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!

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!

Backpack Books

As third graders, we can take our library books home with us! If we keep our book in our backpack, it will never get lost. It will not get ruined by rain or mud or bird poop. It will be safe from pets and little children and from other things that could destroy it. If your book is in your backpack it will be with you all the time and you will be able to enjoy reading anywhere - at home, in the classroom, in the after school program, in the car or on the bus. You will always have a good book with you that you can read!

written by NHCS Third Graders

Back to School!

It's the night before school starts and I know I won't be able to go to sleep! Did you know teachers get excited about the first day of school, too?

There are big changes in the Library Media Center! First of all, we have new books - a lot of them! We have new series books, like Dragonbreath and the Kylie Jean sets. There are new graphic novels, including a set about dinosaurs, another book called Zita the Space Girl, - and guess who's running for President? Babymouse! We have lots of picture books, including all the nominees for this year's New Hampshire Ladybug Award. One picture book that looks good already is Duckling Gets a Cookie, written by Mo Willems, who wrote Don't Let the Pigeon Drive The Bus! We have fiction I've been anxious to read myself - like Wildwood and Emily's Fortune. And we have the third Origami Yoda book, The Secret of the Fortune Wookiee! It was just published two weeks ago!

Another big change - we have more tables now! To make them fit, I had to make rows, and I had no place for the blue rug. It looks very different but I think you may like it - everyone faces the screen now!

The library bookcases are moved around, and we have cool red lines on the floor! Big changes! But one thing that's the same is me - and I can't wait until tomorrow to see you!

How to Choose A "Just Right" Book

First graders listened to the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. We linked Goldilock's "just right" experience to the choosing of books to read for pleasure. We made lists of ways to find a "just right" book, then each student wrote one "Goldilocks Rule" on a Google Presentation slide. Next students posed for a photo of themselves acting out their "rule".  Students learned to resize and position their photos so that they fit on the slide. Then the slides were compiled into a helpful slide show that can be shown to young readers for years to come!

Read For Our School

NHCS is participating in a wonderful opportunity for students to earn books for our school library. The Pearson Foundation is currently sponsoring a reading initiative called “Read For My School” where participating schools are eligible to earn up to 500 free books for their libraries, just by reading. The program runs from February 14th through March 14th and is open to all students.

Registration is necessary in order to participate in the program. The online form can be found at http://www.wegivebooks.org/pf/rfms/register.php  In order to register, students will need to create a username and a password, and provide an email address, his or her birthday, state, and our school name (there is a New Hampton Elementary School registered which is not our school - look for New Hampton Community School!)  Please assist your child with this registration. Once the registration is completed, students can begin reading the online books.  There are over 150 books to choose from at various reading levels. After the book is read, click “Give a Book” for it to be counted towards our school’s total.

In order for NHCS to be eligible for books, we must cumulatively read 50 or more books.  We hope that you will consider registering your child for this program. Please feel free to call or email with any questions you may have. Have fun reading!

Thank You!

The Buy-One Get-One Free Book Fair held last week was a huge success! We exceeded our total sales over last year's Spring fair by $500 and we earned $150 in free books for the Library Media Center. But the most important aspect of the Book Fair sales is this: you put purchased and free books in the hands of your children for their summer reading pleasure. Good for you!!

Special thanks to Miss Holloran, Mr. Peringer, and Mrs. Meegan for helping set-up the Fair on Tuesday afternoon. Thanks also to Mrs. Simard who helped out during the Cinco de Mayo dinner Thursday night and who got the Fair started on Friday morning, as well as to Mrs. Blier who ran the final sales period when I was not in the building.

I've just finished packing everything up and was pleased to look at receipts and see some of the book choices that your children made. Lots of good reading will be happening in these next months thanks to your support in making this Book Fair a success.

A Special Visit

Last Friday, NH author Mary Lyn Ray visited classrooms and listened to students read their writing. She answered some questions that had been raised when we read this book, All Aboard, in ICT classes - and she also autographed the book for us! Thanks, Mary Lyn Ray!

Reach For The Stars!

