Library Star Award Winners
Library Star Award:
The top 3 classes with the most books on their bookshelf that month win the Library Star Award to keep in their classroom for an entire month! Students earn books on their bookshelf by following library and school rules, working hard, and following expectations.
The top 3 classes with the most books on their bookshelf that month win the Library Star Award to keep in their classroom for an entire month! Students earn books on their bookshelf by following library and school rules, working hard, and following expectations.
September Winners:
October Winners:
Trimester 1 Library Activities:
Grades K-2: | Grades 3-5: |
Students have been learning about the responsibilities of borrowing books from the library, how to take care of their library books, and policies and procedures related to the library. The first two weeks of school dealt with library orientation. During the week of September 10-14th, students investigated what makes them extraordinary after listening to "Extraordinary Warren: A Super Chicken" by Sarah Dillard. This is a graphic novel about an ordinary chicken who is bored with the everyday chicken routine. Warren leaves the farm to discover what makes him special. During the next week, students practiced their keyboarding and letter recognition skills through a station rotation activity. Students were divided into groups and moved through three different stations: Keyboard Climber computer game, color the keyboard letters, and practicing their school username and passwords with actual keyboards. During the week of September 24-28th, students were allowed to check out their first book of the school year. Students learned library expectations for checking in and checking out library books. Kindergarteners received their practice library books and we reviewed how to take care of library books. During the first week of October, grades K-1 created a classroom book called "Animals Should Not Borrow Library Books." Students chose an animal and wrote about how that animal should not borrow a library book. Students then drew a picture depicting their answer. Grade 2 learned about how the Picture Book and Fiction sections are organized. This skill will assist students when looking for books of interest to check out of the library. Next, we discussed picking a "Just Right Book." Students listened to the story "We're Going on a Book Hunt" by Pat Miller to review library behavior as well as the Five Finger Rule and choosing a Just Right Book. Grade 2 continued their lesson on the Picture Book and Fiction sections by participating in a scavenger hunt. Students were given a book title and a call number to find on the fiction shelves. The week of Oct 15-19th, students in K and 1 learned about squirrels. They listened to the story "Ol' Mama Squirrel" by David Ezra Stein or "Those Darn Squirrels" by Adam Rubin. They also learned some facts about squirrels by watching videos. Grade 2 learned about the Non-Fiction section of the library and how it is organized. October 22-26th was Bullying Prevention Week. Students listened to the Story "Spookley the Square Pumpkin" by Joe Troiano, a recommendation from PACER.org. Students then colored their own pumpkins and discussed their differences as well as ways to be kind to other people. During the last week of October students listened to a "Halloween" story. (Either "We're Going to Find a Witch's House" by Mr. Krieb or "We're Going on a Ghost Hunt" by Susan Pearson.) Both books are similar (or a parody) to "We're Going on a Book Hunt" which students listened to earlier. Some students may recall singing the song or reading "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" by Michael Rosen last school year. GREAT CONNECTIONS! | "Students have been learning about the responsibilities of borrowing books from the library, how to take care of their library books, and policies and procedures related to the library. The first two weeks of school dealt with library orientation. During the week of September 10-14th, students explored what makes them a wonder after listening to "We're All Wonders" by R.J. Palacio. Students then completed a worksheet about what happened in the book to show their understanding of the important message in the story: "We're All Wonders!" The following week students worked on their typing skills which is important for when grades 3-5 take RICAS Testing in the Spring. Students practiced typing skills by first playing typing games on ABCya.com and then typing a passage using Google Docs or Microsoft Word to see how many words they can type in five minutes. September 24-28th was the first week of check-out for students. Students learned library expectations for checking in and checking out library books. Grades 2,3, and 5 learned how the Picture book and Fiction sections are organized. This skill will assist students when looking for books of interest to check out of the library. Grade 4 teachers have asked me to collaborate with them to assist students in their Native American Projects. During this week students were introduced to the types of sources I located for them to use. We also discussed the different options for their final projects. Grades 2,3, and 5 continued their lesson on the Picture Book and Fiction sections by participating in a scavenger hunt. Students were given a book title and call number to find on the fiction shelves. Grade 4 continued working on the Native American project by learning about citations and plagiarism. Citations are a reference to a piece of work: book, website, article that students are using in their project. October 15-19th, students learned about the Non-Fiction section of the library and how it is organized. Grade 4 began researching their Native American Tribe and creating citations. October 22-26th was Bullying Prevention Week. Students in grade 3-5 listened to "Bully" by Patricia Polacco and helped form a Unity Tree. "The Unity Tree is a powerful symbol reminding everyone that bullying can be prevented when we all come together -- united for kindness, acceptance and inclusion" (PACER.org). Students wrote a response to one of these questions on an orange leaf:
During the last week of October students were put in to small groups and given a Halloween Poem to read. Students practiced these poems with their groups and then presented them to the class.(See Videos Below) |
Students Working Hard:
Top Left: 1st grade students practice typing school usernames and passwords.
Top Middle: 1st grade students playing Keyboard Climber 2 (a game for practicing typing).
Top Right: Kindergarteners practice typing school usernames and passwords.
Bottom Left: Kindergartener coloring the keyboard.
Bottom Middle: Kindergartener playing Keyboard Climber (a game for practicing typing)
Bottom Right: Two 3rd graders who discovered something very clever during our Fiction section alphabetizing game.
Top Middle: 1st grade students playing Keyboard Climber 2 (a game for practicing typing).
Top Right: Kindergarteners practice typing school usernames and passwords.
Bottom Left: Kindergartener coloring the keyboard.
Bottom Middle: Kindergartener playing Keyboard Climber (a game for practicing typing)
Bottom Right: Two 3rd graders who discovered something very clever during our Fiction section alphabetizing game.
Reading Scary Poems: October 29-Nov 1
Videos are set to private on YouTube.
Grade 4 Students: "Trick or Treat" From If you Read to me, I'll Read to you. | Grade 3 Students: "Skeletons" |
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Grade 3 Students: "Witch's Stew" | Grade 5 Students: "The Witch and the Broomstick" from If you Read to me, I'll Read to you" |
Grade 5 Students: "Zombies" from If you Read to me, I'll Read to you.
Lessons to Come:
Grades K-2: November 7-8: Students will learn about Mindfulness. November 13-15: Students will learn about Thanksgiving and discuss what they are thankful for. November 20: Balloons Over Broadway By Melissa Sweet November 27-29: Students will learn about Hanukkah. December 4-6: Hour of Code Week. December 11-13: Students will learn about Kwanzaa. December 18-20: Students will learn about Christmas and compare the three holidays: Christmas, Kwanzaa, and Hanukkah. | Grades 3-5: November 7-8: Students will continue to practice their typing skills. November 13-15: Students will learn about Thanksgiving through a web quest. November 20: Balloons Over Broadway By Melissa Sweet November 27-29: Students will learn about Hanukkah through a web quest. December 4-6: Hour of Code Week. December 11-13: Students will learn about Kwanzaa through a web quest. December 18-20: Students will learn about Christmas through a web quest. |
Library Pictures
Volunteer's Needed: |
Would you like to volunteer in the library? Here are some things I would have you do: * Shelve books *Read shelves *Keep an eye on students while they book browse *Help with spine, genre, and barcode labels *Maintain the organization and cleanliness of the library *Decorate bulletin boards *Put up student work Here is what I need from you: * Send me an email regarding your interest to [email protected] *Tell me what days and times you would like to volunteer (I only work Tuesday-Thursday). *Tell me if you have previous experience. *Talk to Maria Pagliarini about getting a BCI. |