Weeks 15 and 16

We are back at school and getting settled into the new year! As always we are busy busy, so here is what we have been up to since we returned from the holiday break.

Read it, Don't Eat it! By Ian Schoenherr

Read to: CDC Multiage class 

Skills: Book Care

I Took My Frog to the Library by Eric A. Kimmel 

Read to: CDC Multiage Class 

This week we began seeing the Child Development Center's multi-age class. They are a group of 3 and 4 year olds at our school and it was their first time visiting the library. We read books about what one does at the library as well as how to treat library books when we borrow them. We all had a great time.       

Squirrel's New Year's Resolution by Pat Miller

Read to: Pre-K 

Skills: Learn about making a resolution  

With the Pre-K classes we discussed what it means to make a resolution. We read Squirrel's New Year's Resolution by Pat Miller and then shared resolutions that they will try to make for the new year.   

Bubble Gum, Bubble Gum by Lisa Wheeler

Read to: Pre-K

Skills: Recall events from the story and practice sequencing

The next week we had a fun time reading a book all about bubble gum! Now this is a little older book, but it was a book that was brought to my attention again at a recent teacher training and it is so cute. Lots of animals continue to get stuck in icky bubble gum in the road, and when a truck is coming the animals chew and chew and blow a huge bubble to float away and out of the truck's way. It is a great story for acting out (which we did) and for remembering the events in the story and learning about sequencing.       

One of the Pre-K classes acting out the story. 

We then put the animals in the order that they got stuck on the board. 

Even though this type of lesson can be a little more challenging with our younger students, I feel like they really benefit from hands on reading lessons such as these. So at times it can be a little chaotic, but it is always fun!      

ABC Letters in the Library by Bonnie Farmer

Read to: Kinder 

Skills: Understanding Alphabetical order and how our library is organized.

With our Kinder classes we are beginning to prepare them for when they will be able to go out to the main library to find and checkout books. So we began learning about how our library is organized, and we focused on the fiction section of our library this week. We read, ABC Letters in the Library by Bonnie Farmer to review the alphabet and we watched a quick video and played a game to better understand alphabetical order. The kids seemed to catch on quickly, and I know they are excited to soon be able to head out to the "big library!" 

We're Going On a Book Hunt by Pat Miller

Read to: Kindergarten

Skills: Learning how to navigate the library   

In Kindergarten we continued discussing all that we need to know to get ready to go into the big library to check out books. We read this book because it is very interactive and has lots of movements and motions to help kids remember how they behave, and what they do when they are in the library. As you can see it is based off of the book, We're going on a Bear Hunt by Helen Oxenbury, but this time it is the bears going on a book hunt. It discusses using shelf markers to mark our spot on the shelf when we are looking at a book, so that we know where it goes back, and how to choose "just right" books. It was fun acting out the story and hopefully it will help the kids remember key things when they are looking for and checking out library books.  

Goldilocks and Just One Bear by Leigh Hodgkinson

Read to: First Grade

Skills: Fractured Fairy Tales 

 With first grade we reviewed what a fairy tale is and then discussed what a fractured fairy tale is, as they are currently learning about this in their classes. I decided to read this particular book with them because it is awesome! It is the story of a now grown up Baby Bear getting lost and "accidently" going into the now grown up Goldilock's apartment (In NYC). Of course, Baby Bear has no idea it is Goldilocks' apartment, but they soon discover each other and reconnect if you will. It is a great fractured fairy tale from a different point of view. After reading, it was fun for the kids to compare and contrast this story to the original one.       

Pecos Bill Invents the Ten-Gallon Hat by Kevin Strauss

Read to: Second Grade

Skills: Tall Tales  

Our second graders are currently learning all about Texas as well as tall tales, so I decided to share a tall tale with them with a Texas theme. We first learned all about what makes a tall tale and this story definitely fit the mold. I loved it because it was also about good old Pecos Bill and the ten gallon hat and at the end it gave a few facts about why cowboys wear some of the certain things that they do. A perfect book to read while the kids learn all about Texas!         

