NEW YEAR, NEW...MONSTER?

Welcome back, teachers! It has been great to see all of you so far this week and also to meet those new to Sycamore Park. Next week, we will greet the students with open arms and immaculately clean and organized classrooms, but before we welcome the students we should probably welcome the newest addition to the library. Sycamore Park, meet Monster. He is a book-gobbling pro, and he is taking the place of our old book drop.

Monster does not yet have a name, so if you have any suggestions please just let us know.

On a serious note, if you are in need of any books over the next couple days/weeks, please let me know! I'd be glad to help you find them or locate them for you. Also, if there is anything I can do to help any of your lessons run smoothly (set up a themed book display, pull books on a particular subject, etc), please let me know. The current display as you enter the library is "Back to School", so feel free to check out any of those books.

I look forward to another exciting year with all of you!

THANKS

The year has finally come to an end, and I must admit I'm having so many mixed feelings. I feel relief that my husband and I are headed off for a week at the beach. I feel sadness at seeing the 5th graders leave but excitement for what the future has in store for them. Most of all, though, I feel such intense gratitude and appreciation for all of you here at Sycamore Park. 

When my husband and I moved here in August from Pittsburgh, it was a difficult transition. We were leaving so much behind....our friends, our family, and our whole life in Pittsburgh. I'll admit, Culpeper was a big change for us. Then I got the job at Sycamore Park in December. Right from the start, all of you welcomed me with open arms. I felt like I had so much support and encouragement from so many of you. Honestly, I feel like I have a new family here at Sycamore Park, and I am so grateful to be here. 

Thank you all for your kind words of support over these last few months. Thanks for the positive words when something went right. Thanks for the encouraging words when things went wrong. Thanks for your patience as I learned the ropes. Thanks for your kindness and generosity. Thanks for showing me how things run here at Sycamore Park. Thanks for welcoming me with open arms. Thanks for all of your tips, wisdom, and experience. Thanks for all of the great memories this year. Thank you thank you thank you! My heart is honestly so full with thanks!

And see you next year!

OOPS!

Ok, I have been slacking on the blog front. As the end of the year approaches, I am learning how much I don't know! In other words, there is a lot more to the end of the year procedures than I realized. Toni and I have been explaining to the kids that we have to "count all of the books in the library". Although this simplifies the library inventory, I am finding that it is a pretty accurate description of what has to be done. I am trying to take deep breaths.

I am sure that all of you are on the same page as me. Perhaps you are a bit overwhelmed? Perhaps you are just freaking excited for summertime? Perhaps you are counting down the days (hours, minutes, seconds?) until the end of the year? Well, if this is the case, here is something to put some pep in your step....

Ok, let me explain. This is Tito Puente. This is one of his famous songs, "Oye Como Va". This is what has been playing almost constantly in the library over the last few days. The K-2 grades have been learning about biographies, and there is an excellent biography for kids about Tito Puente called "Tito Puente, Mambo King" by Monica Brown. The pictures are vibrant and entertaining, and the story is simple. Most importantly, Mr. Puente wrote some awesome songs that get kids and adults (admit it, Mrs. Keeney, you've had your dancing shoes on in the library lately) dancing. 

Although I'm not sure that all of the kids fully grasped the concept of biographies, I do think that they learned some facts about Tito Puente and had a good time in the process. The library has been filled with music lately, and this fun lesson has kept me going over the last couple school days. I can't believe it, but this is our second-to-last Resource rotation of the year. One more rotation to go. I will keep you all posted about what the last rotation will entail. 13 more school days, Sycamore Park friends!

POEMS GALORE!

This past week, we have been talking about poetry in all of the library classes. I have to say that this has been one of my favorite lessons since starting here at Sycamore Park. It really gave the kids a chance to shine and show me the depths of their creativity. Honestly, some of the kids blew me away. Grades 3-5 were creating something called a Book Spine Poem. These poems, which often don't rhyme, are created by placing the spines of books together to create a short story, poem, or saying. I showed the kids a few examples, like the one below.

They quickly caught on to the concept and, working in teams, they created some amazingly smart and funny Book Spine Poems. You can find some of them below.

