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

 We are on the eve of the last day of school...and the library is a MESS!

If you've ever wondered what teachers use to teach these days...well, it's spread out all over the library right now!  Teachers are returning some of their materials to store over the summer, and we are having to inventory (aka "beep") everything in the school that has a library barcode.  That's a LOT of stuff!

Another reason the library is a bit messier is because our usual summer storage space is being renovated!

The crew is done with the wall removal and drywall patching.  Electrical wiring is just about done, too; next will be carpet, and then some new furniture--including new comfy bleacher seating for read-alouds.  Ms Martin, our art teacher, is going to help us with decorating the wallspace where the old bleachers used to be.  Now that the space is more open, we'll be able to use it as a reading area as well!

Ms Margocs shared a summer reading lesson with the scholars via their teachers.  The lesson included instructions to visit the wonderful Summer Reading website designed by several of our district librarians.  Be sure to visit it often over break to beat that summer slide!

Link to RRISD Summer Reading website

Link to RRISD Summer Learning website

Keep on reading, Dillos!  See you in August in the AME Library!

 

It's Monday! What are you reading?

 Dillo Readers, it is end-of-year deadlines time, and my reading life was in a slump last week.  I managed to get three chapters of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets done, and finally got to Chapter Three of Module 10 of the Reading Academy...sigh.

I am making my summer reading plans, though!  I'll continue with the Harry Potter series.  I'm participating in a district book study on Just Look Up by Joe Beckman, and I'm looking forward to settling in with The Joy of Reading by Donalyn Miller and my former SHSU library professor, Dr Teri Lesesne.  And then there's the new Bluebonnet Award Nominees to work through...whew!  I'll post a picture of my summer reading pile next week.

It's Monday, and I'm planning my summer reading pile.  What's on your reading list, Dillo Readers?

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

We have six more days of school left for our scholars--it's time to get our books back!  We have over a hundred scholars with books still out!!  Ms Margocs has been hunting down overdues today, and will continue to do so through the last day of school.  She feels a bit grouchy when she has to do this, so the witch hat comes out!

Students with clear accounts have a chance to win a prize!  Ms Margocs is drawing five names a day, using a random number generator, from the clear library accounts at AME.  We've had twenty winners already!

In bigger news--our library facility update began today!  We are remodeling our Story Castle area to give us more reading space and safety.  Once the carpet replacement is put in next month, new furniture will be arriving, too!  We are still keeping our castle theme for our read-aloud area.

Excuse the mess; it's inventory season!

Teachers will have access to a summer reading lesson to share with our scholars next week.  We'll also share links to reading programs being offered by local public libraries and bookstores, as well as pop-up library locations offered by our district.

Get those library books returned, Dillos!

It's Monday! What are you reading?

I read just a chapter or two more in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, but spent most of my personal reading time with The Legend of Wonder Woman Vol. 1: Origins by Renae De Liz.  Comic books and superheroes are a natural match!

I have to admit, though, that the bulk of my reading this week has been online, working my way through the state-mandated Texas Reading Academies. 

As a slow reader and a note-taker, it is taking me almost twice as long as the suggested time parameters to complete each module.  I am finally on Module 10, which has an artifact due on June 8th--so I have to keep plugging away!  Harry Potter and Wonder Woman may have to be put on hold til then.

It's Monday, and I squeezed in a bit of pleasure reading among reading-for-learning this week.  What is your favorite genre to read?  What is your favorite way to learn?

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

STAAR testing is what's happening most of this week in our AME library.  The library is a great place for small groups to spread out and work on their tests.  Ms Moss is helping out by monitoring students in the hallway (and collecting overdue books from the PK-2 side of the school), and Ms Margocs is reading directions and giving teachers breaks throughout the day.

What else is happening?  We are weeding old, musty dusty books and unboxing new ones!

The old books go to the warehouse for sale by the district; the new ones will be the highlights at the beginning of next school year!

We are getting ready to do teacher inventories, continuing with library inventory, and getting the space ready for our facility update.

All library books were due back last Friday!  If you still have books out, be sure to turn them in this week; the Book Witch will be going door to door next week to collect any books left behind.  We will draw names of scholars with clear accounts to get prizes from the library starting this Friday!

All scholars got free books to KEEP last week--so keep on reading, Dillos!

It's Monday! What are you reading?

Saturday, May 7th was Free Comic Book Day at many comic stores--did you take advantage?  My family and I did!  Here's my haul for personal reading:

I read Doctor Who in the car after shopping, started Hawkeye back in the hotel, and read Kaiju in the car coming home yesterday.  I purchased the Wonder Woman and Hawkeye compilations; everything else was free!  And yes, I got some kid-friendly freebies for giveaways in the library.

I finished Hawkeye last night.  It was split between two storylines with different artists.  It's been awhile since I read comic books--I had forgotten how much fun they are!  It was great brain exercise, too, keeping up with the back-and-forth of dialogue and the jumps in activity between panels and pages.

It's Monday, and I'm adding some comic book reading to my lineup this week.  What are your favorite comic books?  Who's your favorite superhero?

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

The AME No-Price Bookstore is happening this week in our library!

Thanks to the generous donations from VT SEVA (vtsworld.org), Texans Care for Children (txchildren.org), RRISD Library Services, and our learning community, we are able to give away books to our scholars to read and keep.

RRISD School Board Trustee Tiffanie Harrison came to our library to stuff the bags and bag the books for our littlest scholars!

Jackie Cyriac, our Parent Support Specialist, printed some at-home reading tips to include with each "purchase".  Thank you, Jackie!

Remember that these books are to KEEP, not return!  We do need all of our library books (the ones with Anderson Mill Elementary barcodes) to be returned this week, so we can begin our final round of inventory for the school year.

Stay tuned for BIG news about some changes in the library--and for our Armadillo Readers Choice voting results!

Now that you will have new-to-you books to take home--keep on reading, Dillos!

It's Monday! What are you reading?

 This past week, I finished two books:  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (a revisit), and a read-aloud of Captain Superlative.  The latter I've been sharing via Google Meet with three classrooms, four times a week, for ten to twelve minutes at a time.  We came to its bittersweet end on Wednesday.  If you haven't read this heartfelt novel by J.S. Puller, do yourself a favor and take a peek.  If you have read it...it's worth the revisit, too.

I'm moving on to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, one chapter at a time.  I'm almost through with 180 Days of Self-Care for Busy Educators--just a few more school weeks to go until summer break!  It's been very helpful in forming habits that keep me a bit more balanced and healthy.

It's Monday, and I'm reading for pleasure and personal growth this week.  What are your reasons for reading these days?