Sunday, September 26, 2010

Everyone's starting new units...

Week Five

After the opening weeks of back-to-school topics, basic library procedures, and book care, we're ready to kick off some new units with all grades. Let the fun begin!

PreK 3 and PreK: Health Unit with Nurse Chris
We begin a unit about health, nutrition, and safety by introducing our school nurse, affectionately known as "Nurse Chris." She read a story that showed what school nurses do with children, covering topics from band-aids, to head lice checks, to taking temperatures. After the story, each child toured the nurse's office to use her stethoscope, say "aaaaah", and give her teddy bears a squeeze. 

Kindergarten: 100 Picture Books every child should know (Theme: Friendship)
For the next few sessions, I'll be sharing classic picture books that deal with the concept of friendship. Many students have read the classic "Corduroy" story, but few know of the sequel in which Corduroy gets lost while searching for a pocket for himself. Lisa proves what a good friend she is by being sure to find him, bring him home safely, and make him a pocket with his own little name card inside. 

Grade 1: Alphabet Books and alphabetical systems in the library
Grade one students are starting to understand the alphabetical arrangement of books in our library. We'll play lots of alphabet games and do activities to elp them practice with this. And of course, we have many wonderful alphabest books to read together!

Kids love this book!  Little "x" has gone missing and all of the other letters have to find him.  The story is loaded with objects to look for and notice - it's a great read aloud! The illustrations are computer-generated, so it has a fun crisp look.

Grade 2: Author studies with the theme of Personal Narratives
Patricia Polacco is famous for her wonderful picture books that mainly focus on her own memories from childhood. In this story, her "ol' man" is a traveling salesman who sees the best in everything, so when he tells his children about a magic rock, you'd better believe things will turn their way if they visit it enough. This is a heart-felt tribute to a great dad. It also makes a good introduction to the genre of personal narrative: it's a memory focused on one event, using vivid detail to put the reader right into the action.


Grade 3: Locating materials in the library and Structures of Life
We're starting down the road of being able to find books all by ourselves. Grade Three students learned about the different sections of the library (E, I, jF, and Dewey number) We'll continue with practicing using call numbers to find books for several sessions, but don't worry...we'll make it fun!

After the fantastic grade 3 Science Night, I couldn't resist reading a story about bugs. The Grouchy Ladybug is a favorite that always gets the kids howling with laughter. A grumpy ladybug doesn't want to share and just wants to fight with anyone he sees.  After a busy day of challenging others to a fight, he returns back to where he started realizing how pointless the day's activity had been.  Increasingly large sized flaps combined with clocks that correspond to the times mentioned, growing font sizes, and the movement of the sun through the sky make this simple story more complex than it first seems.

Grades 4 and 5: Creating personal libraries on Library Thing
Each grade four and five student will create a personal library using online software called "Library Thing." Students will use the program all year to track their reading, create lists of books, organize their books into categories, and write short book reviews. These reviews may also be posted into our school library catalog. See an example of Library Thing by viewing my library HERE.