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MS.SILAG'S BLOG IS NO LONGER ACTIVE. Please visit for all the news about Memorial School Specials including LIBRARY, ART, MUSIC, FOREIGN LANGUAGE, PHYSICAL EDUCATION and TECHNOLOGY! THanks for visiting! - Ms. Silag

Would You, Could You...

We Would, We Could...get everyone at Memorial to celebrate reading and Dr. Seuss's birthday! On Tuesday, March 3rd, the whole school from Kindergarten to grade 6, from the front office to the cafeteria got in the Seuss spirit to promote reading. We donned our Cat in the Hat hats and Dropped Everything And Read, we had mystery guest readers and a raffle, and for lunch Green Eggs & Ham was just one of the Seuss-inspired offerings! It was a lot of fun - and best of all, every student took a pledge to be a lifelong reader! Here are some pics from the day...enjoy!

Happy Reading!

What's Doin' in February...

It's been a month since my last post here and the Memorial School library has been busy with researchers coming and going. We've wrapped up the Grade 2 Continents research and podcasting project and Grade 5 has finished with their research on Explorers of North America. Now we have begun Grade 3's research on Revolutionary Figures and our 4th graders continue to research landmarks across the U.S.A.

Our Kindergarteners recently authored non-fiction books about Dinosaurs and next week we will take a look at biographies and try our hand at writing a Biography about someone very special.

And of course in February we are celebrating Presidents, Black Americans and Valentine's Day and reading all about these special celebrations!

We're gearing up for Read Across America Day on March 2nd when the whole school will Drop Everything And Read and many grades will celebrate the work of Dr. Seuss. Til then...

Happy Reading!

Happy New Year!

Well, we're midway through the first week of school in 2009 and things are chugging along here at the library. Our second graders are almost done with their research on the seven continents. They will soon be podcasting their research findings.

The fifth graders are working hard on their Explorer Webquests. They will be presenting their research via Power Point Presentations with the goal of convincing their classmates that their Explorer had the greatest impact on North America.

The Kindergartners will get started soon on researching animals and will then share their findings via interviews that will be podcasted. Mrs. Seymour and I are also working on plans for a project for the third graders that will integrate technology, research and writing.

Learning has never been so fun! I think the students are much more invested in their work because they are enjoying the new products they are producing - podcasts, Power Points, etc. rather than the old poster boards they always did before. If you have any great project ideas, I'd love to hear them. Just add your comments below. Until the next time...

Happy Reading!

The Best Gift

Well, it looks like my "Weekly" blog has turned into a MONTHLY blog. Why? Because we are SO BUSY here at Memorial! As you can see from the picture here, we have been doing lots of research, producing Power Point presentations and podcasts at every grade level. The first half of the school year has been very productive and we have a lot more planned here in the library for the second half of the year. We'll be researching Explorers in 5th grade, Rain Forests in 2nd grade, Animals in Kindergarten just to name a few things! I also hope to get us all reading non-stop for an entire school day at the Second Annual Read-a-thon here at Memorial. And we've had a nice steady flow of new books added to our collection so I am sure there are plenty of good books to keep our students reading at home on their own time too!

Speaking of reading, let's talk about our much deserved vacation break that begins on Friday! As far as I'm concerned, one of the best gifts of all is a good book. My family celebrates Christmas and I always hope that Santa has picked out a nice new book for me to cozy up with after all the festivities have died down.

But my favorite gift of all is the gift of sharing. Our Kindergarteners came to the library today and we talked about Hannukah and the gift of charity - a very important component of the Jewish festival of lights. The children made tzedakah boxes. The tradition of giving tzedakah is a basic part of Jewish living. The children will collect pennies in their tzedakah boxes and donate their collection to other less fortunate. The ability to give to others and the joy it brings is probably the very best gift of all!

Finally, I have to give thanks to those committed parents who give to others each week right here in the school library. THANK YOU to my fabulous library volunteers!

I wish you a merry Christmas, a happy Hanukkah and peace to you and yours! See you in 2009!

The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe

Ms. Pastore's fifth grade students just finished reading the classic C.S.Lewis tale The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. I think this story has endured over the years because it is so rich in themes and has an exciting plot. I love books that get you thinking and The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe does just that! One of the interesting dynamics in the story is the relationship between Edmund and his siblings.

If Edmund were your brother would you be able to forgive him for trusting the White Witch? Even after Aslan is killed? Click on "Comments" below to share your thoughts and read what others think....

Happy Reading!

ELECTION DAY AT LAST!

Well, Election Day is here and it's not clear as I write this, who our country's new president will be but our students here at Memorial had their say last week. We help a Mock Election on Thursday, October 30th and the votes were counted and winner announced...it will be interesting to see if our students were consistent with the rest of the country. McCain received 131 votes and Obama received 295. Students participated in passionate debates over the pros and cons of each candidates for days leading up the Mock Election. The 6th graders held a formal debate and you can hear some of it by clicking on our Podcasts By The Sea section of the school website:
http://www.memorialel.mersd.org/Pages/meme_tech/podcasts
The first graders have done some really interesting research on presidents fro the past . You can check out Miss Fenton's class project's by clicking on:
http://www.memorialel.mersd.org/Pages/meme_tech/podcasts
Our students have been so engaged in the electoral process, its been a joy to watch and a learning experience for me too!

Happy Reading!