Shimek Library Newsletter
November/December 2108
Book Fair
Thank you to all of the people that helped with the book fair and to all of the families who purchased books. The book fair profits, which were over $1000, will go directly toward buying new books for the library.
Hour of Code is Here!
The first week of December is Computer Science Education Week. As a part of that week, Code.org sponsors Hour of Code. All Shimek students will be coding as a part of the celebration. Younger students will be using coding courses through Code.org, middle students will be coding various Minecraft games, and older students will be coding in the PlayLab. Computers, and therefore coding, are all around us; I am happy to have the students spend some time practicing their coding skills and also their persistence skills.
First graders being computers and programmers.
Second graders analyzing how to arrange cards so a book can be supported.
Third graders coding in Minecraft Adventurer.
Fourth graders coding in Minecraft Designer.
Sixth graders using their computing skills to see where friends and enemies should sit at a party.
Visiting Author Bryan Collier
Award-winning author and illustrator Bryan Collier gave an amazing presentation to the first and second graders. A few of the topics he addressed were "You never outgrow a picture book" and a collage is like making a pizza with different toppings. Mr. Collier visited publishers for 7 years before he was hired to be an illustrator, but he said, "If you have a story to tell, you won't take 'no' for an answer". Bryan Collier also talked about "dreamwalking" - ask your child what that means. He showed us many of his illustrations and read his book, "Knock Knock: My Dad's Dream for Me" to us and explained the meanings of the illustrations.
Posing with Bryan Collier.
Mr. Collier sharing a favorite childhood book, The Snowy Day.
Our own Sydney was chosen to be a helper during the presentation.
Library Learning
Kindergarten The kindergartners finished learning and practicing the three ways to read a book: actually read the words, look at the pictures and tell the story, and listen to the story and then re-tell the story. The students are great readers and enjoyed working in pairs to tell stories. They are now going to learn how to use a shelf marker and how to choose their own everybody book from the shelves.
In the computer lab, the students practiced more letters using Starfall, practicing using the touch pad with Owlieboo, and are about to do some simple coding.
Enjoying new books.
Telling the story using pictures.
Sharing the story with our partner.
First and Second Grade The students continued to study the books of Bryan Collier. We learned about clay pots for Dave the Potter, used the iPads to search for shapes in the library to go along with City Shapes, and took a Google maps tour of Harlem to go with Uptown. We also wrote thank you notes to Hills Bank and the ICCSD Foundation for sponsoring the Visiting Author program.
Shape scavenger hunt using the iPad.
What shape is he photographing?
First graders love "versus" books by Pallotta!
Finding stars with the iPad.
The cards held up a book!
It worked!
Third Grade The students are leaning more about how to find a book or author using the Destiny system, the library's card catalog. We are still working on sections in the library and finding actual books on the shelves.
Coding time.
TAking a Kahoot! quiz about library organization.
Kahoot!
Fourth Grade The fourth graders are continuing to practice how to organize books by call number and how to find actual books on the shelves of the library using those call numbers. They practiced using the library's Destiny system to find books in the catalog. Students are also learning more about the Dewey Decimal System and where to find books in the nonfiction section.
Discovering Dewey Decimal categories.
Dewey Decimal fun.
Putting virtual books in ABC shelf order.
Fifth Grade We have finished our Global Read Aloud book, Refugee by Alan Gratz. The students communicated their thoughts to others through Padlet, Twitter slow chat, and class discussions on what it means to be a refugee. We sent postcards about Iowa all over the United States and Canada to students also reading Refugee to share our thoughts. We have received 20 postcards from places such as Ontario, British Columbia, Kansas, Michigan, North Dakota, Utah, Texas, and Alabama.Ask your student what it means to be a refugee and how we can treat all people with kindness.
Descrbing how Isabel from Refugee might feel on Padlet.
Awesome Iowa postcards to send to our Global Read Aloud friends.
Terrific Iowa postcards.
Sixth Grade Students finished their Vision Boards; they can log into their Google accounts at home and show you their dreams and goals.We have started a Computer Science Discoveries class through Code.org. The first few lessons are unplugged - we are training our brains to work like computers. The students made aluminum boats and saw how many pennies they could put in the boats before they sank. They are also analyzing data and working as teams to put the four steps of problem solving to use: define, prepare, try, reflect.
Working on Vision Boards
Designing aluminum boats.
Testing aluminum boats - how many pennies will it hold?
Shimek - A School of Readers
Welcome to the Shimek library - a place of learning, reading, exploring, computing. The place to be!
Email: johnson.linda@iowacityschools.org
Website: https://www.iowacityschools.org/domain/2530
Location: Iowa City, Iowa
Phone: 319-688-1162
Twitter: @shimcirc