For the Week

Over the past few weeks, Miss Coppoletta & I have noticed students struggling to write extended reading responses. Although we've gone over this before, we are planning on spending time this week reviewing the process. Each day, students will have the opportunity to review each part of the response and then practice before going home and writing their own. By the end of the week, students will be revising a previously written ERR to hand in for a grade.

Book Report

Last week, students had to choose a book for their upcoming book report. Since the previous book reports were creative projects, we decided to make this one an Accelerated Reader quiz. For this, students must read their book and when they complete it, they must take the quiz on the computer. Students will be learning/reviewing how to do this next week in the IMC. This project is due by November 24.

Fairview Residents visit Lakeview

This is a reflection from a student, Sam Cho, a member of the Memory Makers Club.

On Tuesday we had the residents of Fairview Nursing Baptist Home take a trip to Lakeview. Everyone who came got their own personal tour of the school and bonded a little more with their Memory Maker Buddy. Many people would stress to me that the residents should get out more and enjoy the outside world other than what goes on in the nursing home and that’s exactly what happened. It’s a new experience for everyone. Many of us learn new things along the way, whether it’s about the past or it’s about judgment and wisdom.

My personal buddy said, “This school is big! They must keep you busy!” That’s when those words touched upon me that life now compared to then was much different. All the residents, I think, teach us that it’s a privilege to have all that’s handed to us and not a given right.

I think Memory Makers as a group appreciates the time we get with the residents. Along the way we all learn something deeper within. Something that I have noticed every meeting is that every child seems to bring out the juvenile side of a resident and every resident seems to bring out the best in each child. To me Memory Makers is about finding yourself and helping the greater good. It’s amazing what can happen with two minds. It was definitely a pleasure having them and I hope they’re reminiscing about their childhood and the new world.
- Samantha Cho

Marathon Finish

I can officially check running a marathon off my lists of things to do in life. I did end up finishing, a bit longer than I had wanted, but I completed it. Miss Coppoletta was kind enough to run some of the miles with me. She helped me get through some of the toughest miles by talking to me, getting my mind off the pain I was feeling. My mom ran the last hill with me, which of course made me smile. And after I crossed the finish line, Mrs. Kasher placed the medal around my neck. I'm so thankful I had my family there to support me and cheer me on at the different miles, because it was that support that allowed me to finish.

Chicago Marathon

This past summer was the first time in my career I didn't work or take grad. classes. In order to keep myself busy and sane, I decided to train for the marathon. After months of running very very early in the morning, I am ready to see what I can do. This Sunday is the Chicago marathon, where I have the pleasure of running 26.2 miles in hopefully under 5 hours. So if you have no plans for Sunday morning, come on down and join the excitement! (dress warmly though, it's supposed to be chilly)

Greeting Card Project

We have a new book project coming up in the next few weeks. Students learned about this project today and should have a book chosen by next week in order to get started.

Directions:Think about the characters in your novel. Imagine that one character is sending a card to another character. What kind of card would the character send and why?

Choices of cards: Birthday, Sympathy, Thank You, Get Well, Friendship, Anniversary, Retirement, New Baby, Valentine's Day, Miss You

Task: There are TWO parts to this project.
Create a card to one character in your novel from another character.
On a separate sheet of paper, include the following:
The title and date of publication
In one paragraph, explain why you created the card you did.
In one paragraph, explain the importance of this choice and how the novel would be different if the card had actually been sent.


examples of Paragraphs

I chose to send a friendship card to the big bad wolf from one of the three little pigs. I know that the throughout the story, the wolf was lonely and there is no evidence that he ever had any friends. I would want someone to do something to show that they cared for me if I did not have any friends. The text also never said anything about the wolf's family. I consider my friends to be my family, so I think it would be a wise decision for one of the pigs to send a friendship card to the wolf.

If this friendship card was actually sent, the story of the Three Little Pigs would be dramatically different. First, the wolf might have not viewed the pigs as food, but viewed them as friends instead. If this was the case, the wolf would not have eaten the pigs, since friends are kind to one another. I also think the wolf may have even helped the pigs build their houses, so it would have been a team effort. This friendship card could have saved the lives of all three pigs.

Memory Makers Club

For the past few years, I've run a program that involved students learning about Alzheimer's disease and working with people that have this disease. The program has changed names to Memory Makers Club. The goal of the program is the same. What has changed is that students will be visiting Fairview Baptist Home 5 times throughout the next trimester and this time, the buddies will actually be visiting the school. If you have any questions about the program, please contact me. I will be running a spring session of the club as well.