Oakdale Elementary

Media Module 7 is all about making the library attractive, inviting and user friendly.  Lesson 1, Assignment 2 requires posting a photo to the blog of a current bulletin board or display in your library.  We are posting this photo of the wall just outside of the main entrance to our media center.  We were asked to hang the Ken Garff banner and thought we would make it more attractive to the students by adding something fun and colorful.  We chose to use cars (duh!) that looked like they were racing.  We used GIANT letters (available at the ISC) and bright colors.  It is much more attention grabbing than the plain old banner, if we do say so ourselves!

Oakdale

Bella Vista Book Reviews: The Year of Goodbyes & Press Here

The Year of Goodbyes: A True Story of Friendship, Family and Farewells
by Debbie Levy
Mrs. Allison's Rating:  5 out of 5 stars
This week  in the library, we are kicking off the Beehive Book Club for the year. This non-fiction Beehive Nominee in Poetry for 2012-13 caught my interest and is a quick read.  I am very glad I read it. The content is age appropriate for older elementary school students (4th-6th grade and older) and educates them on what it would be like to be a child with family and friends all experiencing the changes from a wonderful, prosperous life in Germany to becoming despised, rejected and harmed...just for being Jewish.  At one point in the book, Jutta's family has a chance to leave Germany and come to America to live with relatives, but will they be able to leave before the Nazis capture them? I was on the edge of my seat as I read this book, wondering who would be saying good bye to whom, not wanting dear Jutta (Yu-tah) or her family and friends to be affected by the Nazis, yet all of them were, to one degree or another.

This book is a compilation of the entries in Jutta's poesiealbum (po-eh-Zee ALbum), a poetry album. From the late 1800s to the 1930s children enjoyed their poesiealbums and would let their friends write and draw in them. The book also includes Jutta's feelings and experiences as a 12 year old Jewish girl living in Germany in 1938 under the Nazi occupation. Debbie Levy, author of the book, is Jutta's daughter. She capably shares her mother's experiences from a time in history that, hopefully will never be forgotten or repeated.

With the Thanksgiving holiday just around the corner, reading this book will bring reason to reflect on our lives as Americans living in the 21st century.  We have much to be thankful for.


Something else to be thankful for are books like Press Here by Herve Tullet. This book has already been targeted by students as the most popular Beehive Nominee for 2012-13.  More copies have been ordered to keep up with demand at the Bella Vista Library.  This book is what I call, "out of the box."  An unexpected, unpredictable surprise of a book that educates through its pages yet it seems more like a toy than a book. Students will have fun following directions, including left and right, counting and seeing what pressing their finger "here" will lead to next. Another 5 out of 5 stars book, in my opinion.                        

Press Here is a book for Kindergarten - Third, though older grades enjoy reading this picture book too.

Halloween at Butler

We had a Literary Pumpkin Decorating Contest and invited students and their families to enter a pumpkin decorated after a book they had read.
Here are some of the amazing entries. Can you guess which books these characters are from?

Oakdale 6th graders are awesome!

QUACK OPEN A GOOD BOOK is our logo this year.

Draper Elementary

In April we celebrated National Library Month. This year the theme was Experiment With a Book, so we talked about scientists. We read Meet Einstein by Mariela the K- 2^nd grade made their own light-catcher. We had flash cards on the wall of pictures of things that scientists would use. We had the students see if they knew what a scientist would use them for and then turn it over to find out if the students were right.  The next book that we talked about was Now & Ben by Gene Barretta. What he had invented and what they are like today.  Each student received a book mark and a reading chart. As soon as the students had finished the chart and brought it back, they received a free paperback book. We were able to gave away 457 books this year. The students had a lot of fun with this theme this year.

Library After School Programs at Butler

Before we sign off for the 2011-2012 school year, we thought we'd share the slide show from our year of after school library programs.  Our goal for these programs was to provide literature based activities that promote a love of reading and the adventure of learning in the library.  We did one per month plus a couple extra and registered anywhere from 25-65 students per program depending on the activity.  Our SCC generously helped fund the programs so they could be free to all students.  These were a ton of fun and a huge hit.  

We've enjoyed everyone's blog posts and got lots of great ideas for next year.  We are always looking for something new to try out.  

Have a great summer!

Ali and Debbie
Butler Elementary

This free slideshow design made with Smilebox