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!



IS IT SPRING YET??

Despite the overwhelming amount of snow we've had and the cold temperatures, Spring is indeed around the corner! I know I can't wait! With Spring comes some fun book topics, such as ooey gooey earth worms, flowers and gardens, thunderstorms and rain, umbrellas, and fun spring animals.

To make it easier for teachers and students (and me) searching for Spring books, I made a list of Spring-related books in our Destiny catalog. It is super easy to find, and it lists titles related to all the Spring things I listed above. Here's how to find it.

1. Go to Sycamore Park's library catalog.

2. On the left, there are three options: Library Search, Destiny Quest, and Resource Lists. Click on Resource Lists. 

3. It will say "My Lists". On the right are two tabs: My Lists and Public Lists. Click on Public Lists. 

4. Click on Spring Titles. 

Now that everything is thawing and it doesn't physically hurt to go outside, it might be a great time for students to start exploring the world around them and take a plunge into science! I listed some websites below that might encourage children to embrace the warmer spring weather, learn about the world, and delve deeper into science. Enjoy!

TryScience

This website helps students experience the excitement of contemporary science and technology through on and offline interactivity with science and technology centers worldwide. Areas of the website include "Adventure", "Experience", "Field Trips", "Curious?", and "Live Cams". 

My First Garden

This website, available in English AND Spanish, is easy to navigate and allows students to learn about how to plant their first garden. The website includes areas such as "Garden Gallery", "Show Me The Basics", "Garden FUNdamentals", "Planning My Garden", and an area for the teachers entitled "Teacher's Guide". 

The Lorax Project

This branch of Seussville.com is all about educating students about endangered species, the rain forest, and what they can do to help and keep themselves informed. It includes maps of rain forest areas, a list of what the kids can do to be environmentally friendly, and a pledge the kids can sign if they choose to "be a friend to the environment and help the Lorax". 

Catch the Science Bug

This website encourages kids to explore their own backyard and even consider a career as a scientist. The students can learn about various science subjects, watch videos related to the topics, and participate in activities both off and online.

GRAPHIC NOVELS HITTING THE SHELVES

One of the new trends in the library, and in Sycamore Park's library, is the presence of graphic novels. Many people dismiss graphic novels because they connect them to comic books. Some say they don't have a serious place in the library and in the students' journey to literacy. However, graphic novels are important in so many ways! As Macmillan.com says so well, "graphic novels are a great way to go for kids making the transition from image-centric books to more text-based books, and for those just learning English". Pictures give visual hints about what is happening in the story if children are struggling with the words. Also, because the story is told with panels of pictures, the students are challenged to think critically as they move from panel to panel. Macmillan's PDF about graphic novels and their place in the classroom is linked here and is an interesting read.

I can tell you that in Sycamore Park's library, graphic novels are EXTREMELY popular, and our collection is continuing to grow. They can sometimes be difficult to find because they are often placed in the nonfiction as they are considered a form of art. I have outlined some of the library's new and popular graphic novel series below in case your students (or you) are interested in checking them out! Some of them are quite entertaining!

Pilot & Huxley
Taken from Amazon.com: Pilot & Huxley get zapped to another dimension by aliens seeking to enslave Earth. Things get weird when they traverse a swamp of bees, battle a sea monster, and end up in the nose of a giant dragon. But with help from a girl who can transform into a monster, they might just make it back home.

Thea Stilton Series
Taken from Amazon.com: The Thea Sisters are five fun, lively students at on Whale Island, who want to be real, live journalists just like their hero, Thea Stilton. Between classes and friendships, love and small fits of jealousy, they’re finding life is really exciting!

Olympians
George O'Connor highlights an important person from Greek mythology in each volume of this exciting and beautifully illustrated series.

Frankie Pickle
Amazon.com talks about this graphic novel/chapter book hybrid: Wight's children's book debut introduces a protagonist as singular as his name. Frankie Pickle (short for Franklin Piccolini) fuels his everyday life with fantasy.

I hope you and your students enjoy this new book trend!

TEACHER FAVORITES

The votes are in! I have officially heard from almost all of the teachers and staff about their favorite books, and that means a fun new display in the library! When you walk into the library, you will now see a Teacher Favorites display (below).

Each of the books has a post-it on the front with the name of the teacher who chose that book as their favorite (one of mine is shown as an example below). The kids can then check out these books. Kids are already excited to be reading books their teachers love, and the books are flying off the shelves!

