This past Friday students in Mrs. Rudberg's 3rd grade class at Pattengill Elementary spent the afternoon making holiday decorations for the Ann Arbor Ozone House. The Ozone Houseprovides shelter to runaways, homeless youth, and at-risk families in our community. The students and University of Michigan volunteers made paper chains, snowflakes, ice crystals, and winter animals. The Ozone House was so grateful for the decorations and the students had a great time making them!

Fall with Fourth Graders

This year's BookMARK has been great so far with Ms. Miller's 4th grade class from Eberwhite Elementary School. Our BookMARK sessions so far this year have consisted of assisting Ms. Miller with classroom instruction and review of materials. One session, the students were learning about being archeologists where Ms. Miller dumped out the trash can on the floor and the students were to decipher the "excavation site" and theorize what the civilization used each item for. The kids were totally grossed out, but it was a fun and inventive way to display the concept! As BookMARK volunteers, we helped each student see past a Coca-cola can to something that a distance culture may have used as a flower vase or maybe a pop-up chair. We have been having a great time getting to know Ms. Miller and her class and look forward to next semester!!

The Little Historians

Hi there! I work in Mrs. Brieloff's 4th grade classroom. Each Friday morning, a troop of volunteers and I work with the students as they learn about social studies. One recent Friday morning, the kids played one of three roles: either political scientist, writer, or, my favorite, historian.

The Little Historians told a story about their pasts but some of them also put a futuristic spin on the assignment -- some wrote about where they live now, but others wrote about where they dream of living. As part of the assignment, the kids drew a map and wrote some reasons why they wanted to end up where they did.

Many, having spent their lives in Michigan, wanted to keep living here. They have friends and families here, and a few even wanted to go to U of M! Still others aimed for California and New York. One earnest young historian said he wanted to live amongst the skyscrapers.

Until next time,

Mary D.

Letter Writing Experiences!

In my second grade class at Erickson Elementary School, letter writing is a big event. Because many of the students are still struggling with spelling and sentence structure at this young age, helping them write letters that make sense can be a bit of a project. Because BookMark Coordinators are not always a big part of the letter writing process, being such an important part of the letter writing process has been a lot of fun. I was excited when Mrs. Graessley asked for our help with their letter writing, and I hope the kids letters have benefited from it too.

State Projects at Northside Elementary

This week, the 3rd grade students at Northside Elementary in Mrs. Sheets class are learning about the State Symbols. Students split into pairs to research the different symbols of Michigan, including the State Bird, The State Flower, The State Tree and so on. Each group made a colorful poster that explained the information about when each symbol was officially announced and any interesting facts they found. To conclude, each of the groups recorded their presentation of their symbols, and hung their posters in the hallway for all of Northside to see. Great Job, 3rd graders!

President’s Day with Ms. Gorbaty’s Class at Holmes

In celebration of the recent holiday, Lauren and I coordinated a fun project with Ms. Gorbaty’s class of third and fourth graders at Holmes Elementary. We read to them from the book So You Want to be President? by Judith St. George, which gives some funny and quirky stories about some of our past presidents, along with some of their accomplishments, showing kids how they are just normal people like us. We then had them complete the sentence: “If I were President, I would…”, filling in a mini president silhouette with their answer. We glued each kid’s response onto a large piece of brown paper with a tree on it, so each silhouette was a “leaf” on the tree. The students’ answers ranged from, “I would buy me a mansion and a black mustang,” to “I would clean up the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.” A common theme was “giving money to the poor people,” and one kid even wanted to “build a new White House”! Overall, the kids really enjoyed the project, and they were able to learn a little more about the U.S. Presidents!

Service Rocks!

On February 4, 2011, K-grams pulled out all the stops, sponsoring the first annual Service Rocks variety show! This Mock Rock-inspired event was tons of fun, and a great fundraiser at the same time. Members of Circle K, Dance Marathon, DoRAK, and ONE Campaign took to the stage at the Mendelssohn to perform for a star-studded judges panel. Alex Wood of Michigan Men’s Soccer, Ellen Gorbaty, a wonderful third and fourth grade teacher from our BookMARK program, and David Hines Jr., Michigan Marching Band Drum Major, awarded DoRAK the first place title! Of course, an enthusiastic group of K-grams directors and KPC members strutted their stuff as well! I had a blast helping Elementary Programming Director Marissa Fellows with choreography for a school-themed dance number, featuring songs such as Here Comes the Sun by The Beatles, ABC by The Jackson 5, and We’re All in This Together from High School Musical! It was incredible to see what a great routine we put together in such a short amount of time. I can’t wait to see where this show will go in years to come!!

KDay: Holmes Elementary Comes to University of Michigan

On November 19, 2010,

K-grams invited Ms. Gorbaty's 3rd and 4th grade class from Holmes Elementary School in Ypsilanti, Michigan, to University of Michigan for an all-day field trip. Complete with a chemistry demonstration and hands-on science activities, a tour of a typical dorm room, lunch at a dormitory cafeteria, a tour of the University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA), a special performance by the University of Michigan Marching Band, and a field trip and autograph signing with some University of Michigan varsity athletes, this event was the perfect way for the upper elementary school students to get a day-in-the-life of an average college student. By incorporating art, science, music, athletics, and dorm life, the students were able to gain valuable experiences that enabled them to envision themselves as college students in their future. It was a great day, full of eye-opening experiences. I know myself and Emma (the Elementary Programming Directors) were honored to be able to host such a lovely group, eager to learn and absorb new things. It was the perfect day!

Cupid Shuffling at Gompers!