Little Red Hot by Eric A. Kimmel

Read to: Second Grade

Skills: Fractured Fairy Tale with a Texas Twist

The following week I couldn't resist sharing this book as well. Still in keeping with the second grade  Texas theme, I shared this fractured fairy tale. Essentially I did the same lesson with second grade as I did with the first graders with fractured fairy tales, but just used a different book. This is another great one to compare and contrast to the original story.        

3rd and 4th Graders cast their vote! 

Finally this week was Bluebonnet voting time for the third and fourth graders! Starting this fall the third and fourth graders had the opportunity to take part in the Texas Bluebonnet Award program.  This program, developed by the Texas State Library Association, encourages reading for pleasure for students in grades 3-6 in hopes to expose children to excellent writers across several genres. Twenty titles are nominated by Texas teachers and librarians with the ultimate winner chosen by students in January. In order to be eligible to vote students must read a minimum of five books out of the twenty titles. 

   

So this week we conducted our voting online and students voted for what book they felt should win the Texas Bluebonnet Award. The committee will announce the ultimate winner at the beginning of February and we can't wait to find out which book won. I will for sure keep you posted!

Here were some of our third and fourth grade students voting!            

Weeks 13 and 14

We wrapped up the end of 2014 reading some great books about holidays and celebrations that occur during the month of December. Here are a few of the books we read.

Our Eight Nights of Hanukkah by Michael J. Rosen

Read to: All Classes 

We began by enjoying a book about Hanukkah since Hanukkah fell on the 16th of December this year. This book discusses what one particular family does on each of the eight nights of Hanukkah. Many of our students celebrate Hanukkah, so after reading, I invited those students to share what some of their special traditions were and if those traditions were similar to the characters' traditions in the book. It was fun to learn about how different families celebrate Hanukkah. 

The following week we read stories with a Christmas theme and really just to have some good ol' fashion fun. These are just a few of my favorites and some new ones that I discovered this year that I think the kids really enjoyed.          

Pete the Cat Saves Christmas by Eric Litwin

Read to: Pre-K

This is a great book because online you can find the story and song read aloud, so that always makes for a fun story time! 

Little Santa by Jon Agee

Read to: Kindergarten and Primer

A new book to our library that tells all about what Santa was like as a child.  Cute story!

Sad Santa by Tad Carpenter

Read to: First Grade

Another new story to our library! In this book Santa is bummed out on December 26th because Christmas is over, so it takes some convincing but he finally realizes he is needed and appreciated 365 days a year!

Turkey Claus by Wendi Silvano

Read to: Second Grade

This is the sequel to Turkey Trouble, a Thanksgiving book in which the Turkey does not want to get eaten for Thanksgiving dinner. In this book Turkey once again is trying to escape being eaten for Christmas dinner. A fun story that all of the kids loved. 

After sharing all of these holiday stories, I once again invited the students to share what holiday they celebrate this time of year, important family traditions, or just things they were looking forward to doing with their family and friends. As always, I feel it is important to learn about all of the holidays of the season whatever it is that you may celebrate!

With that, I look forward to 2015 and can't wait to see what is in store!

Happy New Year!      

       

Week 12

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Here is what we were up to before we left, and then after we returned from the holiday.

Thanksgiving Day Thanks by Laura Malone Elliott

Read to: Pre-K

Skills: Thinking about what are we thankful for.

Thanksgiving Rules by Laurie Friedman

Read to: Kinder and Primer

Skills:  Thankfulness and sequencing

Both of these stories are fun to read before Thanksgiving. After reading we all shared what we were thankful for as well as traditions we enjoyed.    

Lester's Dreadful Sweaters by K.G. Campbell

Read to: 3rd and 4th grade

Skills: Bluebonnet book nominee and learning how to write a summary for a fiction book.

