WESTLAND ELEMENTARY

This month we read Teammates by Peter Golenbock to our students.  It is a book about Jackie Robinson and the racial prejudice he experienced when he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers as the first black player in Major League baseball.  This book gives a good description of the kind of discrimination most African Americans went through in the fifties and we talked about the changes that have occurred making it possible to elect our first African American President.

Oakcrest

We chose to read several books that we thought were excellent. We decided to try to choose a theme for each month. This month's theme was Snowflakes, so we read Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin which everyone loved especially because it really happened. Some of the other books we have read were The Snowflake Sisters by J. Patrick Lewis, A little Bit of Winter by Paul Stewart, and Sleigh Bells and Snowflakes - A Celebration of Christmas Compiled by Linda Bronson (This is a book of poems and songs). We also read a couple of books about Martin Luther King, Jr, as well as a fun book called The Runaway Shopping Cart by Kathy Long. The kids had a lot of fun with these books as well as learning new things from them, and as always enjoy seeing their love for books and the library grow!

Terra Linda

Title:  Let Freedom Ring  "A Ballad of Martin Luther King Jr."

Author:  Myra Cohn Livingston

Topic:  Biography of Martin Luther King  (In poem form)

Ages:  All

 

Title:  The Voice of the People  "American Democracy in Action"

Author:  Betsy Maestro

Topic:  Democracy and Government

Ages:  All

 

The week of  Martin Luther King Day and the Inauguration,  we read these two books to our classes.  We read about Martin Luther King and how he paved the way for our first African American President. The books also explained what an Inauguration is and how the President takes the oath of office.  It also talked about the whole Inauguration day and what to expect.  It worked out great because the students got to watch the Inauguration on TV at school and saw first hand what we had talked about and read.  They were really excited.  What a great teaching moment that they will remember the rest of their lives.

 

 

Falcon Ridge

Title: Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dude
Author: O'Malley, Kevin
Age: All      
Topic:  Fairytales
Comments:  This is a great book for even those who don't like fairytales. It has a part of the story for everyone boys and girls alike. I started out by asking the children if they would share with me what their favorite Fairytale was. Then I asked if there was anyone who does not like fairytales. A few would raise there hands. I told them that I had a fairytale that even they might like. Once I read the title they all were intrigued. They all loved the story.

Heartland Elementary

We have some fun books to share with you.

The first is titled "Over in the Ocean in a Coral Reef." It is written by Marianne Collins Berkes. It is illustrated by Jeanette Canyon. The text is a fun counting book with rhyme. The kids loved looking for all of the sea creatures to count. The really amazing part of the book are the illustrations. The book has a section in the back of the book that explains how Jeanette Canyon went about creating the illustrations. It is an amazing process that she went through to do the book. It also has the music so that the teachers can have the kids sing the words to the book. It was a real hit with the teachers and students.

HAYDEN PEAK

We did a pair & share this week.  Snowballs by Lois Ehlert, which is an Easy picture book.  We paired it with Nonfiction Snow by Ann Herriges.  The students were impressed with the beauty of snowflakes & are looking forward to the next snowfall to look a them.

Columbia Elementary

We wanted to motivate our 6th grade students to read an entire book since quite a few of them were struggling with this.  The Columbia Elementary Book group was the answer.  With help from our administration we obtained 40 copies of the book "Frindle" by Andrew Clements. The 6th graders were asked to read a book  then fill out a book review form on that book.  If this was done they were allowed in the book group where they received their own copy of Frindle and an invitation to come an participate in a book discussion.  What a success this has been.  The students who participated all came to the book discussion having read the entire book and prepared to answer questions about it.  We are now on our second book which we handed out last week.  War Horse is going to be a great read for them and will be fun to talk about in our book discussions. 

HAYDEN PEAK

"Bark George" can be the most entertaining book for the students if you use the CD by John Lithgow.  There is no way we could do the voices that he does.  So give it a try.  You'll feel like a comedian.   "Now bark, George!"

mtn. shadows - january

 

Title:  Moo Who?
Author: Margie Palatini
Age:   K-3
Topic: Fiction-Animal Sounds
Comments: The books that let the kids make animal sounds (or any sounds at all) are always a favorite in our library.  The kids contributed many barnyard sounds.  I asked them afterwards if they have seen these animals in person.  It was amazing how many kids have never seen a barnyard animal.  I told them to visit Wheeler Farm, and that the best part is that it's free! Honk, Peep, Oink, Mew, and Moo-oo-ooo to you!!!

Falcon Ridge

 

During the month of December we decided that we would share Christmas stories from the new Christmas books that we have in the library.

Title: Christmas in the Trenches
Author: John McCutcheon
Age: 3 - 6
Topic: Christmas Eve during World War I

Title: Santa Claus the World's #1 Toy Expert
Author: Mike Reiss
Age: K - 6
Topic: We had them look for the different ways that Santa's underwear changed each day

 Title: Merry UnChristmas
Author: Marla Frazee
Age:  K-3
Topic: This is about a town where it is Christmas 364 days a year. UnChristmas is their special holiday that they look forward to.

Title: Great Joy
Author: Kate DiCamillo
Age: 3 - 6
Topic: A little girl sees an organ grinder and his monkey on a street corner and invites him to come and see her play at their church.
Comments: We also had the children write their favorite book on Christmas cutouts along with their name and then put them up throughout the library. We will save these to use them next year and add more to put up.