STOP CYBER-BULLYING!

This week there was news of a very disturbing incident of cyber-bullying incident involving threats to a respected adult blogger. As a result, Andy Carvin, a noted educational blogger has declared today, Friday, March 30, 2007 as STOP CYBER-BULLYING DAY. All over the blogosphere people will be posting about the critical need to stop the unethical uses of blogging, specifically cyber-bullying. Much as I hate to say it, this entire incident has given me reason to pause in my enthusiasm for this amazing new technology.

As teachers and parents, we need to take this very seriously. If you read this post, please talk to your children about the devastating effects of cyber-bullying, the dangers of revealing personal information on the Internet, and most importantly what it means to be ethical, both online and in the "real" world. We need to teach children how to use this technology, not block it. We need to discuss the problems, educate them to the danger, then show them how to be safe and responsible. This is no longer something we can just hope they understand. We must teach it, and teach is as soon as possible at the earliest age they can comprehend it.

There are many resources but here are few of the ones I have found valuable:

Cyberbully.org

Center for Safe and Responsible Use of the Internet

Alice Yucht, a librarian and respected blogger said, "Bullying and social cruelty is hateful behavior, no matter what the format or the age of the instigators. As educators (and parents), it is imperative that we do whatever we can to make sure that it does not happen to
anyone, child OR adult."

Do your part today. Talk to a child about Cyber-bullying.

Thanks to Scott McLeod, J.D., Ph.D.Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Policy
and Administration for the image.

Mrs. Piggle Wiggle Strikes Again!

Mrs. Piggle Wiggle Finds a New Fan!

This week I read the third graders one of my favorites from my own childhood--Mrs. Piggle Wiggle by Betty MacDonald. It's amazing how a classic remains fresh and engaging from generation to generation. I read a chapter called, 'The Radish Cure" which is Mrs. Piggle Wiggles' cure for a little girl who didn't want to take a bath. Logical consequences prevail and at the end she finally acquiesces, but the journey to that end tickled the funnybones of the third graders. We talked a bit about what makes a book a "classic" and how a good story can appeal to children for many years and in many different times. They were very interested to know that the book from which I read was published in 1949!! And even more interesting was that I was only a year old when it was published!!! All the Mrs. Piggle Wiggle books flew off the shelves and I actually ordered more copies for our library and several on loan from the County Schools. The power of a good story.....

Also in the Library this week....

Kindergarten--We read Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson in January and now it was time for the sequel Bear Wants More. In this charming story Bear wakes up and is hungry, hungry, hungry and eats so much he can no longer fit back into his den!

First Grade--What happens when you have something really, really, really wonderful to share at school, but it's not sharing time? Poor Lily finds out the hard way in Lily's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes. Her movie star sunglasses, her three shiny quarter, and that purple plastic purse....ah, they are just too much and she just has to share them. Mr. Slinger, her teacher, has to take them, of course, and then Lily exacts her "revenge." But all works out in the end and Lily still wants to be a teacher when she grows up....unless she decides to be a scuba diver.

Second Grade--I must be nostalgic this week because in Second Grade I read one of my favorite fairy tales and one I remember had an effect on me as a child. Toads and Diamonds retold by Charlotte Huck is a great example of how fairy tales were used to teach lessons to children. First written in the 1600s, this tale graphically delineates the different results of kind words and mean words. Perhaps this is something that we should all read again from time to time....

Third Grade--see opening post

Fourth Grade--Continuing our Tall Tales unit, fourth graders heard Steven Kellogg's rollicking version of Paul Bunyan. We recognized the characteristics of a tall tale and students are beginning to come up with great ideas for their own tall tales which we will begin writing after Spring break.

Fifth Grade---Fifth graders were at Catalina Island this week for CIMI.

Sixth Grade--We continued working on our research for our research blog postings and some students began their draft posts this week. In the next few weeks, we'll finish our posts and then comment on them.

The Librarian of Basra

The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq

This week fifth graders heard The Librarian of Basra by Jeanette Winter. First I presented a Keynote with some actual pictures of the Central Library of Basra which was destroyed during the invasion of Iraq in April of 2003. Then, using Google Earth we started at our own school library and traveled to Basra, Iraq. The difference between our locations was sobering.

This interesting picture book tells the true story of Alia Muhammad Baker who saved over 70% of the books in the Central Library of Iraq by removing them night after night in her car and hiding them in her house and the houses of friends. Even though the library was destroyed by bombs, Alia managed to save over 30,000 books.

Books "are more precious than mountains of gold" says Alia, and the message of this book is both the great importance of books in our lives and the terrible effects of war on everyone. A portion of the book's sales will go toward helping rebuild Basra's library and if you are interested in helping this worthy effort you can do so by contributing to a fund administered by the American Library Association. Make checks payable to ALA with "Basra Book Fund" on the memo line, and send them to International Relations Office, ALA, 50 E. Huron Street, Chicago, IL 60611. (For more information, contact the ALA's International Relations Department at 1-800-545-2433 x 3201.)

