We're Back! - February version

This week has brought many reminders why we're all here - it's for the kids and all that they bring to our lives. These photos of two Kindergarten students with their "response to literature" pictures make me smile just to look at them. It can ban all those concerns about technology troubles, time constraints, and being pulled in too many directions - at least for a little while.

The mention of technology troubles came first because the last time I wrote a blog posting was back in November. I looked at the date today and realized the last posting was about a week before the big crash. When the district server went down, it meant we had no "OPAC", the online library programs that run our modern libraries. As many know, for over a month we were writing down barcodes to keep track of books. It was a day to celebrate when the Chariho Tech crew got us back and running right before the holiday vacation. We're still recuperating from losing all data between June and December 2011, but it could have been worse, and I'm thrilled to be back in normal routines.
So I hope this explains the lack of blogging and now I hope to get back to weekly postings.

If you're looking for something new to try for the beginning of February vacation, you might want to look at the link below for the Providence Children's Film Festival. It runs February 16-21 and features films, workshops and other famiy-friendly activities. The website has plenty of info regarding age suggestions for various films - have a look http://www.pcffri.org/

Gr. 4 survey http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/7HDPX7C

More Wondering . . .

The deer antlers have been very popular. Most children could guess what they were, but our wondering was about how and why the antlers were different. Even our youngest students observed:

• one was larger than the other
• they were slightly different colors
• one was smooth, one was rough

Why the difference between two antlers, both from whitetail deer? Well, these wondrous objects were found near a pond where we walk our dog. My husband found the larger one several years ago and it was already beginning to show signs of decay. The years of being "displayed" on our deck railing have added many more patches of moss and lichens. The smaller set of antlers was found a couple of years ago and has been inside our house, with much less decay.

Some of our students had good observations and showed background knowledge, including:
natural objects will eventually decompose; antlers may be eaten by termites, other insects, and rodents; and "one deer had larger antlers than the other". I love to hear the students' responses and ideas as they wonder - higher order thinking and critical thinking in the real world!

I've learned much after reading some of our library books shown in the photo. Did you know of these differences between antlers and horns? ( I didn't!) -

• antlers are temporary, growing each spring and being shed each fall/winter
• horns grow from year to year and are permanent (except for Pronghorn antelopes)
• horns are made of hard skin and are hollow
• antlers are made of solid bone and are not hollow

All of this information came form the book, All About Deer by Jim Arnosky. As our library poster says, "Books Open the Doors to Discovery"!

Book Fair!

This year is flying and now it's time for our annual Book Fair, October 31-November 5. This fundraiser brings in more than $1,000 and helps fund more library resources for students and faculty. It's also fun!
FYI:

• Grades 1-4 shop during their Library Class. Kindergarten students are encouraged to come with their families.



• The Book Fair is opens each day from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.



• Two Family Events: Thursday, Nov. 3 from 3:30-7 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 5, 9-12.



• Wish Lists for Classrooms are a great way to buy a nice, useful gift for a teacher.



• PTO and other volunteers make it happen - thanks!

See you at Book Fair!

The Wonder Table

One goal of educators is to help and encourage lifelong learning. I know I am essentially a curious person and love to see and learn all sorts of things. We all know that children are born curious about the world around them.

This year the library will have "The Wonder Table" which I hope our students (and teachers - Ms. Miceli!) will enjoy. It will feature something - maybe from the natural world, maybe not - that students may look at and gently touch. The first week will simply be the display; the second week will have the name of the object and a few facts. I introduced it this week (see photo above) and next week we'll find out what it is. Note: some students (and Ms. Miceli!) already knew - that's fine. This isn't a contest or a competition to get the correct answer, but simply a chance to enjoy something we don't always get to experience.

I've wanted to do this for awhile and it all came together when Mrs. Poore managed to get some nice round tables from CHS and have them brought to our school. One table came to the Library and provides a good center for this space. What a great place for The Wonder Table!

The photo features two students from Ms. Miceli's 4th graders who were Friday afternoon Library Helpers. In addition to making deliveries, shutting down computers, and stacking chairs, they got the job of posing for this picture. Thanks, Andrew and Ryan!

Come to Open House. (No spiders allowed!)

First, I want to issue an invitation for students and families to visit the Library during Open House. I love meeting everyone, new and "old", including "alums" who have a younger sibling at our school. Usually there are a few old books for giveaways and this year won't be any different - so come on down!

One visitor who was not welcome was the Wolf Spider shown in the photo to the left. Some 4th grade boys saw this big creature in the hallway and watched as I gently caught it. Before setting it free in the woods, I snapped the picture with the adult hand showing you just how large it was. Glad that one didn't show up during a Library class!

This week all Grade 1-4 students borrowed a book or two and I hope they're enjoying them (Kindergarten begins borrowing mid-October). In fact, you might recognize the pink paper in the spider photo. That was the important information paper that went home with every student. I encouraged students to have an adult read it because it explains our library program and how to reach me. Even if you didn't read it, I hope to see you at Open House!

September 2011

Welcome back to all returning students and a hearty Welcome! to all new students from your librarian, Mrs. Reiser-Jones. This is my weekly blog about what's going on in the Library and I hope you like it. Our first week of school went fine; I look forward to Monday when I get to meet the rest of my library classes - Mrs. St. Clair's 1st Grade, Ms. Tetreault's students, and all the Kindergarteners. Only 4th graders checked out books this week; next week Grades 1-3 will be bringing home a library book. Kindergarten students should begin borrowing books in October after we learn all about the library and library class routines.

On a somber note, if your child is asking questions about all the media coverage of September 11th, here are some books I recommend (available here and other libraries) -

• A Nation Challenged: A Visual History of 9/11 and Its Aftermath - Young Reader's Edition from The New York Times.

• Heroes of 9/11: Ten True Tales by Allan Zullo - chapter book

• The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein. This winner of the 2004 Caldecott Medal tells the true tale of Philippe Petit who wire-walked between the two towers in 1974. It is an amazing, inspiring story that, at the end, sensitively states, "Now the towers are gone. But in memory, as if imprinted on the sky, the towers are still there . . ."

For now, on this sunny Friday afternoon, let's lift the mood and look forward to a good weekend. More next week!

Visual Literacy

I hope that author/illustrator David Shannon and Blue Sky Press (c2002) don't mind if I post this photo of the title page of one of my all-time favorite books, Duck on a Bike. Not only is this book great fun, but it's also a perfect example of Visual Literacy. This means the ability to figure out (comprehend) what is going on in a picture. It's an important skill to develop in young children and research shows that being able to understand pictures leads to better text comprehension.

This is a skill that comes easier for some students than others and our instruction promotes "learning to read pictures". In Library, using Duck on a Bike with Kindergarten classes leads the way to Grade 1 library classes when we really concentrate on 3 elements of Visual Thinking Strategies, a questioning strategy developed around art museums but widely used in education. My wording of the 3 questions of VTS to students goes like this:

#1 What's going on in this picture?
#2 What's the evidence for your idea?
#3 Do you see anything else that you notice in the picture?

This seems like a wordy way to read a book but with lots of practice I've learned to seamlessly (I hope!) work it into our enjoyment of a good read-aloud book. In Grade 1 we share many Caldecott Award books and the criteria for the award is "do the pictures help tell the story?" and how illustrations and text work together to tell the story. Visual Literacy - what a fun way to improve comprehension among young children!

For some reason, Duck on a Bike did not win a Caldecott - a grave injustice to me! If you don't know the book, find it at your public library and Enjoy!