FAMOUS DECEMBER PEOPLE

DECEMBER 5 - BILL PICKETT
8 - ELI WHITNEY
10 - MARY NORTON
10 - EMILY DICKINSON
16 - BEETHOVEN
16 - JANE AUSTIN
18 - STEVEN SPIELBERG
21 - CHRIS EVERETT
25 - SIR ISAAC NEWTON
25 - CLARA BARTON
27 - LOUIS PASTEUR
28 - WOODROW WILSON
30 - TIGER WOODS

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Award-winning author, Michael Patrick O'Neill will be visiting our school on Monday, February 1, 2010. His books are on display in the media center for you to view. The topics are all related to ocean life and since he takes his own photographs while diving, the illustrations are just remarkable. Please feel free to stop by and look at his work. Order forms have been sent home and can be returned to your child's classroom teacher or to Mrs. Smay in the media center.
We are all looking forward to his visit.

Looking for a holiday book....stop by the media center to see our bookshelf filled with books about Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Ramadan, Christmas and more.

Second graders read Christmas Around the World by Emily Kelley to learn the different customs and traditions celebrated in Mexico, Iran, China, Sweden, Iraq, Spain, and Norway. They were also excited to explore the Festival of the World series which are informational books that introduce young readers to the festivals and cultures of some of the most fascinating countries in the world. Each volume is written in a lively style accompanied by striking photographs that encourage further study of our worldwide neighborhood. Easy, step-by-step instructions for creating a craft and preparing a food item add to the fun and provice the basics for a do -it-yourself festival.

First graders read Christmas Customs by Dennis Miller which provided answers to questions about what we do at Christmas time, and why. Using photographs and colorful illustrations, this book gave a fascinating glimpse of the background to our Christmas customs. Students learned about St. Lucia day in Sweden, the miracle of the poinsettia, the history of Christmas trees, the posadas celebration in Mexico, the legend of Sinterklaas from Spain and Befana from Italy.
They also saw the actual footage of the first moon landing to wrap up their lesson from last week on this subject. In addition, they also looked at pictures from Team Moon:How 400,000 people landed Apollo 11 on the Moon by Catherine Thimmesh, which depicts the dream and the challenge of this historical event.

Third graders performed a reader's theater on the life of John James Audubon and learned that he was the first to paint life-size images of birds and the first to show birds hunting, preening, fighting, and flying. His revolutionary paintings pleased two audiences: scientists, who were drawn to their accuracy, and ordinary people who simply enjoyed the beauty of his birds.
They also played a matching game about the different genres of books which included the following terms: memoir, biography, autobiography, informational, realistic fiction, fantasy, traditional literature, historical fiction and science fiction.

Alpha students viewed a display of Miss Spider books written and illustrated by David Kirk they listened to Little Miss Spider- A Christmas Wish. This charming tale has created a sparkling holiday story about generosity and compassion, and finding one's way home.

Kindergarten students listened to Bad Dog, Marley and A Very Marley Christmas by John Grogan. They loved the illustrations by Richard Cowdrey and laughed out loud several times.

Jr. K students were exposed to the series of books about Fluffy the guinea pig and enjoyed listening to Fluffy Saves Christmas by Kate McMullan.