When something can be read without effort, great effort has gone into its writing. ~Enrique Jardiel Poncela

Our final writing assignment for The Giver is in full swing.  You are all courageous to have read this novel, now take your courage forward into your writing.  Revise, rewrite, and rewrite some more.  Try not to be satisfied by the quantity of words-but by the quality of your writing.  Use this digital world to find better word choice. Don't fear making changes, even if it means you need to delete a few sentences.  Be brave, wordsmiths, as you reflect on Jonas and his community. 

"Tis the Season

 The spirit of the holiday season is upon us. It is a time shared with family and friends, trading gifts, cookie baking and endless shopping.  It is also a time to think of others. Sometimes our schedules are so crazy that we forget about the world around us. We become too centered in our own cosmos of school, friends, texting....and the list goes on.  Lately, we have been searching the Internet for Acts of Kindness. Videos are shared through social media. We watch as tears well up in our eyes and then....we are back to the small universe of ourselves.  How can we follow through with true acts of kindness? The ones that we DON'T share-just do-from the heart-not for credit-to make someone experience a better day? We have a few ideas, and we all would like to hear yours. Let's make these real. Let's try one act of kindness this holiday season.

1. Help a student who may be struggling in class.
2.  Clean off someone's car after it snows. Better yet, shovel a neighbor's sidewalk with no expectation of money.
3. The Watertown Pantry is housed in Saint John's Church  on Mount Auburn Street.  DONATE!
4.  Put a quarter in a meter that is running out.
5.  Listen to your friends. Are they having a had time during the holidays?  Send them a card-NOT SIGNED!
6. Donate a new child's toy to the businesses holding Christmas Toy Drives. Look for the signs asking for the donations in their front windows.
7. Cookies for the mailman?  Trash Collectors? They'll love and appreciate them!
8. A solid day of holding the door open in school and outside of school.

Please share some ideas with us.  We'll post them! Will you take part in this "Act of Kindness" mission?  It feels good all-the-way-around!  Please view these links for inspiration:)
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu9UtVaWYaI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E92-WOMbvEM

BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT

          

This Tuesday, September 29th, is Back to School Night at the Watertown Middle School.  Beginning at 6:30pm parents and guardians will pick up schedules and run around (like you do!) to find this year's teachers.  This is a good opportunity to see classrooms,  meet teachers, and listen to "what is going on" during school. At 8:30pm parents and guardians will meet Principal Carter in the auditorium.  Rumor has it middle school kids do not share much information about school at home. Knowing all of you so well, I cannot imagine the silence:)  Have you reminded your parents of this night? Can you? Please respond if your parents or guardians are stopping by.  It is certainly understandable that working schedules do not give parents and guardians the allotted time to come in. No worries- important packets from our class will be sent home! 

Homework Begins!

Happy Monday Morning!

Today is the official kick-off!  Homework season is here and our game faces are on!  Why are you assigned homework?  It strengthens self discipline, fosters independence and responsibility, and reinforces

work studied in class.  Take your homework seriously.  Your work reflects effort and attitude toward school.  Make the choice to write it down, look it up on your teachers' websites, and complete assignments to the best of your ability. Turn assignments in ON TIME. You'll feel accomplished and your grades will triumph. Get on your game!

Lincoln Mateo Quiroa Sullivan

Two hours after Lincoln blessed us!

  The Sullivan family had all been waiting most of this long summer never drifting too far from our Watertown home for the birth of our first grandchild.  We had plenty of family BBQ's and dinners in our backyard. One by one we would purchase a cute sweater covered with blue smiling whales, graphic monster slippers, and organic bath bubbles! Matthew, our youngest, just moved back home from Miami, and Deane, our middle son, was flying home for the delivery. Our family was finally together and were anxiously waiting.  Lincoln arrived on August 13th at 9:54am. He weighed in at a whopping 9.5 pounds and was 21 inches long.

His parents, Taryn and Sergio, are learning new things every single day! How he sleeps, when he is hungry, and how now is the time he craves to be held.  As these days rush by and Lincoln stretches and grows I was wondering what would be the best advice to give Lincoln about the world. Could you please make a few suggestions? Will Lincoln be in a MORE technically wired world? How should he manage this? Will friendships still be important? How should he treat others? Should he own pets? Read before bedtime? Eat Parmesan cheese on his pasta? Travel? Please share your advice with Lincoln. I plan to share all of your thoughts with him as he gazes through new eyes into our big, vast world.

You Gotta Try These......

Mrs. Sullivan has mastered the perfect brownie. Me? Personally? No. The Barefoot Contessa has.  I decided to use my love of visual learning to search recipes on Youtube.  This summer has brought Vietnamese, Korean, and baking madness into the Sullivan household.  My family is totally backing up my new adventure.  All they have to do is show up for dinner and dessert!  Let's get back to the Contessa. Watch this video and share it with the baker in YOUR house.  You. Will. Not. Be. Disappointed.  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/outrageous-brownies-recipe3.html

One School-One Book

Summer school has been sizzling as the class continues to read the novel "Wake Up Missing" by Kate Messner.  Cat, a twelve year old concussion patient, is shipped off into  I-CAN, a Floridian treatment facility for young patients. DNA injections, weird phone calls and assumptions keep the reader guessing. The summer class has studied word lists, made character maps, and are so wrapped up in this novel that we barely have time for any thing else!  What page are you on?  Did you get to the part when Cat and her friends ........?  Well, we'll have plenty of time to share our views in the fall during "One School-One Book Day."  Until then, stay clear of the alligator infested swamps! #CHOMP

Charles River Walks

Living close to the Charles River brings long, lazy walks, the distinct sounds of oars as rowers take to the water, and picturesque inlets for my lab, Lucy Mae, to spread her webbed feet out as she dives from the shore.  She trails sweet bunnies and frenzied squirrels while shaking off water from her nose to her tail tip. While walking I enjoy witnessing the transformation of the concrete path being replaced with the Braille Trail.  Have you seen this breathtaking space?  This amazing work of art gives the students from Perkins School for the Blind a tactile opportunity to explore river design: rowboats, textured walks and even a xylophone! The architects and masons design walkways, field stone walls and resurface picnic tables made from the downed trees.  Talk about recycling!  We'll need to walk down in the fall and write in our journals.  The new path is compacted with rough sand and still will need a couple of more days to settle. Before we know it, bikes will be pedaling through with friends, visitors and their dogs running behind. Stay tuned for updates!

Lovely, isn't it?