Author Alert

Kate DiCamillo

We are so honored to welcome back beloved author Kate DiCamillo for the release of her new book, LOUISIANA'S WAY HOME. While fans often ask best-selling author Kate DiCamillo to write more about their favorite characters, she has never been compelled to revisit the world of a previous novel — until now. This October, DiCamillo will return to unravel the story of Raymie’s friend and beloved ranchero Louisiana Elefante. In its 2016 review of RAYMIE NIGHTINGALE, the New York Times noted that Louisiana “is one of DiCamillo’s most singular and arresting creations” and that she “delights on every page.” Fans of Louisiana can now look forward to reading LOUISIANA'S WAY HOME.

Ticketing information will be announced in an upcoming newsletter.

ABOUT THE BOOK:
From two-time Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo comes a story of discovering who you are — and deciding who you want to be.

When Louisiana Elefante’s granny wakes her up in the middle of the night to tell her that the day of reckoning has arrived and they have to leave home immediately, Louisiana isn’t overly worried. After all, Granny has many middle-of-the-night ideas. But this time, things are different. This time, Granny intends for them never to return. Separated from her best friends, Raymie and Beverly, Louisiana struggles to oppose the winds of fate (and Granny) and find a way home. But as Louisiana’s life becomes entwined with the lives of the people of a small Georgia town — including a surly motel owner, a walrus-like minister, and a mysterious boy with a crow on his shoulder — she starts to worry that she is destined only for good-byes. (Which could be due to the curse on Louisiana’s and Granny’s heads. But that is a story for another time.)

Called “one of DiCamillo’s most singular and arresting creations” by The New York Times Book Review, the heartbreakingly irresistible Louisiana Elefante was introduced to readers in Raymie Nightingale — and now, with humor and tenderness, Kate DiCamillo returns to tell her story.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Kate DiCamillo is one of America’s most beloved storytellers. She is a former National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature and a two-time winner of the Newbery Medal, for The Tale of Despereaux and Flora & Ulysses. Born in Philadelphia, she grew up in Florida and now lives in Minneapolis, where she faithfully writes two pages a day, five days a week.

Event date:

Sunday, October 14, 2018 - 1:00pm

Wednesday, October 31st at 5pm

Countdown to The Meltdown! In celebration of the launch of Diary of a Wimpy Kid #13: The Meltdown, join us Wednesday, October 31st at 5pm for an imaginative evening at "Wimpy Kid Live: The Meltdown Show", an interactive author experience hosted by Jeff Kinney. This one-hour show is packed full of trademark Wimpy Kid humor, trivia, cartooning, zany audience participation opportunities, and snowball fights. Stick around after the show for a photo with Jeff.

Tickets go on sale Sunday, September 30th at 10am. Here are the details:

Purchase a FAN TICKET for $15.00; it comes with a signed, personalized copy of The Meltdown, a photo with Jeff, and entry for one person to "Wimpy Kid Live: The Meltdown Show."
When you get to the checkout page, choose the option at the bottom for a COMPANION TICKET. This optional, free ticket is for parents, guardians, and children under 6. Corresponding Fan Ticket is required for entry.
Each party of 2 must include at least one Fan Ticket.

Our first FULL week, was very busy! The fall weather has thankfully arrived! We have been busily working in room 24, and have enjoyed a fun-filled week of learning!

We wrapped up our second math unit about addition and subtraction. The students worked very hard to practice this topic, and their hard work showed on our test. The Pearson Realize technical glitches have been resolved, and students should be able to log into this site to share the test questions. Directions for this went home today. Students should continue to practice their addition and subtraction facts, as this will help with our next unit on multiplication.

We have published our Hopes and Dreams and our Biopoems, and our Biopoems will be on display in our classroom. We are learning how important your audience is when writing, and we will continue this discussion throughout the next week, while we work on our next writing assignment about how students got their names.

We began learning about map skills during social studies this week, with the focus being on the continents and oceans. In the coming weeks, we will be focusing on looking at a world map and identifying our location using direction words. We will also learn about the hemispheres and about different types of maps. This unit will continue for another few weeks.

During reading, we have continued to work on fine tuning our routines for Readers Workshop, while we practice finding the setting, theme, and main characters of a story. Understanding these topics will help us as we begin our first Interactive Read Aloud, Mighty Jack by Ben Hatke, next week. Some students have started to share their favorite books with our class! This is an excellent way to find new books to read, and to practice speaking in front of a class. Students will also begin writing their reading journal entries next week.

We also had two wonderful author visits this week. First, we enjoyed a visit from a JFK parent and author. He talked with the children about brainstorming and coming up with ideas. Next we enjoyed a virtual visit with author Amy Nielander, author of The Ladybug Race. Amy shared her writing process with the students, and also shared that she was rejected 12 times before getting her book published! If you would like to order a copy of her book, please return the order form next week. Thank you to JFK PCC for funding this visit.

During Creative Arts Friday this week, we worked on building our Puff Mobiles during PBL. We learned about list poems and began writing our own list poems during Poetry Workshop, and during Technology Workshop, we began working on collaborating using Google Slides.