A NEW YEAR FILLED WITH NEW BOOKS

         THE GREATEST ADVENTURE

The greatest adventure is what lies ahead.
Today and tomorrow are yet to be said.
The chances, the changes are all yours to make.
The mold of your life is in your hands to break.
        (from THE HOBBIT, by J.R.R. Tolkien)

Students in grade 1 took off to the moon by doing a reader's theater of the book Man On The Moon by Anastasia Suen.

There were costumes, props, and a director to help the performance take place. History was repeated and students learned about the word lost from the transmission when Neil Armstrong first stepped onto the moon. No one knows why. What we were supposed to hear was: "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."


In grade 2 students are studying Australia and they read Over in Australia-Amazing Animals Down Under by Marianne Berkes. Students learned the names of a baby crocodile, wallaby, gray koala, platypus, rainbow lorikeet, wombat, sugar glider, brolga, long-eared bilby, and emu. Just ask them who incubates the emu chick and who looks after them 6 months after they are born. They also found the hidden animals which included the frilled neck lizard, the dingoes, kookaburra, echidna, cockatoos, tiger quoll, black swan, barking gecko, woma python, and ringtail possums. Did you know that Australia is unique in that around 80 percent of its animals are endemic, or native to the country. Australia also has the greatest number of reptiles of any country-917 species. Marsupials aren't the only unusual mammals of Australia. There are also mammals that lay eggs! These are called monotremes. Two such animals that live in Australia are the platypus and echidna. The students are certainly excited about learning these facts and many more as they virtually travel on this continent.

Third graders are learning about biographies. After reading the collective biography entitled My Brothers' Flying Machine-Wilbur, Orville, and Me by Jane Yolen students did a reader's theater. It all started one day when Wilbur and Orville's father brought home a small flying toy, the brothers played with until it broke. That toy was the beginning of a remarkable collaboration that would culminate in the successful flight at Kitty Hawk.
 



In Alpha students read the book entitled I'm the Best by Lucy Cousins and they all talked about what they are good at. We were not quite sure the dog in the book learned his lesson when we read the last page.

Let's Do Nothing by Tony Fucile was the book read by Jr. K students. They met Frankie and Sal, two boys who've done it all. They've played every board game. They've read every comic book and painted a zillion pictures. What's left to do? Just when it seems they will collapse from boredom, Sal gets a brilliant idea. What about doing nothing? But is it possible-can two boys do ten whole seconds of nothing? Hold your breath and get ready for this laugh-out-loud romp created by feature film animator and debut picture-book artist Tony Fucile.
 



Volunteers, volunteers, volunteers.....we have seen so many wonderful volunteers since school started in the new year. Thanks to the hard work and very flexible schedule of  Andi Mullins. I am very thankful for the new "Feruary look" in the library thanks to all the wonderful other volunteers who decorated and pulled the new author books. You are all so appreciated and loved by the children and especially by the librarians.