From the Library

Fifth graders started off the year by reading together a few chapters of Rita Williams-Garcia's P.S. Be 11, the sequel to their summer reading book One Crazy Summer.  They were amused to meet these characters again. We then jumped right in to our research project, on which we are still working. First we read Carlyn Beccia's I Feel Better with a Frog in my Throat, History's Strangest Cures. Ask your daughter about earthworm necklaces and mustard plasters. We then read an interactive history book about the Middle Ages. ("If you want to accompany the ladies in waiting, turn to page 4, if you want to stay at the castle, turn to page 7". Sometimes we died of the plague, other times we survived.) From there, girls chose a topic to research. They found a book that addressed as closely as possible, the topic they'd chosen. Some could get very close ( treatment with leeches), others had to stretch out the topic (worms). They noted three facts or interesting bits of information. Next we will do some online research. We expect to be able to get more specific information. Girls will compare their sources and present one minute reports on their findings.