Thursday, December 1, 2011
Dear Families,
Thank you for taking the time to come to conferences, it was great to connect with you about your child. Our new students, from Massachusetts, will be joining us on Monday, Daisy, Alex, and Nick.
We had an inspirational visit from Katherine Paterson on Tuesday afternoon. We were able to read several of her books before her visit and really enjoyed them. We were all struck with how “normal” a person she was. Even though she is a “living legend,” she was approachable and personable. She started by reading an excerpt from Bridge to Terabithia (one of the books we’ve read), which was fabulous. Then she used student questions to guide the rest of her talk. Her advice to any aspiring writers was to read.
We have started a book contract project, which means your child is reading a book of their choice, writing a response to literature on it, and creating several projects to share with the class. The first goal is to read the book; the due date is December 5th. The next goal is to write the response to literature. We are writing a practice response this week to a book we read together, The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson. Then next week, once they have finished reading their books, everyone will work on their response here at school. Projects will mostly be done at home but may be started here as time allows. I have impressed upon the class that they do not need to wait until finishing the book to start their projects, they can make some as they go along. Presentations are the week before winter break and I’ll let you know your child’s time soon.
Thanks,
Ali Hale