Also in the Library this week....

Kindergarten--What happens when you forget to wear green on St. Patrick's Day? Jeremy Bean finds out in Alice Schertle's delightful book Jeremy Bean's St. Patrick's Day. Even though Jeremy plans to wear his green sweater on the morning of March 17, it ends up in a lump in his bed and when it's too late to go back for it he has to endure the taunts of his schoolmates. Fortunately Mr. Dudley, the kind principal (who has an uncanny similarity to our own principal, Dr. McCabe) helps Jeremy by sharing some of his own green.

First Grade--Jack, the cat, would love to make an omelette for dinner so he decides to build The Perfect Nest. But when first a chicken (who speaks Spanish), and then a duck (who speaks French) and then a goose (who speaks...well, American) all vie for the nest and lay their eggs, Jack has a problem. He gets rid of the birds but not soon enough and all three eggs hatch, dashing his hopes of an omelette or two or three, but giving him three new friends instead. This charming book by Catherine Friend and John Manders has delightful full page illustrations and it was a big hit with first graders.

Second Grade--We played "Name That Book" this week and second graders got very good at figuring out the characteristics of reference books in our library. Using a Keynote, we play the game by identifying books after clues are shown on the screen. After the game, each child was given a real life "research scenario" and they had to tell in which book he or she would find the answer. The books were the encyclopedia, the thesaurus, the dictionary, the atlas and the almanac.

Third Grade--What's great about our state? Third graders learned how to use a U.S. Atlas this week to find out interesting facts about our state. After learning how the atlas was organized, students filled out a questionnaire about our state including our nickname, our motto, our total population, our area in square miles, and other interesting facts. Two students had so much fun doing this they filled out questionnaires about other states as well!

Fourth Grade--This week we started a multi-session unit on American Tall Tales. After viewing a Keynote about the characteristics of a tall tale, I showed the two tall tales that were composed by last year's fourth grade classes. These were done by the students using Keynote complete with illustrations and music. This year, students are going to make actual hardbound books using iPhoto and the books will be cataloged and put in our library for students to check out! We watched a video of one of my favorite tall tales, Swamp Angel by Anne Isaacs, and illustrated in an award winning way by Paul O. Zelinsky. In future weeks were are going to read more tall tales and after Spring Break we'll start our books.

Fifth Grade--see opening post.

Sixth Grade--Sixth graders continued their research for their blog posting about civil rights leaders. Next week, we'll begin composing our blog posts.

Stay tuned next week for the results of our voting for the California Young Readers Medal.....

One Happy Bookworm!

One Happy Bookworm!

Our Bookworm Club has been a rousing success this year with first and second graders eagerly "devouring" our early reader books. Over the last few weeks, several bookworms have completed the first of their reading logs, proudly finishing 18 books. In addition to reading the books, the club fosters the skills of checking out books at the right level for reading with pleasure, practicing fluency, checking out and returning library books, and just the joy of reading! Keep on reading, bookworms!


Also in the Library this week....


Kindergarten--Bear's New Friend is the delightful sequel to Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson. Bear wakes up from his long winter's nap and wants to play. Whooo is that new friend he discovers?

First, Second and Third Grades--At last it was voting day!! After hearing our final selection Wild About Books by Judy Sierra, primary students cast their ballots for their favorite among the nominees for the California Young Reader Medal Award. We are eagerly awaiting the results after all the votes are counted. (Mrs. Villa's class will vote this coming Tuesday. Sorry I missed your class last week but I was called for jury duty)

Fourth Grade--Fourth graders went on a "scavenger hunt" in the library this week. After breaking into teams of two, they were given slips of paper with call numbers. They had to figure out if the book was fiction, non-fiction, or a picture book and then locate the book as quickly as possible. And the librarian would only answer questions with "yes or no" if help was needed. So, "Where is this book anyway?" wouldn't work, but, "Is this book in the non-fiction section?" would do the trick.

Fifth Grade--Fifth grade played a rousing game of "Library Jeopardy" this week. And I shared with them an interesting insight I had. I designed our Jeopardy game about six years ago. I used note cards with the questions and answers for me to read, and sheets of paper with the categories printed on them and taped on the library cupboards. At the beginning of this year I decided to make a "high-tech" version on my laptop and project it with my projector. After playing it once that way, I realized we had a lot more fun and it actually worked better to do it the "low tech" way. A good lesson for all of us. Although we love those laptops, sometimes the "old" way just works better. Technology is wonderful, but it isn't always the best way to do something.

Sixth Grade--We started a multi-week lesson on Research which will culminate with the students posting their work on a new blog set up just for them. If you'd like to see the lesson, go to our Library Skills Blog and follow along. We are slowing down a bit for this and taking our time to really do the research and understand the different kinds of resources and the values of each one. Then we'll learn how to make a blog post, and comment on each other's work. Stay tuned....

A special thank you, to parents Rachel Moore and Nancy Eaton and all the parent volunteers who put on a spectacular Book Fair this week. And special thanks to the families who bought all those wonderful new books for our Library.

