Welcome Back to my blog!
I have been a little lax since last year and one of my New Year's resolutions is to be more diligent in posting to the blog. I am documenting this as a share all for those who are interested in what I do in the media center on a weekly basis. For those who think all I do is pull and read a book off of the shelf...stay tuned... I will dedicate an entire posting to what school librarians really do and how important our position really is in a school setting as well as what statistics show when a qualified, certified media specialist is at the helm of the school library.
(Of course, this is my own blog so I can toot my own horn)
Students and teachers at Highcroft were back into the regular schedule on Monday, January 4, 2010. In the media center, classes in grades k-3 were introduced to Fairy Tales and Fractured Fairy Tales. We played "Name that Fairy Tale"...(the hardest part was remembering to raise hands to be called upon.) We followed up our game with a retelling of the classic tale of The Gingerbread Man. After our retelling of the story we discussed several versions such as The Gingerbread Girl, Gingerbread Baby, and The Gingerbread Boy.
Once we discussed the elements of a classic fairy tale, we learned that to modernize a classic fairy tale is actually a "Fractured Fairy Tale." Students listened to Snow Dude by Daniel Kirk. Many students made their own snow dudes and several will be displayed outside the media center.
Fourth grade students learned about primary documents and artifacts from a story titled, Polar, the Titanic Bear. This is a true story of a boy named Douglas who was a passenger on the Titanic. He survived, along with his toy bear named Polar. The book shows many photographs of Douglas' travels around the world with Polar. Many facts about the Titanic were brought out which will be researched in detail over the next two weeks in media specials.
Fifth graders made New Year's resolutions of their own after viewing a short video on classroom survival skills. This was helpful in preparing them for middle school as well as aid in their own success as a current student. A short excerpt about the life of Ben Carson was shared. What a remarkable story. If you haven't read Gifted Hands by Ben Carson, it's a must read for everyone!
Also for those that are interested...Martin Luther King's Birthday is January 15! School will be closed to celebrate his birthday on Monday, January 18.
At 7:45am the children's book awards will be announced online....I can't wait! What was your favorite children's book of the year?
Also, A. A. Milne's birthday is on January 18th. He was the author of the Winnie the Pooh books.
Happy Reading!
