Check Out What's Happening In The Library.

Sorry, I am posting this a few days late. This is last weeks information.

Character Education Day

The kindergarten classes enjoyed their very first Character Education Day!

What fun, we went from rotation to rotation Tuesday afternoon. We enjoyed

classes like respect, caring, trustworthiness, citizenship and responsibility.

In the library we worked on respect. we listened to the story of Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon.

We shared our thoughts on Molly Lou Melon's character and retold the story.

We also, made Molly Lou Melon "She Can" statements and made connections to the story with things we can do with "I can" statements. See the anchor charts we made.

Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon Book Review

Molly Lou Melon is a spunky, fumble-fingered little first-grader with buck teeth and a voice that sounds like "a bullfrog being squeezed by a boa constrictor." She believes her grandma when she tells her things like "Walk as proudly as you can and the world will look up to you" and "Sing out clear and strong and the world will cry tears of joy." Molly Lou Melon's belief in herself is tested when the bully at her new school starts to pick on her.

David Catrow's wonderful and wacky illustrations fit the story and Molly Lou Melon's personality perfectly. My favorite is the close-up view of Molly Lou Melon smiling big so the world will smile right alongside her. Molly Lou Melon certainly never does anything by halves!

There are so many interesting and fun details in this book - in both the story and the illustrations. I noticed something new every time I read it. For example, Molly Lou Melon is never called "Molly Lou" or "Molly." She is ALWAYS "Molly Lou Melon."

Kindergarten and 1st Grade Storytime Lesson

During Storytime we enjoyed an Author Study on Tomie dePaola we shared several stories and talked about Tomie dePaola and learned about him as an author and illustrator. We discussed how we will read more Tomie dePaola stories throughout the year. Kindergarten shared stories this week of The Art Lesson, Tom and Watchout for the Chicken Feet in Your Soup.  Our First Graders enoyed Strega Nona and Big Anthony stories.

Strega Nona Review:

Strega Nona, won the Caldecott Honor in 1976 and was voted one of the “Top 100 Picture Books” of all times in 2012 by The School Library Journal. The reason for this folktale’s lasting legacy is that although it is set in Italy a long time ago, the moral lessons and character traits are still relevant in today’s world. The story is about a young man (Big Anthony) in an Italian village that seeks employment from the local witch, Strega Nona. Strega Nona is wise and Big Anthony is foolish. Predictably, Big Anthony makes a poor choice, and Strega Nona has to rescue him and the village from ruin. Big Anthony learns a valuable lesson about following directions as he spends the end of the story miserable while gorging on pasta and nursing a stomach ache. First grade students love watching the rise and fall of Big Anthony and the humorous consequence for Big Anthony’s actions.

BigAnthony Book Review

Big Anthony is a terrific book for getting children to interact with the story and interpret what the pictures mean.  This book also takes place in Italy which gives them a perspective of a different country and incorporates many simple Italian words into their language that children will probably find fun to know!  This is a good prequel story, featuring the character who is best known as Strega Nona's assistant, Big Anthony.

Big Anthony: His Story provides the background information on how Strega Nona and her absent-minded helper first found each other, from Anthony's perspective. Going through life as a person who keeps a loose hold on the commands that others give you is never easy, as Big Anthony finds out after being hired and dismissed by many different bosses from a wide variety of professional fields. Big Anthony's search for belonging as he moves from town to town in old Italy, unintentionally stirring up trouble wherever he goes, until one day he chances upon a kind person who is willing to accept him, with all of his faults. I appreciate the strength of this story as both a picture book and an important, compassionate life lesson.

Tomie dePaola: Why Reading Is Important

Wow Book Of The Week

Fact of The Week

My Adult Review

The words that come to mind upon finishing this book are "simply beautiful".

A gifted storyteller spins a tale into how a person's past can shape their view of themselves and of hope itself, Lisa Wingate out did herself on this book. Through Tandi's eyes, we experience the life of a very real woman, shadowed by her past. A past that was dysfunctional at best.  Having spent most of her adult life moving from wrong man to wrong man and bad choice to a worse choice, Tandi grasps on to one solitary memory of happiness and peace from her childhood and steals away from Texas, and a controlling, unethical man and moves to the Outer Banks.

