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.

Caldecott and Newbery Award Winners for 2016

For the month of January, I have been sharing with all grade levels the Caldecott and Newbery Award books. In grades K-2, we have read Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes (Caldecott winner in 2005), The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat (Caldecott Winner in 2015) and This is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen (Caldecott winner in 2013). So far students have really enjoyed listening to these titles and afterwards, they go searching for the Caldecott books in the media center to check out.

For grades 3-5, I have been sharing Newbery Award books with these students. I have many Newbery  favorites, but my favorite Newbery award book is Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor. I was so excited that the cover was redone by children's book illustrator Kadir Nelson for the 40th anniversary edition. I haven't read it in a while, but I think I will so I can share this awesome book with my students.

I was so surprised that the picture book, Last Stop on Market Street, was selected to win the 2016 Newbery Award. Usually picture books aren't selected for this prestigious award. I purchased the book at my fall Scholastic Book Fair because of it being one of books nominated for the North Carolina Children's Book Award. I was so excited that I purchased a book before it won. I never have done that before. Finding Winnie by Lindsay Maltick, illustrated by Sophie Blackall won the 2016 Caldecott Award. 

Happenings in Spring Valley Media Center for the week of October 12-16

This is going to be a busy week this week. First of all the Fall Scholastic Book Fair will open up on Thursday night, October 15 for Hispanic Heritage Night. The book fair will be open to all families from 5:00-7:00 pm.  The book fair will run from Friday, October 16-Friday, October 23.

As far as student learning goes, I will be focusing on genres with grades 3-5. Last time, students in these grades were learning about Destiny online catalog. This time around I want to do some book talking with these grades levels and the Information and Technology Essential Standards (ITES) specifically wants students to learn about genres, so doing book talks along with genre studies is a great way to tie both topics together. The books that I am going to book talk are How to Steal a Dog by Barbara O'Connor and Ungifted by Gordon Korman.

For first and second grade, we will do some computer work. I am going to introduce them to the Capstone ebook library. With kindergarten, we did an author study on the great author and illustrator Tomie dePaola. Now we are going to focus on Peter Brown, another wonderful author and illustrator. Just like Tomie dePaola, Peter Brown has several terrific books to choose from. The one I know the kindergarteners will love is Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds. Peter Brown did the illustrations on this book and it was a Caldecott Honor winner.

Elementary Battle of the Books

We are getting started on the Elementary Battle of the Books here at Spring Valley.

Here is a link to the EBOB list for the 2015-2016 School Year.

I have 10 wonderful students participating this year at Spring Valley. From what I understand, this is the first year that Spring Valley has participated at the district level for Battle of the Books. It is going to be a blast!

Fall Scholastic Book Fair Starts October 16

Yes we are having a BOOK FAIR!!!

THE THEME FOR THE FALL SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR:

The Fall Scholastic Book will open Thursday night, October 15 for Hispanic Heritage Night 5:00-7:00pm.

The Book Fair Schedule is as follows:

Thursday, October 15, 5:00pm-7:00pm-Hispanic Heritage Night
Friday, October 16, 8:30-4:00pm
Monday, October 19, 8:30-6:00pm open late for parents
Tuesday, October 20, 8:30-4:00pm
Wednesday, October 21, 8:30-1:30pm, 4:00-6:00-"Books and Breakfast" 8:30am-9:30am for parents
Thursday, October 22, 8:30-4:00pm
Friday, October 23, 8:30-4:00pm-WE WILL CLOSE PROMPTLY AT 4:00 TO PACK UP!

All classes will have two opportunities to visit the book fair. The first time to preview, the second to shop. Of course, if children bring money on their preview day they may shop.

More information will be sent to classroom teachers about the book fair. I am looking so forward to my first book fair at Spring Valley Elementary. It is going to be a BLAST!

Can't make it to the Fall Book Fair this year? Or we sold out of all the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books? Don't fret, you can shop the online book fair from October 11-October 24.

Happenings in Spring Valley Media Center, Week of October 5-8, 2015

This week in our school library I will be working with grades K-2. In kindergarten we are still learning about the author and illustrator Tomie dePaola. We are reading his book, Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs.  In grades 1-2, we are focusing on Hispanic Heritage Month which runs from September 15-October 15. Last week, we read Just a Minute by Yuyi Morales. This week, we will focus on a non-fiction text, a biography about the famous salsa singer Celia Cruz.

Just a Minute is an awesome book. Everytime I read it to students, it is an instant hit! I can't keep it on the shelves. Students love the repetition through out the story, with Grandma Beetle saying, "Just a Minute Señor Calovera!"












Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs is a touching story based on Tomie dePaola's childhood. He had the pleasure to know both his grandmother and his great-grandmother. He describes how he would visit them on Sunday afternoons and how he cherished his time with both of them. Children laugh when Tomie is tied in the big morris chair just like his great-grandmother.

Happenings in Spring Valley Media Center for the week of September 14-19, 2015

September is Library Card Sign Up Month! I encourage all Spring Valley parents to take your child to the Durham County Library and sign up for their  own personal library card. I got my very first library card when I was nine years old and have always had a library card ever since! If you can't get to the public library, a representative from the Durham County Library will be at the school on Thursday night from 5:30-7:00 for Literacy Curriculum Night.

In the Spring Valley Media Center this week, students are learning the following:

Kindergarten-Book care and being responsible for library materials
Grades 1-2 Fiction and Non-Fiction Texts
Grades 3-5 Searching on the Destiny Online Catalog

Parents please make sure students are bringing their books in a timely manner. If you are not sure what day your child's library day is, feel free to call Ms. Burton, school librarian, at Spring Valley Elementary, 919-560-2890 and I will gladly let you know what day your child visits the media center.

2015 Newbery Award Winning Book The Crossover

I was so amazed when the book The Crossover won the Newbery Award this year. Very few books by African-American writers, especially African-American male writers, win this prestigious award. I have been promoting it to everyone that I see because I feel it will be such an inspiration to young African-American males.

Children's Book Week May 4-10, 2015

Children's Book Week is the annual celebration of books for young people and the joy of reading.

Established in 1919, Children's Book Week is the longest-running national literacy initiative in the country. Every year, commemorative events are held nationwide at schools, libraries, bookstores, homes -- wherever young readers and books connect! 

April is National Poetry Month

For the month of April we will be focusing on the poetry books by the author Douglas Florian. He writes a lot of books dealing with science, animals and nature. One of my favorite books by Douglas Florian is Unbeelievables

All of the poems are about bees. It is a great tool to tie in Earth Day (April 22) and how bees are disappearing. Many children do not understand why bees and pollen are so important. I use this book to teach 3rd grade about the Earth and environment.