With Bluebonnet voting getting near, I wanted to have a chance to read a Bluebonnet nominee to the kids so we could discuss it together, and also so everyone could count another book towards their five book goal. The kids have to read five books in order to be eligible to vote for their favorite in January. Each time the kids read a book, I ask them to write a summary of the book so that they can remember what the books are about at voting time, and to practice writing a summary. I noticed that many of the kids were struggling with the concept of writing a summary, so after reading the book our next lesson was to learn how to write a summary for a fiction book. We used the graphic organizer below to organize our thinking and then write our summary together. The kids did a great job and they are going to continue practicing this skill as they write their other summaries.   

Late Start Day with Second Grade

When we returned from the Thanksgiving holidays our first day back was a late start day and we were paired up with second grade. With it being the holiday season we decided it would be fun to have the kids create or decorate holiday cards and ornaments to give to someone special. We discussed that it could be someone that they knew, like a friend or a family member, but it could also be someone in their community who would really appreciate it this time of year. 

Card making station. 

Stained glass ornaments station.

 

Scratch off Dreidel ornament station. 

Scratch off Christmas tree ornament station.

It was a fun time had by all!

And last but not least, I just had to share. We finally got Brian Floca's beautiful drawing framed and hung on the wall in the Lower School Learning Commons. Doesn't it look great?! Such a neat way to remember this special author visit. Thank you Mr. Floca!

Week 11

It was a great week in the Lower School Library! Here is what we were doing!

Awesome Autumn: All Kinds of Fall Facts and Fun by Bruce Goldstone

Shared with Pre-K 

Fall by Nuria Roca

Also shared with Pre-K

With the weather turning colder and the many changes that we are beginning to see outside, I thought it was a great time for us to read all about the fall season. We began by reading Fall by Nuria Roca. I then shared parts of the book, Awesome Autumn. This book has beautiful photographs and also discusses and illustrates fall by using our five senses. After reading, the kids enjoyed sharing what they love about fall.       

What is Nonfiction?

Taught to Kinder-4th Grade

At the beginning of the year you might remember that we focused on learning all about fiction. Many of our classes discussed what fiction meant and where we could find it in our library. We played games to learn how fiction is organized. Now it was time to do the same with our nonfiction books. For this lesson we discussed what it meant, shared many examples of nonfiction, discussed nonfiction text features, and showed the students where to find it. For our older students we even went into the Dewey Decimal Classification System a bit. Even though knowing this can be helpful, it is not a necessity, but it certainly doesn't hurt to explain this system to the kids and why certain books are shelved together. Overall, my goal was to help them locate books faster and books that they are interested in.            

With all of the Primer through 4th graders, we introduced our reading theme for the year, as well as some opportunities for the kids to tell others about what they are reading. Our theme this year is bowling, so our big bulletin board says "Get Bowled Over By A Great Book!" On this board we want kids to recommend great library books that they have read to others. They can write reviews and recommend some of their favorite books on a bowling ball. It is a great way to give their peers ideas for books.  

        

On the smaller board is another way the students can show us what they are reading, on our "Star Reader Wall." Each time the students read a book they write it down on their sheet and color in a bowling pin. When they have read 10 books and colored in 10 bowling pins, they earn a "strike!" They can then turn in this sheet for a chance to be featured on our wall. As you can see we already have some super readers that have earned a strike this month. I love to see what the kids are reading, and the other kids do too! Overall I think our boards are just a great way to celebrate the joy of reading!           

Week 9 and 10

We had an exciting two weeks in the Lower School Library. We spent time preparing for our special guest, Brian Floca, and then the day came this past week where we got to actually meet him! So fun!

During library time the week before we spent time teaching all of the Kinder-4th grade classes all about Mr. Floca. We discussed his Caldecott winning book, Locomotive, browsed and read some of his other books, and had the kids sign this welcome sign you see above. We then hung it in the Middle School Rotunda on the day he visited for him and all to see. I later heard that he really liked it!

 Here he was reading some of his book, Locomotive, to the Kinder, Primer, and First Grade classes.   