When her elderly landlady dies, Tandi unexpectedly finds employment sorting through the woman's belongings. As Tandi immerses herself in the letters found in Iola Anne's once-palatial home, change begins within her heart; a change that reflects into her life and the lives around her. Iola's letters allow Tandi a glimpse into a world where people give without expecting anything in return, love knowing they are bound to be hurt, and work hard to safeguard the things that are beautiful and true in the world.

Although the story may lean more toward women's fiction than contemporary romance, romance is most definitely present.  As Tandi realizes who she was, is, and can become, she finally begins to recognize the difference between being some hot guy's glorified arm candy and being cherished by an unusual, and unusually wonderful, man.

Expect both smiles and tears as you read this beautiful written novel, but do read it. You won't be sorry.

 

Upcoming News

Check in next week for our upcoming "Book Challenge" for both children and adults.
Also, check back to see our upcoming fall giveaway.

Happy Reading,

Mrs. Shamhart

 

Take A Peek At Our Past Week.

First Grade's Character Education Day!

This week in the library we celebrated our first Character Education Day. What fun! We worked on the character trait of  Respect. We shared the book Enemy Pie By Derek Munson.





What should have been a perfect summer for one young boy is ruined when Jeremy Ross moves in and becomes number one on the narrator's enemy list. Fortunately, his father has a secret recipe for a pie that is known to get rid of  one's enemies. While Dad works on making and baking the pie, he explains his son's part in the plan: "you need to spend a day with your enemy. Even worse, you have to be nice to him."  the boy decides to give it a try. Predictably, between throwing water balloons at the girls, playing basketball, and hiding out in the tree house, he decides that Jeremy is not so bad after all. There's still the problem, the pie. When his father serves up the dessert, the young boy decides to warn Jeremy that it is "poisonous or something." However, it seems that both his father and his new friend are just fine, and  the pie is delicious. This is an inviting tale with an effective message about how to handle relationships and conflict. A great story about how to  respect others and find friendships in the process.

We then created an anchor chart on what it looks like and sounds like to be respectful.

Kindergarten Lesson

 Kindergarten and I shared an author study on Janet Morgan Stoeke. What a fun lesson.  Sharing stories about Minerva Louise are some of my most favorite stories to share with Kindergarten. These stories help with developing vocabulary and are simply fun and funny. 
We used a story board to retell the stories after we read them.

 David showing what it looks like to read in the library.
 What a great example!

Constitution Lesson 

Kindergarten and First Grade heard 2 books about the Constitution. We read The U.S. Constitution by Kathy Allen,  We The Kid's  By David Catrow.

After reading about the Constitution we began making connections of the things we knew or had learned through our reading. We discussed; That the Constitution was our country's basic law. That it was a list of rules and our promise to follow those rules. We also discussed President Barack Obama, Our 1st President, George Washington, where the president lives and where the White House is located. We discussed having 3 branches of government (in terms our kiddo's could understand) and

 how long ago the Constitution was written and much more.

See the anchor chart we created for our lesson:

Kindergarten classes created a "Classroom Constitution" in the library.

We discussed how just like our country has three branches so does our school. We have the students, our teacher and our principal and each one of them signed the Classroom Constitution. Which meant that they understood and agreed with the rules listed and by signing they promise to follow those rules.

Mrs. Willey's Class and Mr. H. with their Classroom Constitution.

First Grade classes worked on a "Family Constitution" which I love to do each and every year. 

It is so much fun and such a great project to involve the families in. I love to listen to the students share their Family Constitutions, they are as unique and different as we all are. It is so neat to see how proud our kiddo's are of what they've created, with their families. Constitutions are due back on Monday the 15th, so that we can share them on Constitution Day September 17th.

Here is a picture of my Family Constitutiion:

 

Fact Of The Week

Wow Book!

