Friday, May 29, 2009

News From the Library--June 1, 2009

Have a great summer!


This has been quite a year....we started the year with a huge wildfire (in which I lost my home) and ended the year with another one! But through it all we prevailed and the sense of community both here at Cold Spring School and in Santa Barbara has uplifted all of us who were affected. Now it's time to "close the book" on this school year and take a nice relaxing break during the summer.

Summer is a great time to read and for this last post I have collected a number of links to reading lists. I think you'll find something for everyone! It will remain on this blog until September.

So relax, kick back with a lemonade, and read, read read!

~Mrs. Reid




Summer Reading Lists


www.bookwink.com
Video booktalks listed by grade level.

http://nancykeane.com/booktalks/5_8.htm.
Nancy Keane’s list of “Books of Interest to Grades 5-8”, with links to her booktalks on the titles.

Battle of the Books 2010 Reading list
These are the 30 books that 4-6th graders will read in order to participate in next year’s Battle of the Books.

2010 Battle of the Books list (pdf file)


abe books Children's Reading Lists
http://www.abebooks.com/docs/Browse/childrens-young-adult.shtml


Education World Reading Lists
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr244.shtml

The Horn Book Magazine Reading Lists
http://www.hbook.com/booklists/default.asp

100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know from the NY Public Library
http://kids.nypl.org/reading/recommended2.cfm?ListID=60

100 Favorite Children's Books from the NY Public Library
http://kids.nypl.org/reading/recommended2.cfm?ListID=61

BookHive
BookHive is a web site designed for children ages birth through twelve, their parents, teachers or anyone interested in reading about children's books. Providing reader's advisory service, this site contains hundreds of recommended book reviews in a variety of reading levels and interest areas. Parents may find special "parental notes" attached to some reviews that provide additional information about the book. Users can search for books by author, title, reading level, interest area, number of pages, and even favorite illustrator.
http://www.bookhive.org/

Books for Boys
http://www.talestoldtall.com/BooksforBoys.html

Big a, little a
This is a blog with a booklist of recommended Early readers that you can download as a pdf file
http://kidslitinformation.blogspot.com/2007/05/early-readers_04.html

Bank Street College Children's Library Summer Reading Lists K-8
http://streetcat.bankstreet.edu/children/booklists.html

I also have a some printed lists in the Library if you'd like to look at those. Please stop by anytime over the next two weeks.

Friday, May 22, 2009

News From the Library--May 25, 2009

Getting Ready for Summer


In the spirit of getting ready for summer, second graders loved hearing Margaret Mahy's hilarious book The Great White Man-Eating Shark. Norvin was a good actor and although plain, looked very much like a shark. In his desire to have the swimming cove all to himself, he used his acting skills and his sharkish appearance to scare everyone from the water. What he didn't count on was how convincing his performance was....even to a love starved lady shark who set her sights on him for her mate!

Also in the Library this week...

Kindergarten--Did you ever get the dates mixed up for and important event? Stanley Birdbaum was sure this Friday was Crazy Hair Day but instead it was School Picture Day!! When he shows up with his hair gelled and in colored spikes he hide in the bathroom. He's mortified until he is coaxed back to class and finds his classmates have all turned their hair into something crazy too so that he will fit in to the school picture. This charming story by Barney Saltzberg shows the power of friendship and making the best of a difficult situation.

First Grade--A few weeks ago we read Garth Pig and the Ice Cream Lady and at the end Mrs. Lupino was tossed into the river and not heard from again for a very long time. This week, first graders were very concerned when the piglets were left with a babysitter named, of all things, Mrs. Wolf in Mary Reyner's Mr. and Mrs. Pig's Evening Out. When Garth becomes the object of Mrs. Wolf's late night snack, the other piglets rally around to save him. And in the end, Mrs. Wolf is dumped into that same river again. Wonder where she'll show up next?

Second Grade--see opening post

Third Grade--What would you do if you could have any wish? Third graders pondered that while listening to Chris VanAllsburg's The Sweetest Fig. This book has a wonderful twist at the end and it was fun to whatch the children's faces as they got it. One of the best wishes we came up with was a sprinkler system in the sky to douse any future fires here in Santa Barbara!

Fourth Grade--no library this week due to our Spring Sing.

Fifth Grade--no library due to testing

Sixth Grade--Sixth graders finished and printed out their essays on their god or goddess. These will be only display with their ceramic plates during next week's Art Faire.

One more week of classes this year! I will post summer reading lists next week and those will remain on the blog during the summer.

