Blog Archives

December 19, 2016

12/18/2016

Today is the first meeting of the book club for grade 5. The club meets one Monday a month, and on that day the library is not open during lunch to other students and patrons. The next meeting will be January 23, 2017.

This week we have a sampling of books related to Hanukkah, Christmas, and gift giving. A couple merit specific mention.

To grade 4 I am reading The Carpenter's Gift: A Christmas Tale about the Rockefeller Center Tree, by David Rubel. Every year since 2007 the Rockefeller Center has donated the tree to Habitat for Humanity, which uses it to construct homes for people in need. The Carpenter's Gift constructs a fairly elaborate fictional story around the Rockefeller Center's tradition, but I like the book because it allows me to mention the excellent work done by Habitat for Humanity. Below is a picture from 1931 of the first Rockefeller Center tree, purchased by the construction workers shown in the photo with it. Since this was during the Great Depression, the tree was decorated with shiny tin cans and other scraps, but still provided holiday cheer.

To the 5th-grade students I am reading Shooting at the Stars: The Christmas Truce of 1914, by John Hendrix. Below is a clip we will watch from the movie Joyeux Noel about that event. In the movie clip, two opera singers are at the front-lines to perform for German soldiers. When the tenor begins to sing "Silent Night" along with a Scottish bagpiper, the soldiers become emboldened to come out of the trenches and meet for a spontaneous, informal Christmas truce. The film and the picture book are both based on several actual 1914 Christmas truces among French, British, and German soldiers at the front-lines during World War One. The story of these truces has been somewhat mythologized, as in the film. For instance, German Crown Prince Wilhelm did send tenor Walter Kirchhoff to sing for German soldiers during the war, but his visit was unrelated to the truces. Still, that any of these truces took place is quite remarkable and an inspiration to create even a little bit of peace where and when we can.

Happy holidays to everyone at Pennekamp! See you in the new year!

0 Comments

December 12, 2016

12/12/2016

0 Comments

Every month here at Pennekamp we choose a character trait to recognize, and this month's trait is "caring." All the books I am reading aloud this week exemplify caring behavior.

Below please find a link to a group of clips from an interview with Patricia Polacco, author and illustrator of dozens of picture books. (She is kind of the grand dame of picture books.) This week I will be reading aloud Thank You, Mr. Falker, which tells the story of Ms. Polacco's struggle to learn to read and the teacher who recognized that she had dyslexia. Born in 1944, Ms. Polacco grew up in a time when dyslexia was not widely understood. As the fifth video segment in the collection below describes, not only did her teacher (Mr. Felker, depicted as "Mr. Falker" in the story) figure out why reading was hard for her, he then went to great lengths to see that she got the help she needed. It's an inspiring story of how one caring person made a tremendous difference.

Speaking of making a difference, I am thrilled to report the outcome of Pennekamp's November food drive. We donated 1,085 pounds of food to the L.A. Regional Food Bank! We far exceeded our goal of 400 pounds. Thank you, Dragon families, for your extraordinary generosity. To celebrate, the PTA is giving the students a schoolwide popsicle party on January 18, 2017.

The book club for students in grade 5 will begin in December. Pre-enrollment is REQUIRED, and consent forms can be obtained at the library or from the school office. 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 obtain a copy of each of the 5 books we will read 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.

The Manhattan Beach public library's annual holiday craft event will be on Wednesday December 14, starting at 3:30. Then on Wednesday, December 21, from 3:30 to 5:00, there's a very cool Frida Kahlo art workshop. It is for grades 2 to 5, and if you have children of that age, I'd really encourage you to take them.

Finally, here's a lovely picture of a loggerhead sea turtle, to accompany my reading to 3rd grade of Follow the Moon Home.

0 Comments

December 5, 2016

12/5/2016

0 Comments

This week we are looking at books about snow. This fun topic continues our look at nonfiction. Grades 4 and 5 are reviewing the five main types of reference books: dictionary, thesaurus, encyclopedia, atlas, and almanac.

The book club for students in grade 5 will begin in December. Sign-up sheets will go home this 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.

There's some good stuff coming up at our local public library. The "Let's Talk Books" meeting is this Saturday, December 10, at 2:00 (refreshments are served). The book to be discussed is Firstborn, by Tor Seidler. It's time for the annual holiday craft event, for children up to grade 5--that will be on Wednesday December 14, starting at 3:30. Then on Wednesday, December 21, from 3:30 to 5:00, there's a very cool Frida Kahlo art workshop. It is for grades 2 to 5, and if you have children of that age, I'd really encourage you to take them.

Regular library usage will be interrupted this Thursday, at least until noon, for the district vision and hearing screening. The library will be completely closed as the screeners have a lot of setup and need the room to be quiet.

0 Comments

December 19, 2016

December 12, 2016

December 5, 2016

What's Ms. Barbara reading?

Archives

Categories