Research, Research, Research!
Students have been busy with many research lessons. By far the largest was our 8th grade American Icon English project. Students chose notable events from American History or researched a famous American. A combination of complex databases, primary documents and print resources were used to locate information. Eighth graders worked very hard to organize and synthesize information in order to write their papers. I can't wait to read their final copies!
Other projects have included 7th grade current events and French food and fare. Students have selected books for classes related to non-fiction and biography, historical fiction - particularly the Revolutionary War - and fictional titles revolving around the theme of perseverance and resilience.
Albert Einstein said it best:
The Battle has Officially Begun!
Led by 6th grade English Teacher, Mrs. Ellen Miller, the Camillus Middle School Battle of the Books has begun! All students were urged to join and assemble a team of four participants. This year's theme is "Mrs. Miller's All Time Favorites!" and includes a range of titles including classics such as Little Women by Louisa May Alcott and The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein as well as more recent novels like James Herriot's Every Living Thing. We've been very busy checking books out to students who are anxious to get reading! A full schedule of the competition will be posted soon. For the latest updates, be sure to check out this link.
The Book Tree...
I am fortunate to have a talented library staff including Mrs. Susan Gifford who's always full of fun and creative ideas. She really outdid herself this time with our tree! Constructed entirely out of books from our library with green spines, the "Woodland Tree" has been a huge attraction! You may even remember seeing it in the December CMS e-Newsletter. Everyone admired it and asked us repeatedly how many books it took to make it? We never counted but decided to host a contest to find out! So far, we've received hundreds of guesses and the lucky winner will be notified after we take it down on Monday, January 5th. And you thought books were just for reading?!
Happy Holidays to all of our families!
Mrs. Bush