Wires and Lights in a Box

“This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box. Good night, and good luck.”

~Edward R. Murrow in a speech to the Radio and Television News Directors Association (RTNDA) convention in Chicago (15 October 1958)

This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending the Computer Using Educators Conference in Palm Springs. After three full days of very worthwhile sessions I was lucky enough to finish up with a session by Gary S. Stager entitled “If Blogging is the Answer, What was the Question?” Mr. Stager is a provocative speaker, putting forth questions about the real value of our use of technology in education. It was very valuable for me to step back, so to speak, and look at the larger picture after attending a conference of great sessions with practical applications for teaching and a mind-boggling exhibit hall filled with over a hundred vendors displaying the latest new technology. Mr. Stager urged us not to passively accept this latest new technology, but to really evaluate how we can use it for truly innovative teaching and learning. We should not, in his words, deliver “old wine in a new bottle.”

He concluded with the above Edward R. Murrow quote, which is about television, of course, but could easily apply to computers today. It lingered in my mind as I drove home to Santa Barbara. And yes, I used some of this amazing new technology (Wikipedia) to find the quote this morning and to be sure I had it correct and the context in which it was spoken.

This is a challenging new world for education. And I’m glad to be a participant.


Before I left, we had two busy days in the Library.

Kindergarten—Mrs. Sickafoose’s classes was transfixed by the 1948 story by Dr. Seuss entitled Thidwick, the Big-Hearted Moose. It’s always amazing to me that our present day students with all the electronic and visual media available to them are still completely engrossed in the wonderful language and rhythm of Dr. Seuss’s words and the quirky originality of his illustrations.

First Grade—We read the fourth in our California Young Reader Medal nominees, The Best Pet of All by David LaRochelle. When a boy wants a dog for a pet his mother tells him to find a dragon instead with hilarious consequences. The illustrations by Hanako Wakiyama are most intereting and have a decidedly mid-century modern feel to them.


Second Grade and Third Grade—Our fourth nominated book this week was Wild About Books by Judy Sierra and illustrated by Marc Brown. When the bookmobile goes to the zoo, the animals pick out books that match their interests perfectly and end up building their very own “Zoobrary.” Judy Sierra’s rollicking rhymes have just a touch of Dr. Seuss in them and the pictures from Marc Brown of the “Arthur” books add to the fun.

Fourth Grade--In preparation for Dr. Seuss' birthday on Friday, March 2, we read one of my favorite Dr. Seuss Books, The Lorax. While enjoying the eccentric story and illustrations, the fourth graders were able to see the message Dr. Seuss had in mind, and considering this book was written in 1971, it shows how prescient Theodore Geisel was. The current concerns about global climate change and our urgent need to take action were discussed by students. Ideas they had ranged from using alternative energy sources, to buying and driving hybrid cars, to recycling clothes. Some even hope they can someday design cars that could run on water!

An Ethical Online Presence

What is an ethical online presence?

This week Fifth and Sixth graders pondered this question. After viewing a Keynote presentation about how to comment on a blog and what an online presence is, our discussion turned to understanding the concept of ethics.

Here's a quick video of the Keynote:

Students then went to the Cold Spring School Library Skills Blog and followed the directions on the current post. They answered the question with their comments. Read their comments on the Skills blog.....they are very interesting! Just click on the little comments link on the bottom right hand side of the post. To date there are 47 comments!

This is part of a larger lesson we will do involving researching, posting that information on a blog entry, and then commenting on one another's posts.

To me it is very important to start training our students to understand their online presence as soon as possible. The online world is changing every minute and we need to give our students a clear grounding in how they will behave in this new world. In many education related blogs I read there is great concern over the way high school students are using Web 2.0 technologies. Hopefully, if we can instill ethical behavior at an early age, those concepts will be embedded in our children when they reach the age where they will be making daily decisions about how to behave online. I welcome any comments or suggestions you might have.


Also in the Library this week....

Kindergarten--What would happen if all the signs we read suddenly asked us to do silly things? Would be follow them anyway? This is the interesting ideas behind Tedd Arnold's delightful book, The Signmaker's Assistant. Norman, the assistant, starts out playing harmless jokes with his signs but suddenly chaos breaks out and he has to fix all the trouble he has caused. This was a fun way Kindergarteners to talk about the importance of reading and thinking about what you have read.

First Grade--We continued this week with our California Young Reader Medal Nominee, Three Pebbles and a Song, written by Eileen Spinelli and exquisitely illustrated by S. D. Schindler. As winter approaches a mouse family scurries to gather things for the long days ahead, but one little mouse just seems to dance and collect pebbles. Only when they all are bored with their confinement on the cold snowy days does the family realize the value of his collections.

