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

More new books have arrived!  And yes, there is still time to read them--library books aren't finally due for another two weeks.

Here are our lessons and read-alouds for the week:

PreK is moving with We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury.  We are out of our seats and swishing through grass, squelching through mud...and running away from a bear!

Kindergarten through second grade classes are reviewing all the Armadillo books we've read this year and then voting for their favorite one!  We'll announce our grade and campus winners next week.

Third through fifth grades usually get lessons throughout the year... but this week, they are getting a read-aloud!  Ms Margocs is stretching her silly voice again to bring The Very Impatient Caterpillar to life.  (He still sounds like Gilbert Gottfried in her head.)

What starts on Monday?  Our Spring Online Scholastic Book Fair!

Summer break is coming soon, and kids need books to read!  Remember to share the link with grandparents, aunts and uncles...all the books are shipped directly to your home.  Help our library program and prevent the "summer slide" at the same time!

CLICK HERE to get to the Book Fair Homepage!

The online book fair runs through May 16th, so you have two whole weeks to shop the great selection.

Don't forget--all library books are due back on May 14th, when Ms Margocs will start drawing names to give prizes to some lucky students with clear accounts!  Five names will be drawn every day from the 14th through the last day of school.

It's Monday! What are you reading?

I spent three solid days last week listening to discussions on kidlit, adding titles to fall shopping carts, and commenting on author panel chats at the annual (virtual) Texas Library Association Conference...so each night, I went home and read a grown-up book!

I bought a copy of The Arctic Fury by Greer Macallister upon recommendation of a longtime friend of mine who just happens to be a voracious reader and writer.  She knows my reading tastes, and thoughtfully recommends the best books to me, just when I seem to need them.

The Arctic Fury has so many interesting elements:  well-researched period piece, mystery, adventure, feminism at just that point in history when the term was coined.  The subject itself is intriguing:  an all-woman expedition to the Arctic circle to rescue (or find the bodies of) a team of men who disappeared during their own expedition.  The effort is requested and funded by Lady Franklin, the wife of the men's leader...but the details are suspiciously shrouded in mystery.  This is not to be a publicized event, and Virginia, the team leader recruited by Lady Franklin, must play by her benefactor's rules, whether she likes them or not.

The story is told in flashbacks as Virginia stands trial for the killing of one of the expedition members, so we are given information in tasty tidbits, getting to know the cast of characters as they assemble, prepare for, and make way on their journey.  

It's Monday, and I'm only halfway through The Arctic Fury, reading a few short chapters each night.  What are you reading these days?

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

There are read-alouds and lessons and surveys happening this week--and we are expecting even more new books!  Follow our Twitter account for pictures when they arrive.

Read-alouds:

PreK has been practicing name-writing in class, so we're reading another book about that very thing--Yoko Writes Her Name, by Rosemary Wells.  Ms Margocs even includes a picture of how her name is written in Japanese, thanks to her son-in-law!  We spent a few minutes talking about different languages spoken in the students' homes:  Portuguese, Spanish, French, Turkish, Arabic, and Gujarati!

Kindergarteners are following along with Ava and her mother on their weekend adventures in Saturday by Oge Mora.  They teach us a great lesson on what to do when things don't go our way!

First and second graders are listening to their last Armadillo Readers' Choice book of the year, Little Taco Truck by Tanya Valentine, illustrated by Jorge Martin.  Little Taco Truck has a big problem and uses creativity and his voice to solve it.

Second through fifth graders are taking Ms Margocs' end-of-year library survey, to help improve our library program and collection.

Fifth graders are starting their IB exhibition project, so they received a review lesson on our research resources and note-taking/ paraphrasing.  Ms Margocs has office hours set aside next Monday in case they need help with their research.

Coming up in twelve days....our Online Spring Scholastic Book Fair!

Ms Margocs will be attending her virtual Texas Library Association Annual Conference from her office desk for the next few days; Ms Moss will assist classes with checkout.  See you in the library next week!

It's Monday! What are you reading?

For the past nine years, I have written every day during the month of March for Two Writing Teachers' annual Slice of Life Story Challenge.  There are always fabulous prize drawings during the Challenge, and this year I won a pack of books from Candlewick Press!

I read three of them this weekend:

See the Cat by David LaRochelle, illustrated by Mike Wohnoulka, is a must-read for fans of The Book with No Pictures and The Monster at the End of This Book, as all three stories break the third and/or fourth walls, interacting within the book and with the reader.  In See the Cat, the main character is a dog--who is immediately annoyed by thinking the book is referring to him as a cat.  I don't want to spoil the surprise; each of the three stories has a funny twist!

Smell My Foot, a "Chick and Brain" book by graphic novelist Cece Bell, is a hilarious take on Dick and Jane storytelling with a "who's on first, what's on second" theme of comedic repetition.  It's a fun beginning reader introduction to graphic novel-style writing.

The prize I will be adding to my collection of books about the library is James Howe's Houndsley and Catina at the Library, illustrated by Marie Louise Gay. This beginning chapter book has a continuing storyline through all three chapters.  Large print and widely-spaced lines help early learners read not-always-simple text.  The library in the story offers a variety of services beyond books--a very current and accurate representation.

It's Monday, and I got to read some prize books this weekend.  What books did you add to your to-read pile lately?

