February is Black History Month

In celebration of African-Americans I am sharing some great books that will teach children about the contributions of African-Americans to our wonderful country.  There are many great books out there, too many to count, so I will highlight three of my favorites.

Henry's Freedom Box: A True Story of the Underground Railroad by Ellen Levine, illustrator Kadir Nelson

This beautiful picture book is based on the true story of Henry Brown who mails himself in a box to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. When I have read this story to children in the past, they become very enamored with how that was even possible. The main question they ask was how Henry Brow able to breath. The illustrations by Kadir Nelson are beautiful and so realistic.

Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott by Russell Freedman.

Russell Freedman gives an accurate account of what really happened during the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Was Rosa Parks the first person not to give up her seat to a white passenger? Was she actually sitting in the white section or was she following law and sitting in the colored section? Who was E.D. Nixon? Did Martin Luther King, Jr. volunteer to lead the boycott or was he asked? These questions and many more will be answered in this book. My eyes were really opened about how the Montgomery Bus Boycott was strategically planned, not just a random event that just magically happened.

Little Rock Girl 1957: How a Photograph Changed the Fight for Integration by Shelley Tougas

When I share this book with fifth grade students, one of the things I talk about is how our actions have long lasting effects and we must always be aware of what we do as human beings. This photo is almost 60 years old and it still has a negative effect on both of the young women who were teenagers at the time. This book is a great resource to teach children that our actions have consequences especially in the age of the internet, because the internet does not forget.

Newbery and Caldecott Medal Books

During the month of January, I always teach my students about Newbery and Caldecott medal books. For those of you who do not know, the Newbery and Caldecott awards are the Academy Awards of the children's literature world. Every year in January, the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA) gives out the awards to an American children's author (Newbery) and an American children's book illustrator (Caldecott). The 2017 awards were announced this month in Atlanta and the winners are:

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill for the Newbery Award

Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat by Javaka Steptoe

I can't wait to share these two books with our students at Spring Valley. Right now, I am reading 

Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear (winner of the Caldecott Medal in 2016) and one of my all time favorites, The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman (winner of the Newbery Medal in 1987)

For more information about Newbery and Caldecott medal books, check out ALSC website for all of the past winners from 1922 and 1938, respectively.

Lessons for the Week of October 24-28, 2016

This week I am seeing grades K-2 in the school library media center. I decided to teach some "old school" author and illustrators, people who wrote books back in the '80's and 90's. These books are what I call treasures and I wanted the children to hear these fabulous stories. They are oldies, but definitely goodies.

Kindergarten:

The first author kindergarteners learned about during the month of September and the beginning part of October is Audrey Wood and her husband Don Wood. The Woods worked as a husband and wife team, publishing some of the most beloved children's books of all time, such as The Napping House and King's Bidgood's in the Bathtub. We also read Silly Sally, which kids just truly found hilarious.

For this week, I decided to focus on the author/illustraor Peggy Rathmann. She did the illustrations for the book, Bootisie Barker Bites, written by Barbara Bottner. I fell in love with this book when I first became a school librarian over 20 years ago and I am so glad that the book is still being published. The book is about  Bootsie Barker who bullies a little girl and the little girl uses her wits to beat Bootsie at her own game.

The book that is on my list of top 10 best children's books of all time is Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann. It won the Caldecott Award back in 1996. The illustrations are marvelous and to show students the details of the pictures, I use my document camera to zoom in on the numerous safety tips that Officer Buckle dishes out to the students at Napville School.

1st and 2nd Grade

1st and 2nd grade will be learning to use My Capstone Library. My Capstone Library are interactive eBooks that Spring Valley purchases for students to read here at school and at home. So far our school owns 117 eBooks through Capstone and the goal is to add 30 to our collection every school year.

http://www.mycapstonelibrary.com/login/index.html

April is National Poetry Month

In library this week, I have been teaching my 1st and 2nd grade classes about the poet extraordinaire, Shel Silverstein. Many of the students have seen his famous books, Where the Sidewalk Ends, The Giving Tree and A Light in the Attic. His poems are so funny and timeless. The students thoroughly enjoyed "Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out" and the poem "Dreadful" about someone eating a baby. Yeah, the kids could not stop laughing at that one.

Doug Florian is another author whose poems are enjoyable, but I did not have any of his books in the media center. Must work on getting some.

Read Across America Spirit Week at Spring Valley February 29-March 4, 2016

Read Across America Spirit Week was a lot of fun at Spring Valley. March 2 is the actual Read Across America Day, Dr. Seuss's birthday, and I put on my Cat in the Hat Costume to celebrate. Anything for the kids, right! Our themes for each day were:

Monday-I AM Not Going to Get Up Today-dress in pajamas
Tuesday-Green Eggs and Ham-dress in green
Wednesday-Dr. Seuss's Birthday-dress as your favorite book/book character
Thursday-Fox in Socks-wear your tackiest socks/wackiest clothes
Friday-Oh, the Places You'll Go-dress as the career you want to be when you grow up

February Focus at Spring Valley Media Center

For the month of February with grades 3-5 I will be focusing on presidents. Presidents Day is in February and many students do not know much about Presidents of the United States. We will learn about the various biographies on presidents in the library and watch a video on President Abraham Lincoln. Students will then do mini research on NCWISE OWL on a president of their choice.

I have two favorite biographies on President Lincoln. Lincoln: A Photobiography by Russell Freedman and Abe's Honest Words: The Life of Abraham Lincoln by Doreen Rappaport. Students thoroughly enjoy learning about President Lincoln, especially during Black History Month. They can clearly see the connections with African-Americans.

Anansi the Spider Stories

I admit it. I love Anansi the Spider stories. Every month for Black History, I always say I am going to do something different, but I always come back to the Anansi stories. Why? Because they are so good!

Every time I read them to my students, they gobble them and always, ALWAYS want to check them out. The versions by Eric Carle are the best, in my honest opinion.

The lessons in these folktales are numerous. They teach students about honesty, consequences of choices, being on our best behaviors, and the importance of being nice to people.

A Story, A Story by Gail E. Haley is a good version, too.