This week all classes are hearing science-themed books that relate to whatever they have been learning in science lab. Specific titles can be found on the Weekly Readalouds page of this website. As usual, I learned things myself... I did not know that during the Permian mass extinction some 200 million years ago the sky may have appeared green. Did you?

The PK food drive concludes this week and, wow, what a lot of food we have collected! There is still time this week (at the school office or library) if you have not had a chance to contribute. Heartfelt thanks to our school community for a very successful drive!

The book club for students in grade 5 will begin in December. Sign-up sheets will go home next week, in the December 7 Wednesday envelope. The first meeting will be in the library at lunch/lunch recess on Monday, December 19. The Pennekamp Library's book club is an optional, social activity for students who enjoy reading and talking about books. It is not related to the curriculum. As a parent, you will need to help your child purchase or borrow from the public library the 5 books we will do between January and June. Students commit to reading the chosen book each month before the meeting at which it will be discussed. The books are generally chapter-length fiction of roughly 300 pages. Typically we choose books that are either available in paperback or at the public library (so we don't all have to buy an expensive hardcover book), but the PK library is not able to provide copies of the monthly selections. Please consider carefully if the club is what you and your child want to do. If so, I am delighted to welcome up to 20 students to the club. Membership is first come, first served.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Pennekamp's voting on two of the CYRM categories is now complete! As I said last week, the winner at PK in grades K, 1, and 2 is Sam and Dave Dig a Hole, by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen. The winner for grades 3, 4, and 5 in the category "Picture Books for Older Readers" is Paper Son: Lee's Journey to America, by Helen Foster James and Virginia Shin-Mui Loh, illustrated by Wilson Ong. As with Sam and Dave, Paper Son won by a wide margin. Complete PK results can be found by clicking here. We will not find out which books win the statewide contest until April 2017.

The Pennekamp food drive is underway! Most of us in Manhattan Beach don’t have to worry about not being able to feed our families, but Los Angeles has the largest population in the United States (1.5 million) of people who are food insecure. Nonperishable food will be collected at Pennekamp throughout the month of November and donated to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. There is a collection box at the school office and one in the library. Please be generous.

This week classes are hearing books about coming to America or about other countries (to contrast with life in the United States). 

The PTA meeting at which library improvements will be discussed is now Tuesday, November 15, at 6:00 p.m. It was postponed from last week to this one.

At the Manhattan Beach public library there's a STEAM workshop coming up on Wednesday, November 30, and also the Hang 10 book club on Sunday, December 4. The new art installed in the library is really awesome--giant sculptures of kelp and sea jellies! If you haven't been in the public library lately, I suggest you visit soon!
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The Pennekamp food drive is underway! Most of us in Manhattan Beach don’t have to worry about not being able to feed our families, but Los Angeles has the largest population in the United States (1.5 million) of people who are food insecure. Nonperishable food will be collected at Pennekamp throughout the month of November and donated to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. There is a collection box at the school office and one in the library. Please be generous.

In recognition of the food drive, this week many classes will be hearing books about food.

The other thing we are doing this week during class visits is finishing up the voting on the California Young Reader Medal (CYRM) nominees. The younger grades (K, 1, and 2) have voted on the "Primary" category, and we have a winner! It is ... Sam and Dave Dig a Hole, by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen! All the nominated books got some votes, but Sam and Dave won by a wide margin. In the coming week or two the upper grades (3, 4, and 5) will be voting on the three books nominated in the category "Picture Books for Older Readers." The results for Pennekamp will be posted on this website in a couple of weeks, when all the classes have had a chance to vote.

There is one other aspect of the CYRM contest that our school is involved with this year: voting on the three novels in the "Intermediate" category. The library has purchased copies of these to circulate among interested 4th-grade students. Some copies have been with students for kind of a while now, so I'd like those to be read and returned. If you have the habit of reading aloud to your children, these books would be excellent choices. Any student who reads (or hears) all three will be permitted to vote on the category at a pizza celebration!

Did you know there's a PTA meeting this Thursday night at 6 p.m.? Under consideration is a plan to make improvements to the library space. If you have an opinion on that topic, please be sure to attend the meeting. I'll be there for sure :-)

​I hope everyone had a safe and festive Halloween!
 
This week in the library several grades are voting on the California Young Reader Medal nominees. Those who are not voting this week will be voting next week. The students’ voting has been planned for this time to coincide with the national election.
 
On Wednesday, November 2, there will be a school spirit rally! We will hear about the character trait on which we’ve been focusing: gratitude. Service, the character trait for the coming month, will be introduced.
 
Our school food drive begins this week! Most of us in Manhattan Beach don’t have to worry about not being able to feed our families, but Los Angeles has the largest population in the United States (1.5 million) of people who are food insecure. Nonperishable food will be collected at Pennekamp throughout the month of November and donated to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. Please be generous. In recognition of the food drive, next week classes will be hearing books about food.
 
Friday, November 11, is Veteran’s Day, which is a school holiday.