Starting Wax Museum

~Today, all the APES got their Wax Museum backboards.  They will be staying at school!  The project will be done at school!  Today we focused on what goes where on the board.

Completed Wax Museum projects from 2009~

~Here are some former APE Wax Museum projects from 2009!  Hopefully, seeing some finished projects will help you get a better picture and idea of what Mr. G and Mrs. Goodman are expecting.

AR Points Adding Up!

~Congratulations to Amaya, Saej, and Rache!  they have all earned their 90 point prize, and are almost ready for their 100 Point Movie Pack!  Way to go Apes!

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

~We finally will meet Bruno this week!  He is the main character in our next novel.  This will  be the last novel in our Genre Study of the Holocaust.  You will love Bruno!

STAR Apes!

~Congratulations to Dawson and Rhylee!  They are this week's STAR Students!  Dawson has only been here a few weeks and has already read almost ten books, keeps himself out of trouble and gets along well with others.  Rhylee has improved academically by leaps and bounds and always gets along with her classmates.  She is drama free and always smiles at everyone!  They are both the kind of player that most people will want on their team!

Dawz and Rhylene

Mr. G and the STAR Apes

Mrs. Goodman and the STAR Apes

Stop looking at me Tye!

Josh made Mr. G and Mrs. Goodman proud with what he did this week!

January's Luncheon

~Thanks to everyone who came out to January's Luncheon!  We ate a lot of hot dogs, learned some valuable information about the new FCAT, received some info about our End of Year Trip, and enjoyed the rewards of reading at least 22 books!

Nicole and Dad

Even the parents had fun

Alex, Dad, and Demrity's Grandma

Your rock Mrs. Smith

Joby and his Dad

Open your eyes Abey

Delicious treats from Mrs. Hunt....we missed you Rakeel!

Rache and her Mom

Carson and his Mom

Cardozos!

Ty and her Mom

That's much better Mrs. Smith

Demitrio and his Grandma

What Do Apes Do At Recess?

~We started softball this week! Yahoo!  The Gibbon Apes play on Tuesdays, and the Goodman Apes play on Thursdays!  We play basketball on Mondays and Wednesdays!

 Goodman Apes

 Gibbons Apes

 Eddie has moves!

 Kam tosses the ball

it was good to see many of the girls chose to participate!

The Best Novel Ever!

~We finished Milkweed today!  Misha survives and moves to America where the trauma of the Holocaust is too much and he is a homeless ranting man on the streets of Philadelphia until two women who understand what he is ranting about tell him it is OK, and that they understand.  He gets married for a short time, but his odd and unpredictable behavior are too much for his wife Vivian.  Twenty five years later, the daughter he never knew he had shows up to bring him home.  He was Stopthief, He was Gypsy,  he was Jew, he was Filthy Son of Abraham, he was Jack, but in the end it is a small granddaughter who gives him the only name he will ever need, Poppynoodle!  Thanks Mr. Spinelli for an awesome novel!~  In the words of Enric, "I have never read a book like that, I loved it."

Mystery Reader!

~Big Thanks to our MYSTERY READER, Coach Dudjak.  He read us an awesome book about a big huge feather bed with lots of kids  and animals on it!  He showed us a cool video of Jon Denver singing a song to the book!

Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

Immigrants

~Today we discussed at length the wave of immigrants that came to America between 1845 and 1924.  We also learned about the reasons many of them came: poverty, persecution, and a better life.  We also talked about the living conditions that many of these new immigrants lived under.  The persevered and made a better life in America.  We also talked about the great migration of Black Americans to the North after slavery ended.  Many of these former slaves faced the same if not worse living conditions in the cities of the North.

End of Month Luncheon for January!

~Invitations went hoe today for this month's End of Month Luncheon!  Mrs. Goodman and Mr. G will be going over some new information on the NEW FCAT!  Be there for HOT DOG Mania!  11:45!

End of Month Luncheon

~This coming Friday is our End of the Month Luncheon!  Please be on the look out for your invitation!  If your child has reached his or her goal of 22 books by the end of the week, they are invited!  We will be serving ALL YOU CAN EAT hot dogs, with chips, beans and drinks!  Has your child reached 22 books yet?

Connection Section: James Forten: Inventor, Patriot, Abolitionist

Who was James Forten?

James Forten, who was born to free black parents, Thomas and Sarah Forten on September 2, 1766, became one of America's great civil rights leaders.

