News From the Library–May 28, 2012

Happy Summer 2012!

Summer is a great time to read and for this last post of the school year I have collected a number of links to reading lists. I think you’ll find something for everyone! It will remain on this blog until September.

So relax, kick back with a lemonade, and read, read read!

~Mrs. Reid

Summer Reading Lists

www.bookwink.com
Video booktalks listed by grade level.

http://nancykeane.com/booktalks/5_8.htm.
Nancy Keane’s list of “Books of Interest to Grades 5-8”, with links to her booktalks on the titles.

Battle of the Books 2013 Reading list
These are the 30 books that 4-6th graders will read in order to participate in next year’s Battle of the Books.  Click on link at the bottom of the page for a pdf of the list of books.

http://www.sbceoportal.org/ims/pages/events/battle-of-the-books.php

abe books Children’s Reading Lists
http://www.abebooks.com/docs/Browse/childrens-young-adult.shtml

Education World Reading Lists
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr244.shtml

100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know from the NY Public Library
http://kids.nypl.org/reading/recommended2.cfm?ListID=60

100 Favorite Children’s Books from the NY Public Library
http://kids.nypl.org/reading/recommended2.cfm?ListID=61

BookHive
BookHive is a web site designed for children ages birth through twelve, their parents, teachers or anyone interested in reading about children’s books. Providing reader’s advisory service, this site contains hundreds of recommended book reviews in a variety of reading levels and interest areas. Parents may find special “parental notes” attached to some reviews that provide additional information about the book. Users can search for books by author, title, reading level, interest area, number of pages, and even favorite illustrator.
http://www.bookhive.org/

Books for Boys
http://www.booksforboys.com/

Big a, little a
This is a blog with a booklist of recommended Early readers that you can download as a pdf file
http://kidslitinformation.blogspot.com/2007/05/early-readers_04.html

So relax, kick back with a lemonade, and read, read read! Have a great summer!

~Mrs. Reid

News From the Library-May 21, 2012

The Power of the Fairy Tale

Once again I was struck this week by how powerful fairy tales are.  I read this beautiful version of Rumpelstiltskin, illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky, to the second graders.  Even though they know the story, this version, with its incredibly detailed illustrations captivated them.  They sat as quietly as I can remember, hanging on my every word.  It reminded me how, in our fast paced world, we can tend to look to the new and I’ve decided to plan an in depth fairy tale unit for the next school year using the Visible Thinking routines.

Also in the Library this week…

Kindergarten–Lauren Child’s I Will Never Not Ever Eat A Tomato is appealing on so many levels as a read aloud.  The large size of the book makes the illustrations so accessible and the humor of the story and the fact that it is something the children readily relate to make this a winner.  We had fun by first talking about foods each child did not like and at the end of the story we came up with creative names to make them more appealing.  Mushrooms became fairy chairs and onions became hula hoops for mice!

First Grade–The Lost and Found by Mark Teague is a favorite at this time of year since our own lost and found is overflowing.  First graders followed Wendell, Floyd, and Mona on their adventure after the trio dove into the lost and found and I noticed several of our students looking carefully at the bottom of ours to see if they could have an adventure of their own!!

Second Grade–see opening post

Third Grade–Going along with our fairy tale theme this week, third graders heard The Frog Prince Continued by Jon Scieszka.  This was a great chance to use the Visible Thinking Routine called See,Think,Wonder.  The illustrations are detailed and full of humor and it was great to slow down and look at them carefully, and then think about what the illustrator had in mind.  Finally they wondered what would happen next in the story.  Figuring out the allusions to several different fairy tales was fun too!

Fourth Grade–Fourth graders enjoyed a ebook version of Butterfly Beach, a book written and illustrated by local Santa Barbara author Polly Caldwell Bookwalter, about one of our favorite beaches.  After hearing the story, we scrolled back to several pages and came up with suggestions for interactive features.  In doing this, students are realizing that less is more and they came up with some very good ideas!  It was also a way to model reading and ebook through first and then going back to see the interactivity.

Fifth Grade–missed Library this week due to STAR testing

Sixth Grade–We played a great round of Library Jeopardy in preparation for our “final exam” next week.

News From the Library–May 14, 2012

 

What is it about pigs???

This time of year I usually put up a display of all the “pig books.” Younger students love them and older students loved to come in a look again at their favorites.  A couple of years ago, during the flurry of concern about swine flu, a large community meeting was held in the library and according to my principal my display caused quite a stir.  Some though it was inappropriate, others found it hilarious, and some even wondered if I had a rather warped sense of humor!  Actually, I hadn’t even made the connection!!

