Thankful 4th Graders!

Did you ever watch the Macy's Day Parade and marvel at the gigantic helium balloons?  Recently I shared the book Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade with my fourth graders.  (This is one of the 20 books that have been nominated for the 2013 Rhode Island Children's Book Award.  Any fourth graders who reads at least 5 of these books gets to go to the Rooster Games in the spring!  Click here for more details about the games!)  The students enjoyed learning about puppeteer Tony Sarg and how his incredible balloons - and the tradition of a Thanksgiving Day parade - came to be.

Because Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on what we are thankful for, I asked my fourth graders to consider how fortunate we are to have books and libraries.  I gave them three different writing prompts and invited them to share their thoughts.  Here are just a few of their excellent ideas:

I’m thankful for books because they help us learn about things.  Also books give us knowledge about our ancestors.  

-Collin, 4C

I’m thankful for books because I love books

 and reading.  It’s so fun!  

-Jamie, 4O

I’m thankful for books because every time I read a book I get excited and I don’t want to put it down 

(even though I have to).  

-Maya, 4Y

I’m thankful for being able to read because it can help me 

find out things I’ve never known 

and it can help me throughout life.  

-Syler, 4C

I’m thankful for being able to read because if I didn’t know how to read I couldn’t learn.  

-Sean, 4Y

I am thankful for libraries because they have books that are filled with knowledge and adventure.  

-Trevor, 4C  

I am thankful for our library because if we didn’t have

a library it would be sad.  There would be no 

Mrs. Mann and no reading!  

-Jack, 4Y

I am thankful for our library because without it we wouldn’t be reading the Rooster Books and I love the Rooster Books.  

-Lynsie, 4O

I am thankful for libraries because I don’t have lots of books so I get them at the library.  

-Cameron, 4Y

I am thankful for libraries because we can get books to read and share and make our brains happy.  

 I love reading and I really enjoy books.  

-Natalie, 4C

I'm thankful for libraries because when I'm reading I get engaged.  There's no place like the library!  

-Gabe, 4C

(By the way, if you know one of our fourth graders, ask them about how Tony Sarg fed his chickens when he was six years old; I promise you'll be surprised!)

Investigating Informational Texts

Our third graders have been learning about how the library is organized so they can use the online catalog and find books independently.  In the beginning of the year we focused on the fiction sections of the library: Easies, Easy Readers, and Fiction.  These books are all shelved in alphabetical order by the author's last name.  Now we are exploring the Nonfiction section and the "informational texts" that can be found there.  This is what the students learned:

• Informational texts live in the Nonfiction section of the library.
• These books give us information, or facts, about a subject.
• The call number always starts with a number.
• The number comes from the book's subject.  (Thanks, Melville Dewey!)
• These books are shelved in numerical order.

We investigated many different features of informational texts.  Here are some of the ones our students found:

A caption explains what's happening in a picture.  (This is a caption!)

A Table of Contents lists the chapters of the book in order and tells what page each begins on.

A labeled diagram is a scientific illustration.

A glossary defines words that were used in the book.  The index is an alphabetical list of all the topics that can be found in the book.

While not every informational text features photographs, our students found that most of them do!

 

 

Each student wrote down an interesting fact from the book he or she was exploring.  Did you know...

 

"Pluto isn't a planet!"

"Some bugs have fake faces to scare away predators!"

"Some birds' feathers help the birds hide from other animals!"

"Bald eagles build onto their nests every year.  The heaviest bald eagle nest is heavier than your family car!"

This is our "Destiny"!

Just last year all four elementary schools upgraded to the web-based program Follett Destiny, and my fourth graders have been reviewing how to use this online catalog, or "OPAC", to look up library materials.  I've been bringing some of the school's laptops into the library for them to use during book look.  They start off working in pairs, and then each can have access to the system by using either a laptop or one of the library's ten desktop computers.  The students enjoy conducting searches and finding their materials independently! 

If you'd like to explore the system yourself, you can visit http://opac.chariho.k12.ri.us/.
After you click on "Ashaway" be sure to click on "Destiny Quest" over to the left.  This will bring you to the visual interface that the students have been using!

Familiar Faces at the RI Book Fair!

Once again I had a delightful time at the Rhode Island Festival of Children's Books and Authors at Lincoln School this past Saturday. This year it was made even more special because I saw some familiar faces from our Ashaway School community!



I found this second grader spending time at one of the free book craft tables.  She was in the middle of designing a beautiful book mark.

I spotted Mrs. and Mr. Caplette enjoying an author presentation!

I caught up to these fourth graders outside, where the gourmet food trucks were lined up to provide lunch. (It was so hard to choose!)

Another fourth grader waited in line to meet Chris Van Allsburg and get an autograph.

A third grade Origami Yoda fan poses after the presentation of author Tom Angleberger.  He, along with the rest of the audience, learned how to fold his own origami Yoda with the direction of the author and the help of his classmate, our very own Tess! 

Want to learn how to create your own origami Yoda?  Grab a sheet of paper and watch the video below!

Ashaway School is Hooked on Books!

 

Ahoy!  On Sunday our school participated in the Columbus Day parade in Westerly.  The idea for the float was inspired by first grader Isabella Macaruso, and it was constructed by our remarkable PTO.

The "ship" was filled with pirates, but our scallywags gave away their booty instead of taking it from others! As the hook-handed captain steered the vessel down the streets, a treasure chest filled with gently used books slowly emptied as the contents were given to parade spectators young and old.

 

The reactions of the crowd was heartfelt and enthusiastic.  I think the best comment I heard was, "Best give-way ever!"  And to top it all off, Ashaway School was awarded the prize of "Best Theme"!




 

"ARRRRRRRR!"

You can see lots more pictures by visiting our school's online photo album.  Click on the "Picture Gallery" link on our school home page at http://www.chariho.k12.ri.us/ash, or you can go directly to the page by clicking here.

Searching for Treasure at the Book Fair

Today classes began visiting our Scholastic Book Fair!  

Our eager readers enjoyed looking over all the wonderful books on display.  Some did some shopping while others created wish lists.  Parents are invited to "Cafe Ashaway" tomorrow, October 3rd, at 9am to enjoy some coffee and peruse the books.  Then, on Thursday the 4th, is the Book Fair Ice Cream Social from 5:30-7:30pm.  Families are invited to browse, shop, and enjoy a free ice cream sundae!  We hope to see you there!

A fun way to practice math skills!

"Look what I found!"

Our fourth graders found many of this year's "Rooster Books" available!

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!