News From the Library--May 19,2008

Martians Don't Take Temperatures
by Debbie Dadey

A Book Review by Amanda and Olive

Also in the Library this week....

Kindergarten--Almost every kindergartener knows how to fidget....it just seems to come naturally so they truly enjoyed Don't Fidget A Feather. This is a great story with a lovely lesson.....what true friendship really means.

First Grade--When Mr. and Mrs. Pig go out they hire a babysitter with the name of......Mrs. Wolf??? In Mary Rayner's hilarious and dramatic story, Mr. and Mrs. Pig's Evening Out, the 10 piglets have a harrowing experience but their cooperation wins the day and maybe next time they should interview the babysitter before letting their parents go out!

Second Grade--Martha the dog loves alphabet soup but one day when she eats some a strange thing happens. The letters go to her brain instead of her stomach and she begins to talk. And talk, and talk, and talk until her owners are at their wit's end. So Martha stops eating the soup, and stops talking only to find herself trying to call 911 to report a burglar. Fortunately for her and her family, the burglar gives her alphabet soup and locks her in the kitchen. She saves the day and now her talking is appreciated.....most of the time. Susan Meddaugh's Martha Speaks is a second grade favorite.

Third Grade--Going along with our theme this month "Pig Out on a Good Book," third graders heard one of my favorite pig tales Hog Eye by Susan Meddaugh. The hilarious story of a pig who tricks a wolf into making soup from poison oak left students rolling on the floor, especially with that wonderful incantation...."Hog Eye, Hog Eye, magic stare.....make him itchy everywhere.....even in his underwear!"

Fourth Grade--Our tall tale Keynotes are almost done and the students have done a fantastic job. Hopefully they will be on display during our annual Art Faire which is coming up soon.

Fifth Grade--Fifth graders did another round of website evaluation using our Library Skills Blog lesson, "When in Doubt, Doubt!" They have become very adept at recognizing the hallmarks of a good website--currency, accuracy, authority. Rumor has it that a few students have tried their hand and making a hoax website of their own. Can't wait to see it!

Sixth Grade--I am so pleased with the sixth grader's work on their blog project, "Gods and Goddesses." This was a collaborative project with the art department in which they created a ceramic plate and then did research on the particular god or goddess they chose for their art project. Please take a moment to look at the results at our Research Blog.

Keep looking for those lost library books.....all books are due by Friday, May 30!!

News From The Library--May 12, 2008

The Amazing William Steig

This week the third graders enjoyed hearing William Steig's book, The Amazing Bone, and once again I was struck by the genius of Mr. Steig. As a writer of children's books he is in a class of his own. The respect with which he treats his readers is wonderful to behold and his love of language is contagious. In The Amazing Bone we were treated to a bounty of delicious words such as flabbergasted, dawdled, and odiferous wretch (we decided that last one would be a good phrase to hurl at pesky siblings). This is a great story, full of drama and redemption, and best of all it gives us great practice on using context clues to understand the meanings of words.

If you'd like more information about this wonderful children's author, please go the the William Steig website.


Also in the Library this week.....

Kindgergarten--While it may seem that some people will never change, the boy in Barney Saltzberg's Mrs. Morgan's Lawn finds out that you never can tell. The boy in the story keeps losing balls to his cranky neighbor, Mrs. Morgan, who wants her lawn to be absolutely perfect. Especially painful is the loss of his new purple and white soccer ball. He tries to talk to Mrs. Morgan about its return but he gets nowhere. When her illness keeps her from keeping her lawn perfect or taking any more balls, at first it seems like a great thing but after a while it just doesn't seem right to see her lawn so unkempt. A happy ending ensues when the boy takes care of her lawn and find that when she recovers from her cold she has also recovered her sense of humor, too. This is a great story about the power of compromise.

First Grade--I love telling the story of my own son's incredibly messy room (we even had visits by a rat once!) and Pigsty by Mark Teague gives another version of what might happen if you don't clean up your room! First graders loved the idea of the visiting pigs but many decided that maybe when they got home from school they would clean up their own rooms just in case!

Second Grade--We read two different versions of the same story this week. The Fisherman and his Wife, retold by Rosemary Wells, was heard by Ms. Warner's class, and Luba and the Wren, retold by Patricia Polocco, was heard by Mrs. Seeple's class. The lesson of the dangers of greed and envy and the joy in being happy with what you have came through loud and clear. It was interesting also for students to compare the plots of the two stories and find their similarities and difference.