Friday, May 15, 2009

News From The Library--May 18, 2009




We had a quiet week at the Library as for several days we were still under an evacuation warning due to the Jesusita Fire. We are grateful to the amazing dedication of all the fire fighters who have been on the fire lines since May 5. As of Friday, the fire is almost completely controlled and we are looking forward to a calmer week ahead. Two major fires during this school year has been unbelievably stressful but we have all survived.

In the Library last week...

Kindergarten--Kindergarteners enjoyed The Egg by M.P. Robertson and had fun guessing what was in that enormous egg. The dragon was one of the top choices, along with dinosaur, elephant, and very big bird.

First Grade--What happens if you get lost in the Lost and Found? In Mark Teague's book of the same name, three students find themselves in the mysterious world of the Lost and Found bin and after finding lucky hats get back to school just in the nick of time. This was a fun way to remind students to start checking our own Lost and Found bin before the school year ends.

Second Grade--Margaret Mahy's book, The Three Legged Cat is just simply funny and this seemed like a good week to read it. Second graders laughed at the hat that became a cat and the cat that became a hat.

Third Grade--One of the most wonderful things about the late William Steig's books is his love of the language and his unflinching view that children should be exposed to its beauty. The Amazing Bone is peppered with what we like to call "ten dollar words" and students had fun figuring out what they meant by using contex clues.

Fourth Grade--Mrs. Edwards' class worked on their Tall Tales and Mr. Orr's class missed Library this week in order to have a make-up art class in preparation for our Art Faire.

Fifth Grade--Fifth grade missed library due to STAR testing.

Sixth Grader--Sixth graders wrote their essays about their god or goddess this week. These will be displayed with their ceramic plates during the Art Faire.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Good News (So Far)

Just a quick update....the fire is 70% contained and I am back in my home after four days of evacuation and our school was in session today. Weather played a big factor in helping firefighters get some control. Unfortunately sundowner winds are forecast for Tuesday through Thursday but not as strong as last week and there is a huge fire fighting presence still on the fire lines. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers, please.

Friday, May 08, 2009

Sad news from Santa Barbara Again--May 8,2009

Once again I have very sad news.....another fire. This one is threatening most of Santa Barbara extending from Goleta to Montectio. I am safe. I had to evacuate my new condo near downtown (where ironically I thought I'd be safe). I bought it after losing my house in November's fire and have been out since Wednesday. My school is closed and in an evacuation area.

No blogging for awhile. Please keep us in your prayers.

~Janet Pedersen

Friday, May 01, 2009

News From The Library--May 4, 2009

The Test is coming.....


Third graders and I tried to keep our sense of humor about the upcoming state testing slated to begin next week by reading Judy Finchler's hilarious book Testing Miss Malarkey. Oh those sharp #2 pencils, the upset stomachs, the teachers acting....well, acting a little crazy. These were things we could all relate to. But in the end we agreed, it was just a test. A good night's sleep, a good healthy breakfast (none of those PopTarts!), good listening skills, and yes, a sharp #2 pencil would be a great way to get started on those tests!

Also in the Library this week...

Kindergarten--Mucky Moose lives up to his name in Jonathan Allen's funny book about a moose who is so smelly he almost kills a wolf who wants to eat him for his dinner. Time after time, the wolf is felled by Mucky's odor until he finally gives up and becomes a guide dog for the blind! Kindergarteners love the idea of dirty wins the day!

First Grade--In Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens, a lazy bear gets taken advantage of again and again by a wily rabbit family. This is a great book to introduce "trickster" tales as well as work on spatial attributes of top, middle, and bottom. The format of the book lends itself so well to the subject and the students love the illustrations.

Second Grade--Another classic fairy tale captured the attention of second graders this week. Rumplestiltskin by Paul O. Zelinsky won a Caledecott honor for its beautiful illustrations and the best part of the story lies in its very strangness. As we discussed, why would the miller's daughter want to marry a king who had threatened to kill her if she didn't spin the straw into gold? And was Rumplestiltskin really all bad? Strange, that's for sure, but he did help her out. Once again, I love to see students completely enthralled with a classic.

Third Grade--see opening post

Fourth Grade--We read Pecos Bill by Steven Kellogg this week as our final Tall Tale. We also reviewed the elements of a tall tale and discussed how students will begin to write their own tall tale next week. Stay tuned for some amazing stories!

Fifth Grade--Fifth graders played Book Scavenger Hunt this week and located books in both fiction and non-fiction sections of the Library.

Sixth Grade--Sixth graders finished up their research about their god or goddess and next week will begin writing their essays.