It's Wednesday! What's happening in the Sommer Library?

Our Spring Scholastic Book Fair is almost here!

Want to volunteer?  Click here!

Want to start early online shopping tomorrow?  Click here!

Proceeds from the book fair help fund author visits, books for students and the library, our Bluebonnet Reading Program, clubs, materials for teachers, and professional development.

Congratulations to Surya A., Oveya C., Sabrina L., and Izzy N.!  They had our top scores in our Campus Battle of the Bluebonnets, and will represent our school in the district competition on March 10th!

Read-alouds this week:

We're a little early in reading about Holi with our kindergarten classes, since we'll still be in book fair mode on March 9th.  Festival of Colors is a beautiful, fun book to help us learn about this Indian holiday that many of our student celebrate!

First graders are visiting the Depth and Complexity icon of rules, both written and unspoken, as we read Mary Wears What She Wants, about the real Mary Edwards Walker.

The second half of second grade is getting caught up with a new take on "The Little Red Hen" story, with The Little Red Fort.

Third graders are revisiting the Book Nook too, this week!  They are gathering some schema for their upcoming science unit on space with A Place for Pluto.  We're discussing the Depth and Complexity icons of Rules and Language of the Discipline (astronomy).

Lessons this week:

Fourth grade is learning about the 5Ws reading comprehension strategy to remember what they've just read.  By asking themselves who, what, where, when, why, and how questions when they're done reading, they will be able to self-diagnose what information they've learned or missed from the text.

Fifth graders are reviewing nonfiction text features by finding them in books about weather and water cycles and sharing them with their table groups.

Important dates:

March 4th-9th:  Spring Scholastic Book Fair

March 9th through 13th:  All overdue books and fees due for Spring Break checkout

March 10th:  District Battle of the Bluebonnets

March 11th:  Library closed for Kindergarten Registration

March 31st:  Last day for parents to record student reading minutes for Six Flags

May 8th:  All books due back to the library

See you at the Spring Scholastic Book Fair next week!  In the meantime, enjoy these pictures of the mountain laurel in bloom, right outside our library windows.

It's Monday! What are you reading?

Immigration is frequently on my mind lately, as my daughter and her Japanese husband prepare to move to the United States in 2021.  I was drawn to this picture book biography on the review table, not realizing that the subject played a crucial role in the first Disney movie I remember seeing--"Bambi".

The title, Paper Son, refers to the practice of forging background paperwork to circumvent the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.  In 1920, Wong Geng Yeo immigrated to the United States with his father, who pretended to be a merchant in order to gain entry.  Geng Yeo's forged name was Tai Yow.  When he began attending public school, his teachers combined and Americanized his name to Tyrus Wong.

Tyrus' father worked hard to support his son and encouraged his artistic talent.  Tyrus made his way into the Disney studios, doing the "grunt work" of hand-drawn animation.  He continued developing his own art skills on the side, mixing Western and Eastern influences into a style of his own.  When he heard that Disney was having difficulty coming up with backgrounds for "Bambi", he submitted his own painted landscapes.  Walt Disney decided they were just what the movie needed.

"Bambi" was not the end of Tyrus Wong's story.  To read more about his immigration process, time at Disney, and his artful pursuits, read Paper Son: The Inspiring Story of Tyrus Wong, Immigrant and Artist by Julie Leung, illustrated by Chris Sasaki. 

For more information about Chinese immigration and heritage in the United States, explore the National Archives at this link.

It's Wednesday! What's happening in the Sommer Library?

Welcome back from your four-day weekend, Stallions!

Teachers have been working the last two days.  While Ms Margocs was at training, Mrs. Melton was busy making a fabulous hallway display.

Mrs. Melton also put president books on display.  Here are just a few:

Topics Ms Margocs learned about during the last two days of professional development:  

• triarchic intelligence--from a fabulous presenter, a Sommer parent who just happens to work with the Depth and Complexity folks 
• "Stop the Bleed", a state-mandated training
• resilience and reset--from another fabulous RRISD parent, Anne Grady 
• podcasting--might just turn this blog into audio
• using graphic novels in the classroom--ideas to support teachers
• booktalks

Last Friday, we had a great time at our Bluebonnet Breakfast!  Sixty-eight students attended; thirty-seven students were recognized for reading all of the Bluebonnet Nominees.

We have a lot going on in school with the shorter week and APEX activities, so every class is in checkout mode.  We'll be back to our normal schedule of lessons next week.

And the week after is....our Spring Scholastic Book Fair!

We will be open for shopping on the following dates:

Wednesday, March 4th--230p to 430p

Thursday, March 5th--715a to 415p

Friday, March 6th--715a to 615p (PTA Movie Night!)

Saturday, March 7th--1p to 4p (Code Jam!)

Monday, March 9th--715a to noon

There will be an all-call for overdue books/ missing fees for lost/damaged books before Spring Break.  Students who have overdue books or unpaid bills will not be allowed to check out books to read over break.

Keep on reading, Stallions; Six Flags Read to Succeed minutes must be entered online by parents by March 31st!

It's Monday! What are you reading?

A little over a year ago, I finished Tomi Adeyemi's Children of Blood and Bone.  I finally bought and started the sequel!

