Monday, December 14, 2015

Kathleen Krull: Gossipy and Generous!

Grade four students packed into the Library Media Center on a Friday afternoon in December to learn from a biographer.  Thanks to our generous P.T.O., fourth grade students had a wonderful opportunity to connect with talented biography author, Kathleen Krull.  Her biography writing is never dull and includes information about the lives of famous people in vivid and clever ways.  We were lucky enough to host Kathleen last year as part of our Author/Illustrator Program. Her writing tips included being nosy and learning all of the gossipy details about someone's life, including what mistakes they made and even their hair woes! She encouraged students to not write like an encyclopedia but to add interesting details to their writing. The students took notes and will use Kathleen's advice when they craft their own biographies.  Grade four students have chosen a special person to interview. This project will include additional research about the time period their person grew up in; all special persons will be invited to GES for a special celebration of their lives.  

We are so excited about this project and for the opportunity to learn from our mentor, Kathleen Krull once again. To learn more about Kathleen or her writing, please visit her website at http://www.kathleenkrull.com/.



Fourth grade students learn insider tips about biography writing.

Coding Mania at Gainfield School

The library was hustling and bustling this week, but not over a love of books.  This week, December 7-11, at G.E.S., all students participated in National Computer Science Education Week.  Just like last year, students learned about coding or computer programming.  Kindergarten students learned about algorithms, while grade one students participated in pair programming (one student was the driver and the other the navigator) to complete some simple block moving tasks. Students in grades 2-5 began coding course work using https://code.org/. Teaching children coding skills improves their mathematical (spatial and problem solving) abilities and helps them understand an d experience perseverance. It was a fantastic week of coding at G.E.S.!


Grade one students participating in pair programming.