MARCH... INTO THE MEDIA CENTER

            ODE TO SPRING

O spring, O spring,                                                 
You wonderful thing!
O spring, O spring, O spring!                      
O spring, O spring,
When the birdies sing
I feel like a king,
O spring! 

by Walter R. Brooks

        GUESS WHO IS COMING TO VISIT SHORECREST ???

Sherri Winston, SSYRA author of President of the Whole Fifth Grade,  ONE OF THIS YEAR'S FLORIDA SUNSHINE STATE YOUNG READER'S AWARD BOOKS, combined two of her childhood favorites to create her book -- cupcakes and cash! Like a lot of kids, at 10, Winston was an intrepid little planner whose allowance was never quite large enough to live the dream. In her book, she develops a personality in Brianna Justice, who figures out how to have her cupcake and eat it, too. Winston spent over twenty years as a newspaper reporter, columnist and sports writer. She currently lives in Orlando with her two daughters, four cats, two turtles, and plays nanny for her nephew's shih tzu.

**********AUTHOR VISIT   -   Thursday, March 21 to help us celebrate READING WEEK !!!!*****************

 


Students in grade 2 learned all about Shrek, the famous Hermit Sheep of Tarros. This is based on a true story set in Tarras, New Zealand by the students of Tarras School. The story, written through a child's eyes, covers Shrek's start in life at Bendigo station, his journey to the mountains above, finding a cave and making it home, and finally his discovery and road to fame. Shrek was found on Bendigo Station on April 15, 2004, by a woman shepherd Ann Scanlan and was carried to safety by Daniel Devine. For six years Shrek evaded musters in the magnificent Central Otago high country of New Zealand and his picture below shows what he looked like when he was finally found.

In first grade, the students found out what happens when a house decides to take a vacation.

While the Petersons are away, their house decides to take a trip to the sea to watch the "Dance of the Sunlight," despite some groaning from the chimney and the basement's refusal to rise to the occasion. Read House Takes a Vacation by Jacqueline Davies to find out exactly what happened>

Vote for your favorite fossil or skeleton. There is a display made by Cian MacCarthy and Mrs. Smay.

In Alpha class, the students listened to Don't Spill the Beans by Ian Schoenherr. In this story, a bear tries hard to keep a birthday surprise a secret.

Jr. K students listened to Bandit's Surprise by Karen Rostoker-Gruber and found out that when Michelle brings home a new kitten, Bandit is not at all pleased to share his home and water dish, and absolutely refuses to share his favorite toy mouse called Fuzzy Mouse. Will these two cats ever reach a purr-fect friendship??

 

In K students enjoyed the noodlehead story entitled Epossumondas by Coleen Salley. Mishaps occur but are not caused deliberately. The humor is gentle and silly. The plot may be highly improbable,but not impossible-it could happen. This is a retelling of a classic tale in which a well-intentioned young possum continually takes his mother's instructions much too literally.  

Students in grade 3 worked with a partner to do a biography lesson. They are playing " Guess Who Is Knocking At the Door". After reading their biography book, they make up 3 factual questions that are clues to who they read about. In this "game" students try to guess  "WHO" the biography is about. Prizes are given out to the participants and the players who guess the correct person. By the end of the game every student should learn about someone they did not know before.

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 "March 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 librarian.

NEW FEBRUARY FRIENDS

 "Away in a meadow all covered with snow,
The little old groudhog looks for his shadow.
The clouds in the sky determine our fate, 
If winter will leave us all early or late."
                                                                  Don Halley

Guess who I met when I went to the FETC (Florida Educational Technology Conference)??? If you can name my friend you will win a prize....just stop by the media center and tell me the name of my friend. Good luck!

Students in grade 2 wanted to know why the platypus is special since they are studying Australia. Well, they looked at an Aboriginal folktale from the Yorta-Yorta people and found out. They read aloud the play in a Reader's Theater performance...and now they know why Aboriginal Australians rarely hunt or kill a Platypus.....want to know? Just ask a second grader....