This is not a book for elementary students, but definitely a good fit for mature middle school on up readers of fantasy.  Adeyemi continues her modus operandi of writing each chapter from a singular character's viewpoint, always moving the story forward.  The battle to bring magic back to Orisha has succeeded, but with unexpected results: waking up powers in the very royalty Zelie battled against.  Will the old queen's newly acquired titan powers be used to bring the people of Orisha together, or to dominate the diviners once again?  Now that the princess has titan power, will she remain on the side of the resistance?

Now that I know this is the second book of a trilogy, I won't be too disappointed if there's yet another cliffhanger at the end!

It's Monday, and I'm continuing a fantasy series.  What are you reading today? 

It's Wednesday! What's happening in the Sommer Library?

January Stats!

We've got a few more books on display, thanks to a recent Oscar winner.  There are a lot of books about hair in our collection!

The Shelf Elves and Readers' Advisory clubs met together yesterday to look at and amend Ms Margocs' last big book shopping list for the school year.  We're getting several award winners from fiction and nonfiction categories, as well as graphic novels suggested by the Little Maverick committee, series fillers and additional copies of the group's favorite books.

Read-alouds this week:
Kindergarteners are getting a homework assignment from Ms Margocs after listening to and discussing Alma and How She Got Her Name by Juana Martinez-Neal.

Ms Margocs shared the stories behind her name and the names of her children.  The students' homework?  To ask their parents the story behind their names!

First graders are having a checkout-and-read week.  

Lessons this week:

Second graders are working on their basic citation skills using a Nearpod lesson, to prepare for an upcoming classroom project.

Third graders are learning about website domains and effective keyword searching to be efficient researchers.

Fourth grade is practicing the 5 Ws strategy for remembering the details of what they read.  

Fifth grade is reviewing nonfiction text features using library books about weather and water, their upcoming science unit topics.

Important dates:

February 14th--Last day to turn Schlitterbahn Waves of Pages reading logs in.

February 14th--Bluebonnet Breakfast for invitees only.

February 25th--Campus Battle of the Bluebonnets tryouts for invitees only.

March 3rd through 9th--Spring Scholastic Book Fair!

March 10th--District Battle of the Bluebonnets.

March 31st--Six Flags online reading logs due.

Remember--you can suggest books for our collection, too!  The form can be found on our Sommer Library website.

It's Monday! What are you reading?

I'm drawn to books that are library-related, so I had to pick up my own copy of Alan Gratz's Ban This Book.  It's been out for over a year; I'm a tad behind in my reading!!

All Amy wants to do is read her favorite book from her school library, but she can't--it's been banned by the school board, at the request of a parent, without following the board's own reconsideration policy.  Amy has a hard time speaking up and misses her chance to defend the book...but finds another creative way to get it into the hands of fellow students who want to read it.  As a librarian who believes in access to books, I was rooting for Amy and her friends' freedom to read.  The titles in question come from actual lists of banned and challenged books, as compiled by the American Library Association.  

Ban This Book is a great story for students and adults who are unfamiliar with acts of censorship in the school library setting and the reasons reconsideration directives are in place in many school board policies.  It also describes students' abilities to self-censor--to know what they are and aren't ready to read--and parents' rights to choose what their own children read, but not choose for other families. 

It's Monday, and I finally got around to reading a book that's been buzzed about for over a year!  What are you reading? 

It's Wednesday! What's happening in the Sommer Library?

We've refreshed our book displays for the new month:

We'll also have craft books, biographies, and books by Don Tate, James Patterson and other featured authors on display throughout February.

Read-alouds this week:

Kindergarten and first grade classes are both listening to The Little Red Fort by Brenda Maier, a different take on the classic folktale "The Little Red Hen".  Ruby is determined to build a fort, but her brothers don't want to be bothered to help.  The focus is on the Depth and Complexity icons of Ethics and Patterns.

Lessons this week:

Second graders are learning the basics of citation with a Nearpod lesson created by Ms Margocs.  Author, title, and date of publication for books are being used.  Website name, date of access, and url will be their citation for digital resources.

Third graders are participating in a choose-your-next-move lesson on keywords, searching tips, url domains, and database use for more effective research.  Good research starts with a question!

Fourth and fifth graders will be completing the district student climate survey this week.

Important dates:

February 10th--Last day to record Schlitterbahn Waves of Pages reading minutes

February 11th--Stallion Readers' Advisory meets with Shelf Elves after school

February 14th--Waves of Pages reading logs due to teachers

February 14th--Bluebonnet Breakfast for invitees only (3rd thru 5th grades)

February 25th--Campus Battle of the Bluebonnets for invitees only

March 3rd-9th--Spring Scholastic Book Fair--more info to come!

Keep on reading, Stallions!

It's Monday! What are you reading?

From the review table at our monthly district librarians' meeting:

Two Girls, a Clock, and a Crooked House by Michael Poore was a really fun read!  Quirky characters, science fiction (time travel!), extrasensory perception, difficult family and school situations, and environmental activism all wrapped up in 304 pages.

"How?" you may ask.

Take one scientific-minded daughter of activist scientists as the main character.  Pair her with a friend who can't move on her own or speak, other than to say "Mooooo."  Have your main character suddenly develop ESP via a random (but believable), dangerous event.  Let the town story about a witch who eats children run as a subplot throughout the entire book.  Add a bit of Wrinkle In Time type magic, and you've got this wonderful, quick-moving story with a delightful ending.  (I personally like stories where things are wrapped up neat and tidy in the end.)

I'm looking forward to adding this 2019 release to our library collection this week, for third grade on up.  What new or new-ish books are you adding to your reading pile?