It's Monday! What are you reading?

 It was a nothing-new-to-report kind of reading week for me, friends.   The kind of week where I worked later than I planned and events happened beyond my control that cut into my reading time and my energy level.

So why am I writing this post at all this week?  Because of these reminders from Jarrett Lerner.  (Teachers, if you haven't checked out Jarrett Lerner's stuff, click on the link for a treat!)

Just because I had an off week, it doesn't mean that I am not a reader.  I actually got my few pages of morning reading done most days.  I read a LOT of emails at work, a few blog posts from my writing community, and a few pages of Prairie Lotus last Monday and Tuesday.  But that's all I could manage.  And it's okay! 

It's Monday, and I'm going to try to get home earlier this week to get some reading time in!  Do you ever have reading slumps, Dillo Readers?  What do you do to get out of them?

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

 We are having fun with our read-alouds this week!

PreK scholars are helping Ms Margocs read the wordless Hike by Pete Oswald.  We are focusing on sentences and phrases with prepositions--they are in the car, he is pointing to the forest, they are walking on the trail, he is putting on his pajamas.

Kindergarteners and first graders are learning some facts about underground technology--subways from around the world.  Underground: Subway Systems Around the World is a Texas 2x2 book by Uijung Kim.  Kim gives us numerical information--the year each subway was built, how long the rails are, how many stations--and then provides a seek-and-find on the next page! We're using the doc camera and interactive flat panel to circle the answers.

Second grades are listening to Facts vs. Opinions vs. Robots by Michael Rex.  They are already pretty good at figuring out what is a fact and what is an opinion.  We also learned that sometimes we just need to wait for more information.

In third through fifth grades, our eligible voters are choosing their favorite Bluebonnet Book over the next couple of weeks.  Ms Margocs will be contacting our top readers soon to invite them to try out for our Battle of the Bluebonnets team.

Another shipment of new books arrived yesterday!

Hope you like the new additions to our collection, Dillo Readers!

Important Library Dates:

February 7th--last day to record reading logs for Schlitterbahn Waves of Pages

February 11th--Aaron Reynolds' Zoom visit with 2nd-5th graders

February 16th--Toni Simmons' virtual visit with PK-1 grades

March 1st-7th--Spring Scholastic Book Fair!

It's Monday! What are you reading?

A thought-provoking article has been floating through my social media feeds lately about the 100th anniversary of the Newbery Award.  (If you are unfamiliar with this children's literature honor, click here for more information.)  The one-hundredth Newbery Award winner will be announced tomorrow, and that book will be flying into the shopping carts of children's librarians across the country.

The aforementioned article from the site Slate.com (not a site for children) discusses the appropriateness of earlier Newbery winners in the collections of contemporary libraries.  Librarians are taught to aggressively weed collections to keep them updated and fresh, but often award winners are given a pass and allowed to stay on the shelves.  But should they?  It's something I have to question as an elementary school librarian.  Do I buy a new edition of an old Newbery winner to entice today's readers, or is the content itself past its prime and relevancy?  Social mores and social justice have changed quite a bit over the last hundred years.  Our collection needs to keep up.

On that note, I'll be reading Linda Sue Park's Prairie Lotus next.  Park's novel has been hailed as an antidote to the single story told by Laura Ingalls Wilder in her Little House on the Prairie series.

It's Monday, and I'm reading historical fiction from a different perspective.  Do you have any favorite classic books with details and themes that don't quite align with current beliefs about social justice and equity?

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

The library's cozy reading area inherited some furniture yesterday!  The chairs are comfy and cleanable, and just what we need for our readers to settle in and enjoy their books.

This is a checkout week for first through fifth grades, which means they have their half hour of library time to find really good fit books and spend some time reading them.  Ms Margocs catches readers in the act and is handing out Dillo Tickets; classes are working towards earning flashlight time in the library.

PreK is thinking of imaginative ways to use boxes and sticks while we read Not a Box and Not a Stick by Antoinette Portis.

Kindergarten classes are reminded that even the littlest things matter--and that all students matter, too.

There are two important library dates coming up:

January 24:  Bluebonnet Voting Week in the library!  Ms Margocs will be sorting the reading log to see who has read at least five of the Bluebonnet Nominees and invite them to vote for their favorite.

February 7:  Deadline for Schlitterbahn Waves of Pages reading program.  Return your logs to your teachers on February 8th-11th, to get your information entered for a free ticket to Schlitterbahn!

We are gearing up for a focus on Black History by displaying nonfiction books on the topic and fiction books featuring Black authors and illustrators.  Here's a sample of  what we've got in our collection:

See you in the stacks, Dillo Readers!

It's Monday! What are you reading?

I am still making my way through Amari and the Night Brothers this week.  It really is a fun mashup of Harry Potter, "Men in Black", and a touch of Artemis Fowl.  There's a secret school, secret agents, and a magical, supernatural secret problem to be solved. Amari is one tough cookie, though; something tells me she can get the job done.  I'm hoping to dedicate some more serious reading time to finish this book this week. 

