SPOOK-TACULAR BOOOKS!!!

Jack-o-lantern, Jack-o-lantern, you are such a funny sight.
As you sit there by the window,
Looking out into the night,
You were once a sturdy pumpkin,
growing on a curly vine.
Now you are a Jack-o-lantern,
See your night lights shine. - Anonymous

October Authors

3 – Molly Cone

4 – Robert Lawson

Donald J. Sobol – (Encyclopedia Brown series)

5 – David Shannon – (“David” books)

7 – Alice Dalgliesh

8 – Faith Ringgold

10 – James Marshall

Robert San Souci

14 – Lois Lenski

Polly Cameron

19 – Ed Emberley (drawing books)

Dan Gutman

20 – Crockett Johnson (Harold’s Purple Crayon)

23 – Marjorie Flack

Matt Novak

26 – Steven Kellogg

30 - Henry Winkler

31 – Katherine Paterson

Second graders learned all about author Donald J. Sobol who celebrated his birthday on October 4, after seeing a display of Encyclopedia Brown books. This famous 10 year old boy detective helps solve confounding mysteries and with the clues given in each case, readers will have a chance to solve the mystery themselves! These books are interactive and chockfull of interesting bits of information-classic Encyclopedia Brown!

Since they are also studying South America, they listened to storyteller, Anamarie Garcia, retell the South American folktale entitled The Girl from the Sky, originating in the rich oral tradition of the Inca. This tale has been told many times and in many different cultures. It is a story about a young boy and girl whose different worlds eventually keep them apart.

They read two non-fiction books entitled, South America, Surprise! by April Pulley Sayre and South America by Cherly Striveildi. Ask any second grader where the world's largest rain forest is located, where the world's highest waterfall can be found, or what a guanaco is. This was some of the information they researched...they will enjoy learning all the other wonders of the fourth-largest continent as the weeks pass.

Students in first grade read a story entited The Magic Bat by Geoffrey Griffin, who wrote the story when he was in fifth grade. His story is based on a blend of real-life experiences and imagination. He was one of the Raintree/Steck-Vaughn Publish-a-Book Contest winners which featured child authors. There is a shelf in our library with more books written by child authors and the students are being encouraged to check one out during the year. Ideas from other writers are always inspirational.

They also saw a display of David Shannon's books, since this famous author celebrated his birthday on October 5. Students are now wondering if the events in the books are based on the author's own life???? After all the main character is named, David ???

Students enjoyed playing a guessing game using the book entitled What Can It Be? Riddles About Our Bodies, by Jacqueline A. Ball and Ann D. Hardy. Since they have been studying this unit in their classrooms, lots of hands were being raised to answer the questions. Every student received a special bookmark entitled, "Five Finger Rule!"

Here is how to find a "just right" book using this rule:

* Choose a book and read the first page or two.

*Put one finger up for every word you don't know.

*If five of your fingers go up while reading, choose another book.

*If only two or three fingers go up, you've found a "just right" book.

Happy Reading!

JK students recently had a pet parade so they really enjoyed listening to The Dog Who Had Kittens by Polly M. Robertus. This story first appeared in Cricket, the magazine for children, March 1988, volume 15, number 7. Baxter the Basset Hound comes to the aid of some kittens when their mother disappears one afternoon.

Several students from our high school Universal Language Club offered to read to the Alpha students on Thursday, October 13. They read Gus Gets Scared by Frank Remkiewicz, by the author who visited our school last year. What a surprise ending they heard, moo! Facts about bats were also discussed after they heard the book entitled Bats and Their Homes by Deborah Chase Gibson. Students saw an overview of different kinds of bats, how and where they make their homes and saw actual photographs of a bat nursery. They also learned what the "universal language" is....If you do not know, just ask one of the Alpha students.

A big thank you goes out to Andi Mullins for chairing the library volunteers this year. Her hard work and precious time has paid off for all of us. She has been giving hands on training sessions since school started. We have many parents who are helping us in the media center this month and they are so appreciated. They are checking out books, helping students locate books and explore the many treasures found in our beautiful media center. Some are also helping with the book displays and decorations. Thank you so much to all of our wonderful parent volunteers who are helping the students "Go Wild for Books" this year.