Blogiversary Giveaway

I am pleased to announce, that my basket filled with books and bookish things was raffled off and the winner is Kayleigh K. and her daughter Ryleigh. Congratulations!

Book Review

Hurricane season starts early and rumbles all summer long. Sometimes people's lives reflect the weather and The Hurricane Sisters is just that story.

This story takes us to South Carolina, Lowcountry, on a journey filled with disappointment and longing.   We meet three generations of women buried in secrets.  Maisie Pringle, at eighty, is a force to be reckoned with because she will have the final word on everything, especially when she's dead wrong. Her daughter, Liz, is caught up in being middle-aged and in an emotionally demanding career that will eventually open all their eyes to a terrible truth. And Liz's beautiful twenty-something daughter, Ashley, whose  ambitions of her future keeps things at odds.

 Ashley and Mary Beth feel their prospects seem bleak.  They placate themselves with a hare-brained scheme to make money but one that threatens to land them in huge trouble with the authorities.
Clayton, Liz's mostly, absent husband, seems more distracted than usual. Ashley desperately needs her father's love. He fails miserably at hiding his indiscretions? And Liz, who's an expert in the field of troubled domestic life, refuses to acknowledge Ashley's precarious situation. "Who's in charge of this family?" I kept asking this resounding question throughout this book.

This is a wonderful easy beach read that transports you directly to the south. You will love it.

Fall Swaps

I am involved with several swaps this fall and I absolutely love meeting new teachers and bloggers from all over the U.S. In this fall swap it is brought to us by the lovely ladies at Chaotic Goddess Swaps.

Chaotic Goddess Swapoween

I am also involved in a fall swap through Slant Box Swaps

I am thrilled to be getting to know my partners in each swap.

It is a lot of fun.

Happy Reading,

Mrs. Shamhart

“Dorothea Benton Frank tells it like it is. She brings out the complexity in every character. Though they face disillusionment and heartache, they also display an optimistic and humorous side, making them more human.”
Once again we are in the hot and steamy Low Country of South Carolina and are now presented with three generations of strong and determined women. Eighty-year-old Maisie Pringle is the matriarch who rules the roost, always having the last say, whether it's right or wrong.
Middle-aged daughter Liz Walker, a fierce opponent against domestic violence, works tirelessly on this agenda looking to fill the empty days while her husband Clayton travels to New York every week for his job.
Twenty-three-year-old Ashley is desperately trying to make her way in the art world as a painter, much to her parents' chagrin. She lives with her best friend in the family's beach house on Sullivans Island.
This dysfunctional family spans the generations, each woman along with Clayton telling their own story in the first person.
Maisie has taken up with Skipper, the man Liz and Clayton hired to chauffeur her around, considering she is too old and too "senile" to drive herself. Although Skipper is 15 years younger than she, she flaunts their affair and is having the time of her life, which only embarrasses Liz.
Liz is constantly offended by Maisie's continual reminders of her dead sister Juliet, and as often as she tries to get into her mother's good graces, she determines she will never be loved as much as Juliet. Add to that her suspicion that Clayton is being unfaithful, and trying to accept that her son Ivy is gay, she buries herself in her work to assuage her unhappiness.
Ashley wants nothing more than to be recognized for her talent as an artist, something her parents do not believe is a worthy occupation. And although Ashley and her friend Mary Beth are subsiding on meager incomes, they start an enterprise to make money, which leads them to dire circumstances.
When Ashley meets and begins dating Senator Porter Galloway, everyone is concerned. Porter is well known for being brash and offensive, using women then tossing them aside, but Ashley is in blindly in love to the point where she allows him to dictate her outfits and way she lives her life.
Clayton leaves New York to return to Charleston, repentant and begging Liz’s forgiveness for his misdeeds, though she refuses to allow him in the house. He turns to Maisie then goes to the island to Ashley, hoping she will be an ally and help him get Liz to see him. Porter arrives to take Ashley to dinner, and upon their return, Clayton is gone.
A hurricane is headed to the area, so Mary Beth leaves the cottage to go into town to stay with Liz. Waiting for Ashley to arrive, she suddenly fears for her. The unspeakable happens, resulting in them rallying round Ashley, bringing a new closeness and acceptance they all need.
The Low Country with some of its fascinating history is interspersed amid family trials and tribulations, offering color and giving the tale more authenticity of its residents and their way of life.
Dorothea Benton Frank tells it like it is. She brings out the complexity in every character. Though they face disillusionment and heartache, they also display an optimistic and humorous side, making them more human. Plagued by instability, unwilling to show their deepest emotions for fear of rejection, they are yet bound to one another. Through the turmoil, they accept differences to connect and build new and closer relationships.
- See more at: http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/hurricane-sisters#sthash.qMCzUtvz.dpuf