Second Grade--In honor of Black History Month, second graders heard the story of two girls, one black, one white who lived in a small town. In that town was a fence that separated their two houses. The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson is the story of one summer when the fence and what it stood for began to change. Beautiful watercolor illustrations by E. B. Lewis add so much to the story that gently moves to the point where the two little girls bridge the gap by making a simple gesture of sitting on the fence side by side . With a little help, second graders understood the metaphor of the fence we had a discussion of how much better things are today without the prejudices that existed before the Civil Rights movement.

Third Grade-The true story of Ruby Bridges is one that children can relate to and Robert Cole's book, The Story of Ruby Bridges, is a wonderful introduction for younger children to the courage of this six year old girl and how her actions set about a series of events that changed our society. Before we read the story, the students viewed a Keynote presentation with pictures taken for her own remarkable book entitled Through My Eyes. Most impressive to students was the fact that Ruby went to school all by herself and was the only student in her first grade class for an entire year. Also interesting to them is the fact that Ruby is still alive today and is, in fact, leading efforts to repair the school she went to during that troubling time. It was heavily damaged in Hurricane Katrina. For an interesting look at this part of her story, see this link to a recent segment on the NBC Nightly News entitled "What Happened to Ruby Bridges?"

Fourth Grade--The road to civil rights was not an easy one even after laws were passed to guarantee those rights. Fourth graders learned this in Freedom Summer by Deborah Wiles. Two boys--one black, one white--are thrilled when they learn that they can finally swim together in the city pool, but their excitement is dashed when the pool is filled with asphalt as a reaction to the new law. The ending of the story gives a picture of a smaller step ahead as they go into a store together to buy an ice cream. It seems hard for our students to understand that there was a time when things like this were common, and this book gives is a great historical lesson as it touches on the emotional impact of civil rights and integration. Not surprisingly, Freedom Summer was awarded both the Coretta Scott King Award and the Ezra Jack Keats Book Award.

Fifth and Sixth Grade--see opening post.

Also, please check out our wonderfully re-designed web page! Just click on the link and you'll be there! The web page has all the information about our library programs and this blog will continue to give up-to-date postings of what's happening in our programs.

I'm off to Palm Springs at the end of next week for the Computer Using Educators annual conference.....can't wait to see all those wonderful new things!!

News From the Library--February 19, 2007

Black History Month

This amazing book by Diane Shore and Jessica Alexander was the centerpiece this week for our discussions of Black History in fourth, fifth, and sixth grade. Told with spare, rhyming verse and juxtaposed with thought provoking collages by James Ransome that blend painting with archival photos, This Is The Dream chronicles the sequence of events in the Civil Rights Movement that ultimately changed our society. The opening image is a powerful one...two drinking fountains, one labeled "white," the other "colored" and the words "These are the fountains/that stand in the square,/and the black-and-white signs/say who will drink where." As is often the case, simplicity of word and image is powerful and students were riveted to this book. In future weeks we will research in depth some of the events and people who were instrumental in the Civil Rights Movment.

Also in the library this week..

Kindergarten--for Valentine's Day Mrs. Sickafoose's class enjoyed the lovely story The Day It Rained Hearts by Felicia Bond. They were very ready for their Valentine's Day Party after listening to this story! Mrs. Campbell's class enjoyed last year's winner of the California Young Reader Medal, Miss Smith's Incredible Storybook by Michael Garland. With its fabulous illustrations and wonderful message, it's clear why this book earned the prize!


First, Second, and Third Grades---we continued our reading of this year's nominee's for California Young Reader Medal. My Lucky Day continues to be a favorite but his week we added Wild About Books by Judy Sierra and The Best Pet of All by by David Larochelle and illustrated most charmingly by Hanako Wakiyama.

Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Grades--see opening post.

Until next week...

News From The Library--February 12, 2007

Research, Research, Research!

We are so lucky to have our new Encyclopedia Britannica Online as a resource for research, but we don't want to forget the value of our book version of the World Book. This week fourth graders worked on one of our favorite projects. In a tall top hat, I put a number of cards with topics on them. After pulling a card from the hat, fourth graders find the encyclopedia, and then the article about their topic. After reading the article they write four complete sentences about their topic in their own words. It was great to see with what ease they did the assignment this time. What researchers they are becoming. Anyone know what a nutria is? Just ask a fourth grader!

Our goal is to learn to research....and in this day and age that means to look at many sources and evaluate the authority of the sources. Print encyclopedias have an important role in the bank of resources we can draw upon. The internet is a fabulous source for updated and ever-changing facts.....but it is only one of many, and finding reliable information on the internet is becoming a much more refined skill than just typing in a search term on Google. Our World Book Encyclopedia will always have a place of importance in our library.

Also in the Library this past week....

Kindergarten--We are lucky to have Marni McGee, a well-known and well-loved children's author (and Santa Barbara resident), conducting a residency at our school over the next several weeks. In preparation, Kindergarteners heard the delightful story of Winston, the Book Wolf. Winston's a little eager for words but when Rosie teaches him that he can eat words with his eyes instead of his rather ferocious teeth, he becomes the favorite story lady at the Library. Devouring books becomes a good thing....such great message to children.

