I'm a bit behind on these weekly posts, and I blame the class book! After much formatting and compiling and formatting and compiling (and more formatting and compiling), the pages have officially been sent in to be published to Studentreasures Publishing. I used the same publishing company last year to create books with students, and they turned out truly amazing. Not only is doing a class book a neat way for the kids to celebrate their writing and see their work printed and bound like true authors, this year these books will serve as our very own time capsule to capture this unusual time in history. The kids took on the role of student historians documenting this time through their choice of writing prompts, images, and hand-picked precepts. It has been a confusing, frustrating, unsettling time for everyone—especially kids! But I felt that writing about their experience was a healthy way to manage these feelings and stay connected with one another. And every single student completed the assignment…which is honestly a victory in itself!! We based our cover on the "I Survived" historical fiction series written by Lauren Tarshis. I included a picture of it to the right.

We've had a bunch of Bucket Fillers since I last posted: Mac, Eva, Will, and Samar. All four of them have done a nice job keeping up with our assignments and staying engaged on Google Classroom. I've come to really enjoy reading Mac's daily journal writings. Some of his entries make me laugh, others show awesome writing skills, and others are just plain clever. Eva's writings have also blown me away. She uses such vivid vocabulary and description, and she's a truly gifted writer. Will is like Mr. Dependable. We can always count on him to complete the daily tasks without complaint, and when a post asks for a comment in response, you're sure to find Will's name next to a timely comment. Samar's the same way. It's clear that she puts consistent time and effort into all of the assignments, and that has really stood out to us teachers. Bravo, all four of you!