“Dorothea Benton Frank tells it like it is. She brings out the complexity in every character. Though they face disillusionment and heartache, they also display an optimistic and humorous side, making them more human.”
Once again we are in the hot and steamy Low Country of South Carolina and are now presented with three generations of strong and determined women. Eighty-year-old Maisie Pringle is the matriarch who rules the roost, always having the last say, whether it's right or wrong.
Middle-aged daughter Liz Walker, a fierce opponent against domestic violence, works tirelessly on this agenda looking to fill the empty days while her husband Clayton travels to New York every week for his job.
Twenty-three-year-old Ashley is desperately trying to make her way in the art world as a painter, much to her parents' chagrin. She lives with her best friend in the family's beach house on Sullivans Island.
This dysfunctional family spans the generations, each woman along with Clayton telling their own story in the first person.
Maisie has taken up with Skipper, the man Liz and Clayton hired to chauffeur her around, considering she is too old and too "senile" to drive herself. Although Skipper is 15 years younger than she, she flaunts their affair and is having the time of her life, which only embarrasses Liz.
Liz is constantly offended by Maisie's continual reminders of her dead sister Juliet, and as often as she tries to get into her mother's good graces, she determines she will never be loved as much as Juliet. Add to that her suspicion that Clayton is being unfaithful, and trying to accept that her son Ivy is gay, she buries herself in her work to assuage her unhappiness.
Ashley wants nothing more than to be recognized for her talent as an artist, something her parents do not believe is a worthy occupation. And although Ashley and her friend Mary Beth are subsiding on meager incomes, they start an enterprise to make money, which leads them to dire circumstances.
When Ashley meets and begins dating Senator Porter Galloway, everyone is concerned. Porter is well known for being brash and offensive, using women then tossing them aside, but Ashley is in blindly in love to the point where she allows him to dictate her outfits and way she lives her life.
Clayton leaves New York to return to Charleston, repentant and begging Liz’s forgiveness for his misdeeds, though she refuses to allow him in the house. He turns to Maisie then goes to the island to Ashley, hoping she will be an ally and help him get Liz to see him. Porter arrives to take Ashley to dinner, and upon their return, Clayton is gone.
A hurricane is headed to the area, so Mary Beth leaves the cottage to go into town to stay with Liz. Waiting for Ashley to arrive, she suddenly fears for her. The unspeakable happens, resulting in them rallying round Ashley, bringing a new closeness and acceptance they all need.
The Low Country with some of its fascinating history is interspersed amid family trials and tribulations, offering color and giving the tale more authenticity of its residents and their way of life.
Dorothea Benton Frank tells it like it is. She brings out the complexity in every character. Though they face disillusionment and heartache, they also display an optimistic and humorous side, making them more human. Plagued by instability, unwilling to show their deepest emotions for fear of rejection, they are yet bound to one another. Through the turmoil, they accept differences to connect and build new and closer relationships.
- See more at: http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/hurricane-sisters#sthash.qMCzUtvz.dpuf

What Are You Reading?

 

I am always interested in what others are reading. Maybe it's because I don't want to miss out on a  good read or maybe it's because I am a librarian. For whatever the reason, I am curious. When I began to read Rachel's blog A Perfection Called Books I thought what a great idea,  A TBR Tag.
 

