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

Week of February 23rd

Easing back into the school week was not an easy task, but our brave Tigers handled it well!  Thanks to all
the friendly smiles, hugs and welcoming attitudes, we were able to kick start our week.  We had a lot to accomplish here in the Library, take a look at our busy days...

First and Third Graders:
"Everyone knows, Sharks eat Minnows"!  Kids thoroughly enjoyed reading the latest addition to our WCCPBA (Washington Children's Choice Picture Book Awards) book of the week.  We delved into this delightful and somewhat unconventional tale of friendship.  My little first grade friends were really concerned about how Fang (our trusty and true shark) would feel after Nugget (yes, our main minnow) halted their friendship.  Third Graders thought about this on a deeper level and asked themselves, what would they have done if in Nugget/Fang's "fins".  We also utilized a "Fin" (Venn) Diagram to look at the similarities and differences these two characters hold.  Check out this cute clip of other "unlikely" friends:

Unlikely Friends - It's OK To Be Different

Fourth Graders:
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, SnapChat, Edmoto, the list goes on and on and on for the Social Media sites that your children have been introduced to.  As part of the Librarian's Digital Citizenship (which Fourth Graders completed several weeks ago), I wanted to culminate the research on our kid-friendly databases here at school with a real-world scenario.  Kids used their notes and ideas from our last class (digging deep as it was before mid-winter break) and created a "fakebook" (yes, that reads FAKE BOOK) page for their historical individual.  Using a printed page, students utilized their notes and the Pebble Go database.  We discussed the power of sharing information from their chosen innovator and what they might share/post.  Still a work in progress, will share the final result as we complete our "profiles".

Up next week:
We will be celebrating Read Across America and the birthday of Dr. Seuss.  Monday (and Tuesday) will prove to be fun, exciting and busy days here in the Library!  Stay tuned to see some Sneeches, Lorax and perhaps even the Cat himself!

Have a great week!
-Mrs. Bethel

Week of February 9th

The week before a break is always fast and furious, especially with a holiday approaching.  We'll be on Mid-Winter Break as of Friday @ 3:26...kicking it off with Valentine's Day this upcoming Saturday!  At any rate, my kiddos maintained their focus and interest all day Monday (I was at a Professional Development Tuesday -- more on that later).

First Grade:
My little friends were over the moon to read yet another WCCPBA story (as we are nearing the voting deadline end of March).  "The Yuckiest Stinkiest Best Valentine Ever" is a hilarious and goofy story, with a great author's message and story.  I made sure to ask some deeper thinking questions, asking kiddos to infer while they enjoyed the silliness.  Each week I spend with my First grade friends puts a smile on my face, I love hearing their ideas, stories, point of view and (most of all) giggles!


Third Grade/Fourth Grade:

This week was our second installment of our Biography series.  Students reviewed biographies and the WCCPBA "Hoop Genius" and how to search for innovators  using one of our databases, Pebble Go!  Third and Fourth graders spent time reading and researching individuals online.  As they closed the activity, I asked them to complete an Exit Ticket sharing how this innovator is worthy of a biography and how they felt after learning more about his/her life.  When we return from break, kids will get a chance to incorporate the 21st century and a special historical innovator!

Professional Development:
I was lucky to participate in a locale PD (thanks to my principal, school and district) on Tuesday.  The presenter was fantastic, kept a great pace and had great enthusiasm for using technology in the Library!  I am walking away with several (ok, more than a DOZEN) new ideas, apps, tools and websites to implement as a Teacher Librarian.  I'm really excited to bring this back to school and show my students!   One of my favorite "techie" tool that I love to create and use is a QR code.   For those of you reading my blog, let's see if this QR code works:

(It's a link to the ALA Youth Media Awards just recently announced).  Using an app like 'Qrafter' will help you scan any QR code!  

Enjoy Valentine's Day!
-Mrs. Bethel

Week of February 2nd

As always, a jam-packed busy week here in the Library.  We started off our Monday with a new Virtue for the month of February:  Self-Discipline.  Kids had great insight and examples of how to demonstrate this Virtue.  As we connected to many emotions from the Sunday game, I know I had to show self discipline!!  Stay tuned for more updates and findings about our Virtues curriculum, now onto the status of this week's learning!


First Grade:

Students were giggling and cackling over the latest Read Aloud:  Outfoxed, written by Mike Twohy and is yet another Washington Children's Choice Award nominee!  Kids love the humor in this hilarious picture book.  As we're trying to connect with self-discipline and finishing our January Virtue of Optimism, we reviewed a short (very short) story:  "Good News/Bad News" - check out the cute trailer here:
Good News, Bad News Trailer

As a closing activity, students voted on whether or not the Groundhog would see his shadow.  Overwhelmingly, the kids voted for six more weeks of Winter.  And it looks like Groundhog Day produced that very outcome, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow! 


Third & Fourth Grade:
I'm very excited about the upcoming Non-Fiction text focus (biographies and autobiographies) which will include a 3 week session (with a break for Mid Winter holiday).  We jumped in with a Read Aloud:  "Hoop Genius", yet another amazing Washington Children's Choice Award book written by Jon Coy and illustrated by Joe Morse.  Students were enthralled with incredible illustrations, and discussed how it was difficult to determine between F/NF with such picturesque drawings.  Up next week, we will use our database and utilize PEBBLE GO to research innovators and leaders. 

Fifth Grade:
We briefly met  to check out books and recommendations. Last week I introduced eBooks to Fifth Graders and how excited was I to find them utilizing the program (at school and even home)!!!  Here's a tip for you Fantasy readers:  check out the GRAPHIC NOVEL for Wrinkle In Time (one of my all time favorite books from childhood)

It's been a busy three days in the Library (what a treat to have an extra day to work with the Amazing Ms. Arika)!  Also, Thanks to my Fourth Grade friend for a wonderful Biography recommendation - The Family Romanov, cannot WAIT to dig in!

As we closed the first month of the year (is it February already?), here's a little check in for my READolutions: 

• Finished my first autobiography book of the year (my goal is 1-2 biographies per month)
• Just uploaded my most recent review onto My Quest

Have a great week!
-Mrs. Bethel