Congratulations!!

Last Friday we had our party to celebrate those 1st-5th graders who reached their 3rd goal in the Bookman's reading challenge! We had ice cream and played on the playground for about an hour. The kids seemed shocked that I knew how to play football and they taught me how to play Three Flags Up. Less surprising was the fact that I no longer know how to hula hoop and that I can be beat by a 1st grader in a foot race! It was so much fun and we ended our afternoon by raffling off two bicycles generously donated by the Masons. Congratulations on your new bikes to Madison M. from Mrs. V/F's class and Nicko H. from Mrs. Martinez's class! Thanks to all the staff members who helped make the party a success and, of course, to Mr. Lansa for letting us have some fun on the last Friday of the school year.

And the winner is....

Walker students picked their favorite book of the 2009-2010 school year and the winner was......

Mr. Pusskins by Sam Lloyd.

A very close 2nd choice was The Secret Science Project that Almost Ate the School by Judy Sierra. Below is the list of winners:

1.Mr. Pusskins by Sam Lloyd
2.The Secret Science Project that Almost Ate the School by Judy Sierra
3. Pinkalicious by Victoria and Elizabeth Kann
4. Shivers in the Fridge by Fran Manushkin
5. Too Many Toys by David Shannon
6. Library Mouse by Daniel Kirk
7. Toughest Cowby by John Frank
8. Fiona's Luck by Teresa Bateman
9. Grace for President by Kelly DiPucchio

Summer Reading

The Pima County Public Library program runs from May 27th - July 24th. The theme this year is "Make a Splash - Read!" The program is absolutely free. All you have to do is stop by the library anytime after May 27th and pick up a reading log for your child. They log the time they spend reading and earn prizes for their efforts. While your at the library - this would be a great time to get your child a library card if they don't already have one! For more information on this program, check out the library link: http://www.library.pima.gov/about/news/?id=2481.

Barnes and Noble also has a reading program this summer. Their kickoff is on May 29th at the Foothills Mall location. Kids can pick up their reading logs and track the books they read. Once they read 8 books, Barnes and Noble will give them a free book! For details, see their link:
http://store-locator.barnesandnoble.com/event/3042231



Please help your kids take advantage of these great opportunities to get rewarded for reading. My hope for each of them is that they start off next year reading even better than they do at the end of this school year. The only way to accomplish that is to read, read, read!

Finishing Up the Year

The last two weeks in the library were a little less structured than usual (OK - a lot less structured!). The 1st week of May, the Kinder through 3rd graders all heard the story Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Book by Lauren Child. This book was generously donated by Mrs. Roberts, one of Walker's wonderful substitute teachers. This was the story of a boy who fell into a book. We got to see what might happen if a boy wandered through a book of fairy tales. It seems the boy hadn't treated his book particularly well and he was not very well received by the characters in the book. Ask your child how the boy got his revenge on Goldilocks.


The 4th and 5th graders had a review of the sections in the library and the different call numbers in each section. Then they did a team building exercise to test their understanding of how non-fiction books are ordered on the shelves. This was in preparation for the Library Relay we did the following week. Each class was divided into teams of 4 and each team had a list of 10 questions they had to answer. This required them to find materials in each section of the library and to use the computer for assistance. It was so much fun to sit back and watch the different ways each team accomplished their goal. I was very pleased to see how much they had learned this year about finding their own books and I think they gained a little confidence in getting around the library. The kids had a blast and several classes said it was the most fun they had in the library all year! It was a great way to end the year.


The rest of the grades heard a variety of stories including Everybody Needs a Rock by Byrd Baylor, A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever by Marla Frazee, Small Brown Dog with a Wet Pink Nose by Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen, Green as a Bean by Karla Kuskin and Hey Little Ant by Phillip M. Hoose. Our time together was a little noisier and we had a lot more time for discussion than usual and fit in with the end of the year mood that is upon us.


Next week we'll be watching a movie and saying our goodbyes for the year. I can't believe it's over so soon!

TV Turnoff Week & AYRA

The last two weeks of April were busy ones in the library. We celebrated TV Turnoff Week and were thrilled to have so much participation. The kids were challenged to turn off their TV for as many days as they could during the week. Each day that they stayed away from TV they filled in a form, had their parents sign it and exchanged it for a prize at school the next day. Ask your children about our Big Blue Wall and how big it grew!

In the library this week we read many different stories to different grades. The younger kids heard Penny Lee and her TV by Glenn McCoy and The Day the TV Blew Up by Dan West. Some of them heard Library Lil by Suzanne Williams. This is a great tall tale about a woman who is determined to turn the people of her town into readers.

The older kids heard The Wretched Stone by Chris Van Allsburg. This is one of my favorite stories because the kids have to work to figure out the whole story. Mr. Van Allsburg never shows them this "wretched stone" so they must use their imagination and their personal experience to decide what the stone is. Ask your kids what they thought the stone was and how it compared to what I thought.

We also spent a little time in each class talking about things we could do besides watching tv. It was great to hear so many creative ways that children spend time unplugged.

The last week in April was our final week to check out books this year. We used the time to catch up on our Arizona Young Reader Award nominees so we could make sure all the classes had heard all the stories before voting next week. Some classes heard The Dark and Mud Puddle by one of my favorite authors, Robert Munsch. We also read Superdog by Caralyn Buehner and There's Nothing to Do on Mars by Chris Gall. Chris Gall is a new author/illustrator who produces some really visually interesting books. I think we'll hear a lot more from him in the future.

Next month we'll choose our favorite AYRA book, do our 2nd library relay and talk about summer reading!