Welcome back from Spring Break! I'm always excited to get back to school after a long break and I hope the students are ready, too.
This week in the library we will be reviewing library behaviors and expectations. I like to do this each quarter just to make sure everyone knows what my expectations are. After this review we will be reading Adios, Oscar by Peter Elwell. This is a book I got at our most recent book fair. It's a butterfly fable reminding the children that the only limitations on what they can do are those which they place on themselves. Ask your child how Oscar the butterfly was surprised and what he learned in the story.
We are wrapping up the Bookman's challenge this week and I will post final results once I've tallied everything up. The children have done an amazing job and should be extraordinarily proud of themselves!
Next week in the library 3rd-5th graders will get a library skills lesson on using our cataloging system while K-2 will be exploring the many things we can do with our imaginations.
Have a great week!
Monday, March 29, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Happy Spring Break!
I'm sure all the kids are excited about Spring Break (and maybe just a few of the teachers!). We've been busy in the last month leading up to our break with a lot of exciting things.
We started out celebrating President's Week with some classes by reading So You Want to be President? by Judith St. George which gives a lot of interesting facts about all of our previous presidents. Other classes heard Madam President by Lane Smith. This is a silly story of a little girl who walks around performing presidential duties in her daily life. A very tongue-in-cheek look at the presidency but some of the kids really enjoyed the humor.
We celebrated Rodeo Week last month by reading The Toughest Cowboy or How the Wild West was Tamed by John Frank. The 2nd-5th graders really enjoyed this because it was a little gross but very funny with a surprise twist. Ask your kids who tamed Grizz Brickbottom, the toughest cowboy in the west. The Kinders and 1st graders heard Wild West Bananza by Paul Frank. This book is a great cowboy story about how it's o.k. to be different from each other. We took a minute to notice all the neat ways that everyone in the room was different that day. I really love having these kinds of talks with the younger grades!
After Rodeo Days we moved on to St. Patrick's Day. While Fiona's Luck by Teresa Bateman is not really a St. Patrick's Day story, it does take place in Ireland and it features leprechauns at the center of the story. Again, the older kids seemed to like this story as it told of a battle of wits between the leprechaun king and a girl named Fiona in a quest for some good old Irish luck. The kids seemed really satisfied with the ending and seemed to agree with Fiona that brains will beat luck every time.
The Kinders and 1st graders heard Stanley's Wild Ride by Linda Bailey. This is one of my favorite books to read out loud especially because the children can participate. They howl along with Stanley and his dog friends and help make police siren noises. It's a great adventure story and we had a good time reading it.
The last week before Spring Break was the Book Fair which took place in the library. I didn't read to many of the classes because we spent time browsing the fair before checking out library books. It was a wonderful event and we sincerely thank all of our tireless parent volunteers who make it possible.
I'm eager to come back from break well rested and ready for the last quarter of this fantastic year together. Look for the end results of our Bookman's Reading Challenge, Poetry Month, TV Turnoff Week and a lot of library skills games to get our older kids ready for Junior High.
See you soon!
We started out celebrating President's Week with some classes by reading So You Want to be President? by Judith St. George which gives a lot of interesting facts about all of our previous presidents. Other classes heard Madam President by Lane Smith. This is a silly story of a little girl who walks around performing presidential duties in her daily life. A very tongue-in-cheek look at the presidency but some of the kids really enjoyed the humor.
We celebrated Rodeo Week last month by reading The Toughest Cowboy or How the Wild West was Tamed by John Frank. The 2nd-5th graders really enjoyed this because it was a little gross but very funny with a surprise twist. Ask your kids who tamed Grizz Brickbottom, the toughest cowboy in the west. The Kinders and 1st graders heard Wild West Bananza by Paul Frank. This book is a great cowboy story about how it's o.k. to be different from each other. We took a minute to notice all the neat ways that everyone in the room was different that day. I really love having these kinds of talks with the younger grades!
After Rodeo Days we moved on to St. Patrick's Day. While Fiona's Luck by Teresa Bateman is not really a St. Patrick's Day story, it does take place in Ireland and it features leprechauns at the center of the story. Again, the older kids seemed to like this story as it told of a battle of wits between the leprechaun king and a girl named Fiona in a quest for some good old Irish luck. The kids seemed really satisfied with the ending and seemed to agree with Fiona that brains will beat luck every time.
The Kinders and 1st graders heard Stanley's Wild Ride by Linda Bailey. This is one of my favorite books to read out loud especially because the children can participate. They howl along with Stanley and his dog friends and help make police siren noises. It's a great adventure story and we had a good time reading it.
The last week before Spring Break was the Book Fair which took place in the library. I didn't read to many of the classes because we spent time browsing the fair before checking out library books. It was a wonderful event and we sincerely thank all of our tireless parent volunteers who make it possible.
I'm eager to come back from break well rested and ready for the last quarter of this fantastic year together. Look for the end results of our Bookman's Reading Challenge, Poetry Month, TV Turnoff Week and a lot of library skills games to get our older kids ready for Junior High.
See you soon!
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