King School Library

Book spine poems!

Inspired by Travis Jonker's book spine poetry project over at 100 Scope Notes, I thought I'd make some poems of my own! This is my first attempt, so please be kind.

Tales for very picky eaters,
like pickle juice on a cookie
sing a song of tuna fish.
My sister the sausage roll,
Strawberry Hill.

A sweet smell of roses

farm morning

Little chick,

I am going!

big red barn

These hands,
drawing from memory
perfect square.
A black hole is NOT a hole;
Moon pie.

Speaking of poetry, it is National Poetry Month, in case you didn't know!

About a month ago, many of our students wrote haiku poems for the National Schools Project, and we just found out yesterday that 50 students' poems will be published in the 2012 Young American Poetry Digest!

Congratulations, King School students!

Upcoming Chapter Book Read-Alouds

I love the end of the year for many obvious reasons but also because it's when I choose to read chapter books aloud to several different grade levels. There's lots of library admin stuff to do at the end of the year - weeding, final book orders, annual report, inventory, etc. - so it's nice to have a little less lesson planning to do. And I LOVE to read chapter books aloud. I'd do it all year if I could. Here's what I'll be starting to read this week and next:

1st grade

Lulu and the Brontosaurus by Judith Viorst, illustrated by Lane Smith (2010 by Atheneum) --- I can't properly express my love for this book about a spoiled little girl who wants nothing less than a brontosaurus for her birthday. Her parents say no, of course, since dinosaurs do not exist anymore, but Lulu is determined to get a brontosaurus for a pet. She sets out for the forest, meets some wild creatures that she deals with sassily, and lo and behold, she finds a brontosaurus. Lulu is used to getting her way, so this guy's coming home with her, right? Well, not exactly...

Sing with me now:

I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, gonna get
A bronto-bronto-bronto Brontosaurus for a pet.
I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, gonna get
A bronto-bronto-bronto Brontosaurus for a pet.

2nd grade

The Dream Stealer by Sid Fleischman, illustrated by Peter Sis (2009 by Greenwillow) --- I read this one aloud to second grade last year with much success and am delighted to do it again this year. Some books just have so much imagination and wit that they have to be read aloud, and this is definitely one of them. Susana is a spirited little girl who is sad to see her best friend move to a faraway town, especially since they had a fight, and she's not sure if they're still friends anymore. She has a lovely dream about her friend, Consuelo Louisa, but here enters the Dream Stealer - who snatches her dream away before she has time to finish it! Susana catches the Señor and demands to have her dream back, and so their journey begins.
P.S. Peter Sis painted the murals at the Champaign Public Library's children's section! Check them out here.

3rd grade

Boy: Tales of Childhood by Roald Dahl, illustrated by Quentin Blake (1984, 2001 by Puffin) --- How do you not love Roald Dahl? He's given us so many children's classics! From Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to Matilda to James and the Giant Peach to maybe the lesser known but so beloved Witches or The Twits or my favorite, The BFG. But my absolute favorite book by Roald Dahl is his autobiography, Boy: Tales from Childhood. His style is unmistakable, and the fact that this book is full of TRUTHS is unbelievable (but you have to believe it! they're true!). Most of my 3rd grade students are familiar with Dahl's fictional tales, so I can't wait to give them a little piece of his real life too. I think they might have a hard time believing it all, but we'll definitely spend some time at his website looking at photographs of him and his family and friends.

5th grade

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (2009 by Wendy Lamb Books) --- The key to a good read-aloud is to make sure that you love the book you're reading, and I. Love. This. Book. I read it first when it came out in 2009 with mixed feelings because I didn't think that kids would be able to get into it. But after 3 years of actually working with students, I know they will. Especially if I read it to them. I have to read it to them. I cannot live my life to the fullest if I do not read this book aloud to someone, and 5th grade is the perfect audience.
About the story - Miranda is living in 1970's New York City, and she's just had a quiet fallout with her best friend Sal. Her mom is obsessed with the game show, The $20,000 Pyramid, and she's actually going to be a contestant! But Miranda already knew that. Because she's been getting these strange notes that seem to know when things are going to happen. It's historical, it's mysterious, and time travel gives it that science fiction kick. This book transcends genre and is just good. I hope my students love it as much as I do.

