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.