Family Library Night 2009

Many of our ASD families joined in for some festive fun at out annual Family Library Night on December 7.

Children wore their pajamas and gave their parents a tour of the library!

Highlights of the evening included story telling from Middle School students, holiday card and craft making, cookie decorating, and of course reading many wonderful books!

We checked out over 500 books to children and parents in just one evening!

Happy holidays to all our library patrons. We hope you treat yourself to good book over the holiday season!

Research for Emerging Readers - Grade 1

Our Grade 1 students are budding researchers! Using a database designed especially for emerging readers, PebbleGo, Grade 1 students have been learning about desert animals. PebbleGo is a database featuring more than 200 animal articles including audio, video, images and read-aloud text.

The user friendly interface and interactive nature of the PebbleGo make it perfect for students in K1-Grade 2. Many children have been so excited about researching animals that they have been coming to the library at recess to learn as much as they can!

If you would like to try out Pebble Go at home, visit our Electronic Resources page, follow the link to PebbleGo and enter the passwords provided:
http://sites.google.com/a/asdubai.org/elem/Home/passwords/password

Fiction and Nonfiction in K1 and K2

Students in K1 and K2 can tell you all about fiction and nonfiction! We have been learning how to recognize and enjoy both fiction and nonfiction books and information in the library.

Students in K1 enjoyed a series of fiction dinosaur books called How Do Dinosaurs... by Jane Yolen. In these books we realized that the stories must be make-believe because real dinosaurs would not have gone to bed with a teddy bear or ridden to school in a bus! We also shared several nonfiction books about dinosaurs and discovered the table of contents, diagrams, index and real-looking images.

K2 students shared a fiction book called Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman and a nonfiction electronic book on Starfall.com called Pumpkin, Pumpkin. The children were thrilled by the real photographs of a pumkin that was taller than them! We also enjoyed a fiction story about fall called Leaf Man by Louis Elhert, a realistic fiction video called Ruby's Leaf Collection and a nonfiction film from BrainPop on Fall. We discussed which information from each story was fact or fiction.

Recommended resources to reinforce fiction and nonfiction concepts at home:

BookFlix:
A database of paired fiction and nonfiction video stories and books, ideal for students in grades K1-2. ASD subscribes to this online resource available from our website:
http://sites.google.com/a/asdubai.org/elem/Home/passwords/password

Star Fall:
Starfall.com is a free public website that is designed to motivate children to read with phonics. Games, stories and puzzles are appropriate for early readers.
http://www.starfall.com/

BrainPOP Jr.:
Animated Science, Health, Technology, Math, Social Studies, Arts & Music and English movies, quizzes, activity pages and school homework help for K-12. Available from our website:
http://sites.google.com/a/asdubai.org/elem/Home/passwords/password

Big6 Research in Grades 3-5

Our elementary students are refining their research skills. Using both print and electronic resources, students are learning the steps of the Big6 research process help them to develop as researchers. The Big6 is a model used to teach information and technology problem solving skills.

In Grade 3, students recently used a database called CultureGrams to learn about India. Grade 4 students researched the human body and natural disasters using a variety of resources. Books, World Book Online, Expert Space, and WebPath Express were just some of the tools these budding researchers explored to find information on their specific body system and type of disaster. Several Grade 5 students used multiple sources to research biomes of the world.

Using various graphic organizers to record their "treasure words" or main ideas, students are learning important skills related to locating, evaluating and using information. All students in Grades 2-5 are learning the following six-step approach:

1. Task Definition

• Define the information problem
• Identify information needed

2. Information Seeking Strategies

• Determine all possible sources
• Select the best sources

3. Location and Access

• Locate sources
• Find information within sources

4. Use of Information

• Engage, read, hear, view
• Extract relevant information

5. Synthesis

• Organize from multiple sources
• Present the information

6. Evaluation

• Judge the product
  
• Judge the process
  

For more information about the Big6, visit http://www.big6.com/kids/index.htm
Also, remember students can access our subscription resources from home. Simply visit the Elementary Library Home Page for links to our many helpful resources, all at appropriate reading levels for students.

Cynthia Rylant - Grade 2

Cynthia Rylant is the author of many genres of books for children of all ages. She received the Newbery Medal for her book Missing May, the Newbery Honor award for A Fine White Dust, as well as Caldecott Honors for The Relatives Came and When I Was Young in the Mountains. We have over 80 books by Cynthia Rylant in our elementary library!

