News From The Library--September 24, 2007

Best Friends

This week First Graders heard Laura Malone Elliott and Lynn Munsinger’s Hunter’s Best Friend at School -- one of those wonderful books that is entertaining, fun to read, has great illustrations, and has a wonderful lesson that is subtle yet important. What do you do when your best friend wants you to do everything they do? And what if some of those things are the wrong things to do? Peer pressure starts very early and discussing this with young children is a way to prepare them for the stronger pressures they will face, especially as teenagers. In the story Hunter’s friend Stripe is mischievous and funny but when Hunter goes along with something that he later regrets, he decides to be a best friend to Stripe and model good behavior in hopes that he will follow. I was impressed at how quiet the children were when I was reading that scene where Hunter had gone along with the wrong behavior….you could have heard a pin drop and that is pretty unusual for first graders! It’s my hope that these little lessons will lodge in their memories and will come back later when the stakes are so much higher.


Also in the Library this week…

Second Grade—Oh no….it’s the dreaded substitute Miss Viola Swamp! In what has become a classic, Miss Nelson is Missing by Harry Allard, the kids in room 207 are the worst behaved class in the school. Their most grievous behavior? They were rude and silly during story hour! But Miss Swamp whips them back into shape and when Miss Nelson returns the class is more than happy to behave. Students love the last scene…..Miss Nelson’s little secret….and of course, I’ll never tell it either!

Third Grade—We all agree that we have a fine, fine school with fine, fine teachers, and fine, fine students…..but what if Dr. McCabe decided that we should go to school on Saturdays and Sundays and holidays and summer!!! This is what happens in Sharon Creech’s hilarious tale A Fine, Fine School. And as with all good stories, the subtle message is clear at the end…..too much of a good thing isn’t always best and we all need time to climb up a tree, and swing on a swing, and maybe just do…..nothing!

Fourth Grade and Fifth Grade—Both classes this week were introduced to the Battle of the Books and I’m happy to say we have some very enthusiastic readers who have checked out almost all of our Battle Books!

Sixth Grade—We played our ever-popular Library Jeopardy Game this week and had a great time. This is a fun way to learn some of the less exciting things about the library such as what’s on a spine label or how non-fiction books are shelved. Our daily double (in the category of Technology and the Internet) was….http. Do you know the question????

News From The Library--September 17,2007

Do You Remember What Book Got You Hooked?

This summer I got an email about a program called First Book. First Book is a nonprofit organization with a single mission: to give children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books. They provide an ongoing supply of new books to children participating in community-based mentoring, tutoring, and family literacy programs.

This summer First Book was celebrating its 50 millionth book given to children in need. They put out a survey asking people to remember that one book that got them hooked on reading as a child and then they published a list of the top 50 books.

It’s available at : http://www2.firstbook.org/whatbook/top50.php

It’s really fun to look over this list….kind of like a trip down memory lane…..and I’m pleased to say that we have all those books in our Library today.

For more information about the valuable First Book Program, please visit their website at: http://www.firstbook.org/


And yes…it was Nancy Drew that got me hooked!!


In the Library this week, we had our first week of regular classes (except for Kindergarten which will start the week of Sept. 24). After going over the library rules, how to check out and return books, we were off to a great start. One change this year…..we’re going to try this out….each grade can check out as many books as their grade! Kindergarten and first grade will both have one book for one week, and all the other grades can check out the corresponding number of books to their grade for two weeks.


Here’s what went on this week in each class….


First Grade—As this was our very first meeting we got reacquainted with how the library works and how to find and check out books. It was great to see all the students again and hear how much they read and traveled over the summer!

Second Grade—The students at Sunrise Elementary school have a new librarian this year in Carmen Agra Dreedy’s The Library Dragon and watch out…..she’s really a dragon when it comes to protecting those library books. Nothing can be checked out, nothing can be touched until one little girl stumbles into the library and transforms the “dragon” into a wonderful librarian. After all, the library is for the children, but we can’t forget there’s still a little dragon in all librarians when it comes to protecting the books. This was a fun way to remind the students about book care practices and that taking care of the books means that they will be there for everyone to use.