I was thrilled with the variety of books that were mentioned by all of the teachers. We had Charlotte's Web (thanks, Mr. Wygal!) and Little Women (Mrs. Meza!), which are such classics, and then we had newer books such as the bear books by Karma Wilson, recommended by Mrs. McFarland, and the Percy Jackson series. For the rest of this week, I am getting pictures of the teachers and staff with their favorite books for use in a digital picture frame in the library and for a bulletin board in the school. Fun things on the horizon!

FEBRUARY DISPLAYS

February means exciting displays in the library! Currently, the display as you walk into the library is for Valentine's Day! This includes nonfiction, picture, and chapter books for all grades.

There is also a display for Black History Month, and we have LOTS of new books for this topic. You could pick up Claudette Colvin, a Newbery award-winning book with moving illustrations for the older grades about fifteen year old Claudette who refused to give up her seat to a white woman on a segregated bus nine months before Rosa Parks. Consider grabbing Fifty Cents And A Dream, a beautifully illustrated look at Booker T. Washington as a young man. Or maybe you'll pick up Before John Was A Jazz Giant about John Coltrane and his love of music. We have books on Oprah, Rosa Parks, basketball stars, leaders of the political realm, inventors, musicians. We have modern stories and older ones. Come check out our selection!

And last but not least, the library now has three sections for books that are new to the library. One section is for new picture books, one is for new fiction chapter books, and one is for new nonfiction books. These new sections are labeled with large blue "NEW" signs, so keep an eye out for them! The nonfiction ones may be helpful in some of your lessons, and I am listing them below. Enjoy!

Citizen Scientists: Be A Part of Scientific Discovery From Your Own Backyard
590.72 BUR

Life in the Ocean: The Story of Oceanographer Sylvia Earle
551.46 NIV

Trash Origami: 25 Paper Folding Projects Reusing Everyday Materials
736.98 LAF

Island: A Story of the Galapagos
508.86 CHI

Harlem's Little Blackbird
782.42 WAT

Over and Under the Snow
591.43 MES

STORIES ONLINE

One of the items on my always-growing "To-Do" list is to update the Sycamore Park Library's home page. I have started the process, and one of the new additions is going to be a section of links to websites that have online stories for kids. I have found a few websites that are particularly kid-friendly and high-quality, and they are listed below with a short description.

Between The Lions - Stories

This website, by PBS Kids, has stories that children can watch and listen to in a variety of categories, from Folktales and Fables to Art and Music. The story is read aloud along with an entertaining video. Also, one plus of this website is that the words of the story run along the screen and are highlighted when they are spoken.

Storyline Online

This website is sponsored by the Screen Actors Guild. It has actors and actresses reading the stories, and the stories are accompanied by a video. Fun for adults, too! However, the story selection is limited.

Barnes & Noble Online Storytime

Barnes & Noble has videos that you can access of authors reading their books. This is one of my favorites because it features several stories that are so popular with the kids, such as Pinkalicious, If You Give A Mouse A Cookie, The Polar Express, Fancy Nancy, and many more. It's entertaining to hear the author him or herself reading the book.

Scholastic Listen & Read

This website features 54 nonfiction read-along books in categories such as American History, Animals, Science, Social Studies, and more. This website tells stories through words, images, and sound. A plus is that it reviews difficult words at the end of the story!

I hope you enjoy these resources! More will be posted on the library homepage, found here, soon!

STUDENT BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS

As part of the library unit focusing on the Virginia Reader's Choice Awards, students in grades 3 through 5 have been writing their own book recommendations. I encouraged them to think of their favorite book, why they love that book, and why they would tell other students to read the book. Students are always coming into the library looking for book recommendations, and I love recommending books for them. However, I think it would be even more helpful if they could get recommendations from their peers.

I am in the process of typing up their book recommendations and putting them in a packet by grade. Then, these laminated packets will be available in the library for other students looking for book recommendations!

Although there were a LOT of book recommendations for Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Captain Underpants, and that's fine, there were lots of students that recommended different books as well. Their use of advanced vocabulary was impressive, and their descriptions were as well. Also, they recommended a nice blend of nonfiction and fiction books. All of the students did a GREAT job, and I put some examples below. Enjoy!

George Washington
By Lenny Hort
This book is fascinating, inspiring, and the author inspires me to read about history.

The Book of Elsewhere
By Jacqueline West
It is full of magic and suspense with jumping through paintings and talking cats and evil dead witches. This book will have you clinging to your seat.

Redwall
By Brian Jacques
It is packed with adventure and action with funny characters. It is full of suspense and is a long book series. There are many different settings. There are cool characters, cool weapons, and awesome fortresses.