Third Grade--see opening post

Fourth Grader--Fourth graders have begun putting together their original tall tales and will continue to work on them for the new couple of weeks.

Fifth Grade--STAR testing meant that fifth graders did not have library this week.

Sixth Grade--All but a few students have finished their blog posts about their god or goddess plates and they look wonderful. After next week, I will put a final post on the Research Blog to explain the collaborative project.

We are busily winding down our Library program for the year. The Library will close to students on May 30 so I can do my end of year inventory and other library "chores." Start looking for those lost books!!

News From the Library--May 5, 2008

Hello, Mrs. Piggle Wiggle
by Betty McDonald

A Book Review by Amanda and Olive

Also in the Library this week....

Kindergarten--Finding a "critter" and keeping it as a pet is something all children like to dream about. Anne Mazer's lovely book The Salamander Room is the musings of one little boy and his mother about what it would be like to have a salamander as a pet. The gentle back and forth between them has a rhythmic quality and the illustrations are magical. The interesting thing about this book is that it quietly explains why bringing a wild creature into the house as a pet would be an almost impossible task and that it is best left to daydreams.

First Grade--Poor BlabberMouse. He just cannot keep a secret. After annoying his friends and family to no end a solution must be found. His classmates and teacher come up with a novel approach and one that first graders thought was a very good idea. (And not something they had ever though of before....) True Kelley's sweet book gives a great example of creative solutions to sticky personal problems.

Second Grade--There is nothing like a classic fairy tale. I like bringing out a book and listening to the students say they have heard it before or seen it as a movie and then find that there is truly something different about having a story read to you. This week I treated second graders to Paul O. Zelinsky's gorgeous version of Rumplestiltskin. What a strange and odd tale this is but it is captivating and attention was paid by all.

Third Grade--to "celebrate" STAR testing this week, we read Testing Miss Malarkey by Judy Finchler and Kevin O'Malley. This is a very funny take on the whole achievement testing phenonemon in which the teachers and administration are more nervous about the test taking than the students.

Fourth Grade--Fourth graders finished their illustrations for their tall tale Keynotes and next week we will start to put the project together.

Fifth Grade--Fifth graders didn't have library this week because of the STAR tests.

Sixth Grade--We finished our drafts of the blog posts for the gods and goddesses project. Their plates have been fired and I will photograph them now. Next week they will make their final postings with their research and a photo of their plate. Stay tuned....

News From The Library--April 28, 2008

Aliens Don't Wear Braces
by Debbie Dadey

A Book Review by Taylor and Olive

Also in the Library this week....

Kindergarten--Mr. McGreely decided to plant a garden this year with yummy vegetables but 3 little bunnies have a different idea. Listening to Candace Fleming's Muncha, Muncha, Muncha! made kindergarteners giggle with delight as the bunnies kept getting into the garden despite Mr. McGreely's best efforts. We learned many prepositions as the bunnies went under, over, and through to get to those vegetables. And best of all, in the end we learned the power of sharing.

First Grade--First graders were researchers this week as they prepare to do their animal reports. With the help of my new document camera (thank you, Parent Club!) I showed students the different parts of non-fiction book and how to locate specific information. After that, students chose from our great collection of animal books.

Second Grade & Third Grade--We had fun this week reviewing different types of reference books--encyclopedias, atlases, almanacs, dictionaries, and thesauruses. First we used the document camera to look at each book. Then we played "Name That Book" using a Keynote with clues about the different books. And finally, each student was given a scenario of a research problem and had to decide in which book could they find the answer.

Fourth Grade--We continued to work on our Tall Tales this week. Next week, students will be illustrators and we continue to put together our Keynotes.

Fifth Grade--We played a rousing game of Library Jeopardy this week.

Sixth Grade--Sixth graders wrote their rough drafts of their blog postings on their god or goddess. In a few weeks, we'll post their research along with a picture of the ceramic plate they made in art.

Also, on Monday our Cold Spring Team participated in the Santa Barbara County Battle of the Books. Congratulations to our Team: Makala, Katie, Siena, Baylor, and Lauren. These great readers read as many as 30 books, passed a test, and practiced on their lunch hours in order to represent our school. A great time was had by all!

News From the Library--April 21, 2008

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The Witches by Roald Dahl

A Book Review by Ava and Olive

Also in the Library this week...

