Book Fair Luau

We had the best time for our opening day of the book fair.  I was able to share my favorite find with the upcoming Kindergarten students who visited us from area Pre-Kindergarten programs.  They loved the book choice and the song that went along with it.  We all got bluesy as we sang about a rockin' cat named Pete and his awesome shoes!!  Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes and Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes are two must-haves for this media program!

Folklore

I had a great deal of fun with students in all grade levels as we explored folktales on Friday. Our story was Stone Soup. After discussing the new raised beds we have been working on, my children were eager to be allowed to make their own stone soup. The soup simmered all day with each class adding various ingredients and acting out parts of the story. The participating classes later enjoyed eating the soup.

Digging for Dinosaurs!

Our pre-kindergarten students are studying dinosaurs. Miss Cherry requested that I help her with a portion of the lesson, so I planned something special for these little angels. We will become paleontologists and dig for dinosaur bones and eggs. Our subject will be a muddy rock (chocolate chip cookie) filled with eggs and fossils (the chips), a pick (toothpick), magnifying glasses, and of course a place to keep the findings (our stomaches).

Gilbert Reaches Out!

We have all been working to get the gardens planted at Gilbert Elementary School. As the harvest comes in, we will provide the local Care Mission with the bounty of great produce. This food will be used to feed local families in need.

New Books and Award Winners

The students love getting new books in the media center, and they especially love getting the Caldecott Winners. I recently shared the newest Caldecott winner with my students and gave each of them their very own medal if they could answer some questions from our lesson on the way out the door. WE hope you all love A Sick Day for Amos McGee as much as we did!!

Lessons in the Library!

This week we in the media center we are focusing on the scientific method. I was so excited to be able to address the steps with students in grades K-3. Each of the teachers brought the children in and we began with an overview of the steps. Once this was done, we set up and observed an all-time favorite experiment called Mystery Milk. After making a hypothesis, and being amazed, I had my third grade students change a variable and write up their own versions of the famous experiment. They had to start out by stating what they wonder (the question), make a hypothesis
(a guess) and then write the steps to their new experiment complete with new variables. One student wrote this:

I wonder what will happen if I change the milk to Sprite. I think that changing the milk to the sprite will cause the colors to mix quicker when I add the soap. My steps are below:

1. Add Sprite to a bowl
2. Add food coloring to the corners
3. Add liquid soap
4. Observe and record changes

Dr. Seuss Day!

On March the second, the games were on. The children danced and sang some songs. They all dressed up from head to toe like Cats, and Sneetches and Horton you know. The stations were set. The volunteers assigned, and they all were prepared from the cookies to the slime, for our children to have a wonderful time!

Activities:

*Gak in the Cafeteria
*Cat in the Hat Cookies in the Gym
*Digital Photography and Poetry Writing for grades 3-5 in the Media Center, Art Room, Computer Lab, and Science Lab Using iPads and iPods with Cameras
*Seuss Reading Apps and e-Books for grades P-2 in the Media Center, Art Room, Computer Lab and Science Lab Using iPads and iPods
*Sack Lunches and Seuss Movies in the Room via Closed Circuit Television