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

 We're taking a break from lessons and focusing on checking out this week with first through fifth graders.  This means reminders about how to use our Grab & Go Curbside Delivery service for both at-home and some classroom learners, as well as guidance in finding good-fit books in the library.  It's important for students to have time to browse our collection and "peek and turn" to make decisions about what they are interested in and can truly enjoy.  We'll be having more lessons about choosing good-fit books soon.

Ms Margocs has ordered more new books, and some arrived this week!  

PreK is listening to a story about the sun to go along with their classroom studies.  We're talking about seasons and shadows, too.

Kindergarteners are discussing managing anger in their classroom social-emotional learning, so we're reading Fergal and the Bad Temper by Robert Starling during our library time.

The biggest news this week--our Fall Scholastic Book Fair is coming soon!

It will be completely online!  Books will be shipped to your home; if you spend $25 on books, shipping is free!  The proceeds go towards buying books and supplies for our library.  The holiday season is upon us, and books make great gifts--hint, hint!  The Book Fair will be open from November 23rd (Thanksgiving Break) to December 6th.  There's even a Virtual Fair for families to explore--a 360 tour of carts and book displays!

We will be devising a way to promote online teacher wishlists as well--stay tuned!

It's Monday! What are you reading?

 Last night, I started reading Jason Reynolds' Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks.

I'm only a few pages in, and I like the dialogue between best friends TJ and Jasmine.  They've been friends for six years, have their own special traditions and know just when to listen and just when to speak up.  They show concern for one another through acts of kindness that are no big deal to them, like swapping backpacks when Jasmine's is too heavy.  

I like the way the story is set up, too--block by block.  It lends itself to a classroom read-aloud, perhaps reading a block a day in two or three shorter sessions.  I will set that reading goal for myself, too.

It's Monday, and I'm reading a book about friendship.  Are their fictional friends you've grown to admire?  What makes their friendship special?

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

We followed the live broadcast of the 21-22 Bluebonnet Award Nominees on Monday!

Ms Margocs will purchase these books for our library in February, when we wind down this year's Bluebonnet Reading Program.  You can now track your Bluebonnet reading on a Google form on the library website.  Just look for "Reading Programs" in the menu. Students must be signed into Chrome with their school account to access the form.

What's on display right now?  Thanksgiving, fall, and election/ government books!

Read-alouds and lessons this week:

PreK is thinking about feelings as they listen to My Blue is Happy by Jessica Young, illustrated by Catia Chien and My Friend is Sad by Mo Willems.

Kindergarten and first graders are learning about voting with an Armadillo Readers' Choice book-- I Voted: Making a Choice Makes a Difference by Mark Shulman, illustrated by Serge Bloch.  We'll be asking our virtual learners if their parents have their voting stickers handy!

Second graders are also listening to an Armadillo Readers' Choice book, Be Kind by Pat Zietlow Miller, illustrated by Jen Hill.  Our attempts to be kind may not always work, but being a friend means we keep on trying.  There are many ways to be kind--giving, helping, and paying attention.  This book ties into the social-emotional lessons on compassion the students are receiving in their classrooms.

Third through fifth graders are exploring our district and campus databases by logging in and spending time just looking at what's available to research and learn.  At home, passwords may be required; they can be found by clicking on "English" or "Spanish" by the golden lock on the Research Resources page, and logging in with your student email and computer password.  These resources are appropriate for elementary students and contain reliable, verified information for their school projects and their own personal learning.

Here's a teaser for some news coming next week:

Until then--keep on reading, Dillos!

It's Monday! What are you reading?

One of my favorite phrases is "book coma", and I haven't experienced it in a long time--until yesterday.  I finally sat down to finish Shannon Messenger's Keeper of the Lost Cities, and found myself polishing off the last three hundred pages of this four hundred eighty-eight page book!  (I might have been avoiding cleaning, too...)  Now I can truly understand why my students love this fantasy series.  It's got magic, fairies along with their fairy land, intrigue--and school drama that any middle grader can relate to, with friendships and rivals and dreaded classes.  This first book in the series had a satisfying ending, but definitely left enough loose ends to prompt readers to continue on to the next novel.