As you can see, they did a great job with this assignment. I was really impressed. The younger kids created a poem with me on the white board, and they also had some great ideas. I created the basic frame for the poem, and they filled in the blanks. Happy Poetry Month!

RECIPES FOR KIDS (AND ADULTS)

I recently had a 1st grade class in the library, and one of the students asked if we had any cook books. I was sure that we did, but I had never thought to look for our section of student cook books. Let me tell you, I am so glad that this student brought this section of our library to my attention. Just like gardening, I believe that baking/cooking can be so empowering to children because they do the work and then they have a product at the end that they have created. How cool! The recipes in these cook books for kids are easy and FUN (although the kids should still create the food with adult supervision, of course).

Mrs. Keeney and I were browsing through a couple of the books the other day, and we found some TASTY recipes. One book in particular caught our attention: "Indoor S'mores and Other Tasty Treats for Special Occasions" by Nick Fauchald. It's from a series of books called "Kids Dish", and all of the books are worth checking out. They group the recipes by difficulty level (Easy, Intermediate, Advanced) and the directions come with words AND pictures. I found a few recipes that I am excited to make over the weekend, and I posted one of my favorites below just to show how cool these books are. I will let you know how it turns out after I make it this weekend.

There is now a cook book display at the back of the library, so feel free to check out some of these fun books for yourself, or encourage your students to check them out!

Campout Banana Boats

Ingredients:
4 bananas
1/4 cup mini marshmallows
1/4 cup chocolate chips
4 teaspoons brown sugar

Tools:
butter knife, cutting board, measuring cups, measuring spoons, 4 12-inch squares of aluminum foil, baking sheet, oven mitts

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees (with parent supervision).
2. Remove peel from one side of a banana.
3. Use the butter knife to cut a small wedge out of the banana.
4. Place 1/4 of the marshmallows, 1/4 of the chocolate chips, and 1 teaspoon of brown sugar into the wedge of each banana.
5. Cover the banana with the banana peel. Wrap each banana tightly in aluminum foil and place on a baking sheet.
6. Ask an adult to bake the wrapped bananas for 8 minutes or until the chocolate has melted. Let cool for 10 minutes and serve.

APRIL IS NATIONAL POETRY MONTH!

April is National Poetry Month! In honor of this fun month, I am posting some videos of poets reading their poetry for kids. Shel Silverstein's is by far my favorite, but all of them are wonderful and worth watching as an adult or as a child. Also, check out the Poetry Foundation's website. They have many resources for children, including "Children's Poet Laureate Presents", "Classical Baby: The Poetry Show", and "A Child's Garden of Poetry", all of which contain videos meant for children. Enjoy!

 

Shel Silverstein Reading "Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me Too"

Mary Ann Hoberman Reading "All Kinds of Families"

 

Video Here

 

 

Kenn Nesbitt Reading "I Taught My Cat To Clean My Room"

 

 

This one is a little advanced for kids, but how cool to see Robert Frost reading his famous poem, "Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening"

 



FIRST DAY OF SPRING

First, I would like to apologize for the horrible smell emanating from the library yesterday and today. The microwave and I had a small disagreement yesterday, and the result was an extremely overcooked Hot Pocket, a panicked librarian, and lots of smoke. I have learned my lesson and will not be using the microwave again for a long long LONG time.

In other, more important, news, we have some Spring displays up in the library! The display as you come in is full of Spring books and covers a variety of subjects, from earthworms and frogs to rain and umbrellas. We also have a "Reading Helps You Grow" display, which contains books about gardening, flowers, and seeds. Last but certainly not least is a poetry display, which is in the back of the library. It contains poetry for all grade levels, in various forms (free verse, haikus, etc), and covering a variety of subjects (monsters, princesses, animals, etc). Hopefully the kids will grab one of these books.

 

And on the horizon for next year....I am thinking about starting a book club for interested 5th grade students. I still have to get permission for this and speak with other teachers about ideas, but I think the student interest for it is there. I recently went to a conference, and one of the presenters had some great ideas about how to run an elementary school book club. More to come on this later.

 

Have a great first day of SPRING!