First Grade - Third Grade---we continued this week with our California Young Reader Medal nominees and read My Lucky Day by Keiko Kasza. This time the fox is hilariously outfoxed by a piglet who ends up with a bath, and meal, and.....a massage!

Fourth Grade--see opening post

Fifth Grade--Fifth graders worked with the atlases this week and picked a state other than our own to research. We learned some fascinating information, especially the different state mottos. For example, can you translate the state motto of Massachusetts--"Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem?" ("By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty.")

Sixth Grade--With Valentine's Day on the horizon, it seemed like a good idea to read the exquisite version of Cupid and Psyche written by M. Charlotte Craft and illustrated by Kinuko Y. Craft. With thoughts of the possibilities of being themselves pricked by Cupid's arrows in the near future, sixth graders listened with rapt attention and in the end understood the metaphorical meaning of the ending of the myth--from the marriage of Cupid and Psyche (love and soul) came their child, Joy.

Happy Valentine's Day to you, too!

News From the Library--February 5, 2007

Author Go Round 2007

Last Monday four sixth graders attended Author Go Round 2007 at the Santa Barbara County Schools Office. They listened to four children's book authors speak about their work and then they had a chance to meet in small groups with each author. Authors who participated this year were Marni McGee, Sherry Shahan, Joe Cepeda, and Michael Katz. It was a full day of fun and learning. The day culminated with lunch in the library with dessert by Mrs. Pedersen. (chocolate, of course!)

"I liked the Author Go Round because the authors told us how books are made (which is very interesting)."~Jared

" I had a lot of fun at the Author Go Round because I got to understand more about the author's ideas."~Bella

"I liked the Author Go Round because I got to experience the life of writers in their own eyes."~Jordan

I liked the Author Go Round because you can see the process of getting a book published."~Joshua

This week in the Library:

Kindergarten--Continuing our stories of Walter and William, we read No More Water in the Bathtub by Tedd Arnold and followed the hilarious adventure of William as his bathtub breaks loose and careens down floor after floor of his apartment building. We had lots of fun looking at the final picture as William floats down the street and imagining what adventures he might have next. What if William and his bathtub floated into our Library? Books might become surfboards?

Grades 1-3--This week we started one of our favorite projects in the Library--The California Young Reader Medal program. Each year 5 books are nominated by children, teachers and librarians all over the state. For the next 5 weeks we read each of the nominees and then vote for our favorite. Votes are tabulated and we declare our Cold Spring Winner and then our votes are sent to Sacramento to be counted with students' votes from all over the state. In May, the state winner is announced. This year's nominees are fantastic. They are:

The Best Pet of All by David LaRochelle. Illustrated by Hanako Wakiyama. (Dutton Children's Books, 2004)

My Lucky Day by Keiko Kasza. ( G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2003)

Stanley's Party by Linda Bailey. Illustrated by Bill Slavin. (Kids Can Press, 2003)

Three Pebbles and a Song by Eileen Spinelli. Illustrated by S. D. Schindler. (Dial Books For Young Readers, 2003)

Wild About Books by Judy Sierra. Illustrated by Marc Brown. (Alfred A. Knopf, 2004)

As we read each book we discuss the role of the author and illustrator and learn to state opinions and back them up with examples--all while enjoying some of the best of new books for children.

Fourth Grade--Fourth graders are just finishing their California Mission studies and we read a delightful story written by Pam Munoz Ryan. Nacho and Lolita is the touching story of a pitacoche and a swallow who overcome obstacles to be together. Set in Mission San Juan Capistrano, the story tells about a magical bird who provides the beautiful colors of the mission gardens at the expense of his own beauty and by doing this his swallow, Lolita, can find the mission again upon her return.

Fifth and Sixth Grade--This week fifth and sixth graders had another chance to practice researching using our great new resource, Encyclopedia Britannica Online. After choosing a topic, students had to find information from the encyclopedia article, a magazine or journal article, and a website. All this can be done within the encyclopedia. One of the most interesting facts one researcher found this week was that Elvis Presley had a twin. Did you know that? The other important concept we learned and all agreed upon was that the easiest and best information came from the encyclopedia. The magazines and journals and websites were nice, but for finding facts, nothing beats the encyclopedia.

News From the Library--January 29, 2007

Information Literacy

As each day goes by I feel the urgent importance of teaching our students about information literacy. With all the information that's available to them, they need now and will need in the future good skills to evaluate the information they receive. Simply typing in a search term on Google is no longer enough. I read somewhere that getting information from that type of search is like trying to take a drink from a firehose! This week fifth and sixth graders practiced again their web site evaluation skills by using their laptops and the lesson on our Cold Spring School Library Skills Blog entitled "When in Doubt.....doubt!" After reviewing our criteria--authority, accuracy, objectivity, and currency---each student chose a website to evaluate from the list on the blog. At the end, we summarized our findings. Those who went to "bad" websites had to state what was wrong with them and what they would have wanted to find on them to make them a good site. Those who went to "good" sites had to defend their opinion. This is a lesson we'll repeat several times before the school year is over.

