"Wonders" of 4th Grade

This photo shows the latest contributions from 4th graders to our Wonder Table. In the background is a framed snakeskin from a rattlesnake, courtesy of Jason. In front, the basket holds a mystery object. It came from  Hunter who brought it in to his classroom and Mrs. Fee suggested it for the Wonder Table. Hunter says it came from a beach in Florida and he thinks it might be a fossil conch shell. We really don't know yet and hope an expert can help.


This "mystery from the sea" is an object that can be handled gently to help us observe and try to make informed guesses. When a few children told me to "just google it" we discussed how Google is great for some information, but how it would be difficult to identify this object in our Library. So, if you know someone who might be able to figure it out, we would be happy to have them come by the Library and have a look at this mystery!

January got off to a great start with our first student "Wonder" - a sand dollar that was brought by Jacob. I was so happy when Jacob came the next day after hearing about how students could bring in their treasures. He got us off to a great start with interested students eager to see something from a 4th grader. Our next 4th grade contribution, an alligator head brought in by Norah, was another popular item on the Wonder Table.  I am thrilled to see students so interested in our natural world - it's a Wonder!

Here We Are - 2013

    No picture this time, but I want to note a couple of blog items for December and our new year.

December - The Gingerbread Book Sale and donations had a remarkable last-day (12/21/12) outpouring of generosity and we were able to give over $344 to help local community families. So much appreciation goes to everyone who supported this effort in any way - buying books, donations of money, or just a friendly smile. Our Charlestown School community is such a caring, connected group of adults and children and it's a privilege to be a part of it.

Now - 2013  - The Wonder Table has often been the topic of this blog in the last year and a half. A few students have added to my own contributions when they wanted to display a "wondrous" item for others to see. In an effort to allow others, a schedule has been established for kids to bring in nature items for the Wonder Table if they want ( this is not mandatory!). I also suggest students ask their parent/guardian before bringing something to display. Here's the schedule:
January - 4th graders
February - 3rd graders
March - 2nd graders
April - 1st graders
May - Kindergartners

I announced this format last Thursday to our 4th graders who also took home the information paper. It was such a thrill when Jake, a 4th grader in Mrs. Fee's class, came to the Library on Friday morning with a beautiful sand dollar he found in Florida. A great start to 2013!

A Helping of Gingerbread

This year the Gingerbread Book Sale was held during Conference Days. Previously, it had been part of the Holiday Fair, but that event wasn't available this year and we did not want to lose this fundraiser to help community families during the holidays.
It also gave a few 4th graders the opportunity to work as "clerks" to handle book sales (everything was $1.00 each!), organize books, and help with advertising by making signs. Ethan, in the picture below, even volunteered to drum up business by walking down the hallway in his "sandwich board" attire!

 Since the official sale on the 10th and 11th, we've relied on Charlestown Staff members to increase the amount by buying a few books, or just donating money. This afternoon, two 4th Grade Library Helpers, Chris and Ethan (a different Ethan!) counted our total so far. You can see their math work on the photo and also see that so far we have over $146 to contribute. Tomorrow is our last day and I'll add an update to show the final total.

Book Fair Beats Sandy!

Even a hurricane could not stop all the families, staff and kids from coming to the Book Fair and making our fundraiser a real success. Not only did you shop, but so many people helped in so many ways. Many thanks to PTO members, other family members, staff & teachers - we did it despite losing 3 days to Sandy!

Our total sales and profit surpassed last year - 

Total sales came to $ 4,570.15 for a total profit of $1,146.18!!! 
All that money went into the Charlestown School Library SAF account and will be used to buy books and many other resources for our school. 
Thanks to all of you, we did it!

Research

)

The latest addition to our Wonder Table came from two 4th grade boys who must have been "wondering" about this wood they found on the Nature Trail near our school. They knew it was from a tree that had been eaten by insects. We wondered about what insect was responsible for the unique, almost geometric, holes.

We did not have any library books that helped so I turned to the Internet. However, my Google search wasn't giving me a conclusive answer. What I really needed was a way to show the photo to an expert so I took a picture. I thought of some URI researchers but realized the fastest way for me to get an answer was to email a local pest control fellow who has a column in a local paper. The photo below shows my email plus his answer - the main culprits were Carpenter Ants but other wood-boring insects were involved also. My appreciation to Mr. David Jones and his prompt, expert answer (also to Nancy Ferri, Library Clerk, who did a Google search and figured it was Carpenter Ants.

My biggest appreciation goes to the two 4th graders, James and Ethan, who brought in this interesting specimen for us to wonder about and examine - thanks, guys!

Flexibility

 

One tremendous part of being a teacher librarian is having a little flexibility during Library Classes. Just today I began a lesson on the SMART Board when a kindergarten student in Mrs. Terluk's class remarked on the homepage of that computer. I showed them the link to this blog and they were excited to see students they know in some of the posts.

When I explained about this blog, they wanted their picture on it. I decided this could be a different tech lesson so they sat down for a photo. The photo, taken with my phone, was then sent to my email and we knew when it "swooshed" that the photo had arrived in my email Inbox. Next step, download, then viewing the photo which is now the picture for this blog post.

Teachers love these "teachable moments" - I don't expect students to recall about how pictures to take longer than words because they have more data. They don't need to know about the Library blog. I do hope our actions engage their enthusiasm and love of learning  and hope they keep it their entire lives.

Hurricane changes to Book Fair

First, I hope your family made it through Sandy safely and without severe impacts. It was difficult to come back to "normal" today, especially when the Book Fair was set-up and ready to go. However, students are excited so we worked to extend it  - not so easy since Scholastics main office is closed without power in NJ. But, here's what we plan:

Sat. 9-12
Mon regular hours 9-4
Tuesday Election Day, 10-2 o'clock

See the website for details:http://bookfairs.scholastic.com/homepage/charlestownschoollibrary

Our Friday Family Event on 10/26 had sales over $950 -thanks!