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

 We are all about read-alouds and book giveaways this week!

All of our scholars received a wrapped book as a gift from the Young Men's Service League!

Thank you, YMSL and our Round Rock ISD Partners in Education for this wonderful donation. 

What's better than one gift book for the holidays?  TWO gift books--each scholar is getting a new book from our learning community, too!

Thank you to all who donated books for our campus giveaway, and to our AME PTA for providing the gift bags and tissue paper.

We have volunteers giving us the gift of their time as readers for our 3rd Annual AME Winter Read-Aloud Marathon!  Our readers include administrators from AME, Grisham and Pearson Ranch middle schools, and Westwood High School, students from Grisham and Westwood, AME teachers, and even Mrs Claus! 

We've enjoyed two days of read-alouds so far; looking forward to tomorrow's offerings.

Dillo Readers, we know you have books to take home to read over the break!  Have a safe and happy holiday season.  See you in the New Year!

It's Monday! What are you reading?

You would think that once I became a librarian, I wouldn't purchase or collect so many books...but the opposite is true.  We were going through some tubs of books to move for holiday decorating when I came across a winter-themed book I hadn't read yet:

The dust jacket blurb makes it clear that Snow Lane by Josie Angelini isn't a cute Christmas story, but rather one that tackles the tough topic of dysfunctional family life and the resilience and hope than can be found in the midst of the turmoil.  This isn't my usual choice of holiday reading, but the mention of hope has me intrigued.

It's Monday, and I discovered an unread book at home to read this week.  Do you have a pile of unread books?  How do you decide what to read next?

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

 We are winding down our semester with class checkouts for first through fifth grades, and read-alouds for our PreK and kindergarten classes!

Important message from Ms Margocs:  All overdue books must be returned, and outstanding bills paid, to be able to check out for Winter Break.  Check under your bed, in your car, at grandma's house, in your book box....get those books back to the library so you can get new ones to read over break!

Also:  Waves of Pages, the Schlitterbahn reading program, ends on January 16th.  Break time is a great time to log those reading hours!  

PreK read aloud, focusing on caring:

Kindergarten read-alouds are all about snow!

Our Dillo Readers Advisory Club made bookmarks for our last session on Tuesday.

What else is Ms Margocs doing this week?  Supporting fifth grade research projects, ordering new books for the library, sorting through donated books, preparing for our 3rd Annual AME Winter Read-Aloud Marathon, and getting materials for a special school-wide giveaway next week!

Dillo Readers, we are proud of the progress you are making in your reading lives.  Keep on reading!

It's Monday! What are you reading?

Cooking and baking are among my favorite holiday activities--so I've been reading recipes this past week!

I'm a fan of Gooseberry Patch cookbooks, and picked up a few more this fall.  Modern Kitchen: Old Fashioned Flavor has recipes to use with appliances like slow cookers and electric pressure cookers.  I made a new-to-me pork chop dinner in my Instant Pot this weekend that turned out great!

I began my first big round of cookie baking this weekend using several of my favorite cookbooks:

Southern Living's Incredible Cookies --the gingerbread recipe makes hundreds of mini gingerboys.

Penny's no-chill sugar cookie roll-and-cut recipe from Cookie Stories is a DREAM to work with!

Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book, 1981 edition, is my go-to for spritz cookies--I make green trees with sprinkles.

Last night, I tried a new recipe--Chocolate Peppermint Drops--from another Gooseberry Patch cookbook, Christmas Cookie Jar.

It's Monday, and I'm reading recipes these days!  What do you like to cook during the holidays?  Where do you find your favorite recipes?

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

Welcome back from Fall Break, 'Dillo Readers!

We are winding down our semester with read-alouds and research this week!

PreK and some of our dual language classes are singing with Ms Margocs as we read A Pinata in a Pine Tree together.

Other kindergarten, first and second graders are listening to The Three Snow Bears and comparing/ contrasting the story to Goldilocks and the Three Bears--just in time for second graders who are writing their own fairy tales, too!

Third through fifth grades are listening to Auntie Claus and its perennial message of "It's better to give than to receive."

Our tables are full of nonfiction books pulled for fifth grades' Journey Box projects.  They are allowed extra checkout limits for their research.

Holiday and new books are on display!

Important dates to remember:

December 5-9:  Scholars who want to check out books for Winter Break must have a clear account, meaning no overdues or bills to pay.

December 13-15:  Our third annual AME Winter Read-Aloud Marathon will go live!

January 16:  Last day for Waves of Pages reading logging for a free Schlitterbahn ticket.

January 23:  Bluebonnet Voting begins for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades.

The chilly weather is perfect for reading in a comfy chair--enjoy your library books, 'Dillos!

It's Monday! What are you reading?

The holiday season has begun, so I pulled a timely book from my to-read pile!

I loved Matt Haig's The Midnight Library, and didn't make the connection with The Girl Who Saved Christmas until this past week, when I saw the books side by side on my coffee table.  The latter is more for children, and reminds me of a Christmas Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  Like Charlie, Amelia comes from dire straits, yet maintains an innocent spirit and pluck that sees her through.  Throw in a crisis at the North Pole involving a lack of hope and some ugly trolls, and you've got a wonderful bedtime read-aloud to start now and finish up on Christmas Eve.

It's Monday, and I'm reading a new-to-me Christmas novel.  What seasonal books have you pulled from your library at home or at school?  

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

It's a read-aloud and book-tasting week in the library!

Kindergarten through second grade classes are looking out for character changes and discussing friendship with I Love My Fur by Kelly Leigh Miller.

Third through fifth grades are "tasting" different kinds of books with two minute rotations at "dining" tables.