Remembering the Titanic

On April 15, 2012, we celebrate (or mourn, rather) the 100 year anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Here are a few new books to the King School Library about this "unsinkable" ship:

The Titanic Disaster by Peter Benoit (Children's Press, 2011) --- I read this book aloud to a third grade class today to familiarize them with the Titanic tragedy. Many have heard of the movie because it is being re-released into theaters, so we also talked a little about how the movie is fictionalized.
This book does a nice job of giving the bare facts of the journey, while still providing fun tidbits in the photos and illustrations. This is a great book to use when teaching nonfiction text features because it has everything you could ever want - captions, titles, headings, subheadings, diagrams, bold words, etc. Much of the "interesting" information we learned was found in the captions, actually.

Remembering the Titanic by Frieda Wishinsky (Scholastic, 2012) --- I bought this one at the Scholastic book fair a couple months ago. From the publisher: On April 10, 1912, the TITANIC set sail. On April 15, 1912, the great ship sank. This simple reader tells the story of the TITANIC for the 100th anniversary of its tragic voyage. Find out what life was like aboard the ship and meet some of the passengers and the crew. Read about Robert Ballard's triumphant discovery of the wreck 73 years later and what's been discovered since.

Titanic Sinks! by Barry Denenberg (Viking, 2011) --- This book is luscious. It's a blend of fact and fiction in the way that it's formatted - magazine and newspaper clippings take you through the sinking of the Titanic. I haven't been able to spend much time looking at this book because it was checked out by a teacher as soon as I got it out of the box! This book is definitely for older readers who are able to sift through the material and determine what's true and what's not. It received four starred reviews (Kirkus, Booklist, Publisher's Weekly, School Library Journal), so this was a no-brainer purchase. :) Check out Denenberg's website for more info - http://barrydenenberg.com/pw_titanic_sinks.php.

All Stations! Distress! by Don Brown (Roaring Book Press, 2010) --- This is actually my favorite of the four because I prefer narrative nonfiction. I read this aloud to 5th grade earlier in the year, and they were captivated. They wanted to know more! This was an easy read-aloud in that it read very much like a story, even though it was all true. We looked at the back matter to see all the research Don Brown did for this book, and we talked about how the quotations in the book were the real words of the survivors of the ship. We really enjoyed this book!

For more books about the Titanic, both fiction & nonfiction, search the King School catalog using the keyword Titanic.

Check out Rasco from RIF for more nonfiction selections this week!

Spring Break Reading

Reading is one of my favorite Spring Break activities (though I also took lots of walks in the gorgeous weather, tanned by the pool, went to a baseball game, and saw a couple movies). I decided to challenge myself this week and only read books for 4th-6th grade readers, an age group that I neglect the most in my reading. I love picture books, I can fly through some early chapter books, and I adore young adult fiction, but when it comes to books for kids in the middle, I just don't read as many. This week, I read 5! We have a couple in the King School Library, and the others I will be ordering shortly.

Eight Keys by Suzanne LaFleur --- Does that author look familiar to you? Well, it should because it's the same author who wrote Love, Aubrey - an instant girl favorite here at the King Library. In Eight Keys, Elise is just starting middle school and feeling a little different about the activities she and her best friend Franklin do. Playing pretend isn't "cool" in middle school, and Elise thinks she wants to fit in. She lives with her aunt and uncle - her mother died when she was born, and her dad died when she was very young - and she loves them like parents. But one day, when Elise is feeling ready to grow up and out of her childish ways, she discovers a key hanging in the barn, a key that has her name on it. When Elise finds the door that matches that key, she's thrown into a puzzle created by her father especially for her - one that will help her remember her past, take note of her present, and believe in her future. One key down, seven to go!

Wonder by R.J. Palacio --- Wonder is one of those books that all the librarians think will win the Newbery Award in January. I'm not one of them. Not because it's not a good book! It's a great book. But it didn't hook me like it did the others. It's about a boy named August who has never been to a real school because of his severe facial deformities. He's had loads of operations and surgeries in his 10 year-old life, and he just hasn't had the time to go to regular school... until now. August is starting 5th grade at a private middle school, and for good reason, he is terrified. What if the kids make fun of him? What if he can't make friends? What if his teachers stare at him? What if the homework is too hard? Starting middle school is hard enough for a normal kid, but how hard will it be for someone who looks so different from everyone else?

The Mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Paul Curtis --- Mmm, did I love this book! Miss Deza Malone has just finished the school year as the top student in her class, and she is flying high. She's living in 1930s Gary, Indiana, where times are tough for most folks, but all she can think about is how her teacher wants to personally tutor her next year and how she just got the most beautiful blue gingham dress as a gift. Her family is fantastic, with an alliterating father who affectionately calls her the Mighty Miss Malone because of her smarts and sassiness, a mother who always tries to do the right thing, and a brother who will always defend her honor. But it's the 1930s, and the Great Depression is making it hard for families to earn a living and stay together. So the story goes for the Malones too when Deza's father moves to Flint, Michigan to find a job, and the family later follows in hopes of reuniting with him.

