’Twas Holiday Vacation

(Or: How to Keep Your Kids’ Minds Occupied and Your Home Intact Over the Holidays)

~Stacey Greene Wicksall

‘Twas holiday vacation for two whole weeks long,
And mommy and daddy wanted nothing to go wrong
The presents had been chosen by relatives with care,
In hopes it would save them from losing their hair!
But children were zipping and zooming about
“We’re bored, we’re bored!” they exclaimed in a shout,
So mommy looked at Daddy with a twinkle in her eye,
“I have a solution that money can’t buy!”
And bundling their children they decided to go
To the public library (in spite of the snow).
They pulled in the lot and opened the door
Creative Corner had begun with room for two more!
They heard a grand story about a mean, ugly Grinch
And created a craft; it was all such a cinch!
They beamed with pride over the things they had made,
Then dashed to the wall with the book shelves to raid.
“Look, here’s Junie B. and Artemis Fowl
These titles will keep us busy for a while!”
The parents let out great sighs of relief
Children reading books meant an end to their grief!
And back to their home they soon did travel
With a stack full of mysteries to soon unravel
So when this vacation at once came to an end,
They brought back the books they’d had out on lend.
When back at the school the kids they did chatter,
Of books they had read all about matter!
And the teacher exclaimed with the utmost delight,
“Joy over reading is a wonderful sight!
It will bring your learning to a commendable height,
So tell me the tales that you read before bed,
Or share that adventure still swirling in your head.
Reading is the best gift you gave to yourself,
Lasts longer and better than one from an elf.
I wish happy holidays to each one of you
And may you read many-a-book all the year through!”

We're Crazy about Clickers!

I am very excited to announce that our school now has a set of "clickers"! These electronic devices allow students to respond to a question by pressing a button. Their answers are recorded by the teacher's computer, and a special program keeps track of each student's response. Rather than calling on students to provide a verbal response to a question, the clickers allow every single student to respond (even the shy ones!). Plus, the clickers eliminate the problem of students answering a question based on a cue received from another student. Best of all, the computer program gives the teacher and the students immediate feedback. With one click, the correct answer is revealed along with information about how many students selected each possible response. This allows the teacher to review the answers with the class and re-teach as necessary. (And of course the students love them because they feel like they're on a game show!)

This is the very first week I've used them. These pictures are from Mrs. Breault's first grade class, but I have lots of ideas on how I can use them in the other grades, too! :)

Evaluating resources!

This week our fourth graders began learning about animal adaptations (physical or behavioral traits that help them to survive). Each student selected an animal to research, and in the library we discussed resources we might use to learn about them. We spent a lot of time talking about websites and how important it is to consider where the information is coming from. Wikipedia, for example, is a site that has many contributors who may or may not be posting accurate information. It's a place to go to get an overview of a topic, but not the best source for taking notes.

We visited a couple different websites that are terrific for research: Enchanted Learning and World Book Online. The students had time to visit each site and print any useful information that they found. We have a special project in mind for the students to share what they learned, but it's a surprise! (Thank you, Mrs. Steever, for sharing this idea with us!) I'll post some examples as soon as they're ready!

Quicksand doesn't have a bottom! Fiction or Nonfiction?

One of the things we focus on in second grade is the difference between fiction and nonfiction books. Tomie dePaola has written lots of both, and we explore a wide variety of his work. After reading The Quicksand Book, Mrs. Pearce's class formed teams and wrote statements about quicksand. Can you figure out which of the statements are fiction (not true) and which ones are nonfiction (fact)? Think carefully...they're trying to trick you! When you're ready, scroll down to the bottom of the post for the answers. Good luck!

1. Quicksand doesn't have a bottom.


2. If you struggle in quicksand you will sink more quickly.


3. Quicksand can be caused by a flood.


4. You can find quicksand in deserts.


5. If you lie on your back you can float in quicksand.


6. Quicksand is caused by underground caves.

ARE YOU READY FOR THE ANSWERS? SCROLL DOWN!

.

.

The following statements were written by

Team Fiction. They are not true!

Quicksand doesn't have a bottom.
Quicksand can be caused by a flood.
Quicksand is caused by underground caves.

.

.

The following statements were written by
Team Non Fiction. They are true!

If you struggle in quicksand you will sink more quickly!
You can find quicksand in deserts!
If you lie on your back you can float in quicksand!

Second Graders at Work!

