~This week we read a pretty cool book about a young girl who asks her Grandpa about the tattoo on his arm. The short story showed how difficult it was for many survivors to discuss their Holocaust experiences. We also discussed how most Jews that were sent to the camps did not receive a tattoo. Most were sent directly to the gas upon arrival. Those who received a tattoo were chosen for slave labor, where most died of starvation or typhus.

~Mitch and Pritch left Mr. G a cool present on his desk. They found some milkweed seeds from a milkweed pod. I wonder of these are anyone's angels? I left them at school for you to see on Tuesday.

STAR Students!

~Congratulations to Bailey and Brooke! They are this week's STAR Students! Both girls work hard all the time, and could have been STAR Students any week this year. Mrs. Goodman, Mrs. peck and Mr. G are proud of you! Why is Gibby not looking at the camera?

Grade Book!

~Hopefully you have all logged onto our computerized grade book. If you are unable to log in, you need to contact Mrs. Hughes in Guidance. If you have never received a password, you need to come to the school, and present ID to Guidance to get the password. The second nine weeks is almost over. Please do not wait for progress reports for grades. The grade book is immediately to your right at the top of the page. -------------->

Rest in Peace Mrs. Milgrom

~Sadly, a few of our book characters from Milkweed have passed away. Gray John has died of typhus, One Armed Olek got caught smuggling, and Janina's mother died in her sleep. We inferred that she died partly of typhus, and partly from giving up on life. Janina believes that her angel was released in the milkweed seed. There were 3 or 4 seeds left in the pod. Who are the seeds representing? What is up with Uri? He is working in a hotel for the Jackboots????? He certainly is a mystery, but part of the mystery will be solved as we get closer to the end of the book.

~I hope Mrs. Bergeron enjoyed a day with the Apes! I hope you showed her your best sides!

~We started our Responses to Literature for The Children We Remember! Thanks to Ms. Hartley for helping us out!

John Wasdin

~Thanks to Mr. Wasdin for working with the girls this week on throwing and catching! It was greatly appreciated. Mr. Wasdin played from many years in major League Baseball. he even played for Mr. Gibbons favorite team, the Red Sox! Thanks to Bailey for asking him to come!

Awesome picture

Over here Natavia!

New Blog!!!

Check out Mrs. Goodman's new blog by clicking HERE.

Cici's Pizza and a Blast from the Past!

~This coming Tuesday is Beauclerc Family Fun Night at Cici's Pizza on Baymeadows Road. Beauclerc will get a nice chunk of money from anyone who goes to Cici's on Tuesday night. The Apes had the most students there last Family Fun Night....... let's do it again!

Bailey B. helps promote Family Fun Night!

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~Last year's Apes Matt and Nick Baltovski came by for a visit to show off their new PLATINUM cards! They received their new cards at duPont for their awesome grades and responsible behavior. They are doing awesome in middle school and we are real proud of them! Their mother still makes the best macaroni and cheses in Jacksonville.

Chillin' Dylan joins in the pic

Milkweed becomes darker........

~Rest in Peace Gray John. Gray John has died of typhus in the Warsaw ghetto in the year 1942. Uri has been disappearing more and more from the Warsaw Ghetto which has become a very difficult place to survive. The food supply has been shut off, medicine is no longer allowed in, and the water is no longer running... not to mention the lice!
~We got right back into Milkweed and are loving it.

Jose love Misha

Justin prefers the desk over the rug

STAR Student!

Hailey and Maggie May pose with their teachers and Gibby!
Both girls have worked hard and are awesome to have in class!

Mrs. Goodman, Computers, and Memorial

~Mrs. Goodman poses in front of her SMART board with Ian after her first complete day in Grade 5. She had a blast her first day!


~We also spent some time today in the computer lab taking the FAIR test, while some got to spend some quality time with Cool Math.

Emmy Lou

~Our Holocaust survivor/victim testimonials are posted outside of Room 71. It's sort of a memorial to those who survived or perished. The Apes of 71 and 73 worked hard on them.

Welcome back Monday and Welcome to Grade 5 Mrs. Goodman!

~Our day started out with a bang! We met Mrs. Goodman, our new teacher. She taught fifth grade at her former school, and was Teacher of the Year there! She is full of awesome ideas and is excited to be in Fifth Grade! She even came with her won SMART BOARD! I can't wait until she shows me how to use it!

~We started out new Word Study today, and learned a lot about peddlers and smugglers.

~We also began our next writing assignment, which is a response to the book, The Children We Remember. It is a picture testimonial to the 1.5 million children under the age of 12 who died in the Holocaust.

~We also learned how to differentiate between author's purpose and author's viewpoint.

~I am back in Jacksonville! can't wait to get back to reading Milkweed and writing about the Holocaust. I'll be happy if I never see snow again! Cold weather stinks! The picture below is of Thomas and Florence Gibbons. They are Mr. G's parents.

Fun in the snow!

~Climbing Mount Gibbo, Bridey Gibbons tries to get to the top!

Nutfield Pottery - Derry, N.H.

~Today I drove up to Derry Village in New Hampshire to visit the Gibbons family. (my brother Michael) I got a chance to see how he makes pottery in his pottery studio, Nutfield Pottery. It actually looks like a lot of fun. I also will be bringing back a few pieces to show you. They live in a house that is almost 300 years old and is right down the street from the house where Robert Frost lived.

Mary, Sheila. Anne, Bill, Dan, Mike Gibbons, and Gubba and Otis

from this.......

to this.......

to this......

almost done..........

to this!

More Snow!

~My truck was buried! Thank G_d for snow blowers!

I think it says Florida

Frank Gibbons and the snow blower!

Boston Blizzard

~Started Sunday watching the Patriots destroy the Buffalo Bills. We watched outside around a fire. Halfway through the game, the snow started.....and it is still snowing almost 20 hours later. It's a lot of fun to play in, but NO fun to drive in.

Patrtick cutting wood before the game

Mr. G's expert fire (glad my brother Joe did not show...he makes horrible fires)

this was what it looked like at midnight

my car was buried

Christmas with the Gibbons Family

~Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night. Spent a good part of the day and night with more than 50 Gibbons Folk, brothers, sister, nieces, nephews, cousins, aunts, uncles, parents, etc. It was nice to be with family and friends.

The Gibbons Clan (9 of the 11) with Buddy and Flo

Bridey, Meghan, and Patrick Gibbons

Tom and Katie Gibbons with Santa

Sheila, Mike and Danny Gibbons

More Gibbons

Brian, Katie, Thomas, and Philip Gibbons

Eddie and Frank Gibbons

Bill Gibbons

Patrick Gibbons

Mary Gibbons

John Gibbons

I actually got to help Santa tonight!

Hello from New England!

~It is cold up here! I mean wicked wicked cold! It has snowed three times since I have been here, and it is fun to play in, but NOT to drive in. Enjoying seeing all my family up here, but missing the warmer weather of Jacksonville. Spent the afternoon yesterday at Patriot Place, the entertainment and shopping complex outside of Gillette Stadium (where the Patriots play). It was awesome...and everything was covered in a blanket of snow.... double awesome! Tonight is when the Gibbons family celebrates Christmas, so I will post some pictures tomorrow. Merry Christmas and/or Happy New Year!

Reading Stories

Want to read some cool stories over break? They are short but will keep you interested....then Click HERE.