Third Grade—Last year I purchased a wonderful book entitled Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen. It’s the charming story of a lion who enters a library and has a little trouble following all the rules. When the librarian gets hurt, a rule must be broken, and the lion is the one who saves the day. Before we read the story, we had fun looking at a Keynote presentation I made on the two lions—Patience and Fortitude--that “guard” the entrance to the New York Public Library. They are featured in the illustrations in the book.

Fourth Grade—Our Librarian Won’t Tell Us Anything! is the humorous book by Toni Buzzeo about Mrs. Skorupski who won’t tell fourth graders where the books are in the library…..she makes them look it up for themselves in the online catalog!!! This was an introduction for fourth graders into how our catalog works and how to find books on their own. Using our projector, students had a chance to practice how the catalog works and then they were off looking up books on their own!

Fifth Grade--This week fifth graders heard The Librarian of Basra by Jeanette Winter. First we used Google Earth and started at our own school library and traveled to Basra, Iraq. The difference between our locations was sobering. Then 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.

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.)

Sixth Grade—Sixth graders were introduced the Battle of the Books Program this week. They saw a Keynote of a previous Battle and we discussed the list of 30 books that are this year’s Battle books. To access the list you can visit the County Schools website at: http://www.sbceo.org/~ims/botb/index.html

The Battle takes place in April 2008 so there’s lots of time to read as many of those books as possible!



Until next week……happy reading and I’m so glad we are Back to School!

Have a great summer....

This is my last post for the school year and what an exciting year it has been with all the new technology and our incredible laptop program. Many thanks to the Cold Spring School Foundation for their support in implementing that program and for taking it even farther for the next school year.

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. Pedersen

Summer Reading Lists

http://www.ilfonline.org/AIME/ReadAloud/ReadAloud.htm
From the Association for Indiana Media Educators. Read Aloud Book Lists by publication year and reading interest level (primary, intermediate, young adult and “ageless”).

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

http://www.trelease-on-reading.com/rah_treas_sh_nov.html
Jim Trelease’s list of short novels for read alouds. Short novels in this case are books that “...usually contain chapters, many more words than a picture book, but fewer than 100 pages. . . and shorter than the full-length novel.” Each entry contains brief blurb about the book.

http://www.trelease-on-reading.com/rah_treas_ful_nov_p1.html
Jim Trelease’s list of novels for read alouds. Novels in this case are “...more complex than the short novels, contain more than 100 pages and are divided into chapters.” Each entry contains brief blurb about the book.

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 2008 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.
http://www.coldspringschool.net/component/option,com_uhp2/Itemid,98/task,viewpage/user_id,83/pageid,68/

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

American Library Association Children's Reading Lists
http://www.ala.org/ala/librariesandyou/recomreading/recomreading.htm

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 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

Summer is coming...

Kindergarteners this week enjoyed Candace Fleming's delightful book, Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! and in the process learned about prepositions. Three bunnies find ways to get over and under and through all the fences Mr. McGreely builds around his garden to keep them from eating his newly planted vegetables. Students cheered for the bunnies as they delighted in the clever sound effects and vibrant, funny illustrations. In the end, the message is that sharing the bounty may be the best and perhaps munching on a carrot or two is a good idea too!



Also in the Library this week...

First Grade--Is it possible to get lost in the "Lost and Found?" Wendell and Floyd meet their new friend Mona while sitting outside the Principal's office waiting to be punished for missing an arithmetic test. (Who knew there would be a giant squid keeping them prisoner in the boys' bathroom that morning?) All three children disappear into the magical world at the bottom of the Lost and Found bin and their adventure pays off with three lucky hats and a new friendship. Mark Teague's bold illustrations and fanciful story addresses that age old question, What's at the bottom of the Lost and Found? and first graders are eager to hear next week's story, The Secret Shortcut.