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

It's a quiet week of checkouts and read-alouds in the library.  Our fourth graders took their STAAR writing test yesterday, and Ms Margocs gave breaks to some of the teachers while Ms Moss helped students check out books.

Speaking of books--here are some of the new 21-22 Bluebonnet nominees now available:

There are poetry and books about libraries and librarians on display--it is National Poetry Month AND National Library Month!  Ms Moss has also put princess and dragon books on display--they are frequent requests lately.

Don't forget to submit your poems to Ms Margocs to display on our library bulletin board!  Students AND staff are invited to share their writing.

We still have over a hundred books that were due before Spring Break.  We do not charge overdue fines, but we do need those books back for inventory.  If you are a remote learner, you can always return your books during the school day to the green bin on the portable side of the school, or at Grab & Go Curbside Service on Thursday evenings, 5p-630p through April.

Read-alouds this week:

PreK students are practicing writing their names in class, so Ms Margocs chose Hello, My Name is Ruby for their read-aloud.  Ruby is great at introducing herself!

Kindergarten students are thinking about savoring the good times with Straw by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, one of our Armadillo Readers' Choice books.

Armadillo voting for K-2, end--of-year survey for 2-5, and summer reading lessons will round out our year in the library!  AND...one more virtual, online Scholastic Book Fair!

Stay tuned for details; until then, keep on reading, Dillos!

It's Monday! What are you reading?

I've had this book on my to-read list since last year--I'm glad I finally got around to reading it this past week:

Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga is a beautifully written realistic fiction novel-in-verse.  Warga introduces us to Jude, the main character and voice of the story, while she is still living in her hometown in Syria.  Conflicting revolutionary forces are bringing chaos, destruction, and death closer and closer to home; Jude's older brother, Issa, is also involved in the protests.  Jude's parents decide that to keep Jude and her mother safe, a trip to America to visit her mother's brother is in order.  That trip turns into a prolonged stay...and now Jude must learn to adapt to American culture, in her uncle's home as well as in her middle school.

If I were doing book clubs in the classroom, I would compare and contrast Other Words for Home with the family escaping from Syria in Alan Gratz's Refugee.  The story has a lot of windows and mirrors themes and details:  political activism; separation from loved ones; misunderstood cultural practices; rites of passage; hateful xenophobia; English language learners; and finding your voice, passion, and circle of friends.

It's Monday, and a realistic fiction, novel-in-verse (that is also a Newbery Honor book!) is a perfect genre for me right now.  What genre have you been interested in lately?

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

We are getting new books in to end this school year and begin the next with fresh reading material!

Next year's Bluebonnet Award Nominees were part of this last shipment too, so our readers can get a good start on reading at least five to vote in January.

We have even more books on order, supporting our IB-PYP learner profile, units of study, and student interest.  Ms Margocs is also working on updating our nonfiction offerings, beginning with newer books on countries around the world.

This is a week of read-alouds and lessons!

PreK is using their imagination along with White Rabbit by Kevin Henkes--and then we are hopping around like bunnies and counting down back to our seats.

Kindergarten and first grades are thinking about social expectations and rules that don't make sense for everyone in Ogilvy by Deborah Underwood, illustrated by T.L. McBeth.  Our first grade students especially are making terrific connections with this book,  some mentioning the blue is for boys, pink is for girls norm and delving into racism in our discussion.

Second graders are focusing on sensory details in My Papi Has a Motorcycle by Isabel Quintero, illustrated by Zeke Peña.  We feel like we are riding along with Daisy and her father!

Third through fifth grades are getting lessons on internet safety. Ms Margocs times this at the end of the school year on purpose, as students admit to spending a good deal of time online during the summer.  

Third grade lessons are focusing on privacy and not sharing personal information.  

Fourth grade will be discussing how to spot fake sites and phishing, and fifth graders are bringing up the Golden Rule as we talk about being a kind digital citizen and upstander online.  Ms Margocs is using lessons from the collaboration of Pear Deck and Google's Be Internet Awesome program.

We are sending out our second round of overdue notices!  We have a LOT of books out that were due BEFORE Spring Break; those are the ones we are most concerned about getting turned in.  Remember that the green bins are located all around the school and outside by the portables for book returns throughout the school day.  

We are still doing curbside service on Tuesdays 130p-230p and Thursdays 5p-630p; books can be returned then as well.

We are putting up a new bulletin board for April, and would love to feature poetry by our students and staff!  Email Ms Margocs with your writing or share a Google Doc.

We still have a month to go before all books will be due--so keep on reading, Dillos!

It's Monday! What are you reading?

I am late to the party, but I finally got around to reading Stargazing, a graphic novel by  Jen Wang, newly added to our elementary library collection.

I read it quickly while waiting for patrons at our curbside library service last Thursday...but I feel like I need to read it again.  Stargazing touches on so many topics relevant to children of all ages:  the need to fit in while also standing out; controlling strong emotions (or not); the impact of culture on our upbringing; families struggling financially; major health issues; the importance of community in helping those who struggle.  Wang weaves this all in while adding details such as painting toenails and following popular musicians on social media, practicing for talent shows, and everyday family interactions.  I don't think this book will be on the shelf much once I advertise it to my students!

It's Monday, and I can't wait to share Stargazing with my readers.  What books are you excited about this week?