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.

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

Miracle on 49th Street

On Friday, I happened to open Miracle on 49th Street by Mike Lupica before I was going to put it back on the shelf. I started to read a couple pages and soon I was hooked. I could tell it would have a feel-good ending , but it perfect for a holidays as the big scene takes place by the Christmas tree in New York City.

Here's the review I posted on my LibraryThing page:
Molly Parker's mom, Jen, has just lost her battle with cancer. Before she died, she gave Molly a series of letters. One of the letters reveals the identity of Molly's father, who happens to be none other than Josh Cameron, one of the biggest stars in the NBA.
Molly is determined to get to know Josh. She is resourceful, persistent, and sneaky when she feels it necessary. She develops a relationship with Josh that goes through a series of ups and downs. Molly is looking for family, and Josh doesn't really seem to believe her story.

This is a feel-good read that kept me turning pages to discover if Molly and Josh ever learned to accept each other and make peace. ( )

If you read this book, leave a comment about what you thought.

Image Citation
"Miracle on 49th Street cover." Online image. LibraryThing. 15 Dec. 2007 .

Citing Images

Mrs. Oshinski's class has been doing exciting work on a class wiki to study microbes.
Part of the assignment requires students to include images on the wiki pages they are creating. After going through the developing pages, I noticed that there are many people who aren't fully citing their images. I made a screencast with step-by-step directions for citing images. I hope this helps. Students, please see me if you have questions or need assistance.

2 down, 978 to go!

Mrs. Oshinski's classes have been working on a microbe research project. The students are building a wiki to share what they've learned about their particular microbe and the disease it causes.

As I walked through the lab today, Jack called me over as he was working on the computer. He said, "I'm really starting to like these databases." The students next to him turned around to agree to the sentiment. That just made my day!

And although those were the only two who expressed a new found appreciation for the quality and depth of information that can be found in databases, when I looked around the lab I saw that most of the students were taking notes and reading from the database resources that I had demonstrated the day before and linked into the wiki.

The Book Fair is Coming

On Wednesday, 12/5 - Friday, 12/7, the book fair will be taking place in the Highland Learning Center during the school day. Students will be able to visit and shop with their LA/Lit classes.

Books We're Thankful For...

Highland students contributed books for which they are thankful to this sign in the Learning Center the week before Thanksgiving.

I clearly proved I need work on my drawing skills, after creating one of the world's strangest looking turkeys! This, however, did not stop the flow of great reads. A wide selection from children's books to classics to contemporary favorites was listed.