 He then did a little bit of drawing for the kids and talked about how he became an author and an illustrator. He drew a picture of a train for them and as you can imagine he is pretty good and fast at drawing trains. Ha!

 Ta-Da! 

You know what is even cooler? At the end of the day we were given this picture he drew to hang up in the library! Isn't that so cool!?      

     Later Mr. Floca came to visit us in the library so some of us librarians had to get a picture with him!  Overall, everyone really enjoyed his visit and we felt honored to have him come to our school. 

With Halloween being this past Friday, we rounded out the week enjoying some fun and spooky Halloween stories. Here are some of the books I shared with the classes. 

Click, Clack, Boo! A Tricky Treat By Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin

Read to Pre-K, Kinder, and Primer 

Monster Party by Annie Bach

Read to Kinder, Primer, and First Grade

Not Very Scary by Carol Brendler

Read to Pre-K

  Skeleton For Dinner by Margery Cuyler

Read to First and Second Grade

The Monsterator by Keith Graves

Read to 3rd and 4th Grades

One thing I have discovered is no matter what age the kids are, they always love Halloween stories, and you know what? So do I! Hope you all had a great Halloween!

Weeks 7 and 8

These last two weeks of school have been fun but so busy! We had a day off and then a late start day to start off the week. On the late start day the library was paired up with the Primer class to do an activity. We decided it would be fun to have the kids decorate pumpkins to look like their favorite story book character. Here was our set up.      

We had the kids choose what character they wanted to create so we could get all of the materials together ahead of time.  

Kids working hard at painting and creating their pumpkins. 

The final products! Can you guess who these fun characters are? 

I'll give you some hints: 

Elephant and Piggie.    

Pete the Cat. I loved the red guitar the kids made.

Olivia the pig. She is just missing her crown in this picture. 

During regular class time, we spent the past two weeks learning all about the Caldecott Award. I  taught this lesson to our Kinder through 4th grade students because in a few weeks those students have the opportunity to meet this year's Caldecott winning illustrator, Brian Floca! It is a pretty big deal so I wanted to be sure the kids knew all about the award itself and books that have won this award. Next week we will of course focus on Brian Floca and get to know more about him.       

A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead, Illustrated by Erin E. Stead

Read to: Pre-K

Skills: Caldecott and Jobs People Do

Recently Pre-K has been discussing jobs people do in their class, so I wanted to bring that theme into our story time, but I also wanted to teach them about the Caldecott Award (even though they will not get a chance to meet Brian Floca). I decided to share, A Sick Day for Amos McGee because not only was it a Caldecott winning book, but the main character works at the zoo. After reading we discussed what we thought people who work at the zoo do, and other jobs they have been learning about. I think the kids enjoyed it.   

This is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen

Read to: Kinder and Primer 

Skills: Read a Caldecott Winning Book and making predicitions

With our Kinder and Primer students I discussed the Caldecott Award, but I also wanted to share a recent Caldecott winning book with them. This year's Caldecott winning book, Locomotive by Brian Floca, is obviously beautiful and wonderful, but it is too long to share with our younger students and in our short time frame that we have in the library. So I decided to share last year's winner, This is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen.  This book is a great book to really use the pictures to help practice the skill of making predictions. So I decided to squeeze that skill into our lesson as well. Many of the kids had already read this book before, but they still loved it, especially at the end when it is left up to the reader to decide how the story really ends. A great book to make predictions with and a super book overall.    

   

Finally, this week with all of our First Grade classes we began their Nocturnal Animal research.     

This is the second year the first grade teachers and I have collaborated on this project and it is so much fun. Everyone, and especially the kids, really enjoy it.  

The students came in and utilized our books, new iPads, and first grade friendly databases to begin their research. They took notes on what their animal ate, what it looked like, its habitat, and other cool facts.  Later the students will use the information they gathered to write a report and to create a model of their animal. I can't wait to see their final products and go and hear some of their presentations soon.