Erin Ross and Dionne Fajardo are also working hard to make our annual book fair a success. Remember all the funds from this event go directly to the library budget. Thank you in advance for your support. Hope to see you there at one of the times scheduled below:
*Tuesday - Nov. 8th - 8am-4pm
*Wednesday - Nov. 9th - 8am-5:30-Extended Hours
*Thursday - Nov. 10 - 8am-4pm
*Friday - Nov. 11 - 8am - 3pm

We love you!!!

OCTOBER HAPPENINGS!!

" A fallen leaf is nothing more than a summer's wave good bye"
- Anonymous

OCTOBER BIRTHDAYS and BIOGRAPHIES

Oct. 2- Mahatma Gandhi- Political and spiritual leader of India, known for his advocacy of nonviolent resistance.

Oct. 5 - Robert H. Goddard - Called "The Father of Modern Rocketry", who launched the first liquid-fueled rocket in Auburn, Maine in 1926.

Oct. 9 - John Lennon - Musician, member of the popular and influential British singing group The Beatles.
Oct. 11 - Eleanor Roosevelt - wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who set many precedents as a First Lady. She fought for the rights of the underprivileged and racial minorities.

Oct. 14 - Dwight D. Eisenhower - 34th U.S. President; Supreme Allied Commander for the invation of Europe during WWII.

Oct. 17 - Mae Jemison - Scientist and astronaut.

Oct. 20 - Mickey Mantle - Baseball Hall of Famer.

Oct. 27 - James Cook - Explorer of the South Pacific.

Want to know more about any of these famous people? Stop by the media center and check out one or more of their biographies!

Students in Grade 4 and Grade 5 saw a slide show and book trailers about the Sunshine State Young Reader's Award contest. Each one also received lists of previous winners as well as copies of this year's books. Hopefully, many will decide to participate in this state reading contest. Anyone interested just needs to read 3 books by April and they would be eligible to vote!


In Grade 2 , the students had a very varied, fun, and educational lesson. First, they listened to the "Davy Crockett Song" and saw a real "coon skin hat"; next they laughed as they watched a version (video streaming) of the tall tale Pecos Bill spoken by Robin Williams; then they read a peace book entitled, Can You Say Peace ? by Karen Katz; and finally, they read parts of Shel Silverstein's book entitled Runny Babbit, to honor his September 25th birthday. Some of the students shared the tall tales that they had written and they all received special "peace" bookmarks.

In Grade 1, students discussed the life of Johnny Appleseed (John Chapman) whose birthday we remember on September 26. They compared facts and fiction as they listened to the book Who Was John Chapman? by Patsy Becvar. We discussed how "tall tales" evolved and then saw a video streaming of this famous person and heard the famous song about his life. Since Shel Silverstein's birthday is September 25th students enjoyed listening to some of his poems, told by him on CD, from Where the Sidewalk Ends.

In Jr. K students have been learning nursery rhymes and some of them decided to check out books about them from the library. We also discussed the four seasons and listened to the story entitled How Do You Know It's Fall? by Allan Fowler.

Third graders are learning the ten catagories of the Dewey Decimal System and will be working with partners to fill in titles in every section of the non-fiction area. They will be writing down the call numbers, authors, and subjects for each book they choose. By the end of the lesson they will hopefully understand the arrangement of this famous system as well as how to work cooperatively with their partners.

Alpha students celebrated the birthday of Stan Berenstain (September 29) by listening to The Bike Lesson, which made the children laugh as they followed along with Papa Bear giving Small Bear advice. They saw puppets of Mama Bear, Papa Bear, Grizzly Gramps, Brother Bear and Baby Bear. After meeting all the characters and listening to one of the stories, many students checked out a Berenstain bear book to read with their families. Enjoy!

In K, students discussed fiction and non-fiction books. Since they have recently planted a garden, we read the non-fiction book entitled Plant Secrets by Emily Goodman, which explains each stage of plants-seed, plant, flower, fruit. In honor of David Shannon's birthday (October 5) we also read the famous fiction story entitled A Bad Case of Stripes.