Second Grade--With summer coming and trips planned, I thought it would be fun to read Margaret Mahy's hilarious story, The Three-Legged Cat. Tom, the cat, would love to roam the world but his owner would prefer a cat that "likes to sleep, and doesn't eat." Her rascal of a brother comes for his yearly visit, complete with his "molting, revolting Russian hat" that looked remarkably like Tom. In a serendipitous mix-up, Tom leaves on top the brother's head and the hat remains behind. And they all lived happily ever after!

Third Grade--With it's rollicking prose and hilarious illustrations, Sir Cedric by Roy Gerrard is always a favorite with third graders. The story of the gentle knight and the black-hearted villain, the princess in need of rescue, the battle, and the happy ending (complete with cucumber sandwiches) would make it easy to just see this as a pleasant tale, but the underlying theme of standing up to a bully is one that resonates with children. Stay tuned, third graders, next week we'll read Sir Cedric Rides Again.

Fourth Grade--In keeping with their studies of California, fourth graders first watched a Keynote presentation I made about the ghost town Bodie, California, and then heard Sonia Levitson's story, Boomtown. It was fun to try to imagine what life would have been like in those early towns of California during the gold rush and students were intrigued by how some of the early settlers made more money than the gold miners ever did just by using their ingenuity and finding the things the miners needed and selling them. In this delightful story, Amanda finds that baking pies leads to having a bakery, which leads to needing more pans, which leads to someone starting a store, which leads to a bank.......you get the idea. It was fun, too, for the students to see the pictures of Bodie and to figure out why Bodie didn't last.

Fifth Grade--Fifth graders worked on finishing their research and writing their first drafts of their blog posts for The Research Blog. Next week, our last library time for this year, we'll finish them up.

Sixth Grade--This week was it! Our last library class! To celebrate we played a rousing game of Library Jeopardy. My best wishes to the Class of '07 !

This is the last regular posting on "Voices From the Inglenook" for this year......next week I'll post a list of links to some great summer reading lists. Thanks for all the loyal readers who have made the journey with me this school year. Have a great summer and we'll see you in September!

Fourth Graders Are Published Authors!

Fourth Graders Publish!

We got our books! Fourth Graders in Mrs. Edwards' and Mr. Orr's classes finished our unit on Tall Tales and after writing a class tall tale and illustrating it, I sent it to Apple to be published as an hardback iPhoto book. The books arrived this week. They are fantastic. They have been cataloged as folktales and will be a part of our permanent collection. Parents....please stop by and see your child's remarkable work!

Also in the Library this week...

Kindergarten--It's always fun to read a classic and this week Kindergarteners heard James Marshall's version of The Three Little Pigs. Once again, I realized why these stories have remained favorites for so many years. There is drama, a great villain, a clever hero who uses his brains to outwit his opponent, and a satisfying ending. I use this story as a way to discuss what makes a classic, why it's okay to hear a story more than once, and to begin teaching about character, plot, and ending.

First Grade--The delightful story of The Pigs Wedding by Helme Heine never fails to cause giggles when Porker and Curly Tail paint wedding clothes on all their guests. All the best intentions aside, a sudden rainstorm turns the wedding reception in something the pigs really like--a nice romp in deliciously squishy mud. This is simply a fun story with lovely illustrations and is always enjoyed by the students.

Second Grade--Have you ever wondered what your dog is thinking? In Martha Speaks by Susan Meddaugh, the family feeds Martha, the dog, a bowl of alphabet soup and a strange thing happens. Instead of going to her stomach, the letters go to her brain, and amazingly Martha begins to speak. This is funny until she can't seems to stop speaking and finally her family tells her in no uncertain terms to be quiet. When a burglar arrives, Martha saves the day, and her family is so thankful she gets to talk whenever she wants.