Grade Two students have begun to explore some of her popular work for young readers. Several series they have started reading are Henry and Mudge, High-Rise Private Eyes, Mr. Putter and Tabby, Poppleton and Cobblestreet Cousins.


Students also enjoy many of Rylant's picture books including The Cookie-Cat Store, The Bookshop Dog, Little Whistle's Medicine and The Great Gracie Chase: Stop That Dog!

To read a letter from Cynthia Rylant, written for children, click here.

Shelfari Mania!

Students in Grades 4 and 5 are buzzing about books! They have recently joined a website called Shelfari that allows readers to keep track of the books they are reading, share recommendations, and write book reviews. Shelfari aims to allow it's members to do the following:

• Build virtual bookshelves to express themselves to their friends and to the world
• Discover books that are popular in their trusted circles of friends
• Influence peers by rating and discussing books online
• Discover and learn from people with similar reading tastes
• Participate in online book groups to further explore literature and share ideas
  

(quoted from www.shelfari.com)

Ask your Fourth or Fifth Grade student to show you his or her virtual bookshelf. You may even consider joining Shelfari. The possibilities are endless! Check it out!

Grade 3 Chapter Books - Bailey School Kids

The Bailey School Kids series, by Debbie Dadey, is a hot topic in Grade 3! We read Vampires Don't Wear Polkadots together and the students began to explore the other books on their own. The spooky and humorous stories are perfect chapter books for Grade 3.

Visit the library for recommendations for just right chapter books and series. Here are a few to get you started...

• Arthur series
• A-Z Mysteries
• Bailey City Monsters
• Barkley’s School for Dogs
• Berenstain Bears
• Black Lagoon
• Cam Jansen
• Commander Toad
• Dragon Slayer’s Academy
• Hank the Cow Dog
• Horrible Harry
• Jigsaw Jones Mysteries
• Junie B. Jones
• Magic Tree House
• Marvin Red Post
• Pee Wee Scouts
• Polka Street School
• Ready Freddy
• Scooby Doo
• Song Lee
• Matt Christopher sports series
  
• Stevie Diamond Mysteries
• The Littles
• Third Grade Detectives
• Time Warp Trio
  
• Zack Files

Chapter Books for Grade 2 - My Weird School Series

Over several classes, we read the chapter book Mrs. Roopy is Loopy, part of the My Weird School series by Dan Gutman. Ever since, we cannot keep the series on the shelf! Grade 2 students are eating up the books and visiting every day to see if any new books have been returned! The students love the fact that each book features a different unusual teacher. Mrs. Roopy, for example, is a zany librarian who dresses up as a different character every time the children come to the library. Dan Gutman is a popular author for children. His baseball card adventure series is well read as are two of his newer titles The Get Rich Quick Club and The Homework Machine. For more information about Dan Gutman and his books visit:

http://www.dangutman.com/

Grade 1 - Readers and Researchers

The students in Grade One have been enjoying books by author and illustrator, Mo Willems. His humorous characters, fun speech bubbles and silly faces are just the right recipe for early readers. Together we have share Knuffle Bunny, Knuffle Bunny Too, I Will Surprise My Friend from the Elephant and Piggie series, and Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late from the Pigeon series. Leonardo the Terrible Monster is up next!



Look out for more than 15 titles by Mo Willems in our library!

For more infomation on this funny author and for some fun interactive games, check out www.mowillems.com


Grade One have also been wearing a new hat as researchers. Using some of our databases for children, World Book Kids and Culture Grams, students have been finding facts about their home countries.

K1 and K2 Bookcare

Our youngest students love visiting the library! K1 and K2 students are learning to search for books that are interesting and exciting for them. We use book sticks to mark where books belong on the shelf as we are browsing. They are also learning to look after the books that they borrow from the library. Our plastic book bags help us to protect our books.



Please help your child remember to return his or her books in the book bag on library day. Encourage proper book care with your child by demonstrating careful page turning and gentle handling of books. Enjoy reading together.

And, visit the library with your child! You are welcome to come any day to exchange books and to read and browse together.

Off to a great start

Our school year is off to a great start. It's wonderful to see our students and parents back and ready for new adventures in the library! Some reminders about our community library services...

The Elementary Library is open from 7:30 am - 4:00 pm. Students and parents are welcome to check out books before and after school. Students may read or work on homework after school, but please note that students in K1-Grade 3 must be accompanied by an adult. Students may also visit the library during lunch recess.



Please remind your children to visit the library frequently, not just on their scheduled library day! Also, parents, stop by to open your own library account if you have not done so already. We are at your service!