Its safe to say love was in the air at Gompers Elementary school in Detroit as K-grams teamed up with the L.S.C.O. Parent Group of Gompers to make the best Valentine's Day dance the kids have ever seen! K-grams members worked in shifts to chaperone and get out-danced by the elementary schoolers in the gymnasium. Only the classics were played (YMCA, the Macarena, Cupid Shuffle, obviously) and parents, teachers, and students alike busted a move on the dance floor. After burning some calories on the dance floor, everyone was treated to some delicious cookies and Capri Suns.

Its hard to say what our favorite part of the dance was - the amazing frosted, homemade heart-shape cookies and juice-boxes, breaking a sweat on the dance floor, or seeing the smiles all around Gompers on this special day!

We want to give special thank you to the L.S.C.O. Parent Group and Gompers Elementary faculty and staff for allowing us to be a part of this event! We really hope you all had as much fun as we did!

Pattengill Elementary!!!

Hey everyone! Eric and I have loved hanging out with Mrs. Rudberg this past school year! Every week we bring our UM Friends to math time. Eric, our UM friends, and I split up into different stations so the students can rotate to each of us and work on different math worksheets or play "Fast Math" games.

It is so awesome to see students connecting to our volunteers each week. This past week I overheard some students talking to one of our volunteers about how they were both born in Korea. It was really neat to see the student light up when she found out the both were Korean. They talked for a little bit about their similar experiences. Even though the interaction only lasted a few minutes, that student really opened up to that volunteer and I had never seen her do that before.

Volunteering in any classroom really makes an impact on the students. Sign up and come to any BookMark session you can so you too can make a positive influence on students!

We will be returning to Mrs. Rudberg's class after our spring break (March 11). We go to Pattengill Elementary from 1:15-2:45 every Friday. Can't wait to see you there!

A Kindergarten Love Story

While working at Lincoln-King one day, I was lucky enough to learn about the love of a 5 year old boy for another girl in his class. (To protect their feelings I will refer to both of them as little boy and little girl).

Little Boy: I think I'm going to give this to my girlfriend.

Me: Ooh, who is your girlfriend?

Little Boy: Little girl over there...

Me: Oh really? How long has she been your girlfriend for?

Little boy: About two weeks.

Me: Oh well that is so cute! I'm sure she will love your valentine.

20 minutes later, I am working with the little boy's girlfriend.

Me: So I hear you have a boyfriend now.

Little girl: Where did you hear that?!

Me: Little boy over there told me

Little girl: Ugh, he is saying that to everyone and it isn't true!

Me: Why do you think he would say that?

Little girl: 'Cause he loves me, obviously.

Me: You don't love him too?

Little girl: No, the only person I love is my momma!

Ah, young love....

K-Day with Ms. Gorbaty's Class

Hi Everyone,

My BookMARK session is at with Ms. Gorbaty's class at Holmes Elementary. It is a class of a third and fourth grade split. One of my favorite days with K-Grams was K-Day. My classroom got chosen to come to campus and spend the day with us!

This was my first year participating in K-Day and it was an absolutely amazing experience. I had no idea how excited the kids would be to come see where we went to school. What was really special to me was how excited they were to see me and Amanda (the other BookMARK coordinator for Ms. Gorbaty's class). Granted, they're always happy to see us, but the energy that they had when we got there made a huge impression on me.

Even now, a few months after K-Day, many of the kids will still bring it up and tell us about their favorite part of it. One of the students met a football player in the cafeteria and walked right up to him with a football asking for an autograph. It was priceless!

BookMARK at Carpenter Elementary

Hey guys, its Linda and Megan, the bookmark coordinators for Carpenter =] We've had a great time during our sessions with Ms. Sankovich's 4th grade classroom, and we would like to tell you about one of our favorite sessions.

To get in the Valentine's Day mood, we decided that it would be fun to make valentines with our students. We put a little spin on the project by suggesting that they come up with a clever poem, either a haiku, an acrostic, or a rhyming poem. Some of the poems were a little unusual, but all the kids got really excited and loved decorating valentines for their pen pals, family or friends.

One kid wrote a poem to his brother,

"Roses are Red, Violets are Blue,

I Hate You, but that's not true!"

Another made her valentine into the shape of a bow and arrow. Some students even wrote cute valentines to their teacher. One of the boys wanted to write a valentine to a girl sitting at his table, so he had to move to a different table so he didn't ruin the surprise. Even some of our volunteers made valentines!

We had such a great time being creative with our students, and we cannot wait to see what else is in store for us this semester =]

Our sessions are on Tuesdays from 2:00-3:30pm, so go to the K-Grams website to sign up and meet these awesome kids. Hope to see you there!

Welcome to the K-grams BookMARK blog! We are so excited to be launching this site as a way to inform our volunteers and other interested members of the greater K-grams support network and community about what we do! From session projects to larger K-grams' sponsored events, this site will allow you all to get a glimpse into the ideas, creativity, and effort that go into making the K-grams' classroom experiences meaningful and successful to everyone involved.

To all our dedicated BookMARK Coordinators, we couldn't do what we do without you. We hope that this blog is another resource that we can provide to keep you thinking innovatively to enhance your experiences with your classrooms. We welcome discussion of project ideas, as well as stories and photos of your times with any of our 11 fabulous elementary schools!

Please contact bookmark1011@gmail.com with any comments and/or questions you may have regarding BookMARK, or any of the information you may see on this blog. Be sure to check out www.umkgrams.org for information on K-grams at the University of Michigan.

Sincerely,

Your 2010-2011 Elementary Programming Directors

Marissa Fellows and Emma Lofgren

Attention All K-grams Participants

The BookMARK Blog is now Active for Coordinators to Post On After their BookMARK sessions.

Any questions can be directed to smile@umich.edu.

=)