Special Event Coming Soon!!!

It's finally almost time for the...

 

Rhode Island Festival of

CHILDREN'S BOOKS

& AUTHORS! 

Saturday, October 13th ~ 9:00-5:30  
Lincoln School ~ Providence, RI

I went to the festival last year, and it was amazing.  I got to meet so many wonderful authors and illustrators while getting books signed for our library, and all of the presentations I went to were so interesting!  (You can read about some highlights of my day by clicking here.)

I asked some of my fourth graders to help me showcase a few of the people we're excited about seeing at this year's event:

Illustrator Harry Bliss!

Author Tom Angleberger!

Author Alan Katz!

Author/illustrator Chris Van Allsburg!

To see a complete list of all the presenters, 

click here to go to the author page of the Lincoln School website!

In addition to the author and illustrator presentations, the festival will feature a musical performance by Justin Roberts.  Children will also be able to make book crafts throughout the day!  For all the details, visit the Book Festival page of the Lincoln School website.

Admission to the event is $5 per person, but this year I will be able to get some of our students into the festival for free!  I am incredibly grateful to event organizer Meagan Lenihan; thanks to her support, I have TEN FREE FAMILY PASSES to give away!  If your child didn't bring home a form to sign up for the raffle, just send in a note addressed to me requesting one!  The deadline to turn them in is Friday, October 5th.

I hope you'll consider joining me at Lincoln School for a wonderful day devoted to celebrating books and the people who make them!

This "House" was Hopping!

Last night was our Open House, and the library was packed!!!  It was wonderful to see so many students excited about sharing their library with their families!




My apologies if I didn't get a chance to talk with you; the steady stream of visitors kept me engaged every minute of the evening!  Fortunately there is plenty to do and see here.  I saw lots of students introducing their parents and younger siblings to Bear (often before me, but that's okay...I'm used to it!).  The Aladdin lamp was rubbed (unfortunately the genie appears to still be on vacation), new books were poured over, shelf markers were borrowed to look at books, and magazines were enjoyed.  Many children explained very knowledgeably about who Skoob is and what his job is in the library.  I especially loved hearing some of my students instruct their families about how to properly turn a page in a library book!  :)

Two current students, a former student, and a future student!

I'm sad not to have more pictures, but I got caught up in the whirlwind!  By the time I remembered to use my camera, the evening was coming to a close.  Fortunately these two families were kind enough to stick around for a few minutes so I could capture some smiles to share!

The Popularity of Periodicals

This issue comes with 3-D glasses!

My second graders were very excited to be able to borrow magazines and comic books from the library this week.  This is a privilege that they've been waiting for!








Several years ago I read about a study that investigated whether or not a group of high schoolers would identify themselves as "readers".  A large number of them indicted that they didn't like to read.  However, further questioning revealed that many of them actually enjoyed reading a lot: online material, graphic novels, "how to" books and magazines.  The researchers realized that the students were imagining a "reader" to only be someone who enjoys novels.  These self-identified "non-readers" were actually demonstrating  characteristics of a life-long learner: curiosity, a diversity of interests, and the willingness to seek information. 

I'm a big believer in giving kids material that they want to read. Whereas a book might be intimidating, or have negative associations for some reluctant readers, magazines and comic books can be much more palatable.  The children are still practicing their reading, and they're developing an association between reading and pleasure.  Of course learning the strategies to appreciate quality literature is important, too, and the children are exposed to such material during the school day (both in their regular classrooms and in their specials).  I'm always excited to share the gems with my students as part of an author study, special unit or as recommended reading.  It's gratifying to have a student embrace one of my favorites, but it's also heartening to see any student leave the library excited about what was discovered that day.

I've tried to create a library collection that meets a wide variety of needs across all interests and abilities, and I sincerely wish that every child regards the library as a source of treasure! 

Oh How Our Garden Does Grow!

This week I spent some time in our wonderful Kids Grow Garden, which I can see from the library windows.  A group of third graders was busy working as well as enjoying some of the fruits (okay, vegetables) of their labors.  As some students were happily munching on newly harvested carrots, others were digging to create a new area for planting or trimming around the beds.  

Big, beautiful sunflowers are in bloom, and we all got to visit with a painted lady butterfly that was on one of them.  I was afraid of scaring her away, so I slowly inched closer and closer to take some pictures.  We soon realized that she was much more focused on the feeding than on any of us.  Soon the kids were leaning in and watching the butterfly use her long, slender proboscis to drink nectar from the flower!

There was also a tiny bee doing the same, and I pointed out the pollen that had gathered on the insect's hind legs.  One of the girls added that they're called pollen baskets, and when I asked her where she learned that she replied, "I read it in a book".  Hurray! 

As soon as I got back to the library I put together a book display with a garden theme.  Along with fiction books like Strega Nona's Harvest, Fluffy Plants a Garden, and The Gardener there are nonfiction books on topics like butterflies, bees, worms, sunflowers, and vegetables.  In fact, just today I received a shipment of NEW books which included the how-to titles A Backyard Vegetable Garden for Kids and Organic Gardening for Kids.  

This morning Mr. Morrone announced that the garden has produced over 90 pounds of produce so far this year!  What our own student gardeners haven't sampled has been donated to families in need.  You can read more about the program and see more pictures by visiting http://www.orgsites.com/ri/kidsgrow/index.html.