Thursday, January 31, 2008

Highland Mock Election

I'm really excited for the upcoming Highland Mock Election!
We're going to have a school-wide mock election on Tuesday to coincide with the Illinois primary on Tuesday. Today we had election judge training for the 24 students who will be serving as election judges. I can't wait to see who the Highland students elect as each party's candidates for the presidential election.

Friday, January 4, 2008

Book Club Round Table Recommendations

For our December meetings, the Lunch Bunch Book Clubs held round table sessions where each member recommended a favorite book to the group. Below is a list of the books that were recommended by book club members. I know I've got some new things on my reading list!

8th Grade Round Table
  • Jesse recommended Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
  • Ellen recommended A Time for Dancing by Davida Willis Hurwin
  • Katie recommended Code Orange by Caroline Cooney
  • Ms. Wyatt recommended How Not to be Popular by Jennifer Ziegler
  • Lydia recommended Eldest by Christopher Paolini
  • Taylor recommended The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl by Barry Lyga
  • Nina recommended Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
  • Jovanna recommended East by Edith Pattou
Other books that came up during the discussion included Little Women, Drums Girls & Dangerous Pie, and So Yesterday.

6th Grade Round Table

  • Maggie recommended Maus by Art Spiegelman
  • Emily recommended Dizzy by Cathy Cassidy
  • Stephen recommended Airborn by Kenneth Oppel
  • Erin recommended Bloomability by Sharon Creech
  • Nick recommended Thief and the Beanstalk by P.W. Catanese
  • Ms. Wyatt recommended Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson
  • Claudia recommended The Warriors series by Erin Hunter
Other books that came up during the discussion included:
Gregor and the Code of Claw, Here Today, Twilight, Wish List, Westing Game, Magyk, You are So NOT Invited to my Bat Mitzvah, Inkheart, and Inkspell.

7th Grade Round Table
This list only represents the discussion 1/3 of the 7th grade group. We were very fortunate that Heather Beverly and Ellen Jenkins from the Cook Memorial Public Library joined us and facilitated two of the groups before giving a GREAT book talk featuring newly released YA books.
  • Holes
  • Homeland from the Dark Elf Trilogy
  • 21 Balloons
  • Last City of Faar from the Pendragon Series
  • What My Mother Doesn't Know
  • Life at these Speeds
  • Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
  • Ashes of Roses
  • The Twinkie Squad
  • Charlie Bone Series
  • Girls in Pants