1st grade became illustrators today!

Our 1st graders had an awesome time learning to draw their favorite Mo Willems characters, Elephant and Piggie.  We read the book, "A Big Guy Took My Ball" and then used the step by step directions to create our own Elephant and Piggie.  They are quite the artists!  Follow this link to access the step by step directions. 

Kindergarten loves tech class!

Every other week the Kinders join me in the computer lab for Tech Time.  We have been working on mouse skills.  Most children don't have the dexterity to be able to move, click, and drag a mouse.  They are doing awesome and our first group moved on to using these new skills to make pizzas, cakes, and even robots!  One of the best sites to work on these skills is abcya.com.  Choose grade K and then scroll down to "more" to find activities that continue to support mouse skills.  There are so many educational games on this site, you might find a favorite too!

Banned books and more!

It has been an exciting day in and out of the library.  Before any power outages, the other half of the 4th grade class worked on their "animals should not borrow library books" lesson.  They came up with some great ideas!  Check them out here!

Celebrating Banned Books Week: Our 5-8 grades had a visit from Kate Hudson from the Multnomah County Library.  She presented "Feasting on the Forbidden Fruit."  This presentation was about censorship and banned/challenged books.  The students were shocked to learn some of their favorite titles (even some that have been read aloud in a class) were on that banned/challenged list.  Students went through titles that Kate brought with her to figure out why they thought it might have been on the list of banned/challenged books.  Want a great conversation?  Ask them their thoughts about banned books!

An animal should not borrow library books because...

We read "Animals should definitely not wear clothing" in class today and adapted it to our own library.  4th graders know why animals should not borrow library books!  See what they came up with.  

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzQltm5fJBpCeHVqVUpKN3pxN242X29ZQjk3RDJuRVIzaVUw/edit?usp=sharing

The readers of 1st grade!

Our first grade class got caught reading!  We used the last 5 minutes of library time to practice our SSR (sustained silent reading.)  Great job First Grade!!

We are safe, respectful, and responsible in the Library

The first week of library has been AWESOME!!  Students K-8 were instructed in the expectations in the library and as a library patron.  Being safe, respectful, and responsible is our first priority.  Each class came up with great examples of how to accomplish the "big 3."  We also practiced using shelf markers to be sure that books were put back in the right places after browsing.  K-5 grades had our pal, SkippyJon Jones, help us learn about how to keep our books safe.  Ask your student if they remember the "5 Book Care Rules".  This week 347 books have been checked out of the library! Thanks for sharing your readers with me!