Notes from the Hawthorne Library

A Monthly Report for Families and Teachers

October 2021

Hello Everyone!

This monthly report will provide Hawthorne families and teachers with a summary of what we've been up to during weekly instruction in the library. I appreciate you taking the time to review the content, and I welcome any questions you may have!

Kindergarten

The theme for October was Autumn. We read several informational books about changing leaves as well as a few Halloween themed stories. There's a wonderful display in the main buliding of the art the students created using actual leaves after sharing the story Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert.


Kindergartners are learning about keeping books in order on the library shelves. We started out the year choosing from preselected books displayed on the story steps, and now we've moved up to choosing books from a cart. We are working our way towards being able to choose from the E shelves in the library!

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First Grade

Our first graders spent most of October enjoying a wide assortment of books written and illustrated by Mo Willems. We spent a week on Pigeon books, a week on Knuffle Bunny books, and a week on Elephant & Piggie. The favorite activity was dancing with Elephant & Piggie using the Mo on the Go! App; it's always good to get your wiggles out in the afternoon! We finished the month creating haunted houses out of Legos after reading Eve Bunting's story In the Haunted House.
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SECOND AND THIRD GRADES

The second and third grade classes spent lots of time on Buncee this month! For the first few weeks, I read aloud a book each week and the students created Story Map responses (similar to the class Buncees I posted last month). Mid-month, we began building research skills using the ABDO Zoom Animals Database. The students searched for articles to answer questions about specified animals. We will build on these skills in our Adopt-a-Species research in November. If you have a computer at home, ask your student to login to Clever and show you how to get to Buncee and to ABDO Zoom!

FOURTH AND FIFTH GRADES

I kicked off October introducing our fourth and fifth graders to the Young Reader's Choice Award nominated books for 2022. Each year, the Pacific Northwest Library Association releases a list of eight books in the Junior category. Students who read at least three are invited to submit a vote for their favorite...AND get invited to a pizza party with me in the spring! We've had lots of participation so far. The list of nominated books is posted here.


In the second half of the month, I introduced PebbleGo, a brand new to us database designed for upper elementary. We are SO excited to have access to this database for our research and look forward to using it a lot in the months to come.


The 4th and 4th/5th classes got to play around a bit in Buncee the last week of the month. They had fun learning how to take pictures and making the rest of us guess about their costumes. Here are a few samples from Ms. Carson's class!

SAVE THE DATE for HAWTHORNE DAY at MONTANA BOOK COMPANY!

Sunday, Nov. 21st, 11am-4pm

331 North Last Chance Gulch

Helena, MT

For the very first time, the wonderful people at Montana Book Company are offering a special school shopping day to support the Hawthorne Library! 15% of proceeds from sales that day will go directly back to our library. Please mark the date on your calendar, tell your friends and family, and plan to get a head start on your holiday book shopping on SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 21st! Be on the lookout for more information about this exciting Hawthorne community event!
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Hawthorne School Library

Hawthorne School Library

Hawthorne School Library
Hope Morrison, Librarian

MS in Library and Information Science

National Board Certified Teacher

430 Madison Avenue, Helena, MT, USA hmorrison@helenaschools.org 406-324-1324 hawthorne.helenaschools.org/library/