One of my favorite read-alouds is Hog Eye by Susan Meddaugh.  It’s a great story to teach about irony as the little narrator tells a story and the pictures say something altogether different.  Third graders loved it.  And the curse of Hog-Eye?  Just too funny!

Also in the Library this week….

Kindergarten–We continued this week with Garth Pig and the Ice Cream Lady by Mary Reyner and once again that wolf shows up.  This time, she’s Madam Lupino, the Ice Cream Lady, who lures Garth into her truck and takes off with him.  Once again his brothers and sisters rise to the occasion and rescue him in hilarious fashion.  Kindergarteners liked making the connections between the two stories and left wondering if the wolf would be heard from ever again.

First Grade–In honor of Mother’s Day this weekend, first graders heard Mars Needs Moms by Berkeley Breathed.  I heard a few grumblings about seeing the movie, but after hearing the story (absolutely silent listeners in some sections) all agreed that the book was “way better than the movie.”  Score one for books!

Second Grade–Second graders heard another of Susan Meddaugh’s books, Martha Speaks.  Martha the dog, eats alphabet soup, and miraculously starts talking.  And talking and talking.  This book is a great way to humorously bring home the lesson about not blurting out and saying things just because they come to mind. Students enjoyed predicting what was going to happen when the burglar comes in and Martha has forgotten how to speak.

Third Grade–see opening post.

Fourth Grade–Discussing online privacy and safe behavior online is important for students of this age, particularly in our community where many students have their own mobile devices.  I used “The Adventures of the Three CyberPigs” on the Privacy Playground website and it served as a good springboard for our discussion.

Fifth Grade–Fifth graders played Library Jeopardy this week.

Sixth Grade–Sixth graders were warned.  This isn’t fun.  This isn’t exciting.  But….it is necessary.  Bibliographies.  I gave them several resources to use and they produced bibliographies using EasyBib.

Dress Like a Teacher Day

Thanks, Annie, for making my day!

News from the Library–May 7, 2012

Making Connections

This week fourth graders heard one of my favorite read alouds.  Math Curse by Jon Scieszka is a delight (and a challenge) to use with a group.  Each page has a problem to solve, some of which are very funny.  Students get into the spirit and love figuring out the answers as the narrator goes from problem to problem in his day.  Humor aside, this is such a great way to show the inter-connections of learning and how knowledge can be applied to every day events.  It was wonderful to see the “lightbulbs” go on when I read that the teacher’s name in the story is Mrs. Fibonacci and, because of our story a couple of weeks back, they got the inside joke about how she counted in sequence.

Also in the Library this week….

Kindergarten–Kindergarteners loved hearing Mr. and Mrs. Pig’s Evening Out by Mary Reyner.  The distracted Mrs. Pig hires a babysitter named, of all things, Mrs. Wolf!  Students saw the problem immediately and worried about the ten piglets, were on the edge of their seats when she snatches Garth Pig, but predicted that his brothers and sisters would come to the rescue.

First Grade-no library this week.  Lake Cachuma field trip.

Second Grade–Second graders had fun with a new visible thinking routine this week.  Beginning, Middle, End starts with a visual from the middle of a story and students imagine what could have been at the beginning and what could be the ending.  I chose this illustration from Velma Gratch and the Way Cool Butterfly by Alan Madison and illustrated so wonderfully by Kevin Henkes.

After offering their ideas about what could have happened at the beginning of this book and what could happen at the end, they loved hearing how their ideas matched the author’s or were different.

Third Grade–That Miss Smith and her incredible storybook!  This week she takes her class to the aquarium in Miss Smith Under the Ocean by Michael Garland.  As always, the illustrations are eye-popping and students loved figuring out the literary connections.

Fourth Grade–see opening post

Fifth Grade-It was another round of Speed Dating for Books and fifth graders left with some new “relationships.”  Most popular this time was The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman and Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick.  Fifth graders really like this way of introducing new books and it gives me a chance to get  new titles into circulation.

Sixth Graders–Teaching students about plagiarism is a tricky thing.  With began our discussion with the overlay of ethics, then we discussed what it is, how it can happen both accidentally and on purpose, and what the consequences can be, and most importantly, how to avoid it.  For their assignment, I printed out 10 of Ben Franklin’s famous quotations and they chose one to paraphrase, writing it on a lined sticky note and putting it up on the white board for all to see.  Our favorites were:

A penny saved is a penny earned

Three may keep a secret if two of them are dead.