Space and the planets are the hot topic in grade 1 and students were discussing all the facts they learned from the  Brain Pop and WeirdButTrue apps on the i-pad. They also listened to the story/song of Halley 's comet in the story entitled Halley Cam e to Jackson by Mary Carpenter. They will also be looking at the moon to find out what phase it is in for the next few weeks. Being spaced out is great!

"Gung hay fat choy" was the chant of K in the media center as they learned about Chinese New Year. Did you know it lasts for 15 days?  Just ask any K student what some of the traditions, colors, and customs are. They will tell you all about it...since they read Chinese New Year by Lola M. Schaefer. They also talked about the hearts in nature pictures they saw in the periodical entitled Ranger Rick. Lots of laughter and smiles were going on as they heard Diane de Groat's valentine story entitled Roses Are Pink, Your Feet Really Stink. Students collaborated with partners to decide how the main character of this story made poor choices as well as possible actions he could do to make up for these choices. Everyone learned a lesson about nice and nasty poems.

In Jr. K. students listened to Franklin's Valentines by Paulette Bourgeois or The Day It Rained Hearts by Felicia Bond. In both stories showing how much our friends mean to us was the main theme as well as appreciating our friends everyday.

      
















How Spider Saved Valentine's Day by Robert Kraus was the book read to the Alpha students. Once again Spider uses his creativity and imagination to solve the problem in the story. It had a happy and a surprise ending for sure. 

Third graders will be working on biographies and learning about famous people as well as how to find these books in the library. They will be working with partners and playing "Guess Who's Knocking at my Door."



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 librarian

      

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.

JANUARY BRINGS JOY IN THE MEDIA CENTER

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Students in grade 1 used the i-Pad in their lesson from Brain Pop Jr. on the solar system. They listened to the lesson and worked with partners to answer questions from the lesson. They worked cooperatively and collaborated before writing their answers on their whiteboards.

After the winter break, they read Man On The Moon by Anastasia Suen describing in illustrations and simple text the Apollo 11 mission to the moon, culminating in man's first lunar landing. Actual footage of this event was also seen by the students in the media center. For the next class lesson, students will do a reader's theater presentation.

In grade 2 students worked on their passports to earn their stickers. They are finding facts from all the continents and by the end of the school year, their passports will be filled with 7 stickers.
They also used the i-Pad in their lesson from Brain Pop Jr. on holidays around the world. They listened to the lesson on Christmas, Chanukah, and Kwanzaa. They worked cooperatively and collaborated with partners before writing their answers on their whiteboards.
After the winter break, they worked with a partner to answer questions about Europe on the computer using the World atlas.com resource. This was a collaborative as well as cooperative lesson. They will continue to earn stamps on their passports as they travel to the different continents.

JR. K students enjoyed holding on to their hats as they read two books by Jon Klassen. I Want My Hat Back is about a bear who almost gives up  his search for his missing hat until he remembers something important. This was a #1 New York Times Bestseller. Another masterpiece he wrote as an  encore is This Is Not My Hat, from the perspective of the hat stealer. The results are just as suspenseul, adorable, and laugh-inducing for kids and adults alike. Even though we have to be creative to explain the darkly hilarious ending to little ones, this is a book that everyone is going to want to read over and over again.

Alpha students learned all about manners while listening to Piggy Monday by Suzanne Bloom. In this story the children in Mrs. Hubbub's class are so rude and thoughtless one day that they turn into pigs and need the help of the Pig Lady to help them remember their manners.

K students used their imaginations and creativity after hearing the story Not a Box by Antoinette Portis. Working in partners they had a box and 10 minutes to create their own item. Using the I-pad to take their pictures and using the app Doodle Friend they drew what they imagined on the screen for all the students to see. Before revealing their answers, they had a guessing game with clues for their classmates to participate. Amazingly every group was different. Great job K !!!

Students in grade 3 are discussing biographies. They read the collective biography entitled My Brothers' Flying Machine-Wilbur, Orville, and Me by Jane Yolen. This books provides a look at the lives of Orville and Wilbur Wright, as seen through the eyes of their younger sister, Katharine, who provided support and encouragement while they worked on their many inventions.

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 "January 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.