NO NAME CALLING WEEK – Mar. 29th-Apr. 1st
The following is a schedule of events for No Name Calling Week coming at the end of the month. There’s some really neat and exciting things coming that I wanted parents to be aware of. Please take note:
Mar. 26th – Town Meeting – Chorus Performances, student work shared, No Name Calling Week opening ceremonies, students of the month for March, Random Acts. Schedule is below:
| Mar. 26 |
5th & 6th |
8:17-9:00 |
A |
|
7th & 8th |
2:07-2:50 |
Flex |
Mar. 29th
Health Awareness Day – Orange Slices in the cafeteria as the students arrive, jazz band in the cafeteria, organic and healthy food choices for lunch, morning news
1:20-2:04 – 5th Grade Assembly – Kick the Clique (teachers will be asked to do some acting and participating – please plan to attend)
2:07-2:50 – 6th Grade Assembly – Kick the Clique (teachers will be asked to do some acting and participating – please plan to attend)
Mar. 30th
No Name Calling Awareness Day – Talks in classes, stickers to each student on their way into school, morning news
2:07-2:50 – 7th Grade Assembly – Kick the Clique (teachers will be asked to do some acting and participating – please plan to attend)
Mar. 31st
Mix It Up Day – Students will receive a playing card. Each table at lunch will have a label that will match each playing card. The students will sit according to their playing card. Each table will have a folder that contains conversation questions in them. We hope that teachers will take part in this luncheon as well.
1:15-2:00 – 5th Grade assembly – Famous Award Winning Author Tom Birdseye will speak to the students.
2:07-2:50 – 6th, 7th, 8th Grade assembly – Famous Award Winning Author Tom Birdseye will speak to the students. See his work below.
Apr. 1st
School Spirit Day – All staff members and students will dress in blue and gold this day. We will celebrate our school spirit as a community. Please encourage students NOT to wear clothes that are distracting and we don’t want face paint.
2:07-2:50 – 8th Grade Assembly – Kick the Clique (teachers will be asked to do some acting and participating – please plan to attend)
Thank you to Michele Ouellette for the idea and organizing this week. Thank you also to everyone involved in making this week a memorable one for the kids (the LA Depts, the Art Dept., Robin Duffield for morning news, Linda for displays in the library, Sarah Suatoni from YFS, the PE Dept. for sportsmanship activities in PE, Art Honor Society, and EVERYONE else who have taken part in this school-wide event. (If I missed anyone, I apologize.))
Below is the information on Tom Birdseye, the famous award winning author coming to visit the kids on Wednesday. Special thanks to Linda for securing his visit and organizing this unique opportunity for the kids.
“A Tough Nut to Crack” Grandpa Ruben’s tractor accident (he gets run over by his own tractor right before it crashes into his neighbor’s breakfast nook) sends Cassie and her annoying younger brother to Kentucky to see Grandpa with their widowed dad. But the two men have been bitterly estranged for years: Cassie has never met her grandfather, and her father doesn’t allow Grandpa’s name to be mentioned in their house. Cassie is determined to discover the cause of the feud and bring about reconciliation, but finds out that their mutual enmity is going to be “a tough nut to crack.” Cassie makes a likeable narrator—impetuous, impatient, good-hearted—although she sounds a bit young for a seventh grader. Her growing friendship with Grandpa’s neighbor, high-heeled, wise, and wily Vicky Higgins, adds depth to the story, and the short titled chapters with their punchy hook endings keep readers briskly turning pages. However, when it is finally uncovered, the origin of the decades-long feud just seems preposterous, given that the two men’s hostility has survived the death of Cassie’s mother and the birth of both grandchildren. If Dad is willing to come see Grandpa after his tractor accident, why wouldn’t Grandpa have been willing to come see his son after his young wife’s tragic death? Still, the ending skillfully avoids being overly neat, recognizing that real families can have real problems, but still endure.
“This slice-of-life story is both sweet and funny . . . detailed setting and strong characters . . . a feel-good read.” – Booklist
“Attack of the Mutant Underwear” Cody Lee Carson is resolved to become a “changed man.” Starting at a new school in a new town means that nobody knows about his Old Cody “doofus, bozo-brained” mess-up tendencies, including the infamous Tweety Bird-underwear-in-the-spotlight episode. The New Me Journal of the boy’s bumpy transformation from hapless elementary schooler to confident middle schooler comes complete with stories of sibling strife, classmate clashes, student council elections, and his first big crush. This lively and believable record of Cody’s attempt to put his best foot forward and figure out where he fits in has great appeal for middle graders who are themselves experiencing the awful awkwardnesses of preadolescence, reinventions of self, science fairs, and fallings-out with friends. With its ever-so-catchy title and its many practical jokes (appropriate for a protagonist with an April 1st birthday), it’s a sort of male companion for Phyllis Reynolds Naylor’s early “Alice” (Atheneum) and “Boys”/”Girls” battle books (Delacorte). A well-paced, positive, and pleasant read.-
