For the Week of March 2nd

Games can be a great way to have fun as a family as well as improve your child's reading and vocabulary skills. The following games were taken from The Reading Teacher Vol. 62. No. 4 December/January 2009 in an article titled "The Games Children Play" by Nancy Padak and Timothy Rasiniski.

Word Theater is played much like Charades. Put vocabulary words on slips of paper. Players take turns drawing a slip and silently acting out the word. Other players guess the word being acted.

20 Questions is a game where you secretly select a word from a shared reading text. The child can ask 20 yes-or-no questions in order to guess which word you are thinking of. The child should be allowed to look at the text from which the selected word comes.

Word-Part Rummy requires cards with prefixes, suffixes and roots that can go together to make words. Have enough cards so that there are about 10 per player. After shuffling the cards, deal five to each player. The rest are kept in a pile, face down.Players look for cards that create words and place them on the table. Take turns drawing a card and discarding a card if you don't have any matches. The first one to use all of the cards in his/her hand, wins.

For the Week of February 23rd

Important Announcement
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Spring Picture Day - All students will be photographed. Please
notify your student's teacher if you do not want an individual portrait
taken of your child.
Look Before You Buy:
Send no money now - View your portraits before you buy.
Your finished portrait package will be sent home for review.
Simply return any un-used portrait sheets with your payment.

ISATS are Around the Corner!

I have been working with all three grades, helping the reading teachers to make sure each student is prepared and feels confident going into the ISAT tests. As I have been doing this, I have been pleased with the level of reading going on in this school. Each student combines his/her background knowledge with what he/she reads to make meaning of the text. Each one brings a unique perspective and valuable contributions to discussions about text. It is a joy to be a part of this process.

For the Week of February 16th

When I was a young student, many years ago, they used to make us memorize the names of all of the presidents of the United States. With such easy access to information, such as lists of all of the presidents, the need to memorize their names has disappeared from school curricula. The importance, however, of learning about our presidents and understanding the contributions they have made to our nation and it's welfare is ongoing. As a commemorative to the 200th birthday anniversary of Abraham Lincoln, why not enjoy a good book on one of the presidents with your child. There are many biographies of the presidents and also a number of encyclopedias about the presidents. Here are a few recommended books: Abraham Lincoln: 16th U.S. president Author:M.C. Hall ; illustrated by Marty Martinez; Big George: how a shy boy became President Washington Author:Anne Rockwell ; illustrated by Matt Phelan
Dwight D. Eisenhower: thirty-fourth president, 1953-1961 Author:written and illustrated by Mike Venezia George Bush: America's 41st president
Author:Betsy Ochester

For the Week of February 9th

One of the wonderful resources that we have at Prairieview is Jackie Warkentien. She is an immense help to teachers and students looking for a good book to read. She averages reading about a book-a-day and keeps track of them on a website called "goodreads.com." The following is a review she wrote about a book she highly recommends. We Are the Ship by Kadir Nelson reminds us that we, as baseball fans, owe a debt of gratitude to those immensely talented men of the Negro Baseball League who played the game with dignity, affection, and devotion. Where would our beloved game be today if we did not enjoy the talents of Jackie Robinson, Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, Derrek Lee, or C.C. Sabithia? These dedicated men who put up with bumpy bus rides, segregation, playing three-games-a-day, and jeers and insults from white fans, are a testament today of the work ethic that makes doing any job you love worth doing. I, as one overly enthusiastic baseball fan, am in awe of these men who went about their business because of the love of the game, knowing full well that it wasn't about the money, or the fame, or the perks...it was about camaraderie, the intricacies of the game, and the passion of playing and giving it your all.
Kadir Nelson writes with a chatty, folksy tone and it seems as if he is sitting down next to you on the bleachers on a sun-filled summer day, eating a hot dog and watching your favorite game. He tells the reader the unvarnished truth, with no regrets, or apologies, or sugar-coating. He simply wants you to know what came before the multi-million dollar salaries, the luxuries of the clubhouse, and the mind-numbing figures of product endorsements.
As bad as some of it was, it wasn't all bad; they were playing the game they loved. As Nelson writes, "We look back and wonder, 'How did we do all of that?' It's simple. We loved the game so much, we just looked past everything else. We were ballplayers. There was nothing we would have rather spent our time doing."
If you are a baseball fan, We Are the Ship is a must-read. If you are a card-carrying member of the human race, this book should be required reading. If you are an aficionado of American History, this is a story that fills in some of the blanks about our country. If you appreciate a job well-done, devotion to a passion, or inspiring stories passed down through generations, this beautifully crafted book full of intricate, life-like illustrations must not be passed up. This is a book for kids of every age, especially 'kids' who love the game. Don't miss it.