Castle Hills Library Newsletter
April 2016
Spring is here! It is hard to believe that we have only 7 weeks left in the 2015-16 school year! Many exciting activities are on the calendar.
April is School Library Month. Librarians are encouraged to host activities that celebrate the role that libraries play in our community. So during this time, Castle Hills conducts its annual bookmark contest. Our theme this year is "Libraries Light the Way" in honor of our new Lighthouse status. Please go to our library website for more information: http://neisd.libguides.com/welcome_castle_hills_library. Entry forms went home on April 1st and bookmarks should be turned in no later than April 15th. Winners will be announced on April 18th.
April is also National Poetry Month. It is a time to honor poets and their work. We will be reading and creating a variety of poetic forms. Each month a poem is posted for each grade level. Students are encouraged to read the poem to 10 people. If they complete the form located on the website and return it to the library, they receive the "scratch & sniff" bookmark of the month. A couple of poets that students enjoy are Shel Silverstein http://www.shelsilverstein.com/) and Jack Prelutsky (http://jackprelutsky.com/). Visit their websites and enjoy!
Second grade has been reading traditional and fractured fairy tales throughout the year. Students will be taking qualifying tests on Friday, April 8th. The students with the top 4 scores in each class will comprise that class' team. There will be 3 team members and an alternate. The teams will show their knowledge during the Fairy Tale Bowl on Thursday, April 14th.
Third and fourth graders continue to prepare for their Battles by reading their Battle books. One of our third graders, Bella Curry, is the first to read all of the Battle books! The qualifying tests will take place on Monday, April 25th. The Fourth Grade Battle will occur on May 3rd. The date of the Third Grade Battle will be May 6th.
Kinder, first and second graders are reading their Texas 2 x 2 books. Each student that reads (or was read) all 20 books will receive a spirit stick.
2015 Bookmarks
2015 Bookmark Winners
Kinder Reading Picnic
Million Minute Reading Challenge
Congratulations, Roadrunner Readers! We are millionaires! We reached our goal to read one million minutes a month early! We have read 1,110,598 minutes! And our journey continues ... let's see how far we can go!
As of April 1st:
Kindergarten read 12,935 minutes - Mrs. Norman's class: 5,367 minutes
First Grade read 13,153 minutes - Mrs. Hubbard's class: 6,035 minutes
Second Grade read 27,568 minutes - Mrs. Cisneros' class: 8,849 minutes
Third Grade read 33,539 minutes - Mrs. Schilhab's class: 14,355 minutes
Fourth Grade read 24,821 minutes - Mrs. Edwards' class: 12,192 minutes
Fifth Grade read 33,970 minutes - Ms. Schwartz's class: 13,887 minutes
Everyone received a "Millionaire" spirit stick. In May, we will have a day to celebrate all of our victories. Let the journey continue!
UPCOMING EVENTS
April 8th: Fairy Tale qualifying tests for second graders.
April 14th: Fairy Tale Bowl at 8:30am.
April 15th: Bookmarks due. Winners will be announced on April 18th.
April 25th: Battle of the Books qualifying tests for third and fourth graders.
May 3rd: Fourth Grade Battle of the Books at 8:30am.
May 6th: Third Grade Battle of the Books at 8:30am.
May 23rd: District Battle of Books for Fourth Grade.