All of our second graders have begun a research project about their current science unit, insects! Like all library research projects, we are following the steps as outlined in the "Big6" problem solving model. (You can learn more about that at http://www.big6.com/.) Each student has selected an insect to learn about and has written a question about it. They will also find information to answer some teacher questions. We brainstormed some sources of information we could use to find answers to our questions, and every student is starting off with a book at an appropriate reading level.

Next we learned about how to take good notes and avoid copying. To practice this all of the students participated in an activity called Fact Fragment Frenzy, which can be found at the wonderful website http://www.readwritethink.org/. Working with a partner, the students read a short passage about an animal and then dragged the important words to a notepad also on the screen. This process reinforces the idea that we only need to record the "treasure words" that answer our questions instead of copying down everything.

Next week the students will continue their research and explore multiple sources for information, including another of my favorite websites, Enchanted Learning!

Project Highlight: All-Day Kindergarten!

For the past few weeks, Mrs. Koukas has been bringing her class to the library to work on a special project. In class they've been creating an "All About Me" book to incorporate skills from math, language arts, and social studies. Their books will include pages about their families and activities they like as well as information about where they live. In the library the students used Microsoft Paint to create drawings of their homes. Mrs. Koukas encouraged them to think about what shapes could be used to create their pictures, and I did a lesson on how to use the program. What fast learners! In no time they were switching colors and brushes, using the "paint bucket" to fill shapes, and using "Ctrl+Shift+N" to clear the screen. Then I imported their creations to another Microsoft program called PhotoStory. This program enables the students to type a sentence about their homes onto their drawings and then they can record their voices as they read aloud what they've written! When all the students are done recording, we'll be able to play back our movie on the SmartBoard!

Choosing a "Just Right Book"

Our first graders have been learning about how to use the Five Finger Rule to pick out a "just right book". This strategy is meant to help students find a book that is not too easy or too hard to read. We learned about it in a wonderful book called Goldisocks and the Three Libearians.

This is how it works:

1) Choose a book and read the first page or two
2) Put one finger up for every word you don’t know
3) If five of your fingers go up while reading, choose another book.
4) If only two or three fingers go up, you’ve found a “just right” book!

Here are some of the students practicing:

Brand-New Book Borrowers! (part 2)

Last week I featured Mrs. Smith's morning kindergarten class because they took books home for the very first time. This week it's all about Mrs. Smith's afternoon class! (They didn't have class last week because of Columbus Day.)

Just like in the morning class, the afternoon students have been learning all about how to take very good care of their library books. Last week I challenged you to ask a student the following questions:

• How should we turn a page in a book?
• How should we save our place in a book so we can finish it later?
• How should we carry a book?
• What you should do if you find a rip in your library book?

Here are some of the KPM students with the answers...

Always turn the pages of a book by the corners. This will prevent the pages from getting tears along the bottom edge!

Always use a bookmark to save your place in a book. If you don't have a bookmark, a piece of paper is another good choice. Don't use anything thicker than a piece of paper because it can hurt the spine of the book!

Always carry a book with both arms folded around it. We call this "hug a book"!

Always tell the librarian if you find a rip in a library book. Please don't try and fix it yourself! The tape you have at home is not made for books and can get yellowed and brittle over time. I have special tape and even special glue for fixing hurt books!

Thank you very much to my KPM helpers this week. I look forward to helping them select new books when they bring the others back on Monday!

Brand-New Book Borrowers!

Mrs. Smith's morning kindergarten class was very excited to borrow books from the library for the very first time this week! (The afternoon class is on Monday, so they will take books home for the first time next week.) We have been spending a lot of time talking about all the things we can do take care of books, and now they are experts! Go ahead and ask a kindergartner:

• How should we turn a page in a book?
• How should we save our place in a book so we can finish it later?
• How should we carry a book?
• What you should do if you find a rip in your library book?

I'll be back with the answers next week! (Maybe I can get some of the afternoon kindergarten students to help me...)

One of the most important good habits we talked about was having a special place for library books at home so they don't get lost or damaged. The students created posters to show me where their special places are, and we will share them with the whole class next week!

Discovering Intelligent Life in the Library!

Behold, photographic evidence of intelligent life!(Okay, they might not be extraterrestrial,

but we do think our students are out of this world!)

