Book-It Theater performs at Bennett

On Wednesday, November 21, Book-It Theater will perform Thank you, Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco. This wonderful book deals with learning struggles and bullying. If you'd like to have the story read to you click on the link below:


http://www.storylineonline.net/

You may already know of this fabulous web resource. The Screen Actors Guild has famous actors (and Al Gore) reading storybooks aloud often with the text along the bottom. Who wouldn't want James Earl Jones to read them a story?

To access Thank you, Mr. Falker, simply click on "More Stories" twice, then on the book title. The actress, Jane Kaczmarek, will then read you the story.

Interactive Flag that inspired the National Anthem

This summer I was fortunate enough to visit Washington DC. While there, my family and I visited several museums including the museum of American History. One of the most interesting and moving exhibits was of the American Flag that inspired "The Star Spangled Banner". Here is a link to an interactive website of the flag.

This image was found here: http://www.galleryoftherepublic.com/usflags/starspangled.htm



Today our school held its annual Veteran's Day assembly. Perhaps your child would like to take a closer look at the flag Mr. Panther discussed.

The Electoral Process Explained

Students are surprised to learn that a presidnet can be elected even if he has not one the popular vote. The electoral process can be hard to explain, but this video does a stellar job explaining how it works.

Video Explaining the US Election Process


Hope you voted.

Book Fair and Guest Wendy Wahman

The Book Fair is coming!
October 23 -26 Click here for specific times. 
 
We will be holding a Family Read Night on Wednesday, Oct 24 from 6:00 - 8:00 pm. With special guest, local author and illustrator, Wendy Wahman. Click on the videos below to see how lucky we are.

 

 

Beverly Cleary Award

The above books are nominated for this year's Beverly Cleary Award. They are geared to early chapter book readers but span a wide range of reading levels. Students need to read or listen to two titles to be eligible to vote in late March.

Past winners and nominees can be found at the official website.

Sasquatch Reading Award 2013

This week all the 4th and 5th graders were introduced to this years nominees for the Sasquatch Reading Award. Students must read two of these titles in order to vote, but many students challenge themselves to read all of them.

If you'd like to see the presentation that was shared with the classes, go ahead and click HERE. I'd love to take credit for such a fabulous creation, but credit must go to Nannette Demmler, Phantom Lake's librarian.

Here's a list of the nominees:

Title	Author
The Strange Case of Origami Yoda	Angleberger
The PS Brothers	Boelts
Crunch	Connor
Cosmic	Cottrell Boyce
Out of My Mind	Draper
Turtle in Paradise	Holm
The Popularity Papers (#1)	Ignatow
Love, Aubrey	LaFleur
The Sixty-Eight Rooms	Malone
A Long Walk to Water	Park
Masters of Disaster	Paulsen
The Books of Elsewhere v. 1: The Shadows	West

Welcome to the 2012-2013 School Year

Hello! I always love the start of school. For me the year truly begins in September. I have new energy, new ideas, new shoes, and, this year, I have a new library system. After 11 years with the last library automation system, the district has switched to a new system named Destiny.

For those of you who are my age this clip helped me remember the name.

The name Destiny is important because it is part of the URL. You can access our library catalog from any computer using this address: http://destiny.bsd405.org. There is also a link on right side of this blog, on the PTSA's schoolbennett website and on the Bennett's school webpage. Yes, we want it to be easy for you to access.

*** If you lost and paid for a book prior to this school year, I will be able to process refunds through October 15th.  So now is the time to round up any library items and return them.

*** If you had a parent library account in the old system, you will need to have me create you a new one. This process takes about 30 seconds, but you'll need to see me before you check any books out.

*** If you would like a parent account, let me know. I'll need your phone number and email address- that's it! 

Suggested Books for Summer Reading

Yes, borrowing our books for the school year is coming to an end, but that's no reason to stop reading. You can find thousands of more choices at KCLS. I'll be promoting the Summer Reading program over the next week or two during your child's library time. The fabulous staff at KCLS has even put together a list of great books for your children- by grade!

Click here for the list. When you click on a title, you'll be taken directly to KCLS' online catalog. 

Keeping your kids in books for the summer

I'm in shock that the year is coming to a close. All books must be returned to the library by Friday, June 8th, but that's no reason for your children to stop reading. Bennett will be holding it's Book Swap on Monday, June 11th. Help your child get books to trade in by Thursday, June 7th. Our parent organizers are unwilling to accept books on the day of the swap.

Plus we have a fabulous public library system. I'll be sharing the details of the KCLS summer reading program the week of June 11th. I love the Crossroads library for loading up on fabulous picture and audio books.

The key is for your child to keep reading!

Simple Steps to Internet Safety

Oh, if I had all the time in the world to keep this blog filled with ideas about how to keep your kids safe online and how to teach them internet responsibitly I would. While I don't seem to find the time, Common Sense Media does. I loved this article and thought you'd appreciate it as well. It includes Do's and Don't's and recommended websites.  Take a look!

