August 2016

Well, here's to the kick off of another school year! I'm still working on my month-by-month planning guide, but when I've finished it, I'll post it here to share as well.

Pine Grove Middle School will kick off the 2016-17 school year with a school-wide reading of the book Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli. Following up on last year’s read, Wonder, the theme of Stargirl encourages students to be themselves and accept others just as they are.

“For years the strangers among us had passed sullenly in the hallways; now we looked, we nodded, we smiled. If someone got an A, others celebrated, too. If someone sprained an ankle, others felt the pain. We discovered the color of each other’s eyes. It was a rebellion she led, a rebellion for rather than against. For ourselves.”

Our hashtag for the year is #BeAStar, and we hope the book will encourage unity, acceptance, and community among our students and faculty.

Day 1 - All Math teachers on campus will read with their classes pages 1-21

Day 2 - All ELA teachers on campus will read with their classes pages 22-42

Day 3 - All Science teachers on campus will read with their classes pages 43-61

Day 4 - All Social Studies teachers on campus will read with their classes pages 62-84

Day 5 - All Connections teachers on campus will read with their classes pages 85-105

Day 6 - All Math teachers on campus will read with their classes pages 106-128

Day 7 - All ELA teachers on campus will read with their classes pages 129-151

Day 8 - All Science teachers on campus will read with their classes pages 152-166

Day 9 - All Social Studies teachers on campus will read with their classes pages 167-186

Day 10 - All homerooms - Each student will create a “Keep-Your-Chin-Up” card (p. 188) to a teacher (past or present), a PGM Staff Member, or a friend.

The reading incentive for the first nine weeks in Reading Bingo.  

Here's a copy of the card I'm using.

Students have through October 6 to score BINGO and win a treat!

There were ten students who met the Summer Reading Challenge of reading 1000 minutes over summer break.  Using biblionasium.com worked really well and I'll be glad when it's integrated into the Destiny platform in August. Students had through the first Monday of the first full week of school to log their minutes and breakfast is scheduled for Friday, August 12:  Chick-fil-A chicken minis and fruit, Zacadoo's breakfast cups, and Daylight Donuts.