Week of December 8th,
The “countdown”
has commenced! It’s hard to believe that
we only have one more week (after this) until Winter Break! (Panic sets in now)!! We enjoyed a variety of new stories, new
skills and new ideas here in the Library.
Read below for a recap of this week’s events:
1st
Graders:
Our little buddies
are starting to learn about energy and windmills in Science. I decided to read suggested book by our other
amazing Librarian, Ms. Arika. This is
one of my favorites that I’ve enjoyed in years past. It’s a real story about a young man named
William from Malawi who built a windmill and forever changed the future for his
village and himself! “The Boy Who
Harnessed the Wind” is a heartwarming story with beautiful illustrations and
this video shows William and his journey.
I’m excited to support the First Graders as they learn more about the science
behind windmills, how we can use them and create sustainable energy!
3rd
Graders:
It’s an exciting
week for our friends in Third Grade! We
are on our second installment of “Digital Code of Conduct” and online
safety. Last week we brainstormed different websites that we could equate to "stoplights". Students discussed the difference between a "green" website (appropriate and educational) or "yellow" (I need adult/parental guidance).
This week, I introduced (and
reviewed for some) our online catalog system and data base. Rather than just use this as a lecture, I
created a SCAVENGER Hunt so students could attempt several different skills
using our online system. What a telling
activity this proved to be. After we
moved passed some of the basic issues of logging in (our usernames/passwords
are a mouthful!), students were let loose to complete their quest of
knowledge. Interestingly, the multi-step
directions were a challenge (as I thought it might) as well as locating
non-fiction call numbers. (Side
bar: I love that kids don’t call the #
number “the number sign”, they call it “hashtag”. Sign of the times perhaps?) Overall, this was excellent data and feedback
for me to see what tasks Third Graders could achieve independently and also
with some added guidance!
4th
Graders:
Many years ago (as
a Fourth Grade teacher myself), I loved teaching the Pacific NW Coastal Peoples
Unit…and now I get to collaborate and contribute a different aspect of this
learning! This week we read a beautiful
retelling of “Coyote in Love”, retold by Mindy Dwyer. Not only does this book have beautiful
illustrations, using a variety of “cool toned” (comments from my students), but
myth of how Crater Lake came to be is both creative and compelling. We revisited the skills of Claims, Evidence
and Reasoning and students thought about these questions that required some critical thinking:
The response was
intriguing and most all students felt the color of Blue Star absolutely
mattered, and they gave evidence from the text of how the color of the lake
would change. I’m excited to build on
their prior knowledge and help them dig deeper into this amazing unit.
Overall, it was a
busy and bombastic week full of learning and thinking and READING. Next week I will be sure to include the TOP
10 books to read over Winter Break!
-Mrs. Bethel
