A historical lunch

On Tuesday we had a hysterically historical lunch with some of the lower and middle school history teachers where we discussed history and what to expect in the new school year.

Book Elective Book Reviews

For this trimester, Ms. LaMay’s Book Elective class had the opportunity to review their books for a prize. The kids read some great books and submitted informative, interesting, and entertaining reviews. Congratulations to Connor for his review of Matilda and Vivian for her review of Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina! Check out all of the reviews below!

Connor recorded his review of Matilda by Roald Dahl, which you can listen to below.

Vivian reviewed Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina by Misty Copeland and rated it 5 stars. She wrote:

“This book is so inspiring. That’s why I love it. It shows that just about anyone can do anything. It is about Misty Copeland who is the first black ballerina at ABT. How she came from nothing to one of the world’s best ballerina’s. This is a good read for everyone from kids to adults most people will like it. The book is very well written Misty is obviously a very talented ballerina but she is also a good writer. In the middle of the book it has pictures of her as a dancer which is good because it gives a nice visual of what life was for her. This is overall a great book.”

Jake reviewed The Icebound Land by John Flanagan and rated it 5 stars. He wrote:

“The Icebound Land is the third book in the Rangers Apprentice series and is the most tragic of the books in the series. It is a very close tie to Halts Peril which is book nine. This is a heartbreaking tale about how Will who is the main character has been taken by savages that live in the north with a young girl. Meanwhile, his friend Horace and his mentor, Halt have gone off to rescue him traveling around the continent in order to find him. This book is part of a larger series called Rangers Apprentice which is about Will who is an orphan being taken into secret training for his kingdom as a ranger which is an elite group of combat scouts. His adventures take him all around the world fighting to protect his friends and his kingdom. His two best friends Horace and Alice also join him occasionally and help him fight these evil plans. The Icebound Lands is a good book and I enjoyed it very much.”

Hannah reviewed The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and rated it 5 stars. She wrote:

“The Hunger Games takes you into the life of a scared but brave girl named Katniss Everdeen. District 12 was one of the twelve districts that made up the country of Panem. Every year, children’s names, ages 12 through 18, are put into a bowl and drawn out during a ceremony known. This is a dreaded time and no one wants to be a part of it because it is almost like a death sentence. When a name is called, you are then taken and thrown into what is known as “The Hunger Games.” This book was really good because it kept me on my toes the whole time. I would rate it a solid 10. The unexpected seemed to happen a lot and things popped up all the time out of nowhere. The book also kept a good pace and you could picture what was going on in your head while the story kept moving. I would definitely recommend reading this book!”

Will reviewed A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park and rated it 5 stars. He wrote:

“The book is about a boy named Salva who was in school when war broke out in his village in Southern Sudan. Salva has run as far away into the bush as he can. As he runs from his village, he can’t help but think about his family. Through the book Salva meets a friend and finds his uncle. I think the biggest problem they had was having water. In the middle of the book it explains how people were dying from dehydration. I think the book was great because of all the details the author put into the. The only thing I would say I didn’t like was how repetitive it was talking about walking. Otherwise I feel like this is a great book to read in your spare time because of how short it is and how the rest of the book lures you in to reading more. Overall, I thing this is a great book”

Hayden reviewed Brisingr by Christopher Paolini and rated it 4 stars. He wrote:

“The book Brisingr is the third book of the Inheritance Cycle. It unlike the other two is very action filled and doesn’t contain a lot of “filler”. Filler is where in order to progress the story it tells a tale of something mostly unrelated. The main setting of the book is during one of the great wars in which the main characters are trying to overthrow the tyrannical overlord. I like the book so much because all of the characters certain power gaps and weaknesses are fixed during this book really setting the stage for the story to transition into the next book. In other words the book Brisingr is a well rounded book that is used as perfect stepping stone to Inheritance, the final book of the series.”

We also had two video submissions. For their review, Kellen and Malek filmed a scene from the Percy Jackson series.

For Colin and Cooper’s review, they filmed a scene from the Eragon series.

Thank you to all of our participants!

Week in Review: Penultimate Edition

Well, here we are! The second to last week of school and a shortened week at that. Things are wrapping up as students prepare for their finals and the library rounds up delinquent books. Here’s what happened this week:

 

On Wednesday, the library was host to a retirement party celebrating Dr. Baird, Dr. Bell, Lonna, Ms. Kassel, Ms. Kelly, Ms. Kren, and Mr. Neukom. Their combined experience totals 172 years!

On Thursday and Friday, Ms. Melinson finished up her summer book talks with the soon to be 6th graders.

And speaking of 6th graders, your assistant was able to view some of the current 6th graders presenting their passion projects on Friday. Students spent weeks researching and putting together their projects, which included creating a recipe book, making slime and a slime recipe book, and learning to bake and cook. Students discussed their successes and failures then participated in a Q & A with their classmates about their experience.