Writer's Workshop

 This past Thursday we had the pleasure of meeting and listening to acclaimed author and poet Janet S Wong. Janet's presentation focused on writing, specifically poetry.  She explained to the students that poems and stories often come from stories of family history, family traditions or personal life events.  She entertained the students with the stories 'behind' her poems and encouraged them to write, write, write! She suggested that each student find a small notebook and spend only 5 minutes a day filling that notebook with words, thoughts, and small sentences or stories about things that they are interested in.

Janet insisted that poems and stories are right under our noses waiting to be discovered. All we need to do is speak to people to uncover them.  She suggested the students:...

"Find the oldest person they know and ask them to tell a story from their childhood"
"Ask someone...what's the weirdest thing they've eaten?"
"Ask someone...Where is the greatest place you've been?"
"Ask someone...What is the funniest thing that has ever happened to you?"

Her point was that once you hear these stories you might be inspired to retell the story in the form of a poem.

if you would like to see more of Janet Wong's poetry please visit her website @
www.poetrysuitcase.com

LaSalle Vipers Visit!

Today five members from the LaSalle Vipers stopped by to promote Literacy in the classroom. They spent some time visiting, answering questions, and then read to the class ( a Valentine's inspired book) "I Lost My Kisses". Each student received one general admission voucher for the regular season. If you are thinking of heading out to watch act fast! Their play off season is set to begin shortly.

The LaSalle Vipers play at the Vollmer Complex in LaSalle on:

Wednesday February 19th @ 7:00 pm
Friday February 21st @ 7:00 pm
Sunday February 23rd @ 2:30 pm

WE ARE LOVE

Once again, the St. Gabriel School Social Justice Club will be selling "Love" buttons to help support our Adopt-A-Village Program through Free The Children. The cost is $2.00 / button and this year we have added a few new ones to the mix. Buttons will be sold all week during lunch in the music room. 100% of our sales go directly towards our adopted village in Kenya.  There will be no popcorn sales this week. For additional information on Free The Children's Adopt-A-Village program please visit the link posted.

Thank you,

Social Justice Club

Free The Children

Google Chrome teams with LEGO!

Build Something Awesome - Build with Chrome

Check it out! This seems to be a great site for students who love building with LEGO. Google Chrome and LEGO have teamed up to create a virtual building site that allows anyone to imagine, build and create their own unique buildings and structures. They even have a specially designed 'Build Academy' to educate all users.  Take a look at the video posted below to see where a little imagination and LEGO can take you. Enjoy!

Build it!