I don't usually post twice about the same book; I want to be honest about my reading life.  I am a slow-reading librarian, and this pandemic has altered my attention span even more--and I'm not the only one with this complaint.  I've talked about this with other adults, and several of them mentioned how hard it was to concentrate on reading books lately.  We're not sure if it's due to increased screen time or other details of COVID19 restrictions and changes, but we're feeling the negative effect on our attention span.  So if you're having trouble concentrating while reading, just know that you're not alone!

It's Monday, and I finally took the time to finish a great book!  Are there books you need to wrap up?  

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

We welcomed some of our classes back to the library this week!  Here are the precautions we are taking to keep everyone safe:

Being healthy is super-important, and so is reading!  Students are so happy to choose books to check out.  Remember that we have two other ways to get books--classroom and Grab & Go Curbside Book Delivery.  All of the details can be found on our library website.  All books that have been read by students will be quarantined for seven days before checking them in and placing them back on the shelves.

We are giving away books for your own home library, too!  If you haven't taken the survey yet, check in with your teacher for the link.  We have been delivering books to in-person students as well as during Grab & Go.  A home library gives you lots of reading practice--and reading is fun to do when the weather gets colder and you're stuck inside.

What we're learning this week:

PreK gets a peek into other children's daily lives around the world as we share One World, One Day by Barbara Kerley.  Then we're getting into the holiday spirit with Pete the Cat: Five Little Pumpkins by James Dean, illustrated by Kimberly Dean.

First and second graders are helping a pirate skeleton get himself together in Give Me Back My Bones by Kim Norman, illustrated by Bob Kolar.  We're talking about story settings and making connections between this book and the last one we shared, a nonfiction book called Skulls!. 

Third through fifth graders are learning how to track their Bluebonnet Nominee reading, how to access our eBooks and new Comics Plus database, and guidelines for in-person library visits and checkouts.

We won a Partners in Education Grant for new library books!  Ms Margocs will be purchasing a collection of board books in English and Spanish for our PreK students.

The library is set up for lessons and read-alouds!  Welcome back to our library space, Dillo Readers!

It's Monday! What are you reading?

 I did some reading for fun this weekend!

I found this galley for Yoko Writes Her Name by Rosemary Wells while cleaning in the library last week.  I have a personal connection to writing in Japanese--my daughter lives in Japan, married a Japanese young man, and I'm learning how to read Japanese hiragana and katakana!  I have a long way to go before I start writing in this language, I think.

I used to subscribe to Woman's Day and Family Circle magazines back in the days of parenting young children.  It's been awhile since I picked one up, so I treated myself this weekend.  It's fun to read shorter articles and snippets of interesting and useful information!

I am still reading Keeper of the Lost Cities and Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You for work.

It's Monday, and I'm reading a book with a personal connection and a magazine just for entertainment.  What are you reading that makes you happy these days?

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

Sometimes you need to make a big mess to do a project.  Our tables are covered with piles of books to give away to our students who need books at home to read.  These are books to keep, not library books!

Book bundles will be distributed to students on campus, as well as via Grab & Go Curbside Delivery.  We will even make house calls if necessary to get books into the hands of our readers!  Thank you for filling out the survey to let us know your home library needs.

Still need something to read?  Eagle Scout Alex Oster, an AME alumnus, has built TWO Little Free Libraries on our campus and stocked us with tubs of books to keep it going awhile!

Some of the guidelines for AME's Little Free Libraries:  books should be suitable for elementary and middle school students, relatively undamaged, and for right now, kept at home once taken due to the pandemic.  You can return them in the green AME Library return bin by the portable driveway if you wish; we will quarantine them before replacing back in the Little Free Libraries.

There were no library lessons this week to allow teachers and student to adjust to new schedules and class rosters.  Ms Margocs is working on a schedule to accommodate comfort levels of visiting a communal space to receive lessons and check out books.  Classroom and curbside delivery of requested materials will continue!  

We are still missing approximately two hundred and forty books that were checked out last March, just before shelter-in-place took effect.  If you are back on campus, please return the books to the library via the green bins located in the halls.  If you are still learning at home, there is a green bin located outside on the portable driveway from 8a to 3p every day. You can also drop off books during our Thursday evening Grab &  Go service from 5p to 630p.  There are no fines charged for overdue books!

Ms Margocs came across a donated book this week that shows us why weeding out old books is necessary.

Mumps cases are few these days, thanks to the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine that children receive.  Most students would have little to no connection with this beginning reader book, thankfully!

Our new schedule of library read-alouds and lessons begins next week; see you then, Dillo Readers!