A big thank you goes out to Andi Mullins for chairing the library volunteers this year. Her hard work and precious time has paid off for all of us. She has been giving hands on training sessions since school started. We have many parents who are helping us in the media center this month and they are so appreciated. They are checking out books, helping students locate books and explore the many treasures found in our beautiful media center. Some are also helping with the book displays and decorations. Thank you so much to all of our wonderful parent volunteers who are helping the students "Go Wild for Books" this year. We love you!!!

WE'RE "FALLING" FOR BOOKS...

This week in the media center the 2 grade students met the "shelf elf" and learned how books are arranged in the media center. They defined Easy, Fiction and Non-fiction books and found out what the 100, 200, and 300 section of the library contains. We concentrated on the 398 section and discussed Tall Tales of the United States. This fit in with their study of North America. Through posters, pictures, and books students learned about Davy Crockett, Old Stormalong, Paul Bunyan, John Henry, Pecos Bill, Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind, and Johnnny Appleseed. By the end of the lesson they were even making up their own tall tales...what imaginations they have!!

In 1st grade students saw displays of books by authors Jack Prelutsky (The New Kid on the Block - poems) and Jon Scieszka (author of The Stinky Cheese Man) who both celebrated birthdays on September 8. They read the poem entitled "Be Glad Your Nose is on Your Face" and delighted in humor of Mr. Prelutsky. They then listened to two stories with similar main characters, namely Amelia Bedelia's First Day of School by Herman Parish and Morris Goes to School by B. Wieseman. In each book the main characters are literal-minded so life gets very interesting and filled with confusing adventures. Humorous stories are fun to read for any age....why not try checking out one today?

To honor Tomie de Paola's Septemer 15th birthday, students in Jr.K learned about the colors of the Italian flag and saw pictures of this well known author. They also listened to Strega Nona's Harvest. After helping Strega Nona plant her vegetable garden just so, Big Anthony takes some extra seeds and sows another garden willy-nilly, then must find a way to deal with the consequences. Students learned some Italian vocabulary while enjoying this story, too. Some of their favorite words were la luna (the moon), libro (book), mamma mia ( my mother ), grazie (thank you), arrivederci (good-bye), buona notte (good night) and Strega Nona (old grandmother). Tomie dePaola became an author because his mom read to him a lot when he was little.....so parents keep reading to your children!!!

On September 15 the Alpha students celebrated Robert McCloskey's birthday by listening to his Caldecott Honor book entitled Blueberries for Sal. The children enjoyed this popular story and they learned about hibernation, which is quite a vocabulary word for three year olds.

The Sunshine State Young Reader's Award program is a state reading contest from the (DOE) Department of Education in Tallahassee. Every year students in grades 3-5 and 6-8 are given a list of 15 selected books to read. If they read 3 or more by April 2012, they will be eligible to vote and a winner will be chosen from all the Florida votes. Students in grade 3 saw a slide show of all the previous winners, received their lists, and also saw some book trailers explaining some of the titles on this year's list. Hopefully, many students will decide to participate. They sure seemed excited after our lesson! For a complete list try this site:

http://www.booktrailersforreaders.com/2011+2012++Sunshine+State+Readers

In K students saw a display of Tomie DePaola's books and read the Caldecott medal winner Stega Nonna. They learned these Italian vocabulary words to help with the story :(kiss) bacio, (kisses) baci, (one),uno, (two) due,( three) tre and (fork) forchetta .) Students also learned the importance of listening and found out what character in the book did not listen very well. They had fun watching the pasta overflow all over the library and each received a reward for helping to clean it up. Ask any K student what was the( secret ingredient) ingrediente segreto. Grazia!

A big thank you goes out to Andi Mullins for chairing the library volunteers this year. Her hard work and precious time has paid off for all of us. She has been giving hands on training sessions since school started. We have many parents who are helping us in the media center this month and they are so appreciated. They are checking out books, helping students locate books and explore the many treasures found in our beautiful media center. Thank you so much to all of our wonderful parent volunteers who are helping the students "Go Wild for Books" this year. We love you!!!