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!

It's Monday! What are you reading?

 Our scholars have been talking about Halloween for weeks.  We will be holding our Fall Scholastic Book Fair next week, so I pulled some read-alouds from my own shelf at home to share with our classes.

My all time favorite--just because I get to do so many different voices (I hope I'm up to them this year!):

It's a lot less scary than it looks!

An oldie but a goodie, to share with my littlest readers:

Halloween Day will be for my first and second grades who are all excited about their costumes.  It has a fun surprise at the end!

It's Monday, and I'm having fun looking through my books for the upcoming holiday season!  What are your favorite Halloween stories?

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

 We are sharing stories and exploring online resources this week!

Since PreK is learning about community helpers in class, we are reading Fire! Fuego!  Brave Bomberos! by Susan Middleton Elya.

Kindergarteners are practicing shapes, colors, and prepositions with Circle Under Berry by Carter Higgins.

First and second grades are learning how to write informational text in their classes, so we are reading a nonfiction Armadillo Readers' Choice book by Stephen R. Swinburne together:

Third graders are exploring our online resources for personal learning and to prepare for research projects.

Fourth graders are finding nonfiction text features in books, such as table of contents, index, glossary, captions, labels, and varied print.

Fifth grade is taking a closer look at the accommodations available in our Gale In Context Elementary database.  They can have the material translated into their home language, change the font style and size, increase the word and line spacing, have text read to them, and even save complete articles to their Google Drive to read later.

Our Fall Scholastic Book Fair will be here in less than two weeks!

Flyers will go home next week, but you can set up an account and and eWallet with our online homepage now! Click on the image below to start.

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

It's Monday! What are you reading?

 I've started helping out a teacher with a couple of book clubs during the week, so now I've got to keep up with what they're reading!  The first club chose Garvey's Choice by Nikki Grimes, a previous Bluebonnet Award Nominee.

A novel-in-verse, Garvey's Choice explores the relationship between a father and son from the son's perspective.  We will have a lot to infer, discuss, and connect with as we make our way through the book.

The second group chose Restart by Gordan Korman.

I haven't read this book before, but I am intrigued by the premise--a thirteen-year-old boy falls from his roof, resulting in amnesia.  A return to his home and school reveals that some people adore him, some are frightened by him, and others outright hate him--but he can't remember why.  Does the amnesia give him a second chance to be a better person?

It's Monday, and I'm reading two middle-grade books for book clubs.  Are you doing a shared reading with a group?  Is it more fun that reading a book on your own?

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

 As promised, here are some of the new books we received last week from our ESSER order!

A few have been checked out already--one teacher was really excited about a drawing book that also had lots of text features to point out--table of contents, glossary, diagrams...Glad we got the whole series!

It's a checkout week for first through fifth grades, which means we have a new set of unloved books displayed to be checked out--or not.  The ones left on the table after the last class on Friday will be boxed up for the warehouse.  We need to make room for the new books coming in!

The main event today was our visit from storyteller Toni Simmons!

PreK, kindergarten, and third grade classes enjoyed Ms Simmons' folktales, fables, and songs from around the world.  Many classes are working on writing stories; we're sure the presentation will be an inspiration for our scholars.

PreK's read-aloud this week focuses on counting and colors:

Kindergarten's read-aloud from the Texas 2x2 list highlights prepositions, colors, and shapes:

Please ask your scholars about their library day at school!  Remember to keep their books in their backpacks when they aren't being read, so that they are returned on time.

We are less than three weeks away from our Fall Scholastic Book Fair!

You can visit our book fair homepage now to set up your eWallet and sign up for reminders.

Dillo Readers, I am proud of the way you are stretching yourselves as readers by checking out different kinds of books from the library!  

It's Monday! What are you reading?

 Anyone within earshot of me last week could tell I was under the weather--I completely lost my voice by Tuesday afternoon!  Instead of coming home to read and relax, I came home to collapse, tired from coughing all night.

All that is to say--I didn't get a lot of reading done.  But I'm on the mend now, and picking up a re-read that I need to do for some librarian homework--Willodeen, one of our Bluebonnet Award Nominees.  

Willodeen was a late summer read for me, so I definitely need to revisit it for my homework.  I'm already making connections with details I skimmed over the first time--the dedication to Mother Earth, and the opening quote by Greta Thunberg, for instance:  "I have learned you are never too small to make a difference."  They make more sense now, remembering the strong ecological, conservationist message Applegate skillfully weaves into the story.  I'm also thankful for the short chapters--perfect for my stunted attention span as I get over this illness.

It's Monday, and I'm reading a book for the second time and looking forward to new noticings as I go along.  Do you reread books often?  If so, what do you get from the repetition?

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

 New books arrived yesterday!

These books were bought with ESSER funds to replace books we lost during COVID.  Ms Margocs chose to update our collection, which is supposed to have an average ten-years-or-less in publication dates.  We'll share pics of the new books in next week's update.

We're also still weeding-by-student-choice, setting out older books that have been checked out less than once a year to see if they hold any interest.  If they get checked out, they're back in circulation.

Read-alouds and lessons this week:

PreK will continue identifying two dimensional shapes with Circles, Stars, and Squares: 

Kindergarten, first, and second graders are looking for story elements of characters, setting, plot, and conflict with My Pencil and Me, an Armadillo Readers' Choice book by Sara Varon:

Scholars have been pleasantly surprised by the photos at the end of the book!

Third through fifth graders are reviewing genre definitions and learning more about our Texas Bluebonnet Award Nominees.

Our monthly update was posted on Twitter today!

Halloween books are on display!

Coming up next week:  pics of those new books, a storyteller visit for PreK, Kindergarten, and third grade; a Zoom author visit for fifth grade; and details of our Fall Scholastic Book Fair in November--stay tuned!

It's Monday! What are you reading?

I had an unexpected extra day off today, so I got some reading done:

Nightingale by Deva Fagan is a 22-23 Bluebonnet Award Nominee.  Part superhero story, part magical steampunk, it is a fun read!  Lark is an orphan living in a boarding house run by an unscrupulous caretaker.  Trying to avoid the deathly fate of the factory workers who share her sleeping quarters, Lark pays her way through petty thievery--until she breaks into the Royal Museum, bumps into the youngest Prince, and gets chosen by a sword to be the next Nightingale, defender of the people of Gallant.

Lark is an unlikely, unwilling hero, but we get to watch her transform in this story that has a twist here and there.  It's just the story of good versus evil that I needed to read right now!

It's Monday, and I'm reading a Bluebonnet Award Nominee.  How many have you read, 'Dillo Readers?  Remember, it just takes five to vote for your favorite in January!