December Library News
Susan Anhold, Librarian
Spelling Bee
Our spelling bee is just around the corner. The written portion of the school's spelling bee will be Tuesday, January 13 in the library to those third, fourth and fifth grade students with signed consent forms. The top ten spellers will then be invited to participate in the oral spelling bee on Tuesday, January 27 at 1:00, also in the library. The winner of the oral bee will represent our school in the Albemarle County contest held on Wednesday, February 18. Be on the look out for permission forms the first week of January.
Virginia Readers' Choice
Seventeen students in the upper grades have now qualified to vote for their favorite Virginia Readers' Choice book. Voting will not take place until April so there is still plenty of time to read and fill out a reading record. The lower grades will be voting in January, once I have finished reading all 10 primary books to them.
Kindergarten
We looked at maps of a school in the book The Gingerbread Man Loose in School by Laura Murray, then practiced making our own maps. The students talked about their five senses as we read the books Rain by Manya Stojic and Five For a Little One by Christopher Raschka. And the kids found out what the best toy of all is in the books Crispin the Pig Who Had it All by Ted Dewan and David Shannon's Too Many Toys.
First Grade
As an Oak Tree Grows by Brian Karas shows the timeline of a 225-year-old oak tree. The kids loved watching all the changes that took place surrounding the tree over time. Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins by Eric Kimmel tells a story of goblins trying to prevent a village from celebrating Hanukkah. This as been a favorite of first graders for years. We also took time to explore some of the shapes that could be made with the Keva Planks. I love this reindeer.
Second Grade
I read another Virginia Readers' Choice book, Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson. This books shows how even little acts of kindness are important. The kids loved Clement C. Moore's classic The Night Before Christmas, beautifully illustrated by Richard Jesse Watson. I paired this with Nick Bruel's A Bad Kitty Christmas which is a take off on Moore's original poem. Second graders also spend some time exploring what they could make with our new Keva Planks.
Third Grade
We looked at economic books to go along with third grade's market. The Money We'll Save by Brock Cole is an historical fiction that tells of a dad who buys a turkey poult to raise to eat for Christmas dinner. Since they lived in an apartment, things didn't go quite as planned. Dave Horowitz's Buy My Hats helped the kids understand how pricing is influenced. We finished the month by reading two holiday favorites; Rocking Horse Christmas by Mary Pope Osborne and Cynthia Rylant's Silver Packages.
Fourth Grade
Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson tells of a little girl who is not nice to a new girl in school, and then it is too late by the time she tries to make up for being mean. We talked about the many inferences in this story and watched a book trailer which really brought out the feelings the book is conveying. We also looked at another Patricia Polacco book, Uncle Vova's Tree then the students constructed their own trees using our new Keva Planks.
Fifth Grade
Students did research on different types of bridges and then constructed their own using recycled materials. It had to be at least 12 inches long, support two pounds of weight and have a way on and off. These students decided to make a draw bridge.