Week of March 30th

Time flies when you're having fun READING!  This week marks the big VOTE for Sasquatch, WCCPBA and the Tournament of Books Championship Round!  All students were encouraged to vote, some grades were even able to vote for all THREE categories of books.  Interesting trends we saw, "Wonder" by RJ

Palacio was nominated in the Sasquatch and made it through the Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight,

Final Four ... all the way down to the Championship match against Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies.  Serious snaps and props go to Ms. Arika for organizing the Tournament and creating the surveys.  Also, thanks to all the students in 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th grade AND Teachers that participated in the Tournament of Books!  

Make sure you check out all the titles that have been nominated for the WCCPBA for 2015.

Book Summaries for WCCPBA

We will announce the winner from our school as soon as we have tallied all the votes.  Also, don't miss the link for the VINE video of all our favorite WCCPBA books:

First group of WCCPBA Titles       Second group of WCCPBA Titles

5th Graders and Families, don't think I've forgotten about you!!  I have some amazing suggestions and great
new additions to the Library that you're going to gobble up!  Take a look at these new (and some not so new) titles suggested for you!

The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy (cannot put this down)!

Dial-A-Ghost by Eva Ibbotson 

Unwanteds Series by Lisa McMann

Week of March 23rd

Hello Fearless Readers!

We've enjoyed a lovely two days here in the Library, devouring the last morsel of WCCPBA (Washington Children's Choice Picture Book Awards) as possible!  As we near closer to voting next week, students have been reflecting on their favorite text from this year's nominees.  After reading this week's selection, I'm down to my top THREE choices.  What will your student vote for to win this year's highly coveted award?  This week, we enjoyed "Toys In Space" written and illustrated by the talented Mini Grey. During our Read Aloud, I wanted to dig deeper with questioning, so I asked students to consider perspective.  I also asked students to reflect on how they perceived one of the characters before and after the story and to give evidence to prove their reasoning.  Students also willingly jumped in and shared why this text was a worthy nomination for the WCCPBA:

"I liked it because it was a story within a story" - third grader
"It was funny, had mysteries and new things to look at on each page." first grader
"Both boys and girls will enjoy this story that keeps you on your toes and asking questions." -Mrs. Bethel

And don't forget, the Sasquatch Awards are right around the corner as well.  Fourth Graders will vote (the requirement is that at least TWO books have been read) next week.  Seems apropos that our voting occurs during this crazy month of March!

While we have been busy in the Library with many classes, several of my Fourth Grade students have been toiling with their Social Studies Classroom Based Assessment on the Westward Movement.  Check out this fun video from Brain POP:

Brain POP Oregon Trail Video

I wanted to leave with a little shout out for my teaching partner - Ms. Arika!  She's always so innovative AND she motivates me to try new things, like VINE.  I've seen her use this on her blog and her teaching social media websites, but I was a little afraid to try it.  I decided, now or never!!  Here are a few of the first Vine Video's taken as practice.  (And yes, I was actually able to add the app, watch a video on how to use AND actually use it)!!

#iheartlibrary


Have a wonderful rest of your week, and I'll see you next Monday for VOTING week!

Week of March 16th

Time flies when you're having fun...AND reading books!!  Students devoted time to filling out the "Tournament of Books" bracket (thanks to the genius of Ms. Arika), researching the costs/benefits of traveling on the Oregon Trail, creating the worlds "First Drawing" and delighting in the magic and the power of a rabbit's shadow!

First Grade:  Our little bugs in First Grade loved reading "The Black Rabbit" by Philipa Leathers.  So many of my friends were able to catch the "secret" of the shadow early on.  The kiddos were able to articulate why the rabbit didn't see his shadow in the 'deep dark woods' and why the Black Rabbit never answered him back.  We asked the big question as an exit task:  Would the story change if the main character was an elephant?  Why or why not?  Great responses, can't wait for next week when we read a Mo Willems favorite!


Third Grade:  I was so pleased to see the thoughtful and somewhat profound written and illustrated responses from my Third Grade friends.  This week, we
enjoyed the WCCPBA, "The First Drawing" by Mordicai Gerstein.  Students were enthralled and deeply engaged when learning that the first 'drawing' was found in a cave (in southern France) and is more than 30,000 years old!  WHOA!

Fourth Grade:  This week, two of our classes dig right into the research portion of the CBA (classroom based assessment) for the Westward Movement.  Guided questions include:  "What are the COSTS/BENEFITS of emigration West across the Oregon Trail? As well as: "How did the geographical features affect the emigrant's decisions to leave their original homes?"  Over the next few weeks, I will be guiding students in their online/text research for their writing assignment.  We looked at a variety of websites today, discussed reading for content vs. reading to take notes as will as skimming tips. Fun Fact:  Did you know that if you don't write it down, you'll lose 62% of the knowledge read, that's only 38% retaining power from one day!  YIKES!  Next week, we'll travel to the computer lab for a continuation of our online research.

I hope all of you enjoy a lovely rest of your week.  Happy St. Patrick's Day!

-Mrs. Bethel

Week of March 2nd

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!!

What an amazing two days we've had here in the library; discussing sustainability and how we can help take care of our earth, reading a biography about the beloved Dr. Seuss and checking one more WCCBPA off our list!  It's amazing how much we can pack into just a short amount of time!  This will be a quick posting for the week, congrats to all your students for working hard and digging deeper into our critical questioning.

Have a great week and enjoy the sunshine!

-Mrs. Bethel