Third Grade--Keeping with our pig theme, Hog Eye, also by Susan Meddaugh, causes great laughs when a piglet outfoxes a fox with the magic spell called "Hog Eye. " The curse is hysterical and all through the story is a gentle message about the importance of being able to read for yourself! (Just ask the poor wolf....)

Fourth Grade--To conclude our Tall Tales unit we read The Bunyans by Audrey Wood which tells what happened to old Paul Bunyan in later years. We especially like the ending with the reference to the "Martian Face" and after the story looked up the actual pictures on the Internet.

Fifth Graders--Fifth graders began their blog posting research lesson this week. We discussed how the blog worked and they teamed up to do research on four famous people. Next week we'll do our posting. If you'd like to see the lesson please go to the Library Skills Blog.

Sixth Graders--We had a relaxing week. The sixth graders are getting very busy with preparations for their play and graduation. I gave them time to look at the display I made of their "Favorite Book" project and it was nice to hear all their comments as they reminisced about their choices and those of their classmates. Parents...please stop by the library for a look!

There are two more weeks of Library classes for this year! Please start looking for all those missing books!

The Amazing William Steig

The Amazing William Steig

Third grade this week heard The Amazing Bone by William Steig and once again I was struck by his incredible respect for the minds and capabilities of children. The story itself is charming---Pearl the Pig is out for a walk on a beautiful spring day when she finds a bone that talks. After escaping one catastrophe she is caught by a fox who is bent on having her as his main course for dinner. Although these themes are prevalent in fairy tales, under Mr. Steig's brilliant pen, the story becomes much more. He never speaks down to children. Instead he delights our ears and minds with the use of wonderful words.....dawdle, odiferous wretch, flabbergasted---to name a few. Within the context of his sentences and with his quirky illustrations students enjoy figuring out these new words. And in the very satisfying ending, the magical words he makes up always elicit belly laughs from the listeners. I am reminded that children love the sound of our language and love to learn new words. Reading this book reminded me to sprinkle as many as I possibly can in my conversations with them!


Also in the Library this week...

Kindergarten--What happens when a "freeze-in-place" contest puts your friend in danger? This is the dilemma for duck in book Don't Fidget A Feather by Erica Silverman and S.D. Schindler. Duck and gander each want to be the winner and instead become prime ingredients for a fox's stew. Kindergarteners get quieter and quieter (not much fidgeting) when the fox starts to pick up gander to put him in the bubbling cauldron, but are happy when duck loses the game but saves her friend.

First Grade--Wendell's mother has asked him over and over to clean up his room. But she finally concedes and lets him have his own way. Pigsty by Mark Teague is the funny tale of Wendell and the pigs that actually move into his room. All is fine, until his basketball is flattened, his comic books have hoof prints on them, and his baseball cards are chewed. That's too much, even for Wendell! The room eventually gets cleaned and the pigs.....well they get to visit every now and then.

Third Grade--see opening post.

Fourth Grade--We finished! We proofread our tall tales, got to read each other's, and they are off for publication. We're keeping our fingers crossed that they will be back to us before school is over.

Fifth Grade--Because of testing, fifth grade missed library this week.

Sixth Grade--We finished our graduation project, "My Favorite Book," and the display will be set up in the Library next week. Each sixth grader chose one book from our collection that they remembered during their years at Cold Spring School. We had quite a range of choices from favorite easy readers like Go, Dog, Go to novels like The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. With their laptops, each student wrote about the book and why it made such an impression on them. They saved their work and sent it to my folder on the server. I'll put a display card together using Pages and the display will include the book and a picture of the student and their written work. It was a great "trip down memory lane" for our graduates!

Testing 1, 2, 3......

This week students in grades 2 through 6 had STAR testing. In honor (?) of that event, I read Testing Miss Malarkey by Judy Finchler to the 3rd graders. They thoroughly enjoyed the story of how the adults at the school seemed way more stressed out than the students. This was my way of injecting a little humor in this most serious of weeks.


