International Dot Day

We are celebrating International Dot Day this week!  We are among over 1,000,000 participants around the world.  All classes have been invited to read The Dot by Peter Reynolds, a great book “celebrating courage and creativity”.  After reading the book, students are asked to create their own mark on a dot and place it on the giant dot we have on the library doors.

This is what the dot looked like on Monday:

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And this is what it looks like today:

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And here is the final product!

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Book Fair in the library!

The Scholastic Book Fair is being held in the library this week until Thursday.  It will be open at lunch and after school.  On Thursday we will stay open until intake interviews finish at 8pm.  Some classes have come in to preview the fair and it has been a joy to watch them get excited about all the new books. 

We still need a few parent volunteers for Thursday.  Please come and see me if you are available.

 book fair1

What do we like to read?

This week many of the intermediate students are completing reading surveys on the library blog. We want to know what kinds of books students like to read, when they like to read and how they read. This information will be shared with me and the classroom teacher so we can learn more about our students as readers and be better teachers of reading for them. You can check out the surveys under Divisions 1-5 under the South Slope page.

Check out this award winning stop motion animated film about reading. Reading is a beautiful thing. We hope everyone can get lost in a book or 2 or 3 or 4 or more this school year.

What do you like to read? Leave your comments below.

Story time magic?

Last Thursday we experienced some story time magic in the library.  I was reading a new book, The Cloud Spinner by Michael Catchpool and Alison Jay , to the grade 2 students.  We were all swept away by this amazing story of a boy who can spin thread from the clouds and weave beautiful garments when, suddenly, it began to rain just as I read the sentence “It rained and it rained and it rained”.  We couldn’t believe it.  It was magical.  One of the students remarked that it must have been because they were listening so hard.  Reading is a beautiful, magical thing.

Come to the library to check out The Cloud Spinner and many other magical stories.

Welcome back!

September News from the Library:

Welcome back! I hope everyone had a wonderful summer and read some great books. I know I did!

The library program has some exciting opportunities in store for your child this year:
• Our curriculum will be promoting the very best of children’s literature to your child with activities designed to help students enjoy the stories even more.
• We will be doing our very best to get (or keep) your children “hooked on reading” by recommending specific reading materials to each individual.
• At each grade level, students will be learning information literacy skills specifically suited to their developmental needs.
• The iPads will continue to be used for learning and exciting new projects!
• We have a lot of special events being planned: author visits, DEAR day, book fairs, Literacy Week, the home reading club, and more!
• If you would like to volunteer to help in the library, please let me know. We’d love to have you.
Upcoming events:

Sept 16- 20: The Scholastic Book Fair is back! Come and check out some great books before or after you visit with your child’s teacher that week. We really need parent volunteers. Please sign up in the hallway just outside the library doors or come and see me.

Sept. 23- Home Reading Club begins! Last year we read to the moon. Stay tuned for more details about our goal this year.

Oct. 28- D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything and Read) Day. Join us as we celebrate reading school wide.

Check out the library blog for more information and updates throughout the year. You can access it from the school website under the library tab or go to: http://goo.gl/PPPXu
Use your smartphone to find us too! (A great app for scanning QR codes is i-nigma)

Questions? Comments? Please come and see me in the library. I’m looking forward to an exciting year!

Mrs. Araujo
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” Dr. Seuss I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!