Mo Willems wrote back!

After celebrating Pig Day at the end of March, some of our kindergartener students wrote him letters and today we received the following response.

I was feeling tired and oh, so ready for the weekend. After receiving these messages, I felt energized and thrilled to have my job. Stop by the Bennett Library for a bit of reading inspiration. The right book will put a smile on your face.

Poem in your Pocket Day- It's a national event!

Who knew, but tomorrow is National Poem-in-your-Pocket Day or PIYP Day. Students today wrote or copied poems to keep in their pockets.

I found this history of the day on the Poets.org website. (Link)

"Every year, in the month of April, National Poetry Month is celebrated throughout the United States and in various countries worldwide. In 2002, the City of New York created Poem in Your Pocket Day (PIYP) as part of the city's National Poetry Month celebration. In 2009, the Academy of American Poets took PIYP Day national, allowing individuals around the country to join in and channel their inner bard. Each year on PIYP Day, schools, bookstores, libraries, parks, workplaces, and other venues ring loud with open readings of poems from pockets."


I was inspired by this story on NPR this morning. Turns out some businesses will even provide discounts tomorrow to those folks packing poems.

Enjoy!

Not too late to celebrate Poetry Month

April is poetry month. We've been reading and writing all sorts of poetry. Several classes learned about Haiku after students made cherry blossom art with Mrs. Ray. Haiku is often described first by having 17 syllables. More importantly, Haiku is a moment in time, firmly set in a season, with a twist or a surprise. All that in only three lines! The syllable count can fluctuate in English. My understanding the rule of 17 syllables is more important in Japanese.

I had the pleasure to meet the poet Taylor Mali last month and have shared his words repeatedly this month. "There are as many rules about poetry as there are poems."  I've been sending that message to students throughout the month. Students in 1st grade enjoyed hearing poetry about animals. They were able to hear that some poems rhyme; some poems are funny; some are easy to understand; some are sad.

Students in grades 1 and 2 were read acrostic poems- when a word is written verically and each letter is used to start a line in a poem about that word.

Students in 3rd and 4th grade tried their hand at Concrete poems. These are poems that take the shape of their subject.

I shared this poem about a Sea Star to start the learning of the concept. Ask your students to explain the easiest way to get started writing a concret poem and about the story written in concrete poems.

Lastly 3rd grade will explore poetry for two voices.

Grab a poem and enjoy whether or not it's poetry month.

Award Winners at Bennett

Throughout the year students in grades 1 through 5 have been reading books nominated for a variety of regional awards. The students voted this week and the results are in! Check back in a couple weeks for the official winners.

WCCPBA

1 Little Pink Pup

2 Never Smile at a Monkey

3 Oscar and the Very Hungry Dragon

Sasquatch Readers Award

1 The Gollywhopper Games

2 Dying to Meet You

3 NERDS

Young Readers Choice Award

1 Three cups of tea

2 11 Birthdays

3 Where the Mountain meets the moon

3 Scat

Beverly Cleary Award

#1 Magical Ms. Plum

#2 Nubs

#3 Judy Moody & Stink: It's a  Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Treasure Hunt

To Hunger Games or Not

Recently I've been flooded with requests for copies of The Hunger Games from students in grades 3, 4, and 5. My answer is always the same, "No, that book is not appropriate for an elementary library." Students challenge that response. They want to read it, their friends are reading it. One third grader told me it was the best book she ever read. It did take five months for her to read because she kept losing it in her toy box. (I'm not kidding.)

I am not the reading police. The librarian's job is to assure access to a wide range of information. A librarian cannot eliminate books on the military if she were a pacifist or eliminate books on Creation or Evolution based on her religious beliefs. However, I do have to consider the audience of our school and the quality of the materials. Before purchasing any item for the library, I read reviews to assure the quality is high, and I consider the age a book is recommended for. Often age recommendations vary. If in doubt, I order the book from the public library to review the material before purchasing the item.

I also consult the website Commonsense Media. This site reviews all sorts of media- books, movies, games, and websites and gives each  item an age recommendation. It also breaks down the details as to why an age recommendation was given. Then the public can chime in with its own ratings. Commonsense Media rates all three books in the Hunger Games series for ages 12 and up. Read the review here.

It is up to each family to determine the appropriateness of reading material for its own children. I am happy to make recommendations if you'd like to find books for each of your children to read. For now, I won't be recommending any of your children aged 11 and under read The Hunger Games.

Award Winners to add to your list!

The American Library Association announced the Award Winners for 2012 in January. Most of them arrived in our library last week and, boy, are they good. Below is the winner and honor books for each category I promote in the library. The descriptions are taken from the ALA website.


First Graders are introduced to the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award given to the best beginning reader of the year. Yes, it was named in honor of Dr. Seuss.
"The Theodor Seuss Geisel Award, established in 2004, is given annually (beginning in 2006) to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished contribution to the body of American children’s literature known as beginning reader books published in the United States during the preceding year."

is the winner.

