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. 

Books All Around at Hopkinton Rec!

Today was the third "Reading Thursday" at the Hopkinton Rec Summer Camp, and I'm happy to say that the program is only getting better!  This year the older students (going into grades 3 and up) not only get to enjoy having the story read aloud to them, but they also get to follow along with their own copy of the book! 

2012 marks the third year of the Summer Read Aloud program.  For the past two summers, a single copy of the chapter books read to the older students was borrowed from one of the teachers or a school library.  For this session, we wanted to purchase multiple copies of the books.  Multiple copies enables the children to read along with the adult reader, thereby increasing their exposure to text, comprehension, fluency and vocabulary.  During the course of this school year, I met with Brenda Medina, originator of the summer reading program, as well as two of the elementary reading specialists, Mary Ellen Sposato and Claudia Peduzzi.  Together we wrote a successful Chariho Community Innovative Projects Grant proposal...wooHOO!  (Many thanks to them for supporting our project!!!)

To ensure the quality and long-term usefulness of the books, the titles were selected from a list of books nominated for the Rhode Island Children’s Book Award (RICBA).  These 20 books are nominated by a committee of educators and librarians based on their appeal and literary value for children. At the conclusion of summer, the books will be distributed to elementary and middle school libraries which will give our students increased accessibility to the RICBA nominees.  Students are encouraged to read at least three of the books from the list in order to vote for the winner. In addition, several of the schools (including Ashaway) hold competitions based on the nominees making the demand for these selected titles extremely high.  Typically the public and school libraries maintain long waiting lists for these books, but we anticipate that having easier access to them will result in increased participation and enthusiasm!  That means more reading!

A Fond Farewell to Mrs. Sherman

Here we are at the last day of school!  Today and last week were filled with "lasts": the last time waking up Bear, the last story read aloud, the last book enjoyed and returned.  Of course, these are only temporary "lasts".  There's plenty more fun awaiting us far away in the fall.  But one of them truly marked an ending.

We're going to miss you, Mrs. Sherman!!!

Last week, we enjoyed the last assembly organized by our music teacher, Mrs. Sherman, because she's retiring!  I'm happy to say that she really did manage to go out on a high note!  (Pun intended, haha!) Every grade got to perform, and as always the music she selected was terrific.  I must admit I was especially charmed by the first graders' presentation of The Library Song by Tom Chapin and Michael Mark:

I thought this would be a fitting way to close my last blog entry of the school year: with a reminder to visit your public library!  Don't forget that there are summer reading programs that you can sign up for, and it's completely free.  

I wish you all a safe and happy summer break!

Keep reading!!! 

Bookmark Contest Winner!

Haiden receives her award from Joe Carr -- surprise!!

Mrs. DiFranco, our wonderful art teacher, brought all of the second graders into the library yesterday morning for a special presentation.  All of these students participated in a contest put on by the Washington County Coalition for Children.  The purpose of the competition is to provide a combination of literature and art to help second graders to identify emotions and find positive ways to express their feelings.  After reading a story to them about that theme, Mrs. DiFranco had each student design a bookmark that depicted a feeling.  The winner of the contest, Haiden McKay, received a framed copy of her work, and every student received a bookmark with the design (and some other cool prizes, too).

Mrs. DiFranco reads aloud  The Way I Act

Joe Carr, the "Bookmark Contest Ambassador", also presented the library with a copy of the book The Way I Act by Steve Metzger and extra bookmarks.





You can access local behavioral health services and more information by visiting www.washcokids.org.

Every second grader received a bookmark, a bracelet, and a color-change pencil!