a poetry anthology sung to all-time favorite tunes. The students have done an amazing job emulating Catrow's works. This week, we intend to wrap up Maniac Magee and move into The Watson's Go to Birmingham, a Newbery Honor book that blends the fictional account of an African American family with the factual events of the Civil Rights Movement during the summer of 1963.

Both Classes

How is your child coming along with his/her cereal box book report? Remember, the presentation for these projects will come in the form of a "commercial" where the students are to "sell" their product to their peers. I'm looking quite forward to observing the creativity of these projects, which are due October 9th.

A Note About Conferences

As a half-time Challenge teacher and half-time language arts teacher, I have the pleasure of working alongside many students and families. This does, however, create a "challenge" (pardon the pun) on parent-teacher conference day. In a nutshell, I have more students than timeslots for conferencing in a single day. It is important to me to meet with as many families as possible on October 14. I have reached out to your child's general education teacher (grades 3-5) and have asked if I might collaborate with her to disuss your child's progress with you. Once you have scheduled your conference, she will communicate the appointment time to me. This will enable me to meet with parents of my junior high language arts students as well. Thank you so much for your flexibility and understanding. Please keep in mind that, of course, I am willing to meet with you at anytime--conference day, or not.

Coming Up:

Wed., Sept. 30th: School Pictures and David Catrow visit

Friday, Oct. 9th: End of the nine weeks (Cereal Box Book Report and A.R. points due)

Wed., Oct. 14th: Parent Teacher Conferences