Also in the Library....

Kindergarten--Mrs. Sickafoose's class head The Salamander Room by Anne Mazer and they loved the story of the boy and his attempt to convince his mother that he should let his newly found pet salamander sleep in his room. With a little remodeling of course..... The beautiful illustrations are an equal part of the story and make this book one of our favorites....so much so that both copies were checked out! So Mrs. Campbell's class heard another favorite, Mrs. Morgan's Lawn by Barney Saltzberg. Some people are just strange, thinks the narrator, especially since all his favorite balls end up on Mrs. Morgan's lawn and since she doesn't like anything to mar her perfect lawn, she keeps them. He finds out that in the end, one good deed deserves another and that some people, while strange, may also be wonderfully surprising!

First Grade--What does that word "Meanwhile...." mean? You know, the one with the three little dots after it? Raymond finds out in Jules Feiffer's award winning book by the same title and first graders loved all of Raymond's adventures as he "meanwhiled" from a pirate ship, to a wild west chase, to outer space and back again.

Second Grade--One of my favorite fairy tales in The Fisherman and His Wife and in this version by Rosemary Wells, the fisherman is a cat and he and his wife go through all the tribulations of wanting more, more, more, until they find that what they had in the beginning was really the best. Next week, we're reading a Russian version of the same tale, Luba and the Wren, and we'll compare the two.

Third Grade--see opening post.

Fourth Grade--We finished our illustrations for our tall tales and they are truly remarkable. Next week, we'll do our final proofing and then send the books off for publication. Mr. Orr's Class wrote "Harold the Hardware Hero" and Mrs. Edwards Class wrote "Carlitos the Colossal Cook."

Fifth Grade--Fifth graders squeezed in a half hour in the library and by the time the came, I had lost my voice (allergies? the wind? too much talking?)! So I used my laptop and projector to communicate with them about some new books we had just received and they had a relaxing time just reading in the Library for half and hour. One of the books I talked/wrote about was A Drowned Maiden's Hair by Laura Amy Schlitz and I would highly recommend it. The story of an orphan adopted by three elderly women, it keeps you on the edge of your seat as the girl is kept in hiding by the women who are spiritualists. They plan to use Maud to play the ghosts of children in their seances but her plucky spirit makes her begin to doubt what she's doing and after a shocking betrayal she escapes. The book is filled with details of early 20th Century life in New England and has a predictable but very satisfying ending.

Sixth Grade--Sixth graders followed all my silent directions and finished they posting of comments on the Research Blog. Please take a look at the great job they did. This lesson was about research, writing, blogging, commenting, but mostly it was about how to use this technology in an ethical way. We discussed the reasons for using good grammar, punctuation, and spelling and how to make a comment using constructive criticism. My hope is that by showing them how to blog correctly, they will remember these skills when they make their own blogs. One sixth grader already started a wonderful blog of his own and posts his remarkable photographs on it.

We are "heading for the finish line" as classes in the Library will end on May 31. I will be in the Library the last two weeks of school doing my yearly inventory. Please check those backpacks, under the seats of the car, under the bed, etc. for those missing library books. Thanks!

Readers Do Battle!

Battle of the Books!

On Thursday, April 26, our Cold Spring Battle of the Books participants had a wonderful time celebrating their love of reading and their incredible knowledge and enthusiasm. Our Battle Team this year consisted of four fourth graders and one sixth grader. These avid readers began reading the list of 30 books as early as last summer. In January, they started meeting with Mrs. Pedersen on their lunch hours in the Library to prepare for the Battle. On the 26th, they went to the County School Auditorium to participate with hundreds of other children from all over Santa Barbara County. Each member of our team was on a team with 4 students from other schools. After four battles, the final battle took place after lunch. Contratualtions to all on our team for their dedication, great sportsmanship, and hard work.

