Here's a site that will challenge the whole family: http://www.freerice.com/ . It's a vocabulary game that, when you get questions correct, 20 grains of rice are donated to the UN World Food Program to help end hunger. Parents, test your vocabulary knowledge. Kids, get a dictionary! The questions get harder as you get words right, and the questions get easier as you make mistakes. See how much rice you can donate!

Dear Friends and Families,

Our class is creating a video about reading and writing. We're asking people questions about their reading and writing experiences and how literacy has influenced the lives of people around the United States. We're inviting you to respond to one or all of the following questions. In your post, it would be helpful to know if you are an adult or child, and where you're from. We are looking forward to learning how others think and feel about literacy!

1. How did you learn to read?
2. Do you remember the time you realized you could read? What was that like?
3. What book or author got you hooked on reading? What made that book or author unforgettable?
4. What are you reading now?
5. How important is writing well?
6. What author has helped you the most as a writer? What did they do to guide your writing style?
7. What kinds of writing do you do now?

Writing Similes is as Fun as Riding in the Hot Air Balloon at the Fall Festival!

Students - we have had a great time creating similes - comparrisons using the words like or as. We discovered it is sometimes simply not enough (or as fun) to write simple similes (The cat is as black as the night). It is much more effective (and fun!) to extend similes to add a bit more description (The cat is as black as a moonless night in the middle of January).

Students, here is your challenge. When you come across a well written simile - either in you reading, or one you've written, please add it to our classroom blog. Be sure to give the author credit. Let's see how many fabulous similes we can find.