Chariho's Second Elementary Poetry Slam!

Tonight I was delighted to be a part of Chariho's second-ever Elementary Poetry Slam!  Twenty-three of the sixty participants were from Ashaway School, so we were very well represented!  I'm so proud of the students who not only followed through on penning an original poem, but also for courageously standing in front of an audience to share their work. 

 

It was a wonderful evening and my thanks go out to all who helped to make it happen!!


 

Secret World

By Samantha, Grade 3

 

There are secret worlds out there

With unicorns and dragons.

With grass as soft as feathers.

And blossoms as pretty as a whale’s tail.

And clouds as pretty as polka-dotted dresses.

And golden scales as shiny as the sun.

Where the unicorns and dragons have peaceful lives.

I Like Reading                                  

By Paige, Grade 1                            

I like reading, it’s so fun                 

I think I like every one.       

I like reading so you know  

Reading makes you grow. 

It does not make you tall

It makes your brain not so small.

I like to read when it snows

Then I feel happy and it shows.

It relaxes me before bed

As stories play in my head.

I like to read when the sun comes up

Then my mom yells time to get up!

My Cat is Happy

By Ava, Grade 1

My cat is happy

Purr Purr Purr

My cat makes me happy

Smile Smile Smile

We are both happy

All the while

At night we cuddle together

Dream Dream Dream

Science is Everything

By Gabrielle and Lilly, Grade 3

Science is everything, it’s true!

Science even created you!

Science made our schools and houses!

Science made our cats and mouses!

Science made our moon and stars.

Science made Neptune and Mars!

Science made our flowers and plants!

Science made your shirts and pants!

Science made the chairs you sit in.

Science made the world we live in!

See, science is everything!

 

Hop Toads

By Sadie, Grade 1 & Mabel, Grade 4 

Crick croak crick croak

I’m a tiny toad

hop stop hop stop

hopping down the road

brown gray slimy bumpy

please don’t run me over

too hot getting grumpy

looking for some clover

green grass damp and dewy

full of juice bugs

eat them up ooey gooey

great big gulping chugs.

 

 

My Night

By Emma, Grade K

A monster went in my room

And I didn’t know what to do

But then there was another monster

Then I had an idea!

I ate a cookie!

Colors!

By Zoe, Grade 2

The sky is painted blue

The mountains are painted white

Snow leopards roam the mountains

And owls fly at night

The trees are painted green and brown

The water is painted blue 

Monkeys live in the trees

And fish live in the blue

Leaves are painted green

Sticks are painted brown

Leaves float in the breeze

And sticks lay on the ground

The rainbow has all the colors

Red, orange, yellow, green, blue

And did you know there’s purple too?

Thanks for organizing another terrific event, Mr. Gencarelli!

YOU ROCK!!

Exercise Your Body, Exercise Your Mind!

"Look, ma!  No commercials!"

It's almost "No Time for TV Week" at Ashaway School!  All of the details about how the program works can be found by clicking on the links below.  Each student will receive a copy at school but you are welcome to print another copy if you need it:

Contract page 1

Contract page 2

Click here to see a sample contract all filled out!

I'm going over the guidelines with every class this week.  After explaining how the form works and what they need to do to earn a prize, I spend some time answering questions.  Most of the questions, as always, start with the words "What if...?" or "What about...?"  To read my answers to these frequently asked questions, please click here.

I've never had a student who participated in No Time for TV Week who wished that they hadn't, but I always have lots of students who didn't participate who wished that they had!  There are lots of cool prizes to be earned; please encourage your child to join in the fun!

During the week, try playing No Time for TV Bingo!

Click on the links below to print!

Bingo board #1

Bingo board #2 

Bingo board #3

Inside the Author's Studio with Kate DiCamillo!

Margie O'Brien Reed, Rhode Island PBS host and producer, interviewed Newbery Medal winner Kate DiCamillo, the 2014-15 National Ambassador for Young People's Literature.

I was so excited to be part of the live studio audience for the taping of Inside the Author's Studio on Friday night at the Rhode Island PBS studios.  Kate DiCamillo is the author of Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures (the 2015 Kids Reading Across Rhode Island selection) as well as other well-loved favorites including Because of Winn-Dixie, The Tale of Despereaux, and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.  (And so many others!  Visit www.katedicamillo.com for more!)

Behind the scenes!

It was a delightful evening, and the charming DiCamillo had us laughing and nodding along throughout.  We were told that the interview, which ran for about 45 minutes, would be edited down to about 20 minutes and then aired in June.  There's no way to know what will be included in the final presentation, but I'll share some of the details that stayed with me!



* She sets her alarm to write at 5:30am every morning. (If she doesn't do it first thing she'll talk herself out of it throughout the day.) She pours herself a cup of coffee and then sits at a desk that faces a blank wall.

* She only writes two pages a day! (She said that limiting herself to only two pages a day makes writing the next day even easier.  Wow.)

* The idea for using a vacuum cleaner in Flora and Ulysses came from a big, old Electrolux she inherited from her mother.

* She was inspired by an injured squirrel she found out her porch. She wasn't able to help him, so she "saved" the squirrel by creating the character of Ulysses.

* The inspiration for Edward Tulane was a toy rabbit she was given by a friend. It sat on her couch, and then one night she had a dream where she saw that rabbit resting on the bottom of the ocean.  The story grew from there.

