Happy Holidays

It's hard to believe it's already that time of year!  Where did the last few weeks, no...months go? Time flies when you're busy having fun in the Library!  

Read below for a recap of this week's happenings:

First Grade:  Project Blocks (week 3) is underway!  We discussed building planning and construction (previewed text from Non Fiction, section 611 and a few others) and kids included signs and incorporated structures that would need signs – had to give evidence why.  Did you know that Empirical studies show that constructive or block play supports mathematical learning and scored higher/performed better on standardized test of spatial intelligence (Caldera 1999).   

More information to in a separate post, dedicated to Project Blocks, but here's a little background.  The library wrote a grant, submitted and was awarded funds (from the Curriculum Enhancement Committee) to purchase sets of blocks to support STEM learning in the Library.   By incorporating block investigating, students will be able to cooperate with others, develop problem solving skills as well as thinking critically and creatively.  First Graders are using to many new skills from math to engineering even to social/emotional!  Check out our cool STEM structures:

First Grade STEM Structures 

Third Grade:  Special Read Aloud, "Mogie, the Heart of the House" written by Kathi Appelt and illustrated by Marc Rosenthal.  A kindred and tender book telling the story of a real life labradoodle named Mogie who lives in a Ronald McDonald house.  Kids connected with the strong theme of compassion as we shared this lovely tale - what a great way to close out the year!  Also a WCCPBA, a definite must read! 

Fourth Grade:  This week concluded our month long focus on Pacific Northwest Coastal research. Throughout the past five weeks, students researched the daily lives of the first inhabitants of the PNW, created thoughtful notes and lastly recorded their findings on Flipgrid!  #flipgrid 

Fifth Grade:  Check out as usual for these amazing school leaders!  I'm excited to see how much they've accomplished over the break and their academic growth and success in the upcoming year!  

From Mrs. Bethel:
Wishing you and yours a very happy (and healthy) Holiday!  I am grateful to work with such talented and amazing teachers and for the dedicated volunteers in the Library!  

Happy New Year! 

Scholastic Book Fair!

It's that time of year again...

It's that time of year again...

SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR!!! 

Bright and early Monday morning we will be busy, setting up the displays to transform the Library into a Book Fair!  We are so lucky in our school to be able to put HALF of the Book Fair proceeds toward our operating budget!  WOW!  Over the 3.5 days that we are in business we will see 22 classes, over 500 students and many many families!  This is the second year that I've experienced the Book Fair as a Librarian, and boy am I excited!  

Something new this year, a very cool APP, check it out:

With this awesome Book Fair APP, you can scan a book cover or barcode and view book trailers, listen to short summaries and determine if the book is at a just right level for your student! Add that to your smartphone today!

Wish us luck as we embark on this busy, hectic and chaotic week!  Fingers crossed for a smooth Book Fair! 

-Mrs. Bethel 

Week of October 19th, 2015

It was a mad dash this week to get in all the objectives and goals and FUN during Library!  Most weeks will include a play-by-play for each of the grade levels and classes visiting.  This week is dedicated to SIX books that Librarians in our district chose for a NEW Award ... The OTTER Award! For more information, read below:

The OTTER Award officially began last spring with a group of Librarians coming together to chose a short order of text that would appeal to the struggling reader, the kiddo who desperately wanted to find a "chapter book" and search in the FIC section (but wasn't quite ready) and the student who just needed to hook themselves onto a new series!  Six books were chosen for this list; they include a variety of genre and amazing authors!  Here are the titles:

In less than two weeks, these books will be available for students to check out and devour!  I'm excited to entice our kiddos and see which new series they fall in love with!  Thanks to the all the dedicated Librarians who put their time and effort into this new endeavor!  

Happy Reading!

-Mrs. Bethel 

Week of October 12th, 2015

What a whirlwind of a week!


First  Grade:
SPECIAL AUTHOR VISIT!!  Our friends in First Grade were fortunate this week to meet an amazing author Nancy Raines Day! She's an accomplished writer with several published books! Nancy shared with us her most recent story, "What In The World, Numbers In Nature" just published last month.  She also read her popular spooky story,"On A Windy Night"
If interested in purchasing any of her books, look to Amazon or Barnes Noble as well as Mockingbird Books (Seattle).  To learn more information about Nancy Raines Day, click here!  Nancy Raines Day

Third Grade:
The Adventures of Beekle - The Unimaginary Friend written by Dan Santat.  I recently brought this book home to my family and it rapidly became one of the NEW favorites.  Beekle, is a charming character with hidden gems of wisdom and sentimental kindness that every kid will connect with! Literally read this book about seventeen times this week and each read found something beautiful and unique and amazing!   Dan Santat is a genius and what our library kiddos wouldn't give to ask him questions about his book! Winning the Caldecott in 2015, definitely a must read!

