In December, the kindergarten classes enjoyed a variety of seasonal stories. We read several nonfiction books about winter weather and brainstormed examples of winter clothing, compared and contrasted different folktale variants of "The Mitten," and enjoyed a special showing of the wordless classic The Snowman by Raymond Briggs.

After winter break, we revisited our PAX Vision and spent time learning about growth mindset. We kicked off the Montana Treasure State Program in mid-January and are just wrapping that now; read more about it below!

This trimester, the first graders spent several weeks exploring a variety of gingerbread-themed stories and engaging in a variety of reader response activities around that theme. A favorite was the opportunity to design their own digital gingerbread house; we love opportunities to be creative and practice our mouse skills!

After winter break, we revisited our PAX Vision and spent time learning about growth mindset. We kicked off the Montana Treasure State Program in mid-January and are just wrapping that now; read more about it below!

The second and third grade students spent most of December and part of January working on Adopt-a-Species. This program, a partnership between the schools and the Helena Lewis and Clark National Forest, allows our students to research and explore a specific animal each year. This year, we were assigned the mountain lion, and we've had a blast learning about this cool creature!

After winter break, we revisited our PAX Vision and spent time learning about growth mindset. We kicked off the Montana Treasure State Program in mid-January and are just wrapping that now; read more about it below!

The Montana Treasure State Award is sponsored by the Montana State Literacy Association and is a program that we participate in every year at Hawthorne. Through this program, students in grades K-3 throughout the state read the same five nominated picture books and vote for their favorite. The votes are tallied and the winner is declared later in the spring. It is super empowering for the kids to be involved in a student choice program; they really feel like their voices are being heard and love that the winner isn't picked by teachers or librarians! I love the program because it gives us an opportunity to talk and reflect about why we love the books we love. I consider it one of the most important parts of my job to help students learn who they are as readers and to set them up to be lifelong readers, and talking about what draws us to certain books is a fantastic means of doing that.

We had some great nominees this year. Be sure to ask your K-3 students which book they voted for!

Like the second and third graders, the fourth and fifth grade students spent the first part of the trimester on Adopt-a-Species. Their focus was on digital resources, and we used the ABDO database, World Book Online, and a webite from the San Diego Zoo to locate information. The research they did in library class will form the foundation for an informational writing unit they will complete with their classroom teachers.

After spending a few weeks on PAX vision review and creating Reading Resolutions for the new year, the fourth and fifth graders spent the next few weeks on a Digital Citizenship unit. Be sure to check in with your student about our Digital Citizenship kit activity and the Interland gaming site we used to review such concepts as online safety, password protection, cyberbullying, and website evaluation.

We will finish the trimester with several research activities using World Book Online, including a Black History Month Webquest and some independent research on U.S. history.

We're close to wrapping up the Young Readers Choice Award program; student who read at least four of the seven nominated books are invited to vote in the regional election and to attend a pizza party with me in early April! We are using a digital reading log in Buncee to track our reading. Ask your student if they've read any of the books - there are so many great ones this year, and I have been thrilled with the high level of participation!