Week 22 and 23

These past two weeks have flown by and we have read some great literature so I wanted to be sure to share about it.

The month of March is National Women's History Month, so we spent the week after spring break reading books about women who have made a difference whether it be on the world, our country, our state, or our very own community. Here were some of the books we shared.

Week 22:

Sheila Ray, The Brave by Kevin Henkes

The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires

Both Books Read to: CDC and Pre-k  

I read the above two books with our younger students and just focused on girl protagonists who were brave, courageous, or who persevered in some way. Many of the women whom we celebrate during the month of March are women who had all of these qualities, but I felt like these books were more appropriate for demonstrating that concept to our younger students.   

Librarian of the Roof! by M.G King

Read to: Kinder, Primer, and First Grade

I did this lesson awhile back with Pre-k when they were discussing change makers. Go here to see what we did. However, this time, if we had time I also shared a couple of you tube news clips of this actual event, so the kids could see parts of the real thing because many were having a hard time believing it was a true story. They really enjoyed it as after reading it many kids came up to me and said, "I can't believe there was a librarian who really did that?!" Ha!         

Here Come the Girl Scouts! The Amazing All-True Story of Juliette 'Daisy' Gordon Low and Her Great Adventure by Shana Corey

Read to: Second Grade

Here Come the Girl Scouts! is the true story of the first girl scouts and their visionary leader, Juliette Gordon Low. I decided to share this story because I know many of the second grade girls participate in girl scouts, and I love how throughout the story on each page the author gives an inspirational quote. The boys enjoyed it too! A great read for Women's History Month!       

Who Says Women Can't Be Doctors? The Story of Elizabeth Blackwell by Tanya Lee Stone

Read to: Third and Fourth Grade  

Finally both Third and Fourth Grade are working on biography research projects at the moment so I wanted to share the story of an inspirational woman, Elizabeth Blackwell, the first female doctor. This story is a simple, yet powerful picture book biography that was enjoyed by all. 

Week 23:

This week as we prepare for Poetry Month coming up in April, I wanted to review rhyming words with our youngest students. With our slightly older ones we focused and reviewed the elements of a fictional story.   

Billy and Milly, Short and Silly by Eve B. Feldman

Rhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas 

Read to: Pre-k and Kinder 

Skills: Rhyming Words 

Both of these stories are not only great for highlighting rhyming words but they sure are fun! The first one contains 13 short stories just using rhyming words. The kids can look and listen to the words that rhyme and do a bit of inferencing as they draw conclusions about what is happening in each story. The second story is about dust bunnies that like to rhyme. However, one of the bunnies, Bob, is having a hard time because he is distracted with something that is coming after them. Think of what dust bunnies might be most afraid of and you have a hilarious story that the kids love! I adore all of Jan Thomas' books! After reading we then played a fun rhyming game in which the kids were handed a card with a word on it and they had to read their word and then stand up and find someone who had a word that rhymed with theirs. They did a great job at this and I think they enjoyed getting to move a bit while at the same time, rhyming!     

Help! We Need a Title! by Herve Tullet

Read to: Primer

Skills: Parts of a Story 

The Story Starts Here! by Caroline Merola

Read to: First and Second Grade

Skills: Parts of a Story and Unconventional books  

I used both of the above stories to review the parts of a fiction story: Characters, Setting, Problem, Solution, and they both were somewhat unconventional books so we discussed what made them different. Help! We Need a Title! basically discusses and shows the process of writing and illustrating a story. Then in The Story Starts Here the author decides to have the reader begin the story from the back and while reading the reader has to turn the book upside down to basically solve the characters' problem. So, for I think the first time ever on my blog, I am not using this blog to review books, but I am going to go ahead and say that in my opinion these two books are not all that great (gasp!) as I didn't feel like they had much of a story line. Sorry! Just being honest here folks! HOWEVER, they both got some laughs from the kids and they showed the basics of what I was trying to review-parts of a story, so I guess I will give them an A-. 

In the meantime, I am getting pumped about beginning poetry month in April and can't wait to share all of the fun things we have planned. Stay tuned!  

  

Week 21- Reading Celebrations!

This past week was National Read Across America Day which falls on Dr. Seuss' Birthday, World Read Aloud Day, and also the week we decided to celebrate the 3rd and 4th grade classes that read the most Bluebonnet books. So we definitely did a lot of celebrating in the library this week!

Dr. Seuss books out on display on Dr. Seuss Day! 

As you might recall from my last post, the 3rd and 4th grade classes that read the most Bluebonnet books were awarded with a surprise, and that surprise was a party. So this week on Monday and Wednesday we celebrated the two classes that won when they came to the library. When the kids entered they walked the "blue" carpet, because come on, they are reading celebrities people! Then we had a little award ceremony where we gave prizes to the top readers of every class and then other fun things to other students that participated. Afterwards, the kids could play an array of games.  Our theme this year in the library is a bowling theme, so in keeping with our theme the kids could play board games, but they could also play Wii bowling! We collaborated with our school tech team to set it all up and make it happen. It worked beautifully and the kids loved it!    

Here are a few pics of our award ceremonies       

A 4th grade student giving an acceptance speech. Too funny! 

Then it was off to play the games!

Some kids decided to play the board games...     

And others were all about the Wii bowling!

Thankfully we had two Wii stations set up! 

Then Wednesday we celebrated World Read Aloud Day in the library and throughout the Lower School. In the library we had guest readers sign up to read to the library classes. It was so fun and the kids loved having someone new read to them!  All of the books our readers shared were of course about the love of books and reading so it was perfect!  

