It's Monday! What are you reading?

 Welcome back from Thanksgiving Break, Dillo Readers!  I hope you enjoyed some fun reading time during the holiday.  I read some grown-up reading and started thinking about my favorite winter holiday books.

Sometimes we need a quiet holiday book before drifting off to sleep.  Here are three that can be found on our library shelves:

(I love to read this one by the light of the Christmas tree!)

(If you can find the animated movie of The Snowman, even better!)

(Maybe not-so-quiet, but a great story!)

It's Monday, and I'm ready for some holiday reading!  The weather is getting colder this week--perfect for snuggling in with a good book.  What are your favorite wintry stories?  I'll share some more seasonal books from our library next week!

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

 We are getting ready for our online 

Fall Scholastic Book Fair!

Families will be able to shop from thousands of books, delivered to your door.  If you buy $25 worth of books, shipping is free!  There will even be a virtual Book Fair with 360 degree views to walk through--we're really looking forward to that!

Proceeds from the Book Fair help fund supplies and books for the library, like this new book cart we just bought to house our incoming collection of PreK boardbooks.

Please consider shopping for our teachers' wishlists!  They would love some new books for their classroom libraries.  There's a wishlist for the school library, too, for books to give to students in need.

Click here for the Book Fair Homepage:  https://www.scholastic.com/bf/armadillobookfair

Click here for Teacher Wishlists: https://tinyurl.com/yysa8huq

Our Fall Scholastic Book Fair runs from November 23rd through December 6th--just in time for holiday gifts!

Read-alouds and lessons this week:

PreK has been talking about identifying and managing anger, so we're reading Fergal and the Bad Temper by Robert Starling.

Kindergarten classes are studying animal characteristics.  I Am a Tiger is a silly story about a mouse who insists he's a tiger, raccoon is a caterpillar, snake is a banana...we're giggling as we discuss the true characteristics!  Written by Karl Newson, illustrated by Ross Collins:

Second graders are reviewing story elements with The Panda Problem by Deborah Underwood, illustrated by Scott Magoon.  What do you do when your main character doesn't have a problem to overcome?  You make one up!

Third through fifth graders are learning about the limiters in our online catalog, to narrow down their searches for good-fit books.  We can limit our findings by genre, material type, reading levels, and publication years.

We are off for Thanksgiving Break next week--stay healthy, shop the Book Fair, and spend some time reading!

It's Monday! What are you reading?

 

I did a search for "Thanksgiving" in our online catalog last night--there were 59 results!  Books and eBooks, fiction and nonfiction, picture and chapter books.  We have many of these on display in the library, ready to check out this week before Thanksgiving Break.

I have a collection of Thanksgiving and gratitude books on my own shelf at home, from when my own children were little.  Here are my favorites:

(I'm rereading this one for my own benefit, as I clean and declutter my home.)

(I love the joy and diversity in this book!)

(Multigenerational and the frustrations of being the youngest)

And last, a reminder of the details of the season in New England:

(A leaf-peeping trip is on my bucket list!)

It's Monday, and I'm revisiting some of my favorite Thanksgiving books!  What's on your seasonal reading pile?

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

 We're taking a break from lessons and focusing on checking out this week with first through fifth graders.  This means reminders about how to use our Grab & Go Curbside Delivery service for both at-home and some classroom learners, as well as guidance in finding good-fit books in the library.  It's important for students to have time to browse our collection and "peek and turn" to make decisions about what they are interested in and can truly enjoy.  We'll be having more lessons about choosing good-fit books soon.

Ms Margocs has ordered more new books, and some arrived this week!  

PreK is listening to a story about the sun to go along with their classroom studies.  We're talking about seasons and shadows, too.

Kindergarteners are discussing managing anger in their classroom social-emotional learning, so we're reading Fergal and the Bad Temper by Robert Starling during our library time.

The biggest news this week--our Fall Scholastic Book Fair is coming soon!