* She had the idea for her Mercy Watson series for a long time before the story was ready to be written. The turning point, she said, was the day she was driving a friend to the airport. The car was brand-new, and her friend insisted on eating buttered toast along the way. When Kate protested, the friend proceeded to extol the virtues of buttered toast, emphasizing that it needed LOTS of butter and that it must be applied from edge to edge and so on and so forth. (With this I strongly agree, by the way.) By the time she got to the airport, Kate knew that her newest character was going to have an extreme adoration of toast with "a great deal of butter on it".

* She attributes her love of reading and writing to her mother, who always read aloud to her.  She believes that reading aloud creates a bond between those people.  (With this I also strongly agree!) 

After the taping we were able to meet Kate and get our books inscribed.  The price of admission included a copy of Flora and Ulysses, and I'm excited to display our newly-signed copy in the library this week!  (I know it won't stay there for long!)  To my sheer delight, Kate agreed to record a little video in honor of our second graders, who have been listening to The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane in their classrooms.  I am thrilled to be able to share it here:

My sincerest thanks go out to the lovely and talented Kate DiCamillo, as well as to all the folks who worked to make this wonderful event happen.  It was a joy to be a part of something so special!
  

Thanks also to my amazing friends and colleagues: Mrs. Barton, Mrs. Reiser-Jones, Mrs. Gaskill, Miss DeVito, Miss Anderson and "Miss Hurley"!  Your support, patience, and encouragement have always been and will continue to be deeply appreciated!  

Local Authors Visit During Reading Week!

As always, we had lots of fabulous activities going on during Reading Week, but this year we enjoyed something truly new and special.  Members of the Association of Rhode Island Authors came into the school throughout the week to read from their books and talk to our students about writing.  Each class received a personal visit from one of the authors!




Ashely Richer shared her book Chasing the Moon, the first in her "Tyler's Tall Tales" series, with Mrs. Lee's kindergarten class.

Seth Coombs shared his story Old Salty Dog, complete with his own full-sized illustrations, with Mrs. Breault's first grade class.

Kristen Calenda introduced Mrs. Vocatura's third grade class to her book Nubiana, the true story of a cat in need of a home.

Dawn Porter brought along a presentation complete with lots of interesting facts about the Ocean State, which was a perfect companion to her book Searching for Rhode Island. Our fourth graders study their home state, so Mrs. Ornburn's class was all ears!

   
It was with great pleasure that we welcomed back our own "Miss Terry"!  Theresa Schimmel was a teacher right here at Ashaway School back in the day!  It was wonderful to see her in the classroom again as she shared her book, David's War/David's Peace, with Mrs. Young's fourth grade.  



As a culmination of the week's events, our wonderful PTO once again sponsored a "Pop and Swap" event on Friday.  (All the students who "popped" in got to select some books from the many donations we received and were able to enjoy a free snack: some popcorn and a Popsicle!)  This year we added a "Meet and Greet" to the festivities: all of the local authors who visited throughout the week were also in attendance!  Families were not only able to buy their own copies of the books but they were able to get them signed as well.  As you can tell by these smiles, the students really enjoyed this extra opportunity to interact with our guests!  

The authors not only donated their time, but they also very generously gave a portion of their book sale proceeds to the Ashaway School PTO.  (Thank you!)

For more information about our special guests and their books, please visit the websites listed below.

 

Theresa Schimmel

David's War/David's Peace

http://www.tamstales.net

Seth Coombs

Old Salty Dog

http://www.artofsethmccombs.com/

Ashley Richer

Chasing the Moon

www.facebook.com/tylerstalltales

http://www.bigrhody.com/tylers_tall_tales/

Dawn Porter

Searching for Rhode Island

http://www.StillwaterPress.com

Kristen Calenda

Nubiana

http://kristencalenda.com

And the winner is...

 "Escape From 
Mr. Lemoncello's Library"

by Chris Grabenstein

is the winner of the 2015 Rhode Island

Children's Book Award! 

Just a few of the students who awarded this book a "gold star"!

I'm sure I'm not the only librarian who was ecstatic to learn that an adventure story set in a public library was selected to win the 2015 RICBA award!  While the nominee list is selected by adults, the recipient of the award is selected by students!  In fact, every Ashaway School student who has read this book has told me that they loved it.  Woohoo!

All students in grades 3-6 in Rhode Island are eligible to vote for the winner.  Our fourth graders filled out their ballots back in February.  (To learn more about the award and to see the complete voting results, please visit http://www.ri.net/RIEMA/bookaward.html.)

The students earn a star for each book they read, which goes up on a poster in the library.  All of our fourth graders are encouraged to read at least 5 of the books on the nominee list. When they do, they get to sign the poster that reads, "We're Going to the Rooster Games!"  (If you don't know about the Games, click here!)  So far, 20 fourth graders have signed it.  Keep reading, fourth graders!

Checking the poster for stars earned

"A Person's a Person No Matter How Small!"

This year we celebrated Dr. Seuss's 

birthday with the theme, 

"A Person's a Person No Matter How Small!"  

Of course, this phrase is from Horton Hears a Who.  Every class enjoyed the story in the morning, and then Mrs. Bartkiewicz invited the students to write about a good deed they have done.  After she collected all of the strips of paper she created this wonderful bulletin board to share them!

And of course, Dr. Seuss's birthday always provides a terrific opportunity to dress up for the occasion!  Students and staff were asked to wear pink, red, or something "Seussical" to add to the fun of the day.  As always, we had a wonderful time celebrating books and reading!

For some online fun, check out www.seussville.com!