Biographies in the Library

Kindergarten is learning all about biographies this week in the library. We learned that a biography is a book about a real person. It was extremely cute hearing the kinders repeat 'biography' to me. Even though they had a difficult time saying it, they understood the concept. They all now know what a biography is, where it is found in the library, and how they are arranged. 

I chose to read a biography about Martin Luther King, Jr., since MLK day is coming up next week. We had a very good conversation about what matters is how we act, not what we look like. I read Martin's Big Words by Doreen Rappaport. 

After reading the book and discussing all the great things Martin Luther King, Jr. did for all the people, the students drew a picture of Martin Luther King. They turned out great, as usual. 

Third - Fifth graders are hearing all about the upcoming Book Bytes contest for the district. This week I am focusing on the contest rules, then next week I will begin mini-lessons on how to create a book trailer. I am really hoping that one of our students wins the district contest this year! 

Holidays at Hillside

The semester is nearly complete. WOW! These past months have flown by, and I have nearly completed a semester of being a school librarian. I have loved every minute of my new position, and I cannot wait to see what the next semester has in store for me at Hillside Academy.

The library is decorated for the holidays, and I must say it looks amazing. My fifth grade junior library assistants helped me put up the tree, and even decorated the tree skirt. I let them each sign their name so I will remember over the years who made the tree skirt. 

The library has received some gifts for this holiday season. We just received 3 new large bean bag chairs and a beautiful rug for our reading area. I have to rearrange some shelves soon to make room for the rug, but it will be ready soon. The bean bag chairs are already getting a lot of use. 

We also finally received our eBooks in the Hillside catalog. The students were so excited when I told them about the eBooks, and already I have almost half of the eBooks in use and checked out now. It made my heart happy that the kids were so excited about books. 

Alright, let's talk books now! Kindergarten has been comparing stories in the library. In their classes, kinder students have been reading and listening to different Gingerbread stories, such as The Gingerbread Boy, The Gingerbread Man, and The Gingerbread Girl.  In the library, I read the kinder students The Gingerbread Cowboy by Janet Squires, then we discussed the similarities and differences. 

First graders compared stories and made text-to-self connections in the library this month. We read the famous poem by Clement Moore, The Night Before Christmas. The students were upset that Rudolph was not in the story, so we had a discussion about how the poem was written before Santa found Rudolph and asked him to lead his sleigh. The following week, I read Texas Night Before Christmas by James Rice. The kids laughed at my southern Texan accent. After they finished giggling, we compared the two versions of the story. 

This is one of my favorite versions. The illustrations are beautiful!

Last Friday, the students had their house holiday parties. Each house had hot chocolate, made an ornament, and was able to invite their parents. The best part of my day was being able to go to my kids' house parties and seeing their bright smiles during the school day. 

Pumpkin Contest and Pumpkin Catapults

Our pumpkin contest winner has been announced! This young lady decorated her pumpkin as Pinocchio.

All of the teachers and staff here were able to vote on the pumpkin they thought was the best and most creative. Each person told me that it was very hard to choose. We have so many creative scholars here at Hillside!

The pumpkin decorating contest is definitely going to be something I do each year! I cannot wait to see the fabulous pumpkins that the students will create next fall.

Maker Mondays

Every Monday afternoon we have Makerspace events in the library. Students signed up to participate, and right now I have 15 students. This Monday, I gave the students a challenge to create and build a pumpkin catapult. Each group was given a small paper cup, 3 rubber bands, 8 craft sticks, tape, and a candy pumpkin. The challenge was to see which group could build the catapult to sling the pumpkin the farthest. It was tons of fun, and it got really loud here in the library. 

New Books

The new books have arrived in the library! This is my first book order this year. After the book fairs this fall, I will order more. It felt like Christmas in the library when I opened the boxes. I can't wait to hear the stories from students about the new books they have read. 

Book Character Pumpkins

The pumpkins are in the library! It will be hard for the teachers to choose which pumpkin is the winner. There are so many fabulous pumpkins. We have a lot of creativity here at Hillside Academy.

The votes are in.... We will find out the winner of the first annual Book Character Pumpkin Decorating Contest tomorrow! 

Pumpkin Decorating Contest

The book fair has ended, and my library is back to normal. It was fun while it lasted, and all the hard work was worth every minute when I saw the excitement in the students purchasing brand new books.  On top of the students being able to purchase their own books for home, I will be able to use the proceeds to purchase new books and supplies for the library. 

Next week, we have the pumpkin decorating contest in the library. Be sure to bring your pumpkin decorated like your favorite book character! The winner will be announced on Wednesday, October 28th. I can't wait to see all the decorated pumpkins. 

I just finished reading The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy. This book is the first book in a great series called The League of Princes. It is also one of this year's bluebonnet books. If you have read this book, be sure to visit my BlueBonnet response page and fill it out for credit. 

What are you reading this week?

Monster Book Fair

Our in-school Book Fair begins on Monday, October 19th, but you can begin your book shopping now at the Online Book Fair. Visit the Book Fair Homepage, and click on the Shop Now button. Online shopping is available until Saturday, October 24th.

You can create wish lists and invite friends and family to shop with eCards. Best of all, purchases benefit our school and will help us achieve our Book Fair goal. All online orders ship for FREE to the school, after the Online Fair has ended.

Don’t forget to look for your teacher’s online Wish List and add a book or two to your order for their classroom library. Click on the Classroom Wish List tab to see if your teacher is participating.

Benefits of Online Shopping:
 Convenient access 24 hours a day from Oct. 12th - Oct. 24th
 Expanded selection for ALL ages—preschool to adult
 Send a wish list to invite family and friends to shop
 Search for books by category, grade, age & price
 ALL purchases benefit our school
 FREE shipping directly to our school (orders will be sent home with your child)

So get a jump on your Book Fair shopping and thanks for supporting our school!

Things Kids Say... and Constitution Day

For the first time this year, I have not been feeling well this week. Something in the air is really doing a number on my head and nose. The kids have been so sweet and made the days easier, even though I'm not feeling well.  I was out for a training Tuesday morning, and I was told numerous times how much I was missed. The kids are so amazingly sweet!

One little girl came to me today and said, "Is this really your library? I wish I had a library of my own!" I told her she could if she grows up to be a librarian. Her eyes sparkled, and she just looked around at all the books.

My junior library volunteers has started up, and they are awesome! To help things run smoothly, I am making them name tags with a list of jobs on the back of the tags. That way they aren't asking me what to do next every time they finish a job. The name tags will also help other teachers know why they are walking around the building.

Thursday, September 17th is Constitution Day, so this week in the library students have been learning about the Constitution. First and Second grade learned the Preamble, Third and Fourth learned all about what the Constitution is, and Fifth grade learned about the Bill of Rights.

I bet some of you parents remember watching this Preamble School House Rocks video when we were in school.

I hope you are all working on your CyberSafety posters. I can't wait to see what they look like and who will win!