Fun and Fitness

Who are these royal ladies? See below for the answer!

It's nearly May which means it's time for wwwCharlestownFit program. If you click on the link above, you can go directly to the blog created for this month-long program. Dr. Cathy Moffitt and I have set up the blog to be interactive so families can participate. This means you are very much encouraged to write Comments on how your family is enjoying extra activities - both physical and mental. The Comments will be moderated each day before being posted to the blog so keep checking to see when your comment joins the blog.

The worksheet for recording activities will go home with students on Monday, May 2nd. We meant to send it home today but a snafu means a slight delay. If you have any comments or questions about wwwCharlestownFit, please contact me or Dr. Moffitt (the blog is a great place to do it!)

Speaking of fun, Ms. Miceli, 4th grade teacher, decided to celebrate today's royal wedding with a flair. Not only did she wear a stunning hat, but she brought hats for other colleagues. Check out the photo at the top of our very fancy, very royal teachers!

All Sorts of Books!

The display shown in the photo is one designed to
help 4th graders who have been assigned to read a
historical fiction book. Even though a library online
catalog is invaluable, sometimes a display or spine
stickers makes browsing and finding much easier.

An important part of being a Library Media Specialist is building and maintaining a collection that supports the many, varying needs of a school. That means books for every reading level as well as books to support all curricula. It means having a Professional Collection for teachers and staff (and parents if they ask!). Of course we must also include audiovisual resources and try to keep up with newer technologies.

Not mentioned above is the ever-important pleasure reading - graphic novels (newer term for comic book novels), magazines, and nonfiction books that cover favorite topics of students. Below you will find my recall of favorite subjects at Charlestown School (listed in Dewey Decimal order!)

Bigfoot, Greek mythology, the Titanic, space, dinosaurs, sharks, snakes, dolphins, wolves, military weapons, dirt bikes/4-wheelers/monster trucks, horses, dogs, cats, Garfield and other comics, arts & crafts, skateboarding, the Red Sox (and a few Yankee fans!), WWII, and Native Americans.

That list made me realize how many favorite topics I did not list, but you get the idea - our kids love to read for pleasure and love to learn!

Reading Week Activities

It's been a busy Reading Week 2011. Today we had Chariho High School athletes come to read to classes. This has been a favorite since Mrs. Wright arranged the first visit three years ago. Now we hear that all the Chariho elementary schools like the idea and CHS students are kept very busy. The photos above show Mrs. St. Clair's 1st graders listening to Cody Rathbun read a funny story to them. It looks like Cody is having as much fun as the 1st graders!

That storytime also featured Sarah, another CHS student, but my camera decided not to cooperate for more photos. In fact, it even failed when the 1st graders posed with Cody, Sarah, and the Chariho Charger mascot - what a great shot that would have been.

Sometimes we have tech misses and sometimes we get "hits". This week I was able to share a video with a class by using some tricky maneuvering of tech tools. The video was on YouTube - not available at our schools. With the help of Michelle Steever, CMS librarian, I was able to do a file conversion, have the converted file emailed to me, use the VLC software to open it, and finally play the video for the class. It took several tries, but success is sweet!The class was able to enjoy a video version of the book, How My Parents Learned to Eat, by Ina R. Friedman. The story correlated to this class' study of Japan.

It's been fun to see all the different countries studied by various classes. Our library "took on" the entire world with flags and books about geography. Happy Reading Week to all!