Plans are already underway for next year's Battle! The list of books will be posted on the Library webpage and copies will be available in the Library. We're already looking forward to another successful Battle of the Books '08!

Also in the Library this week...

Kindergarten--Oh that wolf.....he wants to fatten up the chicken for his favorite meal, chicken stew, so he bakes and cooks and secretly delivers food to the chicken hoping to make her plump and delicious. In The Wolf's Chicken Stew by Keiko Kasza, the wolf finds out that he's been feeding a flock of baby chicks instead and he just doesn't have it in his heart to eat them!

First Grade--Poor Blabber Mouse! He just can't stop talking and he surely can't keep a secret. True Kelley writes a wonderfully funny story with a rather touching ending as Blabber's friends find a very loving way to make him lock up his secrets.

Second Grade and Third Grade--Rumor has it that there is some testing on the horizon, so for fun and review we played a rousing game of "Name That Book." Second and third graders really know their reference books now!

Fourth Grade--Hollister Ranch and Disneyland were too much competition for the Library this week. See you next week, fourth graders, and we'll work on the illustrations for your tall tales books.

Fifth and Sixth Grade--Because Thursday was Battle of the Books and I was a judge, fifth and sixth grade missed library this week.

"Well, dogbite my buttons!"

"Well, dogbite my buttons!"

Third graders immensely enjoyed hearing Diane Stanley's two books, and Raising Sweetness and Saving Sweetness over the past two weeks. The books are a hoot to read aloud as they are peppered with hilarious similes and metaphors that spring like water from the mouth of the sheriff of Possum Trot who narrates the stories. We had lots of fun counting all the figures of speech as well as chuckling over the irony of the story. Our favorite saying of all was "Dogbite my buttons!" uttered by the sheriff after learning the "applebet" has 26 letters.

Also in the Library this week...


Kindergarten--Oliver, the cat, wants to stay out all night and play in the garden and his owner decides, after calling him in over and over, that he can do just that. Night Cat by Margaret Beames and Sue Hitchcock tells how Oliver eventually changes his mind when the garden gets spookier and spookier, and finally after it begins raining he wails to come inside. When his owner lets him in, he tries to convince himself that he's only doing it for her. Spoken like a true cat!

First Grade--Do you ever wonder what your dog does after you go to sleep at night? In The Night I Followed the Dog by Nina Laden we find that one dog has a whole other life---one that surprises his owner. This delightful story is has wonderful illustrations and the text itself has illustrated words. This is one of our favorite books!

Second Grade--Pigasso paints in an unusual manner and his friend Mootisse paints in his own way as well. When the two meet and become friends all seems well until they begin to criticize each other's painting style. What transpires is the building of a fence between their two houses but in the end the fence itself becomes a work of art that brings them back together. When Pigasso Meets Mootisse also by Nina Laden is a wonderful way to introduce the work of Picasso and Matisse to young children, but it also sends a message about how to express an opinion and that friends can be very different and still get along.

Third Grade--see opening post

Fourth Grade--With great excitement we wrote the first drafts of our own tall tales this week. Mr. Orr's class penned "Harold, the Hardware Hero" which takes place in Honolulu and Mrs. Edwards' class created "Carlitos, the Colossal Cook" set in New Mexico and complete with an enormous recipe at the end. Next week we'll start to put illustrations to our stories and then they will be created using iPhoto and sent off to be hardbound. These books will be cataloged and be part of our collection, and students will be able to check them out for years to come!

Fifth Grade--Ah, the wonders (and frustrations) of technology.....fifth graders were slated to begin their blog research project this week but after our windstorm last week, our Internet connection was, to put it mildly, on the "cranky" side. Repairs were made Friday, so we will begin next week. I demonstrated what the project would entail and we did have the opportunity once again to discuss ethical use of blogging and email. Our rule of thumb: Don't ever put anything in an email or a blog post that you wouldn't want your mother to read on the front page of the newspaper!

