Notes from the Hawthorne Library

Kindergarten

We started November with a selection of Native American folktales, acccompanied by online research about the animals featured in the stories. In preparation for the Thanksgiving holiday, we sang about the old lady who swallowed a pie (accompanied by the story apron I've been using for 15+ years!) and did some digital storytelling with Buncee to go with the classic tale One Is a Feast for a Mouse.

First Grade

This fall, the children's literature world lost a giant with the passing of Jerry Pinkney. I designed a unit around the art and stories of Jerry Pinkney to introduce our first graders to his body of work. We shared a selection of adapted folktales and even tried our hand at watercolor painting in the style of Jerry Pinkney. I was especially proud of the work our students did in generating the story line for the wordless Caldecott-award winning The Lion and the Mouse; working in groups, they were challenged to study the pictures and infer what was happening.

SECOND AND THIRD GRADES

We kicked off our Adopt-a-Species research in second and third grades this month; our Hawks are learning about the red-tailed hawk! Each week, the students worked through their research packets, exploring a variety of resources and learning notetaking skills along the way. This research will culminate in a community art project in December.

During the short Thanksgiving week, Ms. Dunnehoff's students did an awesome reading response activity to accompany the biography Balloons over Broadway, which tells the story of the puppeteer who created the first balloons in the Macy's Day Parade. Using Legos, the students designed "balloons" which I then photographed against the greenscreen. The resulting "parade" video is a lot of fun!

FOURTH AND FIFTH GRADES

This month, the 4th and 5th graders explored the question "Who are we as readers?" We did a variety of activities - booktastings, surveys, and several Buncees - to help guide the students in identifying their reading interests. I also introduced the students to the concept of a "To Be Read (TBR)" pile, and they started compiling lists of books they'd like to read.

The inaugural Hawthorne Fundraiser at Montana Book Company was a HUGE success! With over $4000 in sales that Sunday, the library earned a $600+ credit to purchase new books! Thank you for coming out, for supporting a local business, and for getting books into the hands of the people you love; there is truly no greater gift!

More importantly, I loved getting to meet and visit with so many of you! I definitely hope to repeat this event in the future and would love any feedback those of you who attended would like to provide - send me an email at hmorrison@helenaschools.org.