Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Storybird

Fourth grade is exploring the website Storybird, an online resource that features very cool artwork. Here is a poster I created:

5th Grade Space Project

Fifth grade students will solve the question "Life on another planet: Where could we live?" By understanding what makes our own planet earth inhabitable students will investigate all the other planets in the solar system and see if any of them would be okay for humans to live on. What do you think? Would you, could you live on another planet? They will use many resources including these websites:

Windows to the Universe

National Geographic-Planets

Astrocentral Planetary Information

NASA; Solar System

Welcome to the planets

Planet Quest

Universe Today

Planet Facts

Nine Planets (now 8)

Kid's Astronomy

Cosmic Quest; Field Guide to the Universe


Use these links to find more information about our solar system and continue your quest for accurate and safe information.

Week in Review-words become poems!



2nd grade created this unique POET-Tree's!



Color Poems from 3rd grade

Wordles from 4th grade-Mrs. Schell's class!

Welcome back!

I am so excited for a new school year.  We have lots of exciting things going on in the library this year.  Here is a little video to remind you of some easy expectations.

5th Grade;One Word Project

4th Grade Teachers' Book Club Selection of the Month!

Murderers, mob bosses and convicts…these guys are not your average neighbors! But it’s 1935 and 12-year-old Moose Flanagan and his family have just moved to Alcatraz, the infamous island that is home to criminals such as notorious escapee Roy Gardner, Machine Gun Kelly and of course, Al Capone!


From Ms. Ozzello
I really liked reading this book, because all of the characters were very relatable and very interesting in their own way. I understood how many of the characters would feel throughout the story, but each character also managed to surprise me at some point. Overall, it was just a really fun and interesting book to read!



From Mrs. Schell

I loved this book because Moose reminded me of my 4th graders! He was a regular boy who loved baseball and got to ride a boat to school! He had to help take care of his sister a lot and he even met a prisoner! Sometimes having a sister like Natalie got in the way of his 'normal' life....



From Ms. Kirsch

I loved reading this book because I was able to learn so much about Alcatraz, as well as read a great story that kept me wanting to read more. Moose is just your regular boy who has a very big responsibility of caring for his older sister and keeping her away from the convicts on the island. This is a must-read for all of my students!



From Mrs. Foster

Al Capone Does My Shirts is one of my favorite books! I love everything about it, from the interesting setting; Alcatraz Island home of some of the worst criminals in our history, to the characters- Moose the kind-hearted but conflicted main character, bossy Piper, and Natalie, who is more than she seems. Girls, don’t discount this book because you think it’s only for boys…this is a “must read” for EVERYONE!!

If you would like more information about Gennifer Choldenko click on this link!

Career Day by The Bazillions. What do you want to be when YOU grow up?

New Books

We have a cart in the library displaying beautiful new books.  The books came in boxes in January and Mrs. Wheeler and I have worked hard on getting them processed and into the library system.  Now it is your turn to explore them.  We have many new titles by popular authors such as Jane O'Connor (Fancy Nancy) and Mo Willems (Pigeon, Piggie, and Knuffle Bunny).  Here is a preview of just a FEW of our new titles. Take time to come and check out the cart for a full look-see.

Nightsong by Ari Beck and Loren Long (2012) tells the story of Little Chiro, a bat, who takes flight and ventures away from his mother.  He flies high and away and finds the pond filled with lovely bugs to eat but then he decides to go just a little bit further...read it to find out how his adventure ends.  Perfect readaloud for animal and science time.

Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett; illustrated by Jon Klassen (2012).  This is a warm-hearted tale of sharing.  Annabelle finds a box of yarn in assorted colors in the cold of winter.  She takes the box home and knits herself a sweater.  With the "extra yarn" she knits her dog a little coat.  Nate makes fun of Annabelle until she knits something for him.  Luckily she keeps coming up with extra yarn and she spreads love all over town even when after the archduke comes to visit.  This title is on several award lists for this year.  Spread some love in your class by reading this one aloud.

Dragons love tacos by Adam Rubin; illustrated by Daniel Salmieri (2012).  "Hey Kid! Did you know that dragons love tacos?  They love beef tacos and chicken tacos.  They love really big gigantic tacos and tiny little baby tacos as well."  Kids will LOVE this story and teachers should use it to illustrate story structure.  What if we wrote a book about tacos and dragons?  What an idea!  This great read-aloud will have students cracking up and ready to do some writing! 

Look for more new titles in another blog post soon!

1st Graders and penguins

As we learn more about cold places like Antartica and the penguins these videos will help us. and this one:

In memory of Dr. King

Why do we celebrate Dr. King's birthday as a national holiday? According to Wikepedia; The holiday was signed into law in 1983 by then president Ronald Reagon.  It is a floating holiday celebrated on the 3rd Monday of January every year.   A few states fought against this celebration of a private citizen and it wasn't until 2000 that all states got on board and celebrated this day as a national holiday. 

King is the only private citizen honored with a holiday because many feel his dedication to the Civil Rights Movement and to peace across this great land were worthy struggles.  He gave his life in the pursuit of equality for all American citizens. There are many wonderful books about Dr. King and his wife, Coretta Scott King, in the library. If you want to learn more research his life and what he stood for.

Dr. King's speeches are memorable.  He talked about freedom, peace, believing in your own power, and was an anti-war activist.  Here is avideo of his "I have a dream" speech.  Look at the video and check out how many people are listening to him.  How does your dreams for the future fit with Dr. King's ideals?

Beyond enjoying your day off today I hope you can continue his dream of action.  What can you do to help another person?  With kindness week approaching and a 4th and 5th grade food drive I am sure we will have many opportunities to celebrate Dr. King's memory.