11 Birthdays
By Wendy Mass
It's entertaining, fun, and sometimes very mysterious.

The complete packets of recommendations will be available, sorted by grade, by the end of the week.

VIRGINIA READERS' CHOICE AWARDS

They're BACK! It's time for the Virginia Readers' Choice Awards! In case you've never heard of them, the Virginia Readers' Choice Awards give student readers an opportunity to become better acquainted with a broad range of contemporary literature while voicing their opinions about said literature. The students are given a list of popular books, and they can vote on the books they like the best. A winning book is then determined from the list. Students are empowered by their active role in this process. Our library at Sycamore Park currently does not have all of the books on this list, but that will soon change.

Over the next few weeks, all of the grades will be introduced to all of the nominees and will have the opportunity to vote for the book they think deserves to win. I will be reading all of the book nominees to the K-2 grades, and I will be reading excerpts from the book nominees to grades 3-5.

As a part of this unit, I will be asking grades 3-5 to write their own book recommendations so that a packet of these recommendations can be created for use in the library. That way, students can get book recommendations not only from me but also from their peers if they are looking for something great to read. I will also be asking teachers about their favorite children's books, and I am hoping to display pictures in the library of teachers holding their favorite children's books! Exciting things on the horizon.

Here are the nominees for grades K-2:

Over and Under the Snow by Kate Messner
Tiny Little Fly by Michael Rosen
These Hands by Margaret H. Mason
A Zeal of Zebras: An Alphabet of Collective Nouns by Woop Studios
Pumpkin Trouble by Jan Thomas
Stuck by Oliver Jeffers
Swirl by Swirl Spirals in Nature by Joyce Sidman
Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett
Oh No, George! by Chris Haughton
The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School by Laura Murray

And the nominees for grades 3-5:

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
8 Class Pets + 1 Squirrel divided by 1 Dog = Chaos by Vivian Vande Velde
The Lemonade Crime by Jacqueline Davies

Star in the Forest by Laura Resau

My Invisible Sister by Beatrice Colin and Sara Pinto

Waiting for the Magic by Patricia McLachlan

Fractions = Trouble! by Claudia Mills

Ghost Buddy: Zero to Hero by Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver

Worst of Friends: Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and the True Story of an American Feud by Suzanne Tripp Jurmain

Hound Dog True by Linda Urban

More info can be found on the website for the Virginia State Reading Association. 

MLK DAY ONLINE RESOURCES

I was looking for good online resources for MLK Day, but honestly the most powerful online resource I could find was the actual video of Martin Luther King's famous "I Have A Dream" speech. Not only are his words powerful, inspirational, and beautiful, but he is an excellent example for our students of how to give a speech. I guess he is just a great example all around. If you are looking for the famous "I Have A Dream" part of the speech and don't have time to listen to the whole thing, that part starts at around 12:20. NOTE: The video may be blocked on the school computers.

Here is a quiz to test your students' (and your own) knowledge of MLK.
QUIZ LINK

And The History Channel has lots of good videos about MLK and the Civil Rights Movement. This video is very kid-friendly and gives some background to the MLK "I Have A Dream" speech in under 3 minutes. There are lots of other videos as well.
VIDEO

The Seattle Times has a nice website about MLK, including some student-written essays about MLK. Here is the link to the essays, but you can find the rest of the website's content by using the drop down menus. They have some great photo galleries as well.
ESSAYS

CURRENT DISPLAY

As most of you know, this month we are celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. To prepare for this holiday on the 20th, the current book display as you enter the library contains books relating to Martin Luther King, Jr! All teachers and students are welcome to check these books out.

Every month, and during certain special weeks throughout the year, I plan on having a relevant display on the bookshelves as you enter the library. For example, in December we had a holiday display. In early January, we had a winter display. Now, we have a Martin Luther King display. After that, it will be a Valentine's Day/Love display. If you ever have any ideas or requests for a display, please let me know!

Also, I wanted to let everyone know that we have some great new titles centered around diversity that have just been added to the collection (thanks to Mrs. Jones for ordering the titles before she left). They are listed below. If you are interested in checking out any of the titles, please let me know and I can find them for you!

Diversity Titles

A Rainbow of Friends
By P.K. Hallinan

Who Is In Your Family?: A Celebration In Diversity
By Susan Bowman

I Am The World
By Charles Smith

Gorp's Dream: A Tale of Diversity, Tolerance, And Love...
By Sherri Chessen

It's Ok To Be Different
By Todd Parr

Can You Say Peace?
By Karen Katz