Kids’ Korner CD Production Club

Twelve Macdonough School students participated in their second Kids’ Korner CD Production Club with Michael Arefeh of the Coffeehouse Recording Studio. As you may remember, our first project was an updated version of the school song, “Knowledge is Power.” This second CD, Holiday Songs, features four tracks. We’ve included “Jingle Bells,” “Deck the Halls,” and “Auld Lang Syne.” The final song on the track, “Auld Lang Syne” features several well-wishes from the students. There is also a special reading of Moore’s poem, “T’was the Night Before Christmas” where each child reads lines from the story. While walking to and from the Main Street studio, the children wassailed, delighting several people with their holiday cheer. Each child who was involved with the project received two copies of the CD, one copy for themselves and a copy for gifting this holiday season. Also, CD sales to Macdonough Staff went quite well. Hopefully these joyous carols will delight for years to come.

Holiday Concert at Macdonough

Thanks to our music teachers, Miss DeAngelis and Mr. D'Amato, for treating us to a wonderful holiday concert!

Students from kindergarten through fifth grade delighted the many parents and family members in the audience with a variety of holiday and winter favorites.

Between grade level performances, the entire school sang some classic songs including Rudolph, The Red Nosed Reindeer (led by a group of teachers).

Recess Plus Clubs: Grade 4- "Literature for Lunch":

Sixteen fourth graders are now participating in new “Literature for Lunch” book clubs. These enrichment clubs are now part of Macdonough’s Winter Session of Recess Plus and will be held on Wednesdays and Thursdays for eight weeks.

On Wednesdays, the children will enjoy activities based on Astrid Lindgren’s book, Pippi Longstocking. Thursday’s students will participate in activities based on The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. Activities during these clubs will include geography, sign language, fabric painting, poetry, character mapping, cooking, physical fitness, science experiments, and more.

Each child has received a brand new copy of their club’s book to keep. They have also received a special bound notebook with activities, games, and research suggestions based on the novel and club they have chosen.

Recess Plus Winter Session: Grade 3- Kids Are Authors Contest Clubs

During the Winter Session of Recess Plus, two groups of Macdonough 3rd Graders will take part in the “Scholastic Kids Are Authors Contest Clubs.”

“Kids Are Authors is an annual competition open to Grades K–8 and is designed to encourage students to use their reading, writing, and artistic skills to write and illustrate their own books.” (http://www.scholastic.com/bookfairs/contest/kaa_about.asp)

Our groups will meet on Mondays and Tuesdays for eight weeks. During the club, we will share many examples of picture books, including picture books that have been written and illustrated by children. We will discuss what we like and dislike about each story and its artwork. This will help us decide what type of book we would like to create. We will also discuss what type of artwork we would like to include.

Our completed works will be sent to Scholastic by March 15th, 2010.

Grand Prize winning books are published by Scholastic each year. Each Grand Prize winning team will receive 100 copies of their published book. The winning books are sold at Scholastic book fairs across the country.

Grand Prize winners and Honorable Mention winners will be notified by May 31st, 2010. Keep your fingers crossed.

Holiday Cards for Heroes

Thanks to Mrs. Ehnot for coordinating the Holiday Cards for Heroes program at Macdonough School.  Our students created more than 300 holiday cards to be sent to soldiers and sailors overseas.