Kindergarten--Oliver the cat wants to stay out all night. At first it's fun....munching on moths, his owner finally let him in? Of course, but he doesn't want to let her know that he was the one who was concerned. Margaret Beames' book, Night Cat was enjoyed by Kindergarteners, who especially liked Sue Hitchcock's illustrations.

First Grade--First graders were off to Lake Cachuma this week and had so much fun they didn't make it back in time for library!

Second Grade--Using our wonderful new piece of equipment, our document camera, second graders learned about guide words in the dictionary and then using a xerox of an actual dictionary page, they found guide words, pulled a word out of our hat, and found their word on the page.

Third Grade--Last week, third graders heard about little Sweetness and how the sheriff "saved" her and the other other orphans. This week, we read the sequel, Raising Sweetness by Diane Stanley and illustrated by G. Brian Karas. Things at home are a little strange with peanut butter and pickle pie, but when a letter arrives and little Sweetness learns her letters to figure out what "that there letter said" things change. The sheriff's long lost love, Miss Lucy, returns and they all lived happily ever after---even though she doesn't know enough to put the raisins in the mashed potatoes! These charming books are filled with similies and metaphors and third graders had fun finding these literary devices.

Fourth Grade--This week fourth graders worked on their storyboards for their Tall Tales Keynote projects. It looks like we're going to have some real whoppers! Next week they will work on their laptops and begin their projects.

Fifth Grade--Once again we worked on our wiki, Random Research and Wacky Facts, but this time with an audience. We had many visitors from Apple Computer and teachers from around our county who came to see how amazing our students are with our 1:1 laptop program.

Sixth Grade--Sixth graders continued to work on their gods and goddesses research in preparation for their blog posting. Their god or goddess plates are being glazed and fired in art and in the next few weeks I will photograph them so they can be included in their blog posting.
Stay tuned!

News From The Library--April 14, 2008

The BFG by Roald Dahl
A book review by Amanda and Olive

Also in the Library this week....

Kindergarten--Oh,that Mrs. Brown....she has sixty cats and people think she might be just a little batty, but kindergarteners this week loved all her cats and thought she was just fine. In this delightful rhyming story, Cats, Cats, Cats by Lesléa Newman and Erika Oller, students giggled at the antics of the cats and loved figuring out the rhymes. Reading stories aloud like this one are a great way to reinforce the phonics foundation of rhyming words and above all make learning fun.

First Grade--Where else would a mouse go if he wanted to be an artist? Why, Paris, of course! That's just what Henry Mouse does in George Mendoza's and J. Boucher's Henri Mouse. After changing his name and donning the proper artistic outfit and pose, Henry Mouse (now known as Henri) paints his way across Paris with his magical magnetic paints. Unbeknownst to him, whatever he paints disappears when it lands on his canvases. As well as being a charming story, this book is a good way for students to practice visual discrimination as they compare the scenes before Henri paints then and after he paints them.

Second Grade--It's round, it's green, it's fuzzy. What is it? Prairie dogs discover it as it tumbles down their tunnels and what happens next? The Great Fuzz Frenzy (by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel) !!! As funny as this story is and with its fantastic illustrations, it teaches a good lesson about sharing and responsibility to the group as well as resisting peer pressure. It's also a great example of how alliteration can enhance a story.

Third Grade--Diane Stanley's and G. Brian Karash's humorous story, Saving Sweetness, was enjoyed by third graders this week. Told from the point of view of the town sheriff and filled with colorful dialect, this is a really fun story to read aloud. The subtle humor is delightful and it's fun for me as a teacher to see "the lightbulb" go on in the heads of the students as they get the jokes. Next week, we'll read the sequel and find out what happened after the sheriff adopted "all them orphans."

Fourth Grade--We heard our final tall tale this week-- ulius Lester's and Jerry Pinkney's rousing story of John Henry. The illustrations in this book are really exquisite. Next week we will begin writing our own tall tales. Hold on to your hats!

Fifth Grade--We worked again on our wiki this week. After drawing a card from a hat with the name of a reference book on it, students researched and then posted a fact on their page. They are beginning to feel at ease in the wiki environment and even made a few minor corrections on their classmates pages. We are also working on the idea of always citing your sources for information. I'm finding the wiki a great arena in which to cover many of our 21st century library skills and the students really enjoy working on it. They not only have the responsibility for their own page but for the quality of the wiki as a whole.

Sixth Grade--I missed 6th grade this week due to an assembly. Next week we will continue out research on gods and goddesses.

Spring Break 2008

We were on Spring Break this past week. Happy Spring!

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