Sixth Grade-This was a "catch up week" and Ms. Gradias' class finished their commenting on the Research Blog. Ms. Zannon's class finished their posts and will do their commenting next week and that will complete the project. If you'd like to see the project so far, go to The Research Blog. I'll summarize the project and its goals next week. If you are a member of blogger.com, please feel free to leave comments if you'd like! (I made this blog closed to anonymous comments for safety reasons)

Until next week....

A Teachable Moment

A Teachable Moment

This week fifth graders played our popular game "Library Jeopardy" and one of our "daily doubles" afforded us with one of those moments teachers love. The boys team bet all their points (and sadly lost) when they tried to come up for a question for the answer, plagiarism.
What followed was a lively discussion of what plagiarism means. I presented a simple definition of plagiarism as the false presentation of someone else's writing as one's own. In the case of copyrighted work, plagiarism is illegal. Example were given, especially one where you could copy and paste into your own work something you got from a website. We discussed the ramifications of plagiarism--failing grades, expulsion from a school, legal problems, and what could be done to avoid plagiarism such as using quotation marks and attributions. But the best part was when the discussion turned nicely into a final statement that the problem with plagiarism is that it is unethical. Whether or not you might get caught plagiarizing is not the issue. Doing something inherently wrong is.

As the first group left the Library and the second group was coming in I heard several the students from the first group saying loudly, "Ask her what plagiarism is! Ask what plagiarism is!" As a teacher, it doesn't get much better than that.....

Also in the Library this week:

Kindergarten--How many cats do you have? One, two, maybe three? In the delightful rhyming story Cats, Cats, Cats by Lesléa Newman and Erika Oller, Mrs Brown has sixty cats! They sleep all day but when Mrs. Brown starts snoring, the cats party all night. Kindergartners liked participating in the story and coming up with the rhymes. Their favorite? Cats in the hallway throwing confetti and cats in the dining room eating spaghetti (or biscetti, depending on your pronunciation).

First Grade--Henri Mouse moves from New York to Paris to become a famous artist. But with his mixtures of magical magnetic paints whatever he paints ends up on his canvas...for good! First graders loved comparing the before and after illustrations. This story by George Mendoza and J. Boucher provides a fun way for students to practice their skills of observation and comparison. In the end Henri decides he must do what all great artists do and paint a self-portrait and the results are almost disastrous!

Second Grade--A round fuzzy object rolls down the tunnels of prairie dogs in the hilarious book The Great Fuzz Frenzy by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel . With alliterations aplenty and fantastic illustrations this book is a great hit. The gentle reminders that selfishness can cause trouble and that working as a group is best in the long run add to the quality of the story.

Third Grade--Saving Sweetness by Diane Stanley and Tom Bodett tells the story of an orphan and her rescue from an orphanage and the notoriously mean Mrs. Sump. Told in the voice of the sheriff, it is so much fun to read aloud and is filled with wonderful similes and metaphors. The collage like illustrations add the the overall effect. While the story tells one point of view, the pictures tell another and the humor of the contrast was enjoyed by the students. We can't wait until next week to read the sequel, Raising Sweetness.

Fourth Grade--In preparation for writing our own tall tales, we read one more this week. Mike Fink re-told by Steven Kellogg is not one of the most well-known tall tales. Students enjoyed the story of the mighty river boatman and could easily find in it all the elements of a tall tale. Next week they will try their hand and writing one of their own!

Fifth Grade--see opening post

Sixth Grade--Most students finished their posts on the Research Blog this week and students made comments on each other's posts. Next week when all posts are finished and commented upon we'll provide a link so you can view them yourselves.

image citation:http://thewonderfulworldofnothing.blogspot.com

Spring Break

We are on Spring Break this week. See you again on April 16!

(Please read the previous post on Cyber-Bullying if you haven't already. It's such an important issue.)

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.