On this Martin Luther King Day, I want to emphasize that the libraries in our district strive to be a safe space for all members of our learning community. That's one of the reasons I am reading Mindful School Libraries: Creating and Sustaining Nurturing Spaces and Programs on Fridays before work.  We are also diligently working to be sure our collections accurately reflect our readers and meet their needs and interests while we support our aligned curriculum.

It's Monday, and I'm still reading a few books at a time.  Are you a slow or fast reader?  Does it depend on what you are reading?

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

 We are back to our regularly scheduled programming this week--whew!

A full week of school for our scholars means a week of read-alouds and lessons.  PreK is hearing some alliteration and learning vocabulary while discussing the "A, B, C, D" pages of Animalia by Graeme Base.

Kindergarteners review strategies for coping with anger with Fergal and the Bad Temper, an Armadillo Readers Choice nominee.

First graders are reminded of library expectations with a re-read of We're Going on a Book Hunt by Pat Miller.

Second graders are thinking about the reasons and ways they pick books in the library.

Our third through fifth graders are using Pear Deck activities in our mid-year skills review, learning about spine labels, call numbers, and library organization to become independent users of our library and their future libraries.

Fifth graders are working on their IB exhibition projects, meeting with Ms Margocs for database use and research support.

Bluebonnet voting is happening in a few weeks!  Third through fifth grade classes--finish up those Bluebonnet nominee books, record your reading on the Google form, and get ready to decide on your favorite for the 21-22 school year!

It's Monday! What are you reading?

I finally finished  Winterhouse by Ben Guterson!  At three hundred seventy pages, I knew it would be a few weeks' worth of reading for me.  It had a mysterious, twisty ending with an opening for the next book, but still left me satisfied and smiling when I was done.

I may be slow reader, but I'm a committed one--I already have my next TWO books lined up.  The first is on next year's Bluebonnet Award Nominee list, and we already have a copy of it in our school library collection:

A magical fantasy with a blurb that hints of Artemis Fowl, Harry Potter, and Percy Jackson...I have a feeling this just might be my next book coma.  I'll report more next week!

In line with my 2022 personal and professional goals, I am returning to Atomic Habits by James Clear, a book I started but didn't get far into before other duties/ books called.  

It will be part of my morning reading (I'm still working on Think Like a Monk by Jay Shetty, too).

It's Monday, and my reading is split between fantasy and reality.  What are you reading this beginning of the new year?  Do you read more than one book at a time?

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

 We are welcoming scholars back to school, and back to the library today!  Did you know that Ms Margocs loves her hallway duty outside of the library?  It's her chance to see all the third through fifth graders every morning on their way to class, welcoming them back to campus and checking in on their reading lives.

We have displayed our new books that arrived just before the break:

and books on winter and snow:

We also rearranged just a little bit.  We'll be moving some more popular book series to the white shelves this week, to make them more accessible.

Since it's a short week for scholars, we'll just have a quick review of library expectations and check out books.  Next week, we'll have a mid-year library review for our older students, and read-alouds for our younger scholars.

Library details to remember:

• These are the last few weeks to read Bluebonnet Books before voting begins!  We'll open the polls the week of January 24th.  Read 5 to decide!
• Schlitterbahn's Waves of Pages reading program will end on February 7th.  Keep those reading logs in a safe place so you can turn them in and get a free ticket to Schlitterbahn!
• We have another Zoom author visit happening for 2nd through 5th graders in February; more details coming soon.

Welcome back to Spring Semester, Dillo Readers!

It's Monday! What are you reading?

 Welcome back, Dillo Readers!  If you are a student reading this, you still have today and tomorrow off for Winter Break--I hope you spend some of that time reading.

I brought two kidlit books home for the holidays, and I am just about finished with one of them:

Winterhouse, the first of a magical mystery trilogy by Ben Guterson, caught my eye on the library shelf because 1)  the title fit the season! and 2)  the cover was wonderfully made with cut-outs for the windows of the house.  I was almost tempted to peel off the clear dust jacket so I could fully look at the second layer of the cover...but I didn't.

The story opens with a peek into Elizabeth Somers' unhappy circumstances, living with an aunt and uncle who begrudgingly took her in after her parents' death when she was young.  (Yes, very Potter-esque!)  The tale very quickly moves to her trip to Winterhouse, a mystery in itself as the trip is paid for by an anonymous donor.  Winterhouse is a grand but mysterious hotel, with puzzles around every corner, nefarious hotel guests, and an owner who seems to be the epitome of kindness and hospitality...but is he?

Elizabeth is a reader, and I love the references to real contemporary and classic children's books in this story.  I look forward to recommending this book to my students in the library, and hope they enjoy the puzzles, the mystery, and add the mentioned titles to their reading list.

It's Monday, and I'm almost finished with a fun mystery novel!  What did you read over Winter Break?