Monday, September 30, 2013

Fall in the Library


 
It's Fall in the library and I am loving it!!! The kids had a great time enjoying the fall fun.
In Kindergarten we read the books Arthur Jumps into Fall  By Marc Brown, Leaves  By David Ezra Stein, and Fletcher and the Falling Leaves ByJulia Rawlinson
We then discussed things that remind us of the fall season. Things like leaves, pumpkins, apples, Halloween, Thanksgiving, cooler weather, harvest, deer season, bonfires and more.  Then we brainstormed and made text to self  connections from those ideas. We created so many wonderful ideas we created a Fall bucket list.

Kindergarten Fall Anchor Chart


Fall Bucket list

  Jump in leaves, go to football games, have hot apple cider, carve pumpkins, fall art, hayrides, go to the pumpkin patch, trick or treat, dress in costumes, decorate our homes, Halloween/Fall party at school and so many more fun things to do in the fall, they were really brainstorming.
1st graders came into the library and we had a fun time learning about Facts and Opinions. What is a fact? How can we prove a fact? By reading, research, or seeing it. Opinions are statements made that show feelings, thoughts and emotions. We practiced creating sentences using Skittles as our topic.We then shared some Skittles with the class.
See our chart:
Then we read the books Spiders By Gail Gibbons and Spiders By Janelle Khu, after reading and researching some facts about spiders we created our own Fact and Opinion chart. It was a lot of fun and I think we all enjoyed it.
Mrs. Nuss's class came in to check out books on Wednesday in the library. My son, JT is an aide in her class every other day. He is a Jr. at AHS and absolutely loves coming to our school and helping Mrs. Nuss's kiddos. Here is a photo of Patricia reading her easy reader to JT. She was so proud of herself and absolutely beamed when JT gave her a star for reading to him. It is so rewarding to see the H.S. students mentor, share, and help in the classrooms with the students.


First graders started to return their Family Constitutions this week. I am always so impressed with the creativity, participation, and excitement over this fun lesson. You all did an amazing job. I need to get them all hung in the hallway, come take a look when you come to the school and see them all.
I wish I could post every single one but here are a few samples:


  


  
I am proud to announce that the First graders production of their sight words is completed!!! Whoop Whoop!   I suggest viewing it in full screen.  For future use you can find this video at the top of my blog under Sight Words. Just click that button and you will be directed to this video. It will also be shared on the Kennedy website soon. Awesome job first grade friends.

Our spotlight book was selected by Mrs. Brown. This is a beautiful story of family. As the baby grows he learns to cherish the people and places around him. Eventually, he passes all of this on to his new baby sister. This is a wonderful story you won't want to miss! All the Places to Love Written by: Patricia Maclachlan.

This week in the library we had a student ask "What do Panda's eat"? We have Amanda Panda in
our library and many of the students enjoy reading to her and holding her. They tend to ask a lot of questions about Pandas through out the year. We will be doing a non-fiction lesson on  Panda's after the holidays.
 
I had one friend in Ms. S's class finish the reading challenge! Whoop Whoop! He did an amazing job. I was so excited to give my special bookmark to Aiden. As a reward for completing the challenge. He earned a bookmark that he can use again and again but it is good for a candy purchase at the local Russell Stover Store. Way to go Aiden, I am so very proud of you!



Last week I posted on my fall bucket list and I said I would post about each thing I acheive from the list, as I complete it. I actually went camping Saturday evening with a bunch of beautiful people. Here is a photo of the fall bonfire I got to share in. We made cobbler and shared stories and enjoyed the beautiful weather. It was a wonderful time had by all.


