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

 We have a new interactive bulletin board display in the hallway, next to the library entrance:

All staff and students are asked to contribute to our "reading piles".  The best recommendations come from friends!  

Ms Margocs delivered goodies to our Dillo readers who read at least five Bluebonnet Award Nominee books and submitted their reading "log".  Students on and off campus received a copy of a nominee from this year that they hadn't read yet, as well as a mini-notebook, "RRock Reads" pencils, and bookmarks.

We will have a new read-aloud club starting after Spring Break!  Ms Margocs will be reading books from next year's Bluebonnet Award Nominee list to help students get a jump start on the program.  The first book, The Canyon's Edge by Dusti Bowling, is also on the Lone Star list for middle schoolers, so fifth graders will want to participate, too!

Read-alouds and lessons this week:

PreK is looking for animals in different habitats using I See a Kookaburra by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page.  Ms Margocs tried using Google Jamboard with this book for the first time with our virtual learners--they did a great job navigating with the help of their teacher, Mrs Woodall.

Kindergarteners are learning that sometimes the wolf isn't the bad guy in Watch Out for Wolf! by Anica Mrose Rissi, illustrated by Charles Santoso.  Text-to-text connections can be one big surprise!

First graders are exploring anger management with Fergal and the Bad Temper by Robert Starling.  Counting, breathing, and exercising can help blow off some angry steam!

Second graders get to see Tom Percival's idea of what a worry looks like (and learn how to shrink one) in Ruby Finds a Worry, one of our Armadillo Readers' Choice books.

Third through fifth graders are getting a lesson in email etiquette, and flooding their teachers' inboxes as practice.

We still have Grab & Go Curbside Delivery happening every Tuesday from 130p-230p and Thursdays 5p-630p!  With the cold front coming in, we may be watching for cars through the door this Thursday evening; we'll have the sign out so you'll know we're there.

Have a happy Valentine's Day, Dillo Readers!

It's Monday! What are you reading?

 It's the week before Valentine's Day, so let's talk books about love and friendship!  Here are some you can find on our Anderson Mill Library shelves:

The Seeds of Friendship gives us a great example of how to make friends when you move to a new home:  find a common project to share.

All Are Welcome has quickly become a library classic, featuring inclusivity and a place for everyone.

Students are drawn to favorite characters, like My Little Pony!

This Newbery Medal winner was also on our state Bluebonnet List a couple of years ago.  Hello, Universe features an ensemble cast with friendships that develop from a shared purpose.

Matt de la Pena doesn't shy away from some of the heartbreaking aspects of love in this bestselling book; be prepared to discuss some of the pictures with younger children.

It's Monday, and I'm thinking about all the books we have in our library featuring friendship and love!  What will you be reading this Valentine's week?

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

We have new books in the library!  Award winners, board books for PreK, series continuations, and Spanish versions of favorite books make up this shipment.  Just in time for the booktalks Ms Margocs will be doing during some library visits this week!

It's Black History Month, so we've got books featuring famous Black Americans, Black authors, and Black illustrators on display.

Read-alouds and lessons this week:

PreK is helping Ms Margocs read I Went Walking by Sue Williams, illustrated by Julie Vivas.  The repetition, animals, and colors give us lots of reading practice.

Ms Margocs is getting to use a funny voice again while reading The Very Impatient Caterpillar with kindergarten classes.  The story is a great reminder to use self-talk "I can" statements, deep breathing, and other strategies when we have big feelings.

First and second grades are using what they know about fairy tales to solve a digital breakout and save Red Riding Hood from the wolf!

Third through fifth grades are booktalking this week.  Ms Margocs will be featuring our new books, as well as those from the Black History display. 

Congratulations to the nine students who read five or more Bluebonnet Award nominees and voted online for their favorite!  They will be getting a special treat from the library on Friday!

Need books to read at home?

BookSpring is offering to send children's books to homes hit with financial hardships in Central Texas.   BookSpring is an Austin-based literacy nonprofit with the mission to build early literacy in children and families through healthcare, education and the community.

To apply, follow these links:

English Application

Spanish Application

If you do not have access to internet you can call (844) 368-9651 to request books by leaving a clear voicemail with your information.

Want to have fun AND learn with technology?

Success High School is hosting our 3rd Annual (now virtual) Youth Code Jam February 8-12, 2021.  It is free and exclusively for RRISD students.  Our virtual event has challenges, workshops (both pre-recorded and live), and resources on various topics including Scratch, GitHub, Python, video creation, and more.  Challenges will be judged by volunteers (including Success teachers and City of Round Rock Mayor Craig Morgan) and prizes will be distributed to campuses.

The Code Jam is open for K-12 student registration and the link to the site is https://www.communitycodejam.org/ .  Students will be sent the password granting them full access prior to the start of the event.  

See you in the stacks, Dillo Readers!

It's Monday! What are you reading?

First day of February, and this month comes with several themes to celebrate and connect with books.  Let's start with Black History Month and some of the books we have on our AME Library shelves.

We've got lots of books featuring the events, movers and shakers of the civil rights movement:

We have biographies of Black artists, explorers, and scientists:

There are novels and picture books by Black authors and illustrators:

Which books have you read?  Which look interesting to you?  We'll have some on display and can help you find the rest!  

It's Monday; what Black History book will you connect with this month, as a window, mirror, or sliding glass door?

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

We've got new book displays up!  Valentine's day, love themes, and fairy tales will be featured on top of our shelves for the taking, as well as some of our newer books.

We purchased new stickers to mark our socially-distanced seats at our library tables, and dots for the carpet where we line up for checkout.  We are still using hand sanitizer at the door and wearing face masks and shields to keep our library safe when we have class visits and book browsing.  Tables also get sprayed with disinfectant after class visits.

Read-alouds and lessons for the week:

PreK is reviewing animal characteristics and repetitive reading with Is Your Mama a Llama? by Deborah Guarino, illustrated by Steven Kellogg.  

We are also watching the Sesame Street video of the song "Sing After Me", to practice echoing and patterns.

First graders are listening to The Very Impatient Caterpillar by Ross Burach, talking about strong feelings and coping strategies like self-talk and purposeful breathing.

Second graders are learning about plant characteristics in class, so we are reading Seeds Move! by Robin Page, focusing on the verbs and the many different ways that seeds leave their "homes" to grow elsewhere.

It's Bluebonnet Nominee voting week for third through fifth graders!  We only have a handful of readers eligible to vote so far, so Ms Margocs is asking students who aren't eligible to fill out a survey to help improve the Bluebonnet reading program at AME.  We know the pandemic has had an effect on our reading habits. Ms Margocs has a few ideas to get a head start on next year's list--stay tuned!

We have had quite a few people donate books to the library lately--some for the shelves, and many more to share with our Dillo Readers for their own home libraries.  We will be making another round of book deliveries to classrooms and homes in the coming weeks.  Please respond to survey requests from your teachers so that we can identify those students who are most in need of reading materials at home.  

See you at your library time, Dillos, whether in the library or in a Meet!  Curbside Delivery is still available to help you keep on reading!