Third graders hearing a story read by Ms. Manning, a Kindergarten teacher.  

Primer students hearing a story by our music teacher, Mrs. Holmes

Multi-age students hearing a story by Mr. Ivory, one of our great facility operators.

Second graders hearing a story from Mrs. Stenberg, our literacy specialist. 

Pre-K hearing a story read by Mrs. Young, director of our alumni relations.

First grade hearing a story by Mrs. Majefski, our Lower School Counselor. 

Everyone did such a great job reading, I was super impressed as were the kids! It was such a fun day and I have some ideas up my sleeve that I want to incorporate next year to make it even more fun. Yay for books and reading!

Week 20

Wow! What a couple of crazy weeks we have had with lots of snow and ice days! Even so, we still managed to read some great books and do some fun lessons in the library.  


This week many of our lessons focused on Black History Month.

Mousetronaut by Mark Kelly

Mae Jemison by Eric Braun

Read to: Pre-K, Kinder, and Primer

Skills: Learn about the features of a biography while discussing Black History Month  

I wanted to teach our students about Black History Month, and also wanted them to be introduced to the biography genre. So I started off with the fiction picture book, Mousetronanut, written by astronaut Mark Kelly to give them a fun book about space, as well as astronauts and animals that have gone to space. After reading it, I then asked if anyone had ever learned or wondered about other astronauts that have gotten to go to space. I told them that I wanted to read a book about another real astronaut, but that this one was a nonfiction book about the first African American woman to go to space. We read the biography about Mae Jemison while talking about how she was a change maker in our country and pointing out the features of a biography. I feel like the two books went well together and it helped the kids make connections with many themes.                 

The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles

Read to: 1st and 2nd Grade

Skills: Read a story in honor of Black History Month 

First and second grade read the story of Ruby Bridges. Ruby was a first grader when she was ordered to attend first grade at William Frantz Elementary, an all-white school in New Orleans. Ruby has to face angry parents and mobs of people daily who refuse to send their children to school with her. It is a great story that demonstrates Ruby's courage, faith, and bravery, and a wonderful book to share while discussing Black History Month. After reading, we had some great discussions together and last week second grade even had the privilege of coming to the library to view the movie.

  

White Water by Michael S. Bandy and Eric Stein

Read to: 3rd and 4th Grade

Skills: Read a story in honor of Black History Month. Practice making connections and asking questions about the story.    

Finally with our third and fourth grade classes we read this powerful book, White Water by Michael S. Bandy and Eric Stein.  

    

For a young boy growing up in the segregated south, a town drinking fountain becomes the source of an epiphany.

It's a scorching hot day, and going into town with Grandma is one of Michael's favorite things. When the bus pulls up, they climb in and pay their fare, get out, walk to the back door, and climb in again. By the time they arrive in town, Michael's throat is as dry as a bone, so he runs to the water fountain. But after a few sips, the warm, rusty water tastes bad. Why is the kid at the "Whites Only" fountain still drinking? Is his water clear and refreshingly cool? No matter how much trouble Michael might get into, he's determined to find out for himself. Based on a transformative experience co-author Michael Bandy had as a boy, this compelling story sheds light on the reality of segregation through a child's eyes, while showing the powerful awareness that comes from daring to question the way things are. (Amazon.com)

In the end Michael discovers that the water comes from the same pipe and tastes the same so he begins to question the signs above the fountain, "why do they have to be separate?" He also questions everything he has ever been taught growing up.  I knew this book would lead to some amazing questions and discussions even some we didn't have time to get to in our short library time, so I had the kids record their thoughts, connections, and wonderings while I read. We then discussed as much as we had time for, but by having the kids write down their thinking I got everyone to participate and it was my way of "hearing" from everyone. A great, great story!           

As you know our 3rd and 4th graders participate in the Texas Bluebonnet reading program. Every year twenty books are chosen as the "Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List" by the Bluebonnet selection committee. Then if students read a minimum of five books out of the twenty they can vote for their favorite title during the month of January each year. The author of the book receiving the most votes statewide is declared the winner of the Texas Bluebonnet Award.

So once again our kids read the Bluebonnet books like crazy. However, like last year we also challenged all of the classes to see which 3rd and 4th grade classes could read the most Bluebonnets. They had to record the books as they read them, and in the end the two classes that read the most would get a special surprise. They were so excited!

So this past January we had a total of 101 3rd and 4th graders vote, and the official winning book was announced soon after voting ended.  I then made the big announcement to all of our kids at our Late Start Day Assembly a few weeks ago. 

At the assembly I started off by reminding the students that we were not the only ones who voted. Actually, 130,997 students across Texas voted. That is a lot of kids! So with 29,674 votes the 2015 Texas Bluebonnet Award winning book is:

The Day the Crayons Quit 

by Drew Daywalt. Illustrated by Oliver Jeffers

The kids were so excited! I almost couldn't get them to quiet down for me to announce the second and third place winners. 

In second place with 14,185  votes was:

Dead City

by James Ponti

Finally in third place with 8,150 votes was: 

Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin 

by Liesel Shurtliff

 

I then announced the 3rd and 4th grade classes that won the book contest for reading the most Bluebonnets. In 3rd grade the class that won read a total of 100 Bluebonnet books and in 4th grade the winning class read 77 books. That is a lot of great reading! Their prize is that they get to have a celebration in the library. So I will post pics soon after we have their special celebrations.