It will be completely online!  Books will be shipped to your home; if you spend $25 on books, shipping is free!  The proceeds go towards buying books and supplies for our library.  The holiday season is upon us, and books make great gifts--hint, hint!  The Book Fair will be open from November 23rd (Thanksgiving Break) to December 6th.  There's even a Virtual Fair for families to explore--a 360 tour of carts and book displays!

We will be devising a way to promote online teacher wishlists as well--stay tuned!

It's Monday! What are you reading?

 Last night, I started reading Jason Reynolds' Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks.

I'm only a few pages in, and I like the dialogue between best friends TJ and Jasmine.  They've been friends for six years, have their own special traditions and know just when to listen and just when to speak up.  They show concern for one another through acts of kindness that are no big deal to them, like swapping backpacks when Jasmine's is too heavy.  

I like the way the story is set up, too--block by block.  It lends itself to a classroom read-aloud, perhaps reading a block a day in two or three shorter sessions.  I will set that reading goal for myself, too.

It's Monday, and I'm reading a book about friendship.  Are their fictional friends you've grown to admire?  What makes their friendship special?

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

We followed the live broadcast of the 21-22 Bluebonnet Award Nominees on Monday!

Ms Margocs will purchase these books for our library in February, when we wind down this year's Bluebonnet Reading Program.  You can now track your Bluebonnet reading on a Google form on the library website.  Just look for "Reading Programs" in the menu. Students must be signed into Chrome with their school account to access the form.

What's on display right now?  Thanksgiving, fall, and election/ government books!

Read-alouds and lessons this week:

PreK is thinking about feelings as they listen to My Blue is Happy by Jessica Young, illustrated by Catia Chien and My Friend is Sad by Mo Willems.

Kindergarten and first graders are learning about voting with an Armadillo Readers' Choice book-- I Voted: Making a Choice Makes a Difference by Mark Shulman, illustrated by Serge Bloch.  We'll be asking our virtual learners if their parents have their voting stickers handy!

Second graders are also listening to an Armadillo Readers' Choice book, Be Kind by Pat Zietlow Miller, illustrated by Jen Hill.  Our attempts to be kind may not always work, but being a friend means we keep on trying.  There are many ways to be kind--giving, helping, and paying attention.  This book ties into the social-emotional lessons on compassion the students are receiving in their classrooms.

Third through fifth graders are exploring our district and campus databases by logging in and spending time just looking at what's available to research and learn.  At home, passwords may be required; they can be found by clicking on "English" or "Spanish" by the golden lock on the Research Resources page, and logging in with your student email and computer password.  These resources are appropriate for elementary students and contain reliable, verified information for their school projects and their own personal learning.

Here's a teaser for some news coming next week:

Until then--keep on reading, Dillos!

It's Monday! What are you reading?

One of my favorite phrases is "book coma", and I haven't experienced it in a long time--until yesterday.  I finally sat down to finish Shannon Messenger's Keeper of the Lost Cities, and found myself polishing off the last three hundred pages of this four hundred eighty-eight page book!  (I might have been avoiding cleaning, too...)  Now I can truly understand why my students love this fantasy series.  It's got magic, fairies along with their fairy land, intrigue--and school drama that any middle grader can relate to, with friendships and rivals and dreaded classes.  This first book in the series had a satisfying ending, but definitely left enough loose ends to prompt readers to continue on to the next novel.

I don't usually post twice about the same book; I want to be honest about my reading life.  I am a slow-reading librarian, and this pandemic has altered my attention span even more--and I'm not the only one with this complaint.  I've talked about this with other adults, and several of them mentioned how hard it was to concentrate on reading books lately.  We're not sure if it's due to increased screen time or other details of COVID19 restrictions and changes, but we're feeling the negative effect on our attention span.  So if you're having trouble concentrating while reading, just know that you're not alone!

It's Monday, and I finally took the time to finish a great book!  Are there books you need to wrap up?