There are three honor books as well. I Broke My Trunk by Mo Willems; I Want My Hat Back by John Klassen, and See Me Run by Paul Meisel

Second graders are introduced to the Caldecott Award. " The Caldecott Medal was named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children." 

The winner is this wordless book.

There are three honor books as well.  

Blackout, illustrated and written by John Rocco

Grandpa Green, illustrated and written by Lane Smith

Me...Jane, illustrated and written by Patrick McDonnell

Third Graders are introduced to the Coretta Scott King Award which is "Designed to commemorate the life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and to honor Mrs. Coretta Scott King for her courage and determination to continue the work for peace, the Coretta Scott King Book Awards annually recognize outstanding books for young adults and children by African American authors and illustrators that reflect the African American experience."

Kadir Nelson won the author award and
an honor award for his illustrations for this book!
(I should mention he is one of my favorite illustrators)

Shane Evans won the Illustrator award.

Fourth Graders are introduced the Newberry Award. "The Newbery Medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children."

Jack Gantos is the winner.

Kindergarteners and Fifth Graders are welcome to enjoy all of these books, but no specific award is shared during their library time.

 

Deborah Hopkinson's Magic

In preparing for Deborah Hopkinson's visit, students at Bennett have been introduced to lives of slaves, pioneers, farmers during the Dust Bowl, workers building the Empire State building, stagecoach drivers, bandits, Charles Darwin, Abraham Lincoln, and the Civil War.


While her stories seem simple and straight forward, by setting her books so firmly in a historic time period, she is moving Bennett's readers to think deeply about all of these people, places, and times.


Take a look at her website to learn more about this intriguing author. And please join us on March 1st for our family writing night.

Easy to read books online!

This is one website I highly recommend exploring:

We give books.

It is the easiest way I’ve seen to read a book – the complete book- over the web.  No passwords needed.  Most titles are picture books, though a handful of nonfiction offerings are available (mostly from DK). 

I was impressed.  Authors who are included on this site include Ezra Jack Keats, Rosemary Wells, Jan Brett, Judy Schachner, Mark Buehner and many others.

The best part?  Each time a book is read from the site, one is donated to a library in need.  It is sponsored by the Penguin Group and the Pearson Foundation.   For more info, check out the F.A.Q. section of the site.

Author Visit: Deborah Hopkinson

Classes are preparing for author *Deborah Hopkinson’s visit to Bennett on March 1^st. The students are loving her books based on moments in U.S. history. Ask your child about Apples to Oregon, Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek, or Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt.

 Here’s the schedule for her visit:

Time	Grade
9:10 – 9:30	Kindergarten
9:40 – 10:20	1st & 2nd
10:30 – 11:10	3rd
12:55 – 1:45	4th
2:10 – 3:00	5th
6:30 – 8:00	Family Writing Night

 Keep that night open to attend a Family Writing Night. Deborah Hopkinson will lead our families in writing family.  Please join us.

                                                                                                                            
*Oregon Book Award author Deborah Hopkinson is an award-winning author who works with students on literacy and historical thinking.  Her presentation includes a presentation entitled "History Must Be Seen," which provides intermediate children with insight into how illustrators and writers work to present the details of research.  

Does your family have rules about media use?

"According to a 2010 Kaiser Family Foundation study... despite the correlation between heavy media use and lower grades, only three in 10 young people reported having family rules about TV, videos games and the Internet." This article discusses the importance of media limits and some ideas of how to set them. Read the article here.

Social Skills effected by Digital Multitasking.

Girls aged 8 to 12 who frequently multitask between different digital devices, communicate online or watch videos were more likely to face social problems, Stanford University researchers reported in the journal Developmental Psychology. Although the study only involved girls, the findings should apply to boys, too, study researcher Clifford Nass said.


Read the article here.

Even more fun!

Apparently there are bunches of animated bookshelves out there. This link is to an animated book store. I love it. I hope you do too.

Just for fun...

How would you organize your bookshelves? By color? With a banana? No this isn't the start of Dr. Seuss story. Take a peek at these "dancing books".

"Reading is not optional."

May I introduce you to Walter Dean Myers? He is the new National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature appointed by the Library of Congress and an award winning author of over 100 books.
Many of your children may know of him as the star poet featured in Love that Dog by Sharon Creech. Fortunatley for us, he'll be traveling the country for the next two years  to promote the importance of fiction and nonfiction in the lives of young people. To read more click here.

Visit our library to check out one of his books today.

Look for the blue database book mark!

All students at Bennett have been given a blue book mark that has a link to this blog plus all the log-in and password information for all the subscription databases. At the top of this page on the right is the link to the library catalog. From there you can click on the Databases button or scroll down this page below the bookshelf to access the individual databases. They're great. Give one a try.