NATIONAL LIBRARY WEEK - APRIL 8-14 !!!!This year's theme is "You belong@ your library"
APRIL 9 is MULTICULTRAL COMMUNICATION MONTH...Check out
Mam Lisa's World at
www.mamalisa.com, a wedsite with kids' songs and nursery rhymes from across the globe in English and te original languages.
APRIL 12 is
Beverly Cleary's Birthday and It's
National Humor Month....Did you know
Ramona Quimby is the official spokesperson for D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything and Read. Visit
www.dropeverythingandread.com/NationalDEAR
day.html for more information.
APRIL 13 is Lee
Bennett Hopkin's Birthday"We spend too much time teaching children to read and not enough time teaching them to love to read"-Lee Bennett Hopkins
*****VOTING DAYS FOR SUNSHINE STATE YOUNG READER'S AWARD....****** 7:30-2:45 THURSDAY - APRIL 19 FRIDAY - " 20 TUESDAY - " 24 WEDNESDAY - " 25ALL STUDENTS IN GRADES 3-6 WHO HAVE READ 3 BOOKS FROM THIS YEAR'S LIST CAN VOTE!Students in
Grade 2 are studying
Africa, so in the library they practiced
following directions and using their
map skills to locate different countries in that continent. They
labeledl
and
colored the countries as their
"student" teachers located them on a huge map using the
Elmo projector. They worked with a
partner and will continue this
research on the
computer using World Book Online for their next lesson.
Florida is the main topic for
Grade 1 so for their lesson included hearing books about their state.
Florida by Ann Heinrichs,
Let's Explore America- Florida by Valerie Bodden, and
Florida-Facts and Symbols by Emily McAuliffe were read to the students. It is amazing how much they already knew and how much they learned!
Students in
grade 3 spent their
library time doing
research with
partners using
www.worldatlas.com They are
comparing using an
online research tool to a "
book" atlas. One thing they found in common is that
research takes time and you must" dig" into your search and "read" to find answers. They also are learning how to
work cooperatively and
make decisions by
collaborating.Jr. K. and
Alpha students heard one of the books from this year's
Florida Reading Association's Children Book Contest entitled
Christian, the Hugging Lion by
Justin Richardson and
Peter Parnell. This is the
true story of two men, Ace and John, who found a lion cub for sale at
Harrods department store. They bought him and named him Christian and the three lived happily for a year in a London apartment. But eventually, Christian grew to big and they decided to let him go to live the life of a wild cat in
Kenya, Africa. They had a reunion a year after saying good-bye and it is now a famous video that appeared on the
Internet in 2008. (YouTube) Look it up for yourselves on
www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiGKWoJi5qMThe students were very surprised to see it and we discussed how remarkable it was since lions are very dangerous animals and should never be approached closely since they are "wild" animals. Christian was the exception, for sure.
Students will receive a ballot with the 8 books from this year's contest and they will vote for their favorite. Each student will also receive a book bag and 4 other prizes for voting.
We do have Fun in our Library and we Learn a lot!K students listened to this year's Caldecott Honor book entitled
Me...Jane by
Patrick McDonnell. This award-winning picture book author tells the inspiring story of the young girl who would grow up to be Dr. Jane Goodall-primatologist, environmentalist, humanitarian, and United Nations Messenger of Peace. Holding her stuffed toy chimpanzee, young Jane Goodall observes nature, reads Tarzan books, and dreams of living in Africa and helping animals.
They also enjoyed listening to
Mommy Mine by
Tim Warnes, and illustrated by
Jane Chapman who also illustrated
Bear Snores On.Who says K students are too young for
ZOO-OLOGY?? Well, they proved they are ready for this subject after finding the
hidden little chameleon in the pictures and figuring out the
classification of animals. Are they horned or feathered? Are they covered with spots or with stripes? Do they live under the water or under the ground? Do they live in hot weather or cold? More than 300 animals are arranged in thought-provoking thematic groupings in the pages of
Zoo-olgy by
Joelle Jolivet.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.