Week of January 17th

Howdy all,

As part of FA's bicentennial celebration this year, we opened the time capsule that had resided in the library for 25 years.  It was a lot of fun to see what Friends was like 25 years ago.  The school has decided to create a new time capsule to be opened a quarter of a century from now.  Our class has been collecting ideas for a  contribution to a new time capsule.  After brainstorming ideas, the students settled upon photographs, a Patriots ticket, and picture of the Peace Day peace sign all of Friends formed with their bodies last Fall.  Sam has volunteered to bring in a Patriots ticket stub and we will make a collage of pictures over the next week to place in the time capsule. I'll post pictures of it here when we're finished.

We are in the midst of reading Caesar's Story in Mix It Up groups, which meet twice weekly.  In these integrated groups we are exploring the American Revolution era through the eyes of a slave boy who grapples with the ideas of freedom, loyalty to family, and growing up.  This historical fiction book is set near Williamsburg, VA and provides accurate details about what life was like for slaves in the 1700's.  We are discussing the plot, examining literary elements and practicing reading strategies as we go.  SBS students are engaging in discussion groups with their peers and are doing a wonderful job participating, sharing ideas and knowledge, and engaging in an integrated setting.  Kudos to each and every student in my class!

The SBS program may just be catapulting itself to "Super Cool" status. Why, you ask?  SBS buddies will begin a Legos Robotics program on Monday.  SBS buddy partnerships are cross-age groupings with fifth graders pairing with Upper Division students in the Sally Borden program.  Each partnership will build a Lego robot of their design.  These robots will be able to move, turn, pick things up, move items, flash lights and a host of other capabilities.  The SBS teachers are very excited to see our students in action.  Many of the boys and girls in SBS have an impressive capacity to build and design things and we know they will create impressive robots!  Stay tuned for pictures on our blog!

Have a great weekend everyone!
Laura