The Other Half of My Heart by Sundee T. Frazier --- Minerva (Minnie) and Keira King are twin sisters, but you couldn't tell by looking at them. Minnie takes after their father, with her pale skin, freckles, and red hair, while Keira looks more like their mother, dark-skinned and dark-haired. Their differences don't mean much to the girls - at least not to Minnie, our narrator. When their maternal grandmother invites them to North Carolina for ten days during the summer to compete in the Miss Black Pearl Preteen pageant (I mean, program), Keira is thrilled because it means performing and prancing (all things a diva like her enjoys) and getting in touch with their African-American roots. Minnie, on the other hand, is less than thrilled - not because she doesn't want to learn more about her black history, which she desperately does, but because she's so shy and timid. This is most definitely a book about identity - finding out who you are and who you want to be.

Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver --- I wanted to read this book because I've read two other books by this author that I really enjoyed, and I had to have more. I'm not quite done with it yet, but I hope to finish the book in bed tonight. So far, the story is about a little girl named Liesl who has been locked up in an attic by her stepmother (stop thinking Cinderella - it's not). Her father has recently died, and Liesl is just heartbroken. Then, she meets Po, a ghost who appears in the attic and who can communicate with her father. The two set off on an adventure to spread her father's ashes in the place he loved the most, a willow tree by their old house. I love how magical this book is, and how it can make a very sad time have hope and possibly a happy ending.

What did YOU read over Spring Break?

School Library blogs I like

Every now and then it's nice to share what inspires us... When I'm feeling like a tired librarian (not sleepy tired, but boring tired - yikes!), I look to my colleagues for a little bit of pep and innovation. And I always find something unique and interesting to use in my own library. Here are a few of the elementary school library blogs I follow:

100 Scope Notes
"Travis Jonker, an elementary school librarian, started 100 Scope Notes in the golden days of 2007. Travis also reviews for School Library Journal and is a member of the American Library Association."
Travis introduced me to book spine poems, and while I haven't tried using them with students yet, I hope to someday!

The Lemme Library (blog renamed to The Book Butcher)
Kelly Butcher is the teacher-librarian at the Lemme School in Iowa City. I love her use of graphics and videos in her blog - inspires me to share more techie things with my students.

Barrow Media Center
Andy Plemmons is the librarian at the Barrow Elementary Media Center in Athens, GA - though I had to dig through their Facebook page to find that out! Andy also shares lots of videos, especially of student work, which I think is pretty cool.

Highland Elementary
Michelle Holt is the media specialist at Highland Elementary in Waterloo, IA, and I like to think we're blogging buddies. :) We both have reading blogs outside of our school library blogs, so it's nice to catch up on life stuff too. What I love about Michelle's library blog are the oodles and oodles of links on her sidebars - all kinds of kid-friendly websites for specific research topics along with author and character websites and much more.

Watch. Connect. Read.
Mr. Schu is a fellow Illinois school librarian, and his blog focuses on connecting students with book trailers. I love this idea! He often puts up trailers for upcoming book releases, so I always know when a new book that my students will enjoy is coming out. Like today I found out that there's a new Lunch Lady graphic novel due out at the end of this month!

Those are just a few of the hundreds of blogs I follow - got any favorites of your own to share?

The Lorax

Oh, what can I say about The Lorax by Dr. Seuss? It's hard to live in our society and not be concerned about the environment, and this story provides a great example of why that is.

If you haven't read it but plan on seeing the movie, do yourself a favor and get the book first. Our second grade classes have been doing Seuss-themed activities for the past week or so and will be taking a field trip to the movie theater to see it on the big screen! I'll be reading it to fourth grade this week too.

I've put together a few Lorax-related links for your viewing pleasure below. These are just a few of the multitudes of resources out there...

The Lorax Movie's Official Website

The Lorax e-book App from the iTunes App Store

Scholastic Lorax Lessons and Resources

The Lorax Project from Seussville

Energy Star Kids & Lorax

and this one's my personal favorite... FREE for a limited time, download the Lorax Garden app and grow your own Truffula trees. :)

What I'm Reading This Month

In the fall, I participated in a district book club, and we read Igniting a Passion for Reading by Steven Layne. Layne gave lots of great ideas about how to inspire your students to read more and be excited about it. One of the things we're trying to do at King School is to show students that reading is important, and as adults, we do it too. So, outside of our doors, you'll find a little something like this: