Winter Break

What a wonderful opportunity to do family things! Play together! Work together! Talk together! And, above all READ together.

What's up?

At Elizabeth Ide, we are reading a variety of holiday books. Christmas stories predominate, but we also touch on other holidays celebrated at this time of year such as Hanukkah. The selection for second grade this week, One Yellow Daffodil; A Hanukkah Story touches on the main character's earlier life which included losing his family in the holocaust and spending time in a concentration camp. Holocaust education is a requirement in Illinois and this book introduces a bit of the story, gently, for young children.

At Prairieview, we have been gathering information on hockey (our topic of the year after the triumph of the Blackhawks last spring) from World Book Online. Third and fourth graders will take their notes, add pictures and produce a short written document. Fifth graders are using the Inspiration program to organize their information. Hockey may or may not be important. Learning to find information and organize it is.

Math-A-Thon 2010-2011

Although this was certainly not a banner year, we had 45 students (15 at each grade level) who completed the Math-A-Thon. These students did a great job and raised well over $3,000. to help the children at St. Jude Children's Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. To my knowledge, our kindergarten, 1st grade, and 2nd grade students have participated in this worthy cause for over twenty years. The staff members at the hospital have been most appreciative of our efforts and are especially thankful during this tough economic period. Many thanks to the children who practiced their math and all of their generous donars.