And as promised last week, here are some of our new books in our collection!

Several classes are diving into research with in-classroom lessons on navigating our online databases, making sure they can find verified, reliable information for their projects.  Ms Margocs has been teaching first and second grade TAG students as well as fifth graders in their classrooms for some hands-on practice with their Chromebooks.

Have a great Fall Break, Dillo Readers!  Spend some of that time off getting lost in a great book!

It's Monday! What are you reading?

 One of the benefits of being a librarian is friends knowing what to get you when they travel--books, of course!

Mrs Dancer went on a wonderful trip to Iceland, and brought me back a picture book about a puffin!

A Puffin Called Fido is a rescue tale by Brian Pilkington, published in Reykjavik, Iceland (can't get much more authentic than that!).  The story is educational as well as entertaining--I learned about the nesting habits of puffins, the rescuing of puffin chicks that get confused by town lights at night, and their habit of returning to their nesting grounds each year.  The illustrations are delightful and highlight the puffin's growth from chick to adult.

It's Monday, and I'm grateful for the gift of books from friends!  Have you ever received a great book as a gift?  Do you give books as presents, too?

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

 Our Fall Scholastic Book Fair was a success!  Thank you for supporting our library program, providing books for classrooms and scholars, and promoting literacy in our learning community.  

A special thanks goes to the volunteers who assisted with setting up the fair, helping scholars shop, provided that little extra when sales tax was needed, and taking down the fair.

Hearing and vision screenings were done in the library the first two days of this week, so our Tuesday visitors have been rescheduled for checkout time.

Read-alouds this week:

PreK--People who look different and live in different places can still be the same in many ways!

Kindergarten--We're finding patterns with two to four or more repeating parts--including musical patterns.

Fifth graders are receiving the research lessons in their classrooms to help them with their Journey Box and IB Exhibition projects.  This week, we are setting up folders in Google Drive, sharing them with teachers, and practicing saving online database articles in those folders.

Our book display features fall, Thanksgiving, and family themes.

We got MORE new books last week!  Pics will be in next week's post.

And...Ms Margocs won a book from author Chris Barton!  Thank you for this wonderful addition to our library collection.

Dillo Readers, don't forget to fill in those Waves of Pages reading logs that went home last week!  You want to earn that free ticket to Schlitterbahn when the weather turns hot again next summer.

It's Monday! What are you reading?

I have taken a couple of days off from work, and part of that time involved a road trip--so of course, I packed books!  The one I pulled to read on the way home today is from our Fall Scholastic Book Fair last week.  I bought it because a friend bought a copy, and we both tend to like the same kind of stories.

It's been four years since Abby's mother died, and Abby is desperate to follow in her mother's footsteps--those of the Aesir warriors, fierce Viking defenders.  But when a Grendel, one the monster nemeses of the Aesir, threatens Abby, her uproots her to a new school up north, she may be able to finally discover her Aesir talents--and fight the Grendels.

It's Monday, and I'm reading a just-for-fun purchase from our Scholastic Book Fair!  Did you buy any books last week that kept you reading over the weekend?

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

 Our Fall Scholastic Book Fair--

that's what's happening in the AME Library this week!

We are open for shopping through the end of the week.  

Yes, parents can shop during the day, too!

Thursday, November 3rd:  8a to 230p

Friday, November 4th:  8a to 630p--

come shop during the PTA Carnival!

Proceeds from the book fair benefit our library in so many different ways:  books for our scholars, books for the library, supplies, and participation in the Bluebonnet reading program.

Can't make it to our on-campus shopping event?  You can shop online and still benefit our library program until November 14th: Click here.

Thanks for supporting our school library!  See you at the Fall Scholastic Book Fair, Dillo Readers!

It's Monday! What are you reading?

I must confess that the bulk of my reading last week was procedural and work-related--instructions for filling out financial and insurance paperwork, emails, and book-related blog posts while I was on the hunt for just-right books for teacher requests.  I did pick up an abandoned book or two and tried to dive back in, but I had a hard time getting "lost" in the stories.

Why am I writing about this instead of another wonderful book?  Two reasons:

1)  We get into reading slumps, and that's okay.

2)  We need to remember just how much "environmental" reading we--and our students--do on a daily and weekly basis.  Celebrate that reading, too!

I will try those abandoned books again at bedtime; if my concentration wanders, I have a backup book of shorter stories to read.  (Remember, one of the signs of a good reader is always having a "to-read" pile at hand!)

It's Monday, and I struggled to read a chapter book last week.  What do you do to get through reading slumps?

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

 The biggest library news is what arrived yesterday!

We are six days away from our Fall Scholastic Book Fair opening!  And this year, parents will be able to shop during the day as well!  Remember to check out our book fair homepage at https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bf/armadillobookfair to set up an eWallet for your students, and browse thousands of more books to buy.  Our on-campus event is from November 1st through 4th; our online event lasts through November 14th.

Shopping hours:

Tuesday, November 1st:  8a-230p

Wednesday, November 2nd:  8a-230p

Thursday, November 3rd:  8a-230p

Friday, November 4th:  8a-630p, late night with PTA carnival!

Also big news this week:  phase three of our library update has begun!

There will be a bit more furniture moving before this last part is complete.

Fifth grade had a Zoom visit with author Jon Scieszka on Tuesday, thanks to Ms Berner's mother who works at Blue Willow Bookstore in Houston!

This week, we are reading Halloween stories.  You can see Ms Margocs' book post here.

The Little Free Library at the front of the school has been cleaned up and weatherproofed!  Please remember to fully close the door after browsing and borrowing books.

See you at the Fall Scholastic Book Fair next week, Dillo Readers!