Sunday, February 28, 2010

Reality Rocks in District 70

I'm so excited to get started with the Reality Rocks project. The Learning Center staff members in District #70 are leading the way in challenging all the students and staff members in the district to read a nonfiction book of their choice during March.

At Highland, students and staff will be able to track their participation, enter a raffle with each book they finish, and get their picture taken with the book that is read to be part of a digital slideshow.

Why are we doing this? Here are just a couple of the many reasons:

1. Effectively reading informational texts is an essential skill.

2. Reading an informational book (aka nonfiction) may lead to learning and be a satisfying reading experience!

3. Many students prefer reading nonfiction. This is an opportunity to encourage that habit.

4. Choosing what you want to learn about and then reading up on the topic IS self-directed learning.

I had a fun time this afternoon roaming the shelves and choosing some of the nonfiction books I'm going to read this month. I hope a lot of students and staff at Highland participate! Please leave a comment about the nonfiction book you choose to read.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

The National Science Foundation along with NBC has posted a series of short videos about the science of some of the sports in the Winter Olympics. The series is called Science of the Olympic Games. I'm a big fan of the Olympics, and I'm always interested in knowing more about how things work.

I just learned about the impact of acceleration and drag on bobsledding by watching this video:

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Caudill News

We are in the last few weeks of the 2010 Caudill program. Students who have read at least three books from this year's list are eligible to cast a vote for the book they believe should win the award. Voting will take place at Highland from 2/19 - 2/25.

A team of Highland students will represent our school to compete in the Lake County Battle of the Books. The game-show style competition will take place after school on March 4, 2010 at Woodland Middle School. If you are interested in participating, please see Ms. Wyatt for a permission slip.


In other Caudill news, the 2011 Caudill List has just been announced.
Drum roll please...Here it is:
  • Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
  • The Boy Who Dared by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
  • Scarlett by Cathy Cassidy
  • The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
  • Waiting for Normal by Leslie Connor
  • Diamond Willow by Helen Frost
  • Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix
  • The Great Wide Sea by M.H. Herlong
  • Scat by Carl Hiassen
  • Schooled by Gordon Korman
  • Savvy by Ingrid Law
  • 11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass
  • A Friendship for Today by Patricia C. McKissack
  • Fablehaven by Brandon Mull
  • All Shook Up by Shelley Pearsall
  • Yellow Star by Jennifer Roy
  • Trouble by Gary D. Schmidt
  • The Alchemyst by Michael Scott
  • The Mailbox by Audrey Shafer
  • Notes from a Midnight Driver by Jordan Sonnenblick