Fourth Grade:
FLIP assessment is on!  After practicing a trail run through last week, our students were ready to take on the fifteen question assessment!  Using our new technology app of PLICKERS, kiddos were able to answer multiple choice questions using their Plicker card.  All in all, a pretty cool way to take a test!  If you're interested in how your child is doing in Library, stop on by for a chat or send an email. I'm always happy to talk books and reading with you and your family!

Fifth Grade:
GRC (Global Reading Challenge) is up and running!  First meeting is this Wednesday during Lunch Recess and all 4th/5th Grade students are invited to attend!  As per the past numbers, 30 kiddos will get a chance to participate in this amazing team experience.  Don't fret, if you didn't get a chance as a 4th Grader, 5th Grade could be your year!

Note From Mrs. Bethel:
Scholastic Book Fair is coming!  Mark your calendars for November 17th, the Fair will run for three days (Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday - set up Monday, tear down Friday)!  Any volunteers are GREATLY appreciated!!

Week of October 5th, 2015

It's hard to believe we're already well into the month of October!  The Fall weather has definitely arrived, with that, an amazingly busy and crazy few weeks ahead!  Read below to catch up on Library happenings and tech tidbits!

First Graders
WCCPBA text here we go!  My First Grade friends were able to enjoy an October treat and read At the Old Haunted House, written by Helen Ketteman and illustrated by Nate Wragg, This is a darling tale, full of somewhat spooky, goofy and halloweenish party fun!  Last week, students tackled their first STEM integrated lesson, reading Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, investigating the properties of a coconut and predicting whether

Third Graders
Peter Brown is a master!  Kids everywhere love his illustrations, his comedic timing and incredible way of showing emotion through color and fun drawing/sketch.  This week we focused on tackling yet another WCCPBA text, "My Teacher Is A Monster" by Peter Brown!  Wanting students to think a little deeper about the characters, I created an Exit Ticket asking students to consider the evolution of the relationship between the boy and his teacher.  Using emotion and colors to describe, students utilized a comic strip style reflection (demonstrating the beginning, middle and end).  When asking kiddos to explain evolution (in terms of story line and text), my favorite answer of the day: "a gradual change".  Wow!  Kids are smart, right?!?

Fourth Graders
We've got PLICKERS!  This week marked the first chance to introduce Plickers to 4th Graders!  For the beginning of year assessment, we are utilizing a new and innovative way to assess students.  Plickers is an amazing tool that lets me collect real time formative data!  Up next week, we will dig deeper and start the 4th Grade Assessment FLIP (Fourth grade Library Instruction Process).

Fifth Graders
As always, these responsible and thoughtful students are choosing amazing books and series!  I'm looking forward to joining forces and combining the two classes to delve deeper into Library Media Technology, iPad APPS and CODE!


A Note From Mrs. Bethel
You're never too old to go back to school!  This Thursday, I started classes in Library Media Program with Antioch University!  My first class, Selections For Collections is a fantastic way to delve into the content of the program!  I'm honored to be able to continue my education and professional development, and thankful to my family and colleagues who are helped encourage me!

Week of September 21, 2015

Here's what went down in the land of books this week:

First Grade:
For only our second week together, these little darlings are just trucking along!  They come each Monday excited and ready to learn more about the Library.  This week we read aloud a WCCPBA text, "10 Rules Of Being a Superhero" by Deb Pilutti.  We brainstormed all the characteristics of a HERO and then related to our own lives and chose a personal HERO of our own!  Check out our vine of some of the lovely illustrations!

First Grade Super Hero




Third Grade: 
It's time to start CODE!

Well, let's say we're dipping our toes in, just for a start!  This week we began our coding journey with an "unplugged" activity.  Students were challenged to use "paper programming" to find the correct algorithm.  (Ask your child what an algorithm means in CODE terms)!  Third graders worked as teams to determine which direction our "Flurbs" (character in our coding) should travel, North, South, East or West! Up n


ext on the coding docket:  "Move it Move it!", an activity where the students will write a program using spacial awareness and coding direction.

