Mrs. Ceddia's class MCBA

Ms. Blanchard's Class MCBA

Big Hugh Labs

Here is the link for Big Hugh Labs!
http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/

Contest!

Create your own video book review and enter it in the 2009 Storytubes Contest! To participate, film your 2 minutes or less review with 1 to 5 people per video and upload the file on to Youtube or Teachertube. Contest runs from January 8-February 15,2009. For more information click here, or come see Ms. Lightfoot in the library!

MCBA 2008-2009

Looking for more information on the MCBA books? Check out this blog post!

5th Grade- MCBA Voice Thread Project

Voice Thread - to watch the tutorial video click on "What is a VoiceThread Anyway"

I was really impressed with all of the brainstorming I saw today in class. There were some great ideas that came up and I am very excited for this project. Great work!

The Big House by Carolyn Coman

Coman, Carolyn. The Big House. Honesdale, PA : Front Street, 2004. ISBN 1-932425-09-8.

Ray and Ivy's parents have just been sent to prison for 25 years for embezzlement. If that isn't bad enough, their accusers, Marietta and Lionel, have offered to let Ray and Ivy live with them! The big house they live in holds lots of secrets. Ivy knows that Marietta and Lionel are guilty of something, she just doesn't know what. Her mission- find evidence against Marietta and Lionel and take them to court. As Ivy and Ray begin their investigation they find lots of different pieces of evidence but are not sure how this evidence adds up. Luckily, they make some friends along the way who help them figure out the evidence they have collected.

Halloween Research

Check out the following websites to learn more about Halloween- you will find information on the history of Halloween, bats, pumpkins, games and more! 

Time for Kids

PBS Kids Halloween 

Halloween Riddles

All about Pumpkins

Halloween History, Folklore, Phobias,  Symbols and Stuff

Bats 4 Kids

Vampire Bats

Presidents & Elections

Here are some sites that will help you learn more about U.S. Presidents and the Presidential Election

Presidential Fun Facts - fun and little known facts about presidents

The American Presidency - find statistics on each president's life history and the members of their cabinet

Whitehouse Kids - presidential biographies

Scholastic News Online Election 2008 - coverage of the 2008 presidential election

The Democracy Project from PBS Kids - you can be the President!

Peirce School Author Election

Attention Students!
On Tuesday, November 4, 2008 Peirce Elementary School will hold an Author Election to elect our favorite children's book author. The candidates are Roald Dahl, J.K. Rowling, Mo Willems and Tomie dePaola. Votes will be tallied and on Wednesday the winning author will be announced. Check out the bulletin board by the auditorium for more information!

Savvy by Ingrid Law

Law, Ingrid. Savvy. New York, NY : Dial Books for Young Readers, 2008. ISBN 978-0-8037-3306-0

The Beaumont Family is special. The people in their town can't quite put their finger on what it is that makes the Beaumont's special. On their 13th birthday each Beaumont gets a special gift- a Savvy. Nobody can predict what their savvy will be, or how powerful it will be. Rocket creates electricity and Fish creates storms and now it is Mibs' turn to get a special savvy. A few days before Mibs' birthday, her father is in a terrible accident and now lies unconscious in the hospital. Mibs knows deep in her heart that her new savvy will help her father wake up from his coma- if she can just get to the hospital. When Mibs sees an opportunity for a ride by sneaking onto a salesman's truck, she takes it. But when other children follow her and they all get stuck on the truck going the wrong way they are in for quite the adventure.

Official Savvy Website

Check out the author's site

Boston Globe Children's Book Festival

Saturday September 6, 2008 11am-5pm
Parade Grounds, Boston Common
Admission is FREE!
Learn more here.

Oggie Cooder by Sarah Weeks

Weeks, Sarah. Oggie Cooder. New York : Scholastic Press, 2008. ISBN 0439927919

Have you ever charved? What?! You have never even heard of charving? Well- charving is a combination of chewing and carving slices of cheese into shapes, and fourth grader Oggie Cooder happens to be an expert charver. At school everybody picks on Oggie, just because he dresses and acts a little differently. After he wins a spot on a popular television talent show for his charving ability everyone wants to be just like him. However, when his manager, popular classmate Donnica Perfecto, begins trying to change Oggie to make him even more of a hit with potential viewers, charving and popularity starts to lose their appeal.

Recommended for grades 4 and up.

Author's Website

Check out these cool cheese carvings....

Cheese on the cob!

Photo from http://www.onmilwaukee.com/

This Cheesosaurus didn't go extinct...he melted!

Photo from www.fooddesigns.blogspot.com

Do you think a princess made of cheese lives in this Cheese Castle?

Photo from www.icewonder.com

Children's author Jane Yolen to speak at Watertown Free Public Library

Award winning children's author Jane Yolen will speak Friday, September 19, 2008 at 3pm at the Watertown Free Public Library (Watertown Savings Bank Room). Yolen has written nearly 300 stories for children, teens and adults. Yolen has been the recipient of several awards throughout her writing career, including the Caldecott Medal, two Nebula Awards, two Christopher Medals, the World Fantasy Award, three Mythopoeic Fantasy Awards, the Golden Kite Award, the Jewish Book Award, and the Association of Jewish Libraries Award. Yolen will be speaking about her highly praised new book, Sea Queens : Women Pirates Around the World (Charlesbridge, 2008). A book signing will immediately follow. No registration is recquired for this event, but be advised parking is limited.

Jane Yolen's website

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Riordan, Rick. The Lightning Thief. New York : Miramax Books, 2005. ISBN 0-78683565-5

Percy Jackson has always experienced weird things, but he always figured it was either his dyslexia, or maybe even is ADHD. Bullied and outcast, he bounces from school to school until he gets to Yancy Academy, and for the first time makes a real friend, Grover. He even has a teacher, Mr. Brunner, who truly believes in him. Until one day when he overhears Grover and Mr. Brunner talking about him, and about how they must make sure he stays alive until next fall. Could the reason Percy is excelling in Greek mythology be linked to his father that he has never met? Could Percy be someone special after all?

Recommended grades 5 and up.

Author's website

The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron

Patron, Susan. The Higher Power of Lucky. New York, NY : Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2006. ISBN : 978-1-4169-0194-5

Lucky just knows she is about to be abandoned again. Brigitte, Lucky's guardian since her mother died and her father decided he didn't want her, has been acting funny. She misses her family in France and Lucky caught her applying to a French culinary school. When Lucky finds Brigitte's suitcase and passport all packed, she decides it is finally time to put her plan into action. She packs up her survival-kit backpack and heads out to her secret cave in the desert. But will her plan to make Brigitte realize how much she loves Lucky work, or will it be foiled by a dust storm and a five year old boy?

Recommended for grades 4 and up.

Check out this video from Amazon.com