Summer Reading, Learning and Fun!

2014-15 has been a great year. Here's a Smore for you with lots of ideas and links for you and your family to keep on reading and learning all summer long:

We wish everyone a wonderful summer filled with fun, adventures and lots of reading!

We are dreaming BIG!

The last couple of weeks of the school year always brings up a wide range of emotions: excitement for the summer and the break from routine it brings, feeling overwhelmed by the amount of work that still needs to be accomplished, and of course feeling bittersweet about saying goodbye to students and colleagues. In our school we really say goodby to our rising second graders as they are off to a new school at summer's end.

It's also a time for reflection.You can watch some of what we did in this Animoto. Surveys have been sent to staff and to the other school librarians in our district to assess our collaborations, to collect meaningful stats and to seek suggestions for improvements. A new library assistant joined our school this year. Dorothy Redding has quickly become a true partner, occasional hero(!) and all around awesome assistant.

I have also asked my students to reflect on the past year in the library and the library program initiatives. They were not shy in sharing their thoughts as you can see in the padlet below:

For our final library class of the year I often give students a choice of which book(s) we read. A few classes very wisely chose, If I Built a House by Chris Van Dusen.

 One kindergarten student noticed that Chris Van Dusen is the illustrator for the Mercy Watson series and Leroy Ninker Saddles Up all by the great Kate DiCamillo.He noticed that the style of the illustrations were very similar and he recognized the name. What a connection! The kids got all excited examining how the main character in If I Built a House had many artistic features in common with Kate DiCamillo's characters. But the main story here is how this book entertained and ignited all of their imaginations. This led to another padlet:

I just love to hear what our students are thinking and boy did they ever dream BIG!

Here are some kids working on their dream rooms, inspired by the book we had just read:

               

As you can see, this was a very fun and imaginative activity. We love when books bring out this kind of excitement.

Oh yes, talking about BIG, each of our 8 first grade classes did an Inquiry/Wonder project. Our young students learned how to use a database (PebbleGo) and how to take notes (just the "nuggets"). They worked in teams and decided which facts were the most interesting and important. Then they learned how to take those notes and turn them into sentences using their own words.They learned how to cite their sources - we're talking about being good digital citizens here. Then we shared our learning with others. This is authentic work! Here is an example of one of our finished projects:

On another note, this has been a very BIG year for my family. In February our first grandchild was born. I could never have dreamed what a BIG deal this is! She is the new BIG love of my life. 

Liv and Nana (that's me!)

Then in May, my son married the woman of his dreams.

Congratulations Emily and Alex!

I wish them and all of you a summer of BIG dreams, BIG fun and lots of reading too.

2014-2015 Highlights!

It was a busy year in the library. Check out this Animoto to catch a glimpse of some of the fun we've had:

And, we still have two weeks to go!

David Biedrzycki was here! David Biedrzycki was here!

Memorial School students had a very special experience last week thanks to the generosity of our CSA - author/illustrator David Biedrzycki visited our school! Dave is the author and/or illustrator of many fabulous books such as:

 Dave spent two whole days at our school - how lucky were we! Students were so excited to finally meet him - he was greeted like the celebrity he is!

 Dave met with two classes at a time which made for a very up close and personal presentation. There were lots of laughs and learning as Dave explained his writing process and the really cool way he creates his illustrations (hint: he is a completely green artist!).

Here's one of the beetle families he made with each group - awesome, right?

And here are some beetles our students made in the library after meeting Dave using the computer program Pixie - again, awesome, right?

Yup, Dave made a  big impression on our students. This was one of the very best visiting author visits we've ever had. Prior to the visit, all of our students had been introduced to Dave's books and had learned a bit about him (including seeing a photo of him on his 1st day of kindergarten!) during library classes. Lots of students made welcome signs and were so excited to see him see their art work! Teachers read his books aloud ahead of the visit. In other words, the kids were psyched and knew exactly who he was when they saw him in the hallway. Dave is wonderful with the children. His sense of humor, energy and warm way were all perfect. We can't wait till he comes back!

PS  Recognize anyone in this page from Bear Alert?

 

A Seuss-Tastic Week!

One of our favorite weeks of the year is the week we celebrate Read Across America. It's a week that's all about reading, fun, silliness, community and of course, Dr. Seuss.

Here is what our week looked like

Day 1 (Kick-Off):

The week started with Kick-Off Assemblies

Students shared facts about Dr. Seuss

We sang the Read Across America song students learned in music class

*video credit:Marie Pendergast

Everyone recited The Reader's Oath written by Debra Angstead

Day 2 (Community Readers):

Our super Superintendent, Dr. Jeffrey Marsden

Awesome reader, Nat Vaughn, Blake Middle School Principal

An annual favorite, Robert Parga, Medfield High School Principal

Jim James, owner of Medfield's fabulous Park Street Books

We are so fortunate that Police Chief Meany comes in the morning and in the afternoon each year!

There were many, many more readers from our wonderful community. Thank you to everyone who took time out of their busy day to read to our students.

Day 3 Crazy (Fox in Socks) Sock Day:

We sure had some CRAZY socks! 
*Photo credit:Sally DeGeorge

             Some kids even decorated their own socks!        

Day 4 (Cat in the Hat Day and wear RED & WHITE):

Students were greeted by The Cat in the Hat as they entered school 

Many, many thanks to our CSA Literacy Committee (not all are pictured here) for working so tirelessly to ensure the success of our 2015 RAA

Happy Birthday portrait of Dr. Seuss by one of our kindergarteners and future artist

Some students took wearing red and white to a whole new level!!!

As a final note, huge thanks to our wonderful staff for embracing our RAA celebration with such enthusiasm. A special thank you to our principal, Dr. Bilsborough, for her participation and support throughout the week.

Our Mock Caldecott 2015

Mock Caldecott, Memorial School style is a BIG deal! We read several books that are deemed "Caldecott Worthy" over the course of several weeks. We read these stories very closely. We examine the illustrations very closely to determine how they help to tell the story. We talk about these books, we reread these books, we get excited about these books and then we vote.

We vote, once a year, just like the real Caldecott judges. The Caldecott Medal is awarded each year to the artist of the best and most special American picture book for children. Yes, this award is given to the illustrator!

Here are some of the criteria our young (K-1) students consider for the Mock Caldecott:

• Did the illustrator create excellent pictures?
• Do the pictures help tell a story?
• Do the illustrations help us to understand what the story is about?
• Are the illustrations so "special" that they deserve to win?

Students voted during their scheduled library classes

Then they made an "I Voted!" sticker

We even designed our own Mock Caldecott Medals!

Ta Dah!  Our winning titles were:

Cheers could be heard throughout the building when our principal, Dr. Missy Bilsborough, announced the results.  What a fun way to promote #ReadforFun, #literacy #booklove, three of my favorite literacy hashtags.  Can't wait to see what our Mock Caldecott choices will be for 2016!