PBS Video: The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

Watch the full episode. See more American Experience.

Response to "The Bells"

Today in class, the Elements (Emilie's class), read "The Bells," by Edgar Allan Poe. We discussed sounds in poetry and the students created their own bells to accompany the poem!

National Poetry Month

To celebrate National Poetry Month, we are dedicating our Wednesdays as Poetry Days.  Students will need to write an original poem to share, in addition to bringing in a poem that they like.  Last week, we read Gwendolyn' Brook's "We Real Cool."  We looked at the rhyme scheme, subject, stanzas and the "jazz" of the poem.  Check out the way each class styled their readings!

Language Arts Notes for April

Students are currently reading either Chasing Lincoln's Killer or Assassin. We plan to finish these books by the end of the week, and start our class project next week.  As they read independently, each student is choosing ten pivotal scenes from the book.  Next Monday, students will share their ten choices and then each class will choose ten scenes to stage.  Students will have the opportunity to be in, to stage and to photograph at least one scene.  In the computer lab the following week, students will edit their photos and create a Photo Story to share.  The students are excited about this project; it allows them time to work both independently and cooperatively on a creative project. They are reviewing the elements of a story, building skills in reading fiction and nonfiction works, evaluating the material and producing a slideshow based on what they've learned.  It will be an intense, but rewarding month!