This Week @ the Library (11/28 - 12/2)

KINDERGARTEN

With only 3 weeks in between Thanksgiving and Winter Break, we'll be reading snow stories in kindergarten to get us reading for that cold, wet stuff. We'll start with one of my favorites - a retelling of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Jan Brett's The Three Snow Bears. Since most students know the Goldilocks version, we'll begin the library lesson with an oral retell by students, then read Brett's tale, and if time, we'll compare the two. Oh, the illustrations in this book (in all her books!) are just fantastic!


1ST & 2ND GRADE

First and second grade students have been reading nominees for the 2012 Monarch Award, a Readers' Choice Award for K-3 students in Illinois. Next on our list is Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld. Look at the cover of the book - is it a duck? Or is it a rabbit? We try to figure it out in this story, but I won't give away the ending! I'll be using the SmartBoard with this book and borrowing a Notebook lesson from Librarian Tonya Ellis of East Elementary in the Jefferson City Public Schools. We librarians love to share. :)


3RD GRADE

It's time for our Fables unit in third grade! Today was our first day learning about fables - short stories that teach lessons through a moral. We read selections from Michael Hague's Aesop's Fables. Since the writing is concise but a bit advanced, I asked students to retell the stories using their own words and then tell me what they thought the moral of the story was. We read classics like "The Hare and the Tortoise," "The Lion and the Mouse," and "The Fox and the Grapes." Students enjoyed these quick stories so much that they asked for more fables next week!



4TH GRADE

From now until Winter Break, fourth grade students will be studying the poet Jack Prelutsky. This week, we'll read aloud from his collection called My Dog May Be a Genius and explore his website on the SmartBoard. If we have time, I've pulled all of his books that we own at the King School Library (over 20!), and I'll let students explore his works on their own.



5TH GRADE

This week, a children's librarian (hi Lynn!) from the Urbana Free Library will be visiting us at King to present booktalks to our fifth grade students. We always look forward to hearing from our local librarians! :)