Ladybug Nominee #3: Calvin Can't Fly

Calvin Can't Fly is a story about a starling who would rather read books than learn to fly. When the time comes for his flock to migrate, Calvin needs the help of his family to follow along. But Calvin's knowledge ends up saving the flock from  a great disaster. Children loved the ending of this Ladybug nominated book!

See the flock of starlings on the cover of the book? Here's a video showing how starlings like Calvin and his family swarm and swoop as a group. How do they do that?

Ladybug Nominee #2: Cloudette

Cloudette, by Tom Lichtenheld, is the story of a tiny cloud who likes being small but sometimes wishes to be big and powerful like the other clouds in the sky. Cloudette is the second book primary grade students have heard that is nominated for the 2012 NH Ladybug Award.

In this book, children encounter an asterisk in the text, next to an over sized RIBBIT from a frog. The reader needs to look to to the bottom of the page and find a second asterisk to see that the frog is actually saying "thank you" to Cloudette! An asterisk is one of the elements of print students will see as they read more difficult texts, especially non-fiction. We talked about how the "aster" part of the word means "star" - like in astronomy and astronaut!

Bigger clouds called Cloudette nicknames like "pipsqueak", "small-fry" and "shortcake". We took a few minutes to talk about name-calling and how some names can make us feel happy and loved, while others can make us feel badly. Students shared pet names that parents and grandparents called them, like "sweetie", "peanut" and "pumpkin"! We like those names!

Fall Book Fair!

Click here for the link to the Scholastic Book Fair website for NHCS! Come and visit the Fair at school on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday this week (check hours on the page) or shop online for the next two weeks to get great books and to support our school! Thank you!!

Book Review: Emily's Fortune

After Emily is orphaned, she is supposed to go with her closest blood relative, mean Uncle Victor. But she really wants to live with her nice, kind Aunt Hilda instead, so Emily sets out to find her. On her way to Redbud, Emily meets a friend who tries to protect her from Uncle Victor, who is now after her. Their strange adventures are entertaining to the reader and the end of the story is a satisfying one where they live happily ever after. You should totally read Emily's Fortune. It's one of the best books I have ever read.

by Bailey

Taking Care of Books

Kids borrow books from our Library to take home and read and to share with their families. First graders made a list of points to remember when borrowing books -

Have clean hands when you read books.
Handle the pages easily and carefully and turn them lightly. 

Don’t bend the book back or break the binding.

Keep it off the ground and the floor to keep it clean.
Don't have food near your book. 

Keep it in a special place (like your book bag) so it won’t get lost. 

Keep your book away from your baby and your pets.
Never treat a book like a toy. It's not to play with, it's to read!
Don't forget to bring it back to the library so other people can read it, too!

Pete the Cat

Here's Pete the Cat, star of two picture books recently read to younger students. When school began, we read Pete the Cat, Rocking In My School Shoes. This week, we read Pete the Cat, I Love My White Shoes, our first Ladybug Award nominee. Pete's a cool cat who sings in all his books. Students visited Pete the Cat's website to hear his stories and to sing along with his catchy songs. The site also has activities, games, and videos for your student to visit at home. Check it out! As Pete the Cat says, it's all good!

2012 NH Ladybug Award

This fall, NHCS students in kindergarten, first, second, and third grade will be introduced to the ten picture books nominated for the 2012 NH Ladybug Award. In November, they will join students across the state in selecting this year's winner. Watch this blog for details about each book - and ask your student about them as we have fun reading them all!

Zeke Meeks

TJ and Gabe began to read books in a new series about a boy named Zeek Meeks. Here's what they had to say about the books they read.

It was a good book because it was very funny. Zeke Meeks is the kind of guy who doesn't like girls including his own sister. I would recommend this book because it was unpredictable and parts of it were so unexpected!  - Gabe
It's a good book for boys because it tells stuff that boys would think are funny - like Zeke made quicksand for a science project and he kept putting things in it. He lost his mom's bracelet that way. You should see how he got it back! I would recommend this book to other kids - girls would like it, too. - TJ

How to Raise a Reader

Common Sense Media is an online resource I use a lot. It posts timely reviews of new books and movies. It describes new apps and games. It posts links to technology-related research. It helps me keep up with what's going on with kids and technology.

Their back-to-school issue featured a short article called How to Raise a Reader. In it are are good tips for nurturing a love of books and reading in your child. Reading the article reminded me that kids of all ages like to be read to, even after they are able to read by themselves. I'm hoping to hook some readers myself this year by reading very short snippets of books at the start or end of ICT classes!