One of the most interesting comments made by a student was, "We should turn these guys in for making a misleading website!" Unfortunately, I told them, there are no "website policeman." They will have to be their own "policeman/woman" when it comes to looking at a website. These skills are so important for today's students.


Other classes in the Library this week:

Kindergarten--When I asked for a show of hands for how many students had heard these words from their parents---"No more jumping on the bed!" the response was unanimous. I also told them the story of my older brother who had to do that "one more jump" and ended up in the ER with a hysterical babysitter. So the stage was set for Tedd Arnold's book appropriately entitled No More Jumping on the Bed and kindergarteners loved the crazy tale (or was it a dream) of Walter and his bed crashing down, down, down through the floors in his apartment building. Next week, we'll have fun with Walter again in No More Water in the Bathtub!

First Grade--What makes a classic? First grade is exploring this idea and this week we read what has been called the first children's picture book, Millions of Cats by Wanda Gag. Published in 1928 and with black and white illustrations, this little book has lost none of its charm for today's children. They loved chiming in with the refrain, "....hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and millions and billions of cats!" When the story was over, we thought about why we liked it so much (the cats, the pictures, the story, the repetition) and why it has been a favorite for all these years. In future weeks, we'll continue this theme as we study a list of books deemed "essential literature" for children.

Second Grade--Second graders are busy working on their biography reports in class so this week I read them a charming biography of Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin and Mary Azarian. This beautiful book won a Caldecott Medal for its exquisite illustrations, and it tells the story of William Bentley and his passion for photographing snowflakes. I made a presentation for them on my laptop of his photographs along with some modern photographs of snowflakes. We were all entranced by their beauty and singularity.

Third Grade--This week we concluded our study of Cinderella stories with two books. In Princess Furball by Charlotte Huck, the beautiful princess uses her own bravery and intelligence to find happiness with her prince, and in The Rough Face Girl by Rafe Martin, the theme of the Cinderlla tale is beautifully presented in a Native American re-telling. As familiar as we all are now with the plot of the Cinderella story, we also discussed its enduring theme-- that of the beauty being on the inside, and actions showing beauty far more than physical attributes. After enjoying all these Cinderella tales, third graders now have a better understanding of the literary elements of plot and theme.

Fourth Grade--Fourth graders took a turn with Atlases this week and we looked at the structure of the atlas and then did a project finding out information about our own state, California. We discovered that 221 people live per sq. mile in California, while only 5 live per sq. mile in Wyoming. After thinking about it for a while, students came up with the answer: the weather! Although there are many breathtakingly beautiful places in Wyoming, maybe it's those cold, cold winters that make more people want to live in our mild climate in California, especially in our hometown of Santa Barbara!

Fifth and Sixth Grade--see opening post on information literacy.

Book Clubs are thriving!!! We have oodles of Bookworms, and many Red Dot members this week!

News From the Library--January 22, 2007

It was a busy week in the Library with lots of new Book Club members in both the Bookworm Club and the Red Dot Club. We also had some great sessions in fourth and sixth grade learning how to research with our new Encyclopedia Britannica Online and how to evaluate web sites.

Kindergarten--It was cold this week in Santa Barbara and a lot of us were imagining what it would be like if it snowed. We're not used to those chilly, chilly temperatures! Kindergarteners loved hearing Steven Kellogg's The Missing Mitten Mystery and trying to figure out what happened to Annie's mitten. Was a mouse using it as a sleeping bag? Could she plant her remaining mitten and grow a mitten tree? In the end, the mystery is solved in a "heart-warming" way as her mitten turns up as the heart of the snowman she had built.

First Grade--Almost all of us have heard the story of Jack and the Beanstalk but Steven Kellogg's version is by far one of our favorites. The illustrations are wonderfully detailed and add great dimension to his rollicking text. I'm not sure who had more fun--me reading it or the children listening to it. This is the beginning of a unit for first graders on what has been called "essential children's literature" and in the coming weeks we'll discuss what makes a story a classic and read some of the best examples. In our high tech world of today we sometimes forget what makes a classic story and Jack and the Beanstalk is a stellar example.

Second Grade--On the surface, David Shannon's story, A Bad Case of Stripes, is a funny tale of a girl who finds herself changing in the blink of a eye to correspond to what those around her say. The illustrations, with their amazing color and sense of humor, add to the dramatic rhythm of the story. But underneath the story is the gentle reminder that we should all be ourselves, most especially if we want to eat lima beans when none of our friends do.

Third Grade--We continued our multi-cultural exploration of Cinderella stories with The Irish Cinderlad by Shirley Climo. This one really turns the story on end by having the main character an Irish goatherd with very big feet. The fairy godmother turns out to be a speckled bull and the ball is not a dance but a dragon slaying!! There's no glass slipper and the princess not the prince does the searching with a big black boot. But of course, she finds her "Cinderlad" and they live happily ever after. We had fun finding the similarities and differences in the plot and third graders are getting a clear understanding of this literary element.