The Reach for the Stars reading challenge is on!! Get ready for it by signing up some relatives or friends to sponsor your reading. In the next two weeks, read or be read to for 300 minutes. Log your reading time on the journal page you got at school. On April 3rd, the last day of the challenge, fill out your paperwork and collect your sponsor's donations to bring into school the next day.

Don't forget to choose free books here - worth 50% of whatever you collect for pledges!

Brand New Books!

The newest book in the NHCS Library Media Center is Tucker's Countryside, the sequel to A Cricket in Times Square! What's a sequel, you say? It's a book that continues the story of another book by the same author. And this book continues the story of Chester Cricket, the spring after he gets back to Connecticut. Tucker is in this book, of course - and so is Harry Cat. Is that Tucker on the cover? It looks like he's in some kind of trouble!

Here's part of the blurb from the back cover of the book:

Chester Cricket needs help. That's the message that John Robin carries to the Times Square subway station where Harry Cat and Tucker Mouse live. Quickly, Chester's good friends set off on the long, hard journey to the Old Meadow, where all is not well. 

This book isn't a Newbery Honor Book like A Cricket in Times Square. But it's a New York Times Book of the Year - and that's good! Check out Tucker's Countryside next time you come to the Library Media Center!

Also new to the library are Chester Cricket's New Home and Chester Cricket's Pigeon Ride. Come on into the Library Media Center to borrow either of these books. I'd love to have a guest blogger post reviews of one or both of these books!

Book Awards

Every January, two important children's literature awards are presented by the American Library Association. Most NHCS students are familiar with the Caldecott Award, given for the best picture book. This year's winner is A Sick Day for Amos McGee illustrated by Erin Stead and written by her husband, Philip. I have ordered the book for the NHCS library and will share it with the children the minute it comes in!

The Newbery Award is given for the best children's novel and this year's winner is Clare Vanderpool for Moon Over Manifest. I have not yet read it but know that its setting is Kansas during the Depression. It has gotten wonderful reviews for this first time author! You can read the Amazon.com reviews here.

I just read on a Seattle news site that Moon Over Manifest was ranked at 49,676 in sales on Amazon.com the morning of the awards ceremony. By the end of the day, it was number 17. Amazing the power of these two awards. 

Connections

This week, as classes listened to stories or chapters of books, we learned about the mental connections good readers make as they read. Sometimes a book reminds the reader of a personal experience - this is called a text-to-self connection. Often a story reminds the reader of another book. This type of connection is called text-to-text. Finally, the reader may be reminded of something that has gone on in the town, the country, or the world. This is a text-to-world connection.
Younger children listened to a story called The Messiest Desk by New Hampshire author Marty Kelley. It's the story of a student whose desk was so messy and gross that he got lost inside it! There were many text-to-self connections as children shared about messy bedrooms or closets or desks at school. There were text-to-text connections between this book and Too Many Toys by David Shannon, the story of a boy with so many toys that his whole house is messy! Finally, there was a text-to-world connection between The Messiest Desk and the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico - both were huge messes!
As you read a book or listen to a story, think of and talk about all the connections you can make! It's challenging and it's fun - and it's what good readers do!

Finding a "Just Right" Book

What do you look for in a good book? How do you choose what to read? First graders have been working on answering that question and have come up with the Goldilocks Rules for Finding a Just-Right Book!

Each child typed his or her book-finding tip on a Powerpoint slide, then posed while a friend photographed them demonstrating it. Pictures and slides were combined, a background color was chosen, and some even inserted a decorative line around their photo. All slides were combined into a show that will be copyrighted to the first graders. It will be saved and played from year to year to show other students some of the steps to take to find that "just right" book!

One Book/One School

This weekend, NHCS families begin reading The World According to Humphrey by Betty Birney. This book was chosen because staff thought it would appeal to all ages - doesn't everyone think hamsters are cute and funny? You'll think Humphrey is!

Your family's copy of the book was sent home Friday along with reading calendars and trivia question and answer forms. You can also download the paperwork by clicking on each of the links in this post.

We hope you and your family will have fun reading this book together. And I'd love to hear your comments. Post them below!