Get a jump on summer reading for the Oregon Battle of the Books.  Competition begins in the fall.

 

6^th to 8^th Grade Division

• Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna by Alda P. Dobbs
• The Benefits of Being an Octopus by Ann Braden
• The Blackbird Girls by Anne Blankman
• The Boys in the Back Row by Mike Jung
• Focused by Alyson Gerber
• The Girl and the Ghost by Hanna Alkaf
• A High Five for Glenn Burke by Phil Bildner
• The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien*
• Invisible by Christina Diaz Gonzalez and Gabriela Epstein
• Katie the Catsitter by Colleen AF Venable and Stephanie Yue
• Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga
• Partly Cloudy by Tanita S. Davis
• Powerless by Matthew Cody
• Stowaway by John David Anderson
• Wink by Rob Harrell
• Yusuf Azeem is Not a Hero by Saadia Faruqi

*The official OBOB edition of The Hobbit is the 2012 edition from Mariner Books (9780547928227). You may read another edition, but page numbers and content will be taken from this edition. No questions will be created from any prefaces, introductions, afterwards, etc.

For more information: https://www.oregonbattleofthebooks.org/

 

 

Our media is flooded with images and stories coming out of Ukraine right now, and students may have questions, or need help thinking and talking critically about the information they are getting. These are general resources for engaging in conversations about harmful situations and news, with more specific resources to come as they are available. Our community is impacted on many levels by events around the globe, and yet it is important for us to help students understand that our neighbors are still our neighbors. The people of our community are still of our community, and it is our privilege and responsibility to look out for one another.

Curiosity and Questions: A presentation (and great dictionary of terms) from the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education

Helping Children Cope with Frightening News, a website from Child Mind Institute

When Bad Things are Happening, an article from Teaching Tolerance

Parent and Caregiver Resources, a toolkit from the ADL

9 Healthy Ways to Communicate, 9 strategies for sustaining and deepening conversation from educator and film maker, Lee Mun Wah

 

Here are instructions to help you to link your Canvas account to your student's account. Click here for instructions.

Today was disappointing – for us but, most importantly, for our students and families. The Portland Association of Teachers offered no counter proposals – and yet declared impasse.

Today, we offered compromises that would both reward our educators and further our students’ success. We were able to raise our compensation offer substantially. We are not there yet, but we are committed to the hard work of finding common ground.

Today, we started the state-led mediation process with one priority: our children’s success. We offered compromises that would keep that vision at the heart of our work – and maintained our position on proposals that would negatively impact students.

On behalf of the Board of Education and district leaders at PPS, our best wishes for a positive and joyful start to your school year!