From the Library

Thirteen Ways to Raise a Nonreader

by Dean Schneider and Robin Smith
originally printed in the March/April 2001 issue of The Horn Book Magazine

1. NEVER READ where your children can see you.

2. PUT A TV or COMPUTER in every room. Don't neglect the bedrooms and kitchen.

3. CORRECT YOUR CHILD every time she mispronounces a word.

4. SCHEDULE ACTIVITIES every day after school so your child will never be bored.

5. Once your child can read independently, THROW OUT the PICTURE BOOKS. They're for babies.

6. DON'T PLAY board games together. Too Dull.

7. Give little REWARDS for reading. STICKERS and plastic toys are nice. MONEY is even better.

8. Don't expect your children to enjoy reading. Kids' books are for TEACHING vocabulary, proper study habits, and good morals.

9. Buy only 40-watt bulbs for your lamps.

10. Under NO circumstances read your child the same book OVER and OVER. She heard it once, she should remember it.

11. Never allow your child to listen to BOOKS ON TAPE; that's cheating.

12. Make sure your kids only read books that are "challenging". EASY books are a complete WASTE OF TIME. That goes double for comic books and Mad magazine.

13. Absolutely, positively NO READING IN BED.

Art: Masks

Fifth grade finished up their masks with accessories like glitter, feathers, pom-poms and wire mesh.  These tactile choices make all the difference to communicating the character of their masks.  Their masks express both who they are and who they are not. Ask your daughter what some of the colors, patterns, or textures mean to her.  

Science: The Chesapeake Bay

The staff from the Outreach Division of the National Aquarium in Baltimore visited the 5th grade to make a presentation on the Chesapeake Bay. "Captain Abby" spoke about the life of a water woman on the Bay. She captivated the girls with her tales, including a wealth of information on the Bay and how this important body of water has changed over the years.

Several of our girls made guest appearances as water women, a crab, and an oyster.

After the presentation, the girls had the opportunity to do hands-on activities at various lab stations set up around the room. We are very grateful to the parents who operated the lab stations as well as to the many additional parents who graciously volunteered to help. 

News From Up The Hill

It's hard to believe that December is already here!  In the fifth grade, we have been busy with all sorts of activities and projects.

19 Days of Gratitude Challenge
A few weeks ago, the fifth grade met to plan out a 19 Days of Gratitude Challenge.  Each girl was paired with a student from the other homeroom, and their mission was to create a simple activity to show gratitude that all of us can manage in the course of a day.    Over the past ten school days, one activity has been posted per day, and the girls have been encouraged to follow it.  Some ideas were:
--Ask a family member how their day was, and really listen to their answer.
--Thank someone who drives you to school or to an after school activity.
--Go outside and take a deep breath of the clean air.   
It has been a fun activity for us all, and we hope that the girls are seeing the value of showing and feeling gratitude in their lives. 

Holiday Community Service Activity
As you know, we are presently collecting small, travel-sized toiletries for our annual holiday project.   On Thursday, December 18, the girls will gather to pack and wrap boxes of collected toiletries.  These boxes will be taken to Baltimore Outreach Service and Eastside Family Shelter where adults and families who are displaced from their home or going through some type of change will receive these.  Every year, it is such a positive experience that is really enjoyed by the girls.  It is not too late to send in items!  We will be collecting them until Wednesday, the 17th. 

Hitting the Books....

Reading: 
The girls are presently reading The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi.  This book that opens with the sentence, "Not every thirteen-year-old girl is accused of murder, brought to trial, and found guilty" is full of suspense and has kept the girls predicting, making connections and looking for clues.   Both the readings and the class discussions have been, at times, riveting as this book stirs up the emotions.  The vocabulary in this book is challenging, but the girls have done a great job with the words that we have focused on in our vocabulary units.  Their posters, presentations and learning of the words, many of which ironically repeat several times throughout the book, really show the girls are developing a stronger vocabulary.  We will be finishing the book in the next week. 

Math:
Fractions have been the key concept in math for November and December!  By the end of the unit, the girls will know how to add, subtract, multiply, divide,  and compare all types of fractions.  This unit, an important one in fifth grade, is going very well, and the girls' depth of understanding is expanding every day.

History:
The girls completed our Native American unit with amazing diorama projects.  We are now examining the many reasons as to why explorers left their European homelands to embark on the exploration of the world, particularly to North America.  Towards the end of the month and into January, we will be completing a special project on explorers at school.  Stay tuned for details on this project.  

This fall has been a productive and happy one in the fifth grade, and we look forward to an equally positive winter.  We wish you all a happy,  safe and healthy holiday season this December.  

Katherine and Jeannie



 

Code Talk

The fifth grade students have been working very hard in Scratch.

 They have started an All About Me project and learned a variety of skills like making a sprite glide, change color, dance, follow the mouse, say something, move to a beat, move with key moves, and whirl.  We will continue our work in coding by participating in the Hour of Code in December.