Halloween Reading Countdown


One of my great loves in life is reading, along with books of all kinds. I also love Halloween--not the scary, ghoulish, gory kind, but the fun costumes, trick or treating, sugar cookies, and pumpkins on the porch kind. To celebrate both of these, I created a Halloween Book Countdown---a really fun way to count down the 31 days to Halloween--starting with October 1st.  I found a black tub at Target in the holiday section, added some ribbon and vinyl, and our book countdown was ready! Whether you label the books and go in order like an advent calendar, pull numbers out of a hat, or just let kids choose randomly, this can be a super fun way to enjoy the holiday together. I can't wait to share these books with my grandsons Carter and Ollie. 



Here is my list of 31 books: (most of these books are targeted for ages 3-8)

1. Too Many Pumpkins, Linda White
2. Pumpkin Soup, Helen Cooper
3. The Biggest Pumpkin Ever, Steven Kroll
4. Pumpkin Circle: The Story of a Garden, George Levenson
5. How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin?, Margaret McNamara
6. Pumpkin, Pumpkin, Jeanne Titherington
7. In the Haunted House, Eve Bunting
8. Room on the Broom, Julie Donaldson
9. The Little Old Lady Who Wasn’t Afraid of Anything, Linda Williams
10. The Night Before Halloween, Natasha Wing
11. The Berenstain Bears Trick or Treat, Stan & Jan Berenstain
12. The Big Pumpkin, Erica Silverman
13. The Vanishing Pumpkin, By Johnston 
14. Humbug Witch, Lorna Balian
15. Moonlight The Halloween Cat By Cynthia Rylant
16. Five Little Pumpkins, Iris Van Rynbach
 17. Scary, Scary, Halloween, Eve Bunting
18. Boo! By Robert Munsch
19. The Halloweiner By Dave Pilkey
 20. It’s Halloween!, Jack Prelutsky
21. Creepy Monster, Sleepy Monster By
22.  Bats in the Library By: Brian Lies
23. Where's My Mummy By: Carolyn Crimi
24. The Bumpy Little Pumpkin,By: Margery Cuyler
 25. There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat By: Lucille Colandro
26. Clifford's Halloween By: Norman Bridwell
27. Mouse's First Halloween  By: Lauren Thompson
28. The Runaway Pumpkin By: Kevin Lewis
29. Skeleton Hiccups,  By:Margery Cuyler
30. The Ugly Pumpkin,  By: Dave Horowitz
31. The Perfect Pumpkin Pie By Denys Cazet

***Over the next few months I will be posting a countdown list each month. For Thanksgiving and Christmas as well. ***

Book Club Reviews:

I finished the Guernsey Literary  and Potato Peel Society. I loved it! I love books that incorporate history, this is one of those books.  This is absolutely one of the most delightful books I've read all year. The characters are real, the relationships are unique, and Juliet is hysterically funny, as well as warm-hearted and genuine. I did have a bit of trouble keeping all the characters straight in the beginning. I was enthralled with this book. The pages just fly by and while you will learn a little of what happened to Guernsey during World War 2, you will learn much more about love and friendship. Highly recommended!

Then I started reading another book, which is wonderful in a similar kind of way. In that, it is also historical in its reading. I love, love, love, this book it is called Orphan Train By Christina Baker Kline.  THE ORPHAN TRAIN is one of those books you don't want to end. You want it to continue so you can find out even more about the entwined lives of seventeen year old Molly Ayers andVivian Daly.

Now, fate has once again intervened in the lives of both women as at age 91 Vivian meets Molly, the intelligent but somewhat troubled young woman of Indian heritage living with foster parents who appear to be "in it for the money". As part of a community service assignment, Molly begins to assist Vivian in cleaning out her attic, slowly sorting through the mementos that represent the pieces of Vivian's life she has kept hidden for all these years. As they discover the unexpected correlation in their life experiences and Molly and Vivian develop a true affection for each other.


At this point it is a toss up for my favorite book of the year between Orphan Train and Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society. Respectfully, I have completed 3 books in 2 weeks and I am reading one for work so I am constantly reading.  I haven't selected what is next on my list it will be a surprise next Sunday.

Happy Reading,
Mrs.Shamhart

      

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