His great-grandfather had been brought to America as a slave, but his grandfather had obtained his freedom. James and his parents had always been free.

He lived during the Revolutionary War. When he was just a fourteen-year-old boy he served in the Continental Army as a powder boy, which was a dangerous job. He was serving on a ship which was captured by an English ship commanded by Sir John Beasley.  He became good friends with the captain's son, and they played the game of marbles together. Sir John was so impressed with him he offered to take him back to England with them and provide an education and assist him in entering a profession, but James wanted to stay in America. Sir John's son saved him from being captured and possibly sold as a slave. He later said,"Thus did a game of marbles save me from a life of West Indian servitude."

He was transferred to a British prison ship called the Jersey where thousands of captives died in an epidemic. On the ship he befriended a white boy, Daniel Brewton. Once when Forten had a chance to escape he urged the man to take his friend Daniel, who was very ill. After seven months he was able to return to his home. He and Brewton remained lifelong friends.

James only had about two years of schooling, but he read everything he could get his hands on and educated himself.

In 1776 when James was only seven years old, his father died when he accidently fell into the Delaware River and drowned. Before his death he had worked for a sailmaker and had taught his son about the craft of making sails for ships. This knowledge was the reason he had a job on the ship during the war, and after the war was over he worked on a ship going to London. He worked in the shipyards there for a year.

He then returned to Philadelphia in 1785 and started working as an apprentice for Robert Bridges, the man who had employed his father. He was a hard worker, and after a time was put in charge as foreman over his white co-workers. Then he became a junior partner, and eventually bought the business after being employed there for thirteen years.

Forten was a brave, caring person. Since his business was near the water, on at least twelve occasions he was able to save people from drowning. He prized a plaque given to him to honor his heroic deeds.

He knew a lot about ships and sails, and he saw how improvements could be made. He is credited with inventing something to improve sailing. It was either a new kind of sail or a hand-cranked devise to make it easier to hoist the ship's sails. It is said he became the leading sailmaker in Philadelphia and was one of the wealthiest African Americans living at that time. According to his will of 1830 he had amassed a fortune of $ 300,000. Translated into today's money, he was a millionaire.

He used his money to help other people. He formed the Free African Society to help blacks when they were out of work or ill, and he helped to buy freedom for slaves.

Many African Americans were fleeing to Philadelphia searching for freedom. There was a movement called The Society for the Colonization of Free People of Color of America or the American Colonization Society. Their aim was to relocate the free blacks of America to Liberia in Africa.  At first Forten favored the idea, but he realized the majority of blacks were against it.  In 1813 he wrote a pamphlet called Letters From a Man of Colour in which he urged free blacks to claim their rights to live as free citizens in America.  He continued to oppose the colonization movement, but many blacks over the next twenty years decided to move to the Liberia colony, and it later became an independent state.

Forten married Charlote Vandine and they raised eight children. He could not enroll them in the white schools, so he hired tutors to educate them. Three of his daughters, Margaretta, Harriet, and Sarah, when they were adults, were active in the abolitionist movement.

He was a man of principle.  He refused to help a slave trader. Once when a slave trader wanted to buy sails from him, he refused to do business with him.

When Mr. Forten passed away in 1842, he was the wealthiest Black man in America.  Using today's money, he was a multi-millionaire.

AR Point Prizes!

~Congratulations to the following APES for earning their 50 Accelerated Reader Points:

Eddie

Dylan

Alexis

Enaiya

Luna

Artiyah

Ryan

Hannah

Hunter

(Joe B., Kam, Carson, and Jamia are almost there!)

~Congratulations to the following APES for earning their 75 Accelerated Reader Points:

Abey H.

Racheal S.

Angelica A.

Saejin A.

Amaya W.

(your 100 point prizes await you below!)

~Mad Crazy Congratulations to Alex M., Spike D., and Abbey S.  They have all reached their 150 point goal!  I wonder who will reach 200 first??

Beuaclerc Keeping it Green!

~Check out Beauclerc's website for Recycling and keeping Beauclerc green!  Click HERE.

Thanks PTA

~Thank you to PTA for another awesome Reading Celebration!  The Science lady was a hit!

Novel Connections

~Here is the book cover of Janusz Korczak's most famous book, King Matt the First.  Remember, Mr. Korczak was a famous children's author before he became a doctor.