Fourth Grade:
"Tell me more, tell me more..." Yes, that's right, I want to learn more about YOU, my students!  This week my Fourth grade friends finished a survey sharing their own personal interests/goals/outside of school hobbies.  Thanks to my teaching partner, Ms. Arika, (credit to her for the survey questions), kiddos were able to ask burning questions of us, the Librarians!  My favorite so far:  "how old are you" and "what was the most disgusting thing you've ever eaten".  Tough call on that one!

Fifth Grade
Continuing with our focus on digital citizenship this week, students agreed and signed our Code of Conduct.  I will continue to work with our Fifth grade friends (even though we only have a precious 15-20 minutes once per week) to help support and prepare them for the opportunities and challenges of using social media as well as navigating the technology in school.  Looking ahead next week:  Reviewing Destiny and My Quest!

A Note From Mrs. Bethel
Hard to believe that we just finished our 4th week of school!  Where does the time go?  I'm excited to be working on new projects in school and at home, which tomorrow are colliding!  I've had the sheer pleasure and opportunity to volunteer with the Ready Set Read program of Tacoma (through the Communities in Schools program) since last winter.  Recently, I was asked to partner with the coordinator and present several STEM lessons at the Washington State Library "All Aboard Kindergarten Advisory Committee" board meeting held in Spokane.  Flattered, honored and a little nervous, I'll prepare to present one special lesson I wrote supporting STEM learning for preschoolers! Stay tuned to hear how it goes!

Here's wishing you have a wonderful week!

-Mrs. Bethel

Welcome Back!!

Welcome to a brand new school year full of learning, laughter and of course, BOOKS!  I'm very excited to be back in the Library, gettin' down with the new literature and new students!

While my weekly blog posting will mostly be about my current adventures teaching 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th Grade Library classes, I will also share my trials and tribulations of new goals and challenges.  Because I feel as though when you put it in writing, you HAVE to do it, here are some year goals for me in the Library:

• Read as many books (kid lit) as possible
• Start CODING (teaching CODE) to my 3rd, 4th and 5th graders
• Participate in WLMA, SLJ and more professional development
• Start (really, my fingers are crossed) a Library Media Endorsement
• Read ALL the WCCPBA text
• Read MOST of the Sasquatch Awards
• Laugh (as much as possible) in the Library
• Make our Library a place where every kid (teacher and parent) wants to come visit

The list could go on and on, right?

This was our third week back in school, but first time meeting several of my classes... so happy to have seen all of the curious faces now in the Library!  Here's a quick snapshot of what went down here this week:

First Grade:

Read Aloud "Shh, We Have a Plan" written by Chris Haughten.  A budding designer and well known author ("Oh No George" and "A Bit Lost", shows us a beautiful and funny story about four friends creeping in the woods trying to catch a bird.  Students made predictions based on the repetition of the story plot, and enjoyed a different style of design and illustration!  

Third Grade:

I met many of my 3rd graders for the first time today.  Reviewed Library policies and expectations and the current WCCPBA text for 2015-2016.  Students took a look at all the titles, we've read Gaston by Kelly DiPucchio (ask your child to tell you about Fi Fi, Foo Foo, Oh La La and Gaston)!!  Up next week:  Superhero!  

Fourth Grade:

What a stellar start to they year we've had with these super citizens!  Keeping with the Super Hero Theme, our 4th graders will be digging deeper into what it means to be a Super DIGITAL Citizen!  Ideas shared and taken from the Common Sense Media, we will be discussing how to stay safe online and how to best take on the power and responsibility.  To quote Spiderman: "With great power comes great responsibility!"  

Fifth Grade:

Although I only have a mere 15-20 minutes with my beloved 5th graders, we are jamming as much as we can into our time together.  Before checking out books ranging from Wonderstruck to Non Fiction about Queen Elizabeth and the Tudors, we intro'd CODE and what our first steps would look like when we begin our Coding.  5th graders have some "Library Homework" and will be exploring the CODE website:  www.code.org 

A Note From Mrs. Bethel:

As always, I love sharing new books, chatting about new series or simply enjoying a good book with a cup of coffee!  Come on by the Library anytime and we'll have a chat!  

-Mrs. Bethel