Summer Reading Celebration!

I had so much fun celebrating yesterday with the students in 1st-5th grade who turned in proof of summer reading to me. Anna Cromwell, director of children's services at the DCL Main branch, was our featured guest and storyteller. In the first session she told a funny story to our 1st-3rd graders based on the book Turkey Trouble by Wendy J. Silvano.

Then students played Book Character Pictionary and had the opportunity to win small prizes from Mrs. Cromwell. Any student who did not win a prize can stop by the main library anytime and pick one out from the treasure chest! 

After that, each student chose a book to keep (from Mrs. Husketh) and received a book mark and reading certificate. 

In the second session, Mrs. Cromwell spoke to our 4-5th graders about the importance of reading to be successful in high school and college. Then she read 1 minute mysteries and the students worked together with their team to solve the mysteries. Problem-solving was a must for this activity!

Next, the students chose a book to keep, bookmark, and received a reading certificate. There were lots of smiling faces!

To see more photos from our awesome event, watch the Animoto slideshow below!

Author of the Month

We are starting a new tradition at Club this year--Author of the Month! This literacy initiative is intended to unite the school by fostering discussion among students and staff in all grades/disciplines and encourage students to read outside of their preferred genre. Our AOM for September is Kevin Henkes. Visit his website for great info about his writing, characters, activities, recipes and more: http://www.kevinhenkes.com/. He is most known for his picture books featuring mouse characters like Lilly and the Purple Plastic Purse, Wemberly Worried, Owen, and my personal favorite, Chrysanthemum.

We have 19 Kevin Henkes titles (in English and Spanish) in the Media Center and students have really enjoyed reading them! So far the total number of check-outs is 35 !

Several mornings each week, Mrs. James shares information about Kevin Henkes, his characters, and what inspires him to write. He had this to say about how he creates his stories: "Books begin with character; character is the seed from which a book grows." We hope the students at Club will take his advice when creating their own stories this year!

Watch the video below to see Kevin Henkes in his studio and learn more about his writing process.

Manatee Manners in the Media Center

I had so much fun working with 4th graders during their back to school orientations in the Media Center last week! To review our Manatee Manners, students worked in collaborative groups to create a skit that illustrates one of the manatee manners and how it applies in the Media Center.

Before we began, we discussed the words in this Wordle and why they are SO important to keep in mind when working in a group. Do you agree?



One observant student noticed the title of the Wordle was "Collaboration" and noted that all four words together equal collaboration. Wow, I was impressed!

Below are examples of the videos that each group created. We all agreed that most of these skits could fall under more than 1 of the Manatee Manners. 3rd grade students will watch these videos and try to guess which Manatee Manner they are showing. Great job, actors! You collaborated and had fun at the same time :)

I am a learner

I am responsible



I am a problem-solver



I am safe



I am respectful