We are all very excited to announce that Ashaway School is going to have a float featured in Westerly's Columbus Day parade this coming Sunday. The theme of the float will be "Ashaway Teachers Discover Intelligent Life". The gorgeous planets you see were created for the float by Mrs. Pearce's 2nd grade class with help from Mrs. Clark, our PTO president. They looked so amazing that I wanted to share them with my classes when they came to the library today. It also gave me a chance to put out the new space books that I bought thanks to the PTO. Our students really enjoyed looking through them during book look, and many of the books were signed out!

p.s. Are you wondering why the sign says "Poor Pluto"? Many scientists have decided that it can't be called a planet anymore! Now it's called a "dwarf planet". To learn more, go here:

http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/pluto/index.shtml

Rhode Island Festival of Children's Books and Authors

Coming soon: your chance to meet CHRIS VAN ALLSBURG (author/illustrator of Jumanji and The Polar Express), KAZU KIBUISHI (author/illustrator of the 2010 Rhode Island Children's Book Award Winner Amulet), MO WILLIEMS (author/illustrator of Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus and Knuffle Bunny) and many, many more!!!

Above - Some first grade fans of Mo Willems!

WHAT: The Rhode Island Festival of Children's Books and Authors

WHERE: Lincoln School - Lincoln, RI

WHEN: Saturday, October 16th, 9am-5:30pm

WHO: Blue Balliett, Jules Feiffer, Kate Feiffer, Jack Gantos, Adam Gopnik, Kazu Kibuishi, Helen Lester, David Macaulay, Bruce McCall, Mark Teague, Chris Van Allsburg, and Mo Willems!

Admission is only $5! You can meet the characters Tacky the Penguin and Rotten Ralph, buy books and talk to the authors while you have them signed, hear a musical performance by The Flannery Brothers, make book crafts, and listen to 20 minutes talks by authors you love! For more information, please go to http://www.festivalofchildrensbooks.org/!

Playaways!

This week I've been introducing our third graders to the newest collection in the library: the Playaways! These devices allow a student to listen to an audiobook without any other equipment needed. The Playaway has all the buttons right on it (volume, play/pause, rewind, etc.) and the earbuds plug directly into it. We bought our first set of them three years ago thanks to a CCEP grant, and we've been adding to the collection ever since. As you might guess, the students love them and they are in high demand!


Borrowing a Playaway is a privilege reserved for the third and fourth graders because they require special handling and care. This week they have been signing up for the ones they would like to borrow, and the Playaways will begin circulating next week. (Because they are so popular, I maintain a "holds list" to ensure that the students get the titles they're most interested in.)

Children have much to gain from listening to audio books. For example, they can hear the correct pronunciation of new vocabulary as well as models of correct grammar. Listening to stories can help students with their own fluency when reading aloud. They also enable students to enjoy material which may be above their reading level. Whatever their reasons for borrowing a Playaway, it's wonderful to see the kids get so excited about signing them out!

Strive for a Five!

In library this week I have been introducing the students to our Book Look Rubric. The rubric lets kids know what the expectations are during the time they are given to select books. All students in grades 1-4 will perform a self-assessment using this rubric and give themselves a score before leaving the library. A score of "5" is exceeding the standard, and I hope that all of the students will... STRIVE FOR A FIVE!

The image shows one of our third graders showing us the score she earned this week! She is standing in front of the library SmartBoard, which we used to go over the rubric together. If you would like to view the entire rubric you can see it here: http://www.chariho.k12.ri.us/node/4180
I am very proud of what I've seen and heard in the library this week. The students have really been making an effort to demonstrate positive behaviors, and I lost count of the number of times they said PLEASE, THANK YOU, and EXCUSE ME. Plus, the library looks terrific! The books have been put away correctly and all the shelf markers are back where they belong. You're off to an amazing start, Ashaway students! Keep up the good work!

Welcome Back!

The 2010-2011 school year has gotten off to a great start! It's wonderful to have students back in the library, and they have been so excited to begin taking books home again. I'm very happy to announce that there are lots of beautiful new books for them to choose from, including these:

All of the books pictured were purchased with funds raised by our wonderful PTO at last year's Scholastic Book Fair. Most are copyrighted 2009-2010, so they will help to keep our science section current. This is one of our most popular areas, so I know they'll get a lot of use! (Good thing they all have a reinforced library binding!)

Thank you, Ashaway School PTO, for all of your hard work!

And to all of our marvelous students...

Welcome Back!

It's going to be a GREAT year!