Showing posts with label thisweek. Show all posts
Showing posts with label thisweek. Show all posts

Monday, September 28, 2015

This Week in the Library...

(and a little bit about what we did last week, too!)

Last week in the library, we learned more about how our library books are organized.  Third graders learned about alphabetizing fiction books by their authors' last names.  After the lesson, the students figured out what the call number for a book they had written would be and found where it would belong on the shelf.  Maybe some day I'll be able to put an actual book by one of these authors on our shelves!



I've also enjoyed catchings several of our kiddos reading throughout the day.  Here's Angelo reading at lunch:


And Mitchell reading during class:


I love that they are finding time to "read in the spaces," as Donalyn Miller would say!


This week, all of our grade levels will be introduced to this year's Bluebonnet Books.  Any student who reads at least five of these books can vote for their favorite in January.  You can read more about the Bluebonnet Books here.

This week, our fifth graders will hear from Zane and the Hurricane.



Our fourth graders will listen to The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus.



And our third graders will read Emily's Blue Period.

Have a great week!


Monday, November 3, 2014

This Week in the Library...

This week we're reading poetry!

Third grade will be reading Marilyn Singer's Mirror, Mirror.
Here is the author reading from her book:




Fourth grade will be reading Pirates by David Harrison





Fifth grade will be reading novels in verse, including these:

Listen to the author read from her book:




Here's the author talking about Home of the Brave:




Read more at the author's website.




Here's a great book trailer for Love That Dog:




Learn  more at the author's website.

Monday, October 27, 2014

This Week in the Library...


This week, we're reading spooky Halloween Stories!

Third graders will be reading Bone Dog by Eric Rohmann.  You can see some of the great illustrations from the book at Macmillan's website.


Fourth graders will be reading The Widow's Broom by Chris VanAllsburg.  Find out more about this mysterious book at Chris VanAllsbrug's website.


Fifth graders will be reading an excerpt from Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn.  Find out more about the book and read a chapter online at Mary Downing Hahn's website.



Monday, October 20, 2014

This week in the library...

We're getting in the Halloween spirit with some spooky stories!

Third Grade will be reading Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds, illustrated by Peter Brown.



Here's a great video of illustrator Peter Brown talking about his inspiration for his illustrations.






Fourth Grade will be reading The Stranger by Chris Van Allsburg.


You can find out more about The Stranger at Chris Van Allsburg's website.



Fifth Grade will be reading The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing by Sheila Turnage.



Check out the book trailer for this book here:

Monday, October 13, 2014

This Week in the Library...


This week, we are FALLing for some great books!

Fifth graders are listening to a book talk about The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z by Kate Messner.

You can read more about Gianna here, and this great video asks some children's authors what kind of tree they would be:




Fourth graders are listening to Autumn: An Alphabet Acrostic by Steven Schnur.




Third graders are listening to Sophie's Squash by Pat Zietlow Miller & Anne Wilsdorf.

Listen to the author read her book!


Have a great week!


Monday, October 6, 2014

This Week in the Library...

This week, all classes who visit the library will be learning to use the Destiny Quest mobile app to search for books in our library!

You can download the app to your own device and find our library at smithvilleisd.follettdestiny.com.

Here's some more info:

Monday, September 29, 2014

This Week in the Library...

This week, we're reading books about troublemakers!

Third grade is reading Strega Nona by Tomie DePaola.

When Strega Nona leaves him alone with her pasta pot, Big Anthony is determined to show the townspeople how it works.

Here is one of my favorite re-tellings of Strega Nona:



Fourth grade is reading The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka.

This book is a spoof on the three little pigs story, this time told from the wolf’s point of view.


Be sure to check out Jon Scieszka's awesome website for more information about this and his other books!


Fifth grade will be listening to a book talk about Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko.


Also, be sure to check out the author's website for more information about Al Capone, Alcatraz, autism, and more!





Monday, September 15, 2014

This Week In the Library...

September 15th is International Dot Day--a day to celebrate creativity, courage, and collaboration.  Inspired by Peter H. Reynolds's The Dot, SES students will be thinking about how they'll make their mark this year!

Check back soon to see how we celebrated!


Monday, September 8, 2014

This Week in the Library...

This week, students will be learning about the Bluebonnet program.  Every year, the Texas Library Association chooses 20 books for the Bluebonnet reading list.  Any student who reads at least five of these can vote for their favorite on Bluebonnet voting day in January!

I'll be sharing these read alouds with the classes visiting the library this week:


Third Grade will be reading The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt.


Fourth Grade will be reading Lester's Dreadful Sweaters by K.G. Campbell


Fifth Grade will be reading excerpts from Flora & Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo


Don't forget, these are just a few of this year's excellent Bluebonnet nominees!



You can find out more about this year's Bluebonnet Books by clicking here.

Have a great week!



Sunday, August 31, 2014

This Week in the Library...

This week, all grade levels will be continuing to practice library procedures.  We'll also be reading about some characters who sometimes have trouble following the rules but who love to use the library!

Third grade will be reading Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen.


Fourth grade will be reading The Library by Sarah Stewart.


Fifth grade will be reading an excerpt from Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key by Jack Gantos.

Have a great week!


Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Welcome Back

Welcome back to school and back to the library! This week, students will be attending library orientation with their classes. The Pigeon (from Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus) will be helping us learn about how the library works! What do you think? Should we let the Pigeon use the library?


Thursday, April 3, 2014

April is National Poetry Month!

All month, Smithville Elementary will be celebrating poetry!

Each day, a different teacher will read a poem over the announcements.  The poems will then be posted on our poetry calendar across from the office.


If you'd like to have some fun with poetry, check out one of these sites:
  • Poetry Splatter: Write your own poem by filling in the blanks with some splatter words!
  • Giggle Poetry:  Read some super FUNNY poems and rate your favorites!
  • Poetry 4 Kids:  Meet author and poet Ken Nesbitt, and discover some of his funniest poems!
  • Instant Poetry Forms:  Want to write your own poem?  This site makes it easy--just fill in the blanks!


Thursday, March 6, 2014

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss

This Monday, Smithville Elementary celebrated Dr. Seuss's birthday, and, since he's one of our favorite authors, we've kept the celebration going all week long!

We've been dressing up according to our Dr. Seuss theme days!


The library got a Dr. Seuss makeover!
Truffula trees sprouted overnight!

Students are using our chalk wall to vote for their favorite Seuss character!


And, we've been participating in some fun Dr. Seuss crafts!
Leiana models her Lorax mustache and her pink hat for Cat in the Hat day.

Blain and his mini Truffula tree.

Gabrielle is proud of her pink and purple Truffula tree.

Is that Abigail behind that mustache?

Evan with his Horton Hears a Who pencil.

Inez knows that "A person's a person, no matter how small!"

Matthew's origami fish.

Miguel with his Thing 1 bookmark and Keep Calm and Read On bookmark.

Steven made a tiger-striped fish.

A little Katy cat!

Thing 1 and Thing 2 (also known as Marisol and Jasmine).

Abby's Horton pencils says "Small people are awesome!"


To download instructions for these, click on the picture of each below!