Fourth Grade--Fourth graders were introduced to our new Encyclopedia Britannica Online and learned how to sign in on any computer and then research a topic in the appropriate encyclopedia, in journals and magazines, and in the websites that are vetted and linked to the encyclopedia.

Fifth Grade--This week we played our very low-tech version of Library Jeopardy! and had a lot of fun. (Sometimes it's nice to take a break from those laptops much as we all love them) Students break into two teams and each team member chooses a category. I give the answers to a question relating to our Library. This has become a really fun way to learn some of the....how shall I put this....more boring aspects of library skills instruction. In one group the boys had a healthy lead only to be tempted by a "daily double" and betting all their points. They lost everything on this question. Can you do it? The answer is: The first name of the man who invented the numbering system for non-fiction books. So the question would be.....(see the end of the post for the answer)

Sixth Grade--Using our Cold Spring School Library Skills Blog sixth graders went through the first part of the lesson on Web Site Evaluation. After reviewing the criteria for evaluation-- currency, accuracy, authority, and purpose--we evaluated two websites as a group. Next week students will have a chance to put their critical thinking skills to use and evaluate websites on their own. If you'd like to look at the lessons, just follow the link to the Skills Blog and look for the lesson entitled, "When in Doubt.....Doubt."

Until next week.....

Oh, yes....the Jeopardy answer.....the correct question would be: What is Melvyl?

Mr. Squirrel Fills in for an ailing Oliver, the Library Cat!

Mr. Squirrel, helped by one of our sixth graders, stepped in for Oliver, the Library Cat, who had a slight cough this week and just couldn't do another book review. Lucky for us, Mr. Squirrel and Oliver are good friends and he's a good reader, too. The book he's reviewing is Where The Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein.

A New Video Review by Oliver, the Library Cat!

Oliver has done it again....here's a new review of the book Artemis Fowl, the Arctic Incident by Eoin Colfer. He's ably helped this week by a sixth grader.

News From the Library--January 15, 2007

Book Clubs Have Started in the Library!

This past week, we started our Library Book Clubs and already we have some enthusiastic members! Grades 1-4 have special clubs and grades 5 and 6 have chosen this year to continue doing video reviews on our blog as their club.

The most important rule for all the clubs is to have fun reading! Books are chosen at a student’s independent reading level so that reading for the Book Clubs is a pleasurable and relaxing experience. This also builds confidence and fluency as the children have the opportunity to practice the reading skills they have learned in the classroom.

Each grade level has a club and the “rules for membership” vary. Personalized bookmarks are given to members after they have read and reported on their first book. Following is a brief summary of the clubs. If you have any questions, please feel free to stop by the Library or email me. We’re off to a great start!

Grades 1 and 2 are the Bookworm Club. Members read books from our Easy and Beginning Reader section. After taking the book home, or keeping it in their desk at school, and reading the entire book, members make an appointment with Mrs. Pedersen to read their favorite page either before school, at any recess, after school, or during their library time. Each time a book is finished it is entered on their “official” log and a sticker is awarded. After each 6 books are read, members can choose a special prize. As of the end of the first three days of clubs, we already have 9 Bookworms!

Grade 3 is the Red Dot Book Club, so named for the red dots on the spines of many books in our collection that are especially chosen for readers who are ready to read chapter books. After reading a “red dot book,” members write a book report and submit it to Mrs. Pedersen. After completing 2 written book reports, members can choose a special prize. Congratulations to Marlon for being our first member!

Grade 4 is the Mystery Book Club and members choose from the wide array of mysteries in our Library. Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys books are among the all time favorites for this club. To report on their books, members have several options. One is to write a book report and turn it in to Mrs. Pedersen. A new option (and one we are very excited about!) is to record a video report to be posted on our blog. Students will use our stuffed animal dolphin as their avatar—named Dectective McDolphin for the club—or they can dress in one of our two Detective McDolphin costumes and perform their report. After two reports or blog reports, members can choose a special prize.

Book Clubs are one of my favorite parts of being a librarian at Cold Spring! It’s such a joy to see students excited about reading. Be sure to check for weekly updates on the Book Clubs.

Video Blog Review by Oliver, the Library Cat

Oliver, the Library Cat, the twin brother of Olive, makes his debut performance with a book review of Poppy by Avi. He is helped this week by a fourth grade student.

News From the Library--January 8, 2007

A New Year in the Library Has Begun!

We're back!! The Library was a busy place this week as classes began again after our nice Winter Break. Even though the sun in shining in Santa Barbara and pretty soon we might need to do some kind of rain dance, it was "chilly" in the Library for Kindergarteners and First Graders as we read penguin books this week.

Kindergarten--There were lots of chuckles as we read the story of Tacky The Penguin by Helen Lester. That Tacky!! He's an odd bird indeed. Finding the differences between Tacky and his companions was fun (a Hawaiian shirt on a penguin?) and his marching style is a little strange, but we all agreed that in the end when Tacky saves himself and his fellow penguins from the hunters, he was a good bird to have around. This humorous and fun story also gives a nice gentle lesson that being different can be something to be respected.