The TBR Tag was created by Dana from Dana Square and Rachel fromA Perfection Called Books! They are asking some questions about your TBR pile. It's fun! And it's a tag so once you do it, tag your friends :D

 

 

How do you keep track of your TBR pile?

I pin all of the books I want to read on pinterest. Here is a link to those books.Tula's Book Challenge Reads ...TBR Mind you, some of these books are for a book challenge I am involved in. I am always open to new authors or a genre that may not be something I would typically pick up.

Is your TBR mostly print or ebook?

I like to add books to my pinterest board that are typically in  hardcover. I love the feel of the book in my hand and the smell of  a book. I am a true librarian at heart. Although, I occassionally get a book on CD. I am currently enjoying If I Stay By Gayle Forman on audio.

How do you determine which book from your TBR to read next?

Whichever book I most want to read at the moment unless I have a bookclub read to get started on.

A Book That's Been On Your TBR List The Longest

The Lost Book Of Salem by Katherine Howe is a book I added last fall.  I thought what a good book to read around Halloween time and I never got to it. I will read it in the coming weeks, to be sure!

A Book You Recently Added To Your TBR
I recently added the book Little Big Lies by Liane Moriarty  I have enjoyed all of Liane Moriarty's books and I have a feeling this one will also be a big hit.

A Book In Your TBR Strictly Because Of Its Beautiful Cover

The Hurricane Sisters by Dorthea Benton Frank. I think this is a beautiful cover and immediately was drawn to it. My swap partner got this one for me this summer, from my wish list. I have not read it yet but I am hoping to make it my next read.

A Book On Your TBR That You Never Plan on Reading
 

I probably won't read Christmas in July by Debbie Mason. Don't get me wrong I love to read Christmas and or holiday books, they are typically an easy, fun read. But this is a cross between summer and Christmas.

An Unpublished Book On Your TBR That You’re Excited For            

Each year, I anxiously await the release of Debbie Macomber's holiday book.  This year her newest release  is Mr. Miracle being released in October 2014. Her books are so comforting and warm it wouldn't be the holidays without reading her latest holiday book.

                                                                                                       

A Book On Your TBR That Basically Everyone’s Read But You

The book that comes to mind is Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. I really don't know why I haven't read it yet. I did actually pick it up at the library, yesterday. I hope to start it this week.

A Book On Your TBR That Everyone Recommends To You

Everyone recommends that I read the Gillian Flynn books. I have read Gone Girl and loved it, creepy and smart. I was completely drawn in and it's a book that has stuck with me. I have been told by so many people that Dark Places and Sharp Objects are even better. I find that hard to believe but I do want to see for myself.

                              

A Book On Your TBR That You’re Dying To Read

Beth Harbison's Driving With The Top Down would have to be the book I am dying to read. I have read all of her book and have enjoyed them all. Her books make me laugh out loud. She is a writer with a unique voice and easy writing style. She is one of those authors that just clicks for me.

How many books are on your TBR shelf?

I roughly have about 40 books on my TBR pile at all times, I wouldn't have it any other way.

 I am supposed to tag my friends in this post. I want everyone to share in the comments on my blog or blog about it on your blog. Feel free to share with me. But it is open to everyone.

Happy Reading,
Mrs. Shamhart

 

Happy One Year Blogiversary!

Happy Blogiversary!

I can't believe it has been one year since I started this blog. All in all it has been fun. I feel like I have a reminder of all the things that happened throughout the past year. Through my blog I have learned a lot and I have met some truly amazing,, inspirational and very helpful people. What wonderful way to capture so many fun, exciting moments both at school and in my life. Thanks for sharing these moments with me and being a part of this blog.

Whether you view this blog to see what's happening in the library and to possibly see your kiddo or you check in for new ideas or possibly book reviews let me thank you in advance for sharing your thoughts and comments along the way.

In honor of my blogiversary, I want to do a book basket giveaway for children. I hope you will help me to celebrate my one year blogiversary by following me here or through Bloglovin. Sign up through this rafflecopter and leave a comment.  Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Currently

 

Welcome 

 

 Happy Reading,

Mrs. Shamhart