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

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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!

Book Fair News!

Breaking News! Today we decided to add another Family Event to this year's book fair schedule:

Saturday, November 3rd from 9 a.m. - 12 noon.

Tomorrow, look for the yellow paper with the latest news, including a reminder about our kick-off 

Family Event this Friday, October 26th from 4:30-6:15. We'll close up the Book Fair in time to let families attend the Magic Show and the very popular Pumpkin Glow.

 The Scholastic boxes and cases of books were delivered yesterday and two of our 3rd grade students,  C and M,  helped me publicize our upcoming Book Fair. Here's a link for more info:http://bookfairs.scholastic.com/homepage/charlestownschoollibrary

Book Fair is Coming!

Did you see the pink sheet among yesterday's (10-11) backpack stack? If not, be sure to look for it to learn about our upcoming Scholastic Book Fair. The important information includes:

• A special Family Event on Friday, October 26th, from 4:30-6:15 p.m. This kickoff to our book fair will precede the Magic Show and Pumpkin Glow for a complete family night.

Regular Book Fair hours, 9-4 p.m., the following week,  
October 29th - November 2nd. Friday, Nov. 2nd will feature a  "Last Chance to Shop" on  until 5 p.m.

• Children in Grades 1-4 are able to shop during their scheduled library classes, so if you want to send money, they'll need it on their library day. Kindergarten students don't shop during library class and we encourage families to come to our Family Event or during other times we are open.

Danielle Reardon has been helping me as Co-Chair and I look forward to seeing other parents and family members as volunteers, shoppers, or browsers. 

Speaking of volunteers -

If you want to volunteer, fill out and return the bottom of that pink sheet or email, call, or send a note to me. 

For more information, you can follow the link below to our Charlestown School Book Fair homepage on the Scholastic website:

http://bookfairs.scholastic.com/homepage/charlestownschoollibrary