Happy New Year!

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!

Why books make the best present!

No assembly required
No batteries needed
Does not become obsolete
Can be taken anywhere
Does not cause carpel tunnel syndrome
No small parts to lose
No annoying sound effects
No updates or upgrades needed
Never needs ironing
Easy to wrap
Good for hours of entertainment
Easy to store
Always fits
Will not cause strife at airport security
User friendly
Easy to share files with friends
Doesn’t need extension cord
Bookmarks easy to manage
Great topics of conversation
Never comes in the wrong color or size
Doesn’t need to be serviced by a dealer
Doesn’t need spare parts
Easier to wrap than footballs
Looks good with any décor
Doesn’t need watering or fertilizing
Won’t irritate your allergies
Doesn’t go out of style
Doesn’t get aphids or draw ants
Doesn’t bark or need to be walked in the middle of the night
Won’t stretch, shrink or fade
Won’t scratch the coffee table
Won’t get stale
Doesn’t have zippers that break
Can be used over and over by many people
Not empty when finished
You can open them again and again

Thanks to Cindy Kilpatrick of Swan Hills, AB Canada for the list

The Bookfair!

The bookfair was a huge success! We earned over 4,000 dollars for our media center...thanks to all who purchased books, posters, and of course, fluff. I really want to thank the volunteers who made this bookfair such a success. They worked tirelessly and because of them we will be able to purchase books, materials, and a few technology tools to use in the library/school.

We already have been making plans for next year so start saving now!

Halloween Favorites

Some students love spooky stories. Others don't. I wanted to list some of my favorites that maybe you would like to choose to share with your children. (I personally like the funny Halloween stories that we can laugh at as a group.)

My all time favorite story I read every year to second grade and above is titled The Widow's Broom, by Chris Van Allsburg.

My other favorites include:

Froggy's halloween by Jonathan London
Hallo-weiner by Dav Pilkey
My monster momma loves me so by Laura Leuck
Big pumpkin by Erica Silverman
The trip by Ezra Jack Keats
The Viper by Lisa Thiesing
Velcome by Kevin O'Malley
Dragon's Halloween by Dav Pilkey
Boo to you by Lois Ehlert
Shake dem Halloween bones by Lisa Nikola
Scary, scary Halloween by Eve Bunting
Harriet's Halloween candy by Nancy Carlson
Sam's first Halloween by Mary Labatt
Trick or treet, smell my feet by Diane De Groat
The ugly pumpkin by Dave Horowitz
Ghost's hour, spook's hour by Eve Bunting
Henry and Mudge Under the Yellow Moon by Cynthia Rylant
Nate the Great and the Halloween hunt by Marjorie Sharmat
The best Halloween ever by Barbara Robinson

The Bookfair is Coming!

Discover new trails! Camp out with a great book!

The Scholastic Bookfair will arrive November 2 - 5th for Tracks 2 and 4. On Thursday Night (November 5) all tracks are invited to come out at 6:30 to Highcroft Drive Cafeteria for a special program to kick off our Family Night at the Bookfair. A park ranger with special guest will be there to share with students the joys of nature. S'more refreshments will be served so don't be left at home. Dress up in your "happy camper" attire and join the Highcroft families in supporting our biggest bookfair ever!

Tracks 1 and 3 will preview and purchase the week of November 9th.

The profit will go to purchase books and a few technology tools for our media center to help promote our 21st Century literacy program for students.

Since our bookfair is so close to the holidays, now is the time for you to stock up on stuffers, gifts, and reading material for the family.

Remember: Books are presents you can open again and again!

Fall into research!

Books about fall, fall holidays, pumpkins, bats, apples, and scarecrows have been dressing up the media center. Students have been swiping books off the shelves for independent reading.

Fifth graders began using a lotus diagram to organize data about themselves. They should be able to apply this graphic organizer when they begin their biography report for their wax museum.

Fourth graders have been involved in a Box Research Project about Roald Dahl. Many questions about his life were generated and we were off to answer those questions using worldbookonline.

Third graders began their exploration of tall tale characters through the introduction of Johnny Appleseed.

Second graders are wrapping their unit up about Patricia Polacco with a video of Rashenka's Eggs. An interview with Patricia and her "how to" explanation of making pysanky eggs (a Ukraine tradition passed on to Patricia by her Babushka).

First graders learned facts about lizards through nonfiction books. We discussed the text features in Komodo Dragons and discussed the mythological "dragon."

Kindergarteners enjoyed the book Library Lion. We discussed the sequence of the story; what happened in the beginning, what happened next, then what happened, and of course...finally the story ended...how???? Never a dull moment with the kinders.

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!