Book 11 of 15

This book takes place during the Vietnam War and Space Race. It is about a little girl, Tamara, who is mostly misunderstood by the adults in her neighborhood. Muscle Man McGinty has moved into her best friends house and she cannot forgive him for it. But, does Muscle Man have reasons for being the way he is? Will Tamara bother to take the time to find out?

Book 10 of 15

This book may just have my vote. Isabelle lives in a town that has not seen sunshine since the day she was dropped on a doorstep in Runny Cove (formerly known as Sunny Cove). All the citizens of Runny Cove are dependant on Mr. Supreme's umbrella factory to live and they are working in horrible conditions.
One day she has a chance to leave Runny Cove and meet the family that she has been yearning for for 10 years. Her plan is to meet them and have them help her find a way to save her friends. Will it work? Will her family go for it? Read on to find out :)

This Week in Media

Pre-K and Kindergarten

The little ones will be learning about the parts of a book and the jobs of people who create them. We will be reading Ook the Book and using it to model the various parts of a book (cover, spine, pages, title, and call number). The students will then go to tables with various books on them and work together (using my newly learned Kagan structures, YAY) to point out the parts of a book to one another.
Ask your Pre-K or Kindergartner to name the parts of a book for you!!!




First Grade
First graders will be learning the same concept, but in a different way. They are going to play a game to reinforce these concepts (that they learned last year). Again, using a Kagan structure, the students are each going to have a card with a question about the parts of a book, author, illustrator, fiction, or nonfiction. They will then be doing "Quiz, Quiz, Trade" to get as much reinforcement as they need.
When first graders get home they should be able to tell you the parts of a book, what the author and illustrator do, and the difference between fiction and nonfiction books!

Second, Third, and Fourth Grades

I will be reading The Shelf Elf to the second, third, and fourth graders. I have read this book to them every year, but it reinforces the need to keep our library neat and in order. When I am done reading the book, instead of me asking the students questions, they will be asking each other, using the "Quiz, Quiz, Trade" method. When they get done with this lesson they should have a better understanding of where books belong in the library and what the shelves should look like.


Fifth Grade
The fifth graders, for the next couple weeks, are going to be working on becoming more responsible Internet users. They will be completing a webquest (http://www.saskschools.ca/~ischool/tisdale/integrated/wysiwyg/students.htm) in groups of 2 or 3. At the end of the webquest they will be giving me a list of rules to use to determine whether or not a website is reliable for accurate information.

Have a great week!!!

Book 9 of 15... As I sit at soccer practice

I finished Attack of the Fluffy Bunnies while sitting and watching a soccer practice. It was an interesting story about a brother and sister (twins) who were dropped off at camp by their parents. As camp started odd things started to happen that they were blamed for. So, in their search for the truth they discovered an alien species of Fluffy Bunnies who eat sweets and hypnotize people to take over their bodies.

Book 8 of 15

Whew!! That book took me a while to get through, the beginning of the year overcame me. This book was slow to start and seemed like all the action was at the end. This book is about a boy named Scrub, who lives in Florida. But, because his parents have business trips all summer, he is sent to Washington to stay with his grandmother for the summer. His grandmother is the "weirdo" of town and runs the Intergalactic Bed and Breakfast, which is exactly what it sounds like, a vacation spot on a primitive planet for aliens. Scrub goes through a lot of life changes while at his grandmothers, where he doesn't have any cell service or internet access... what is a boy to do?

A Whole New World

In so many ways this week is going to start a new world in the Pride Media Center. First, the Book Fair is over so we are back to our regularly scheduled lessons. Kindergarten and First Grade get to start checking out books this week (YAY!!!), and Second through Fifth Grades are going to start library centers this week. Here are what we are going to be focusing on in each grade level:

Kindergarten/ 1st Grade
We are going to go over check out procedures (using a shelf marker, bringing the book to the circulation desk, going back to their assigned area). With first grade we are going to go over how to find a just right book. These grade levels will be checking out from a limited selection of books on their grade level to help with them choosing just right books.

2nd Grade
Second graders are going to be learning about the author and illustrator of a book and their job roles. Their centers will include: check out, Reading Counts, library centers (A Helping Hand, Find the Illustrator, The Spine of a Book).

3rd/ 4th Grade
This week third and fourth graders will be learning how to put books in shelf order. I will do a mini lesson on call numbers and shelf order. Their centers will include: check out, Reading Counts, library centers (putting fiction, easy, and non-fiction books in shelf order)

5th Grade
Fifth graders are going to be reviewing dictionary skills this week. Their centers will include: check out, Reading Counts, and library centers (guide words, parts of speech, syllagraph, and multiple meanings).

Do You Symbaloo?

Symbaloo is a visual bookmarking site that has quite a few educational implications. I have created a symbaloo for some Common Core resources for the teachers at my school: http://www.symbaloo.com/mix/commoncore15

I also created a page for each grade level so I have easy access to the websites I need for lessons as well as allowing the kids access so they know what websites that are available for them to go on.

Seeing how Florida was not the first state to adopt the CCSS there are alot of resources out there from other states. My favorite are the links of books to allign with each standard. Bloggers from other states have been busy creating materials for all subjects. By searching Pinterest and google I have found tons of free resources and have linked them all to my symbaloo.