First Grade--Which Cinderella story has a glass flipper instead of a glass slipper? Cinderella Penguin by Janet Perlman. First graders had fun finding the similarities and differences in this version and the one they are more familiar with. As well as enjoying the story, it gave us the opportunity to begin a discussion of the literary element of plot.

Second Grade--We had fun learning about the parts of a book this week with an interactive Keynote presentation, complete with sound effects and quizzes. Using books from our own library, we located the cover, the spine, the table of contents, the index, and the glossary.

Third Grade--This week we started on our Cinderella Project. Over the next several weeks we'll read different versions of the Cinderella story as a way to discuss plot and theme as literary elements. We also get to see a multi-cultural snapshot of this famous story and find its enduring theme of the rewards of kindness and generosity. For our first stoy, we read Adelita by Tomie de Paola and found that instead of a glass slipper to help the prince find his Cinderella, it was a beautiful rebozo, and as always, in the end they "lived happily ever after."

Fourth Grade--Get out those scalpels! It's time to "Dissect a Book!" This week's skills lesson for fourth grade involved "taking apart" a non-fiction book in order to find the relevant information needed for a bibliography. With scalpels (pencils) in hand, they bravely found author's names, titles, publishing cities, publisher's names, and copyright dates. But one of their favorite parts was my story about my high school lab partner (fullback on the football team) who fainted when we dissected a frog in Biology lab!

Fifth and Sixth Grade--We are so lucky to have a new resource for research and with laptops in hand, the fifth and sixth graders were introduced to Encyclopedia Britannica Online, our new software subscription, which allows them access to three different versions of the Encyclopedia Britannica (elementary, middle school, and high school), plus a database of magazines and journals, and vetted websites for any topic. It is updated regularly--we checked the entry for Gerald Ford and James Brown and found they were current--and it's a wonderful, accurate, and safe place to do in depth research. Watch this week's Wednesday Word for information about how you can use this at home. This is now available to students and families 24 hours a day/7 days a week/ 365 days a year! It can be accessed from any computer--at home, in the classroom, or in the tech lab.

See you next week!

A New and Exciting Year!

Happy New Web 2.0 Year!

Welcome back! I hope you had a restful and peace filled holiday. As we don’t have any student work to post yet, I thought I’d take this week as an opportunity to direct you to an article in Time magazine about the interesting, challenging and exciting direction that education and specifically my role in educating your children is taking. The year 2007 looks to be year of tremendous change not only in technology but also in the way we as educators view our role. As a librarian I love information. I used to think the more the better. But with the overwhelming amount of information available to me now it becomes almost too much. How to sort through it? What’s accurate? What’s biased? If I feel overloaded, I can only imagine what it must be like for my students.

No longer is it enough to find information. Now we must be able to evaluate it in terms of its accuracy, reliability, and currency. No longer is it enough to “google” a word. We now must learn how to narrow our searches and then critically view the results. These are high level thinking skills but I am convinced that our students must begin to think in this way. The sooner the better.

Time magazine had an interesting cover article in the Dec. 18 issue. It’s entitled How to Build A Student for the 21st Century. It poses the ideas that schools need to be brought out of the 20th century in order to educate the students of today. Although I often feel that Time paints with rather broad brushstrokes, the article makes some good points. Take a little time to read it and let me know what you think.


I find that over the last few months my own reading habits have changed. In addition to reading books ( I’ll never give that up!), and the Los Angeles Times, I read about 15 to 20 blogs each day, getting information about things in which I’m personally interested as well as wonderful information and discussions about reading, literacy, teaching, and libraries. If you are interested in reading two of the very best, try Weblogg-ed by Will Richardson and 2 cents Worth by David Warlick.

This new world of Web 2.0 has indeed changed the way I see my profession, my place in my profession, my participation in my profession—all in an exciting, stimulating way. This is the world our children are growing up in. As an educator I must be part of that world so that I can find a way to guide them through it. Blogging, Wikis, Podcasts…..these are the tools they want to use and I want to both use them myself and make sure that I can teach them how to use them ethically and effectively. That’s the most wonderful part of being a teacher for me…..there’s always something new for me to learn. Here’s to a year of learning!

Sorry...no news this week...Dec. 12

Sorry to say, but I've been hit hard with the flu......not enough energy to do my regular posting this week. And as this is our last week before Winter Break, I'd like to wish you all Happy Holdiays and see you in January!

~Mrs. Pedersen

Our First Video Blog/Book Review!!

Look below and find our very first video blog/book review with Olive the Library Cat!

Just click on the play button below Olive's picture and you'll hear and see the review.

(Thanks to a wonderful 6th grader who wrote the review and loaned her lovely voice to Olive)

The Great Brain by John D. Fitzgerald

A book review of The Great Brain by John S. Fitzgerald