Sunday, September 13, 2009

Labor Day Week Storytime


Our storytime area in the picture book section is surrounded by wild animals...because we are "wild about reading!" The kindergarteners read a House for Hermit Crab written by Eric Carle. We paired a nonfiction title which explained how to take care of hermit crabs. We also discussed that Hermit Crab must have treated his friends so nicely since they never wanted to leave his shell. He also treated others nicely which was shown at the end of the story when he allowed another smaller hermit crab to move into his shell which had become much smaller over the past year.
First graders have also learned about Komodo Dragons through reading a nonfiction text. We compared the nonfiction text with a fiction story titled, Raising Dragons. Once both books were enjoyed we discussed the differences and how dragons really never existed...except in books! We played a game at the end of our library special where I tried to trick them in a true and false game about dragons...Those first graders learn fast!
Second grade continued their read aloud time enjoying another title by Patricia Polacco. We enjoyed listening to Appelemondo's Dream. We discussed daydreaming, dreaming at night, and of course how Appelemondo dreamed. Have your children retell the story to you. As a follow up we will enjoy a viewing of Appelemondo's Dream and compare the story with the book.
Third and Fourth graders were introduced to the term "research." The word "search" is in the word and sometimes looking for specific information can take more that just looking at text. We continued our discussion about Roald Dahl, read a biographical sketch about him on World Book Online, and are completing questions about his life through specific sites I have chosen. We also have been introduced to citing sources to give others credit when we use their work for research. Roald Dahl's birthday is today (September 13) and many places are celebrating his life through various activities.
Fifth graders are continuing to learn to navigate getting to their blog and posting to various questions I have listed. This is not a social networking site and is used primarily to respond to prompts. We will be using this tool more when we begin our unit on Lewis and Clark.
If you do not have a Wake County library card, please consider signing up so you can take advantage of all the books and programs through West Regional Library.
Happy Reading!