If you feed them, will they come?

Well I added a bird feeder right outside the window of our birdhouse in hopes that it would attract lots of birds and hopefully two of them would make a nest, but no nesting has begun.  We are all trying to be patient and wait to see if  this will work.  My theory is that most of the birds have eaten so much, I'm afraid they probably can't get through the birdhouse hole and begin nesting.  But one good thing is that all of the books about birds at this center are checked out! 

We'll continue our wait for nesting birds.  The saga continues!



Waiting for the birdies!!

http://youtu.be/ZaM4K70suHM

 

Bird watching center in the library

 

 

Bird watching center rules

Our new bird watching center is set up and ready to go.  We can hardly wait until the birds discover it and decide to make it their home.  Then, the students who use the center will be able to share what they are learning about this bird habitat.  Nice thing is that the birds will not be able to see us, but we can see them building their nest and laying their eggs.  This is a great springtime activity for students to explore and discover!





 

First and Second Graders got a treat today after hearing the story The Gum-Chewing Rattler by Joe Hayes.  Students learned  that this fiction story is an example of a Tall Tale. Tall tales are stories where the author exaggerates the action and where the main character does something very heroic.  They also learned how the illustrator, Antonio Castro L. used photographs of his family as inspiration for his drawings in the book.

Well it is official!  I have earned the title "Queen of Procrastination" for not keeping current on my blog posts.  I've had plenty to talk about so here is an update on what's been happening in the Crockett Library:

January 

In commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, we learned about the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to him in 1964.  Students in grades K, 1, & 2 made Peace Symbol medallions.  Students in grades 3 through 6 listened to the biography about Alfred Nobel's life titled Alfred Nobel, the man behind the peace prize by Kathy-jo Wargin.  They were able to see pictures of what the medal and diploma look like and also learned about the cash award given to recipients.  They also watched a short video from Nobelprize.org showing the moment that Dr. King received his award to a standing ovation.

February 

As usual, our parent volunteers came and decorated the library in a fiesta theme that got everyone in the mood for our book fair.  Unfortunately this Spring book fair was not without its problems.  The weather played a factor in scheduling that cut into our sales tremendously because of the school being closed. But we will have a BOGO fair in May where everyone can purchase lots of great reads at low costs.  Great time to stock up on summer reading materials!

Reading Blackout Bingo

One 6th grader, Daniel E., has completed Level Purple of his bingo sheets.  There are two other 6th graders and two 5th graders who will complete this level soon.

March 

Target Books for Schools Award

Our local Target store awarded our library $500 to purchase books from First Books Marketplace online.  I was able to get lots of new books for different sections of the library that I just know all of our students and staff are going to enjoy! Thank you Target for your generous contribution to continued reading of our Crockett Roos!

  

  

AHH! The wonderful scent of new library books!

 



Getting new books is always exciting for me.  Parts of my big orders usually include some anticipated books in a series.  Others are on recommended lists for K-3, 4-6 or Young Adult or are recommended by my Librarian buddies in Weatherford ISD.  I just know my students are going to love these.  I have carefully gone through my genrecized Fiction section and purchased books for areas that did not have many books – Scary and Graphic books topping the list.  My Nonfiction section gets a facelift now and again especially when science topics get updated.  Autobiographies stand out more in the Biography section now that I have included spine labels on them.

My biggest dilemma when my books arrive is how to tell my students about all of them and when to put them out so that all of the students will have a chance at first picks (usually those in the 3rd rotation who want to get a new book are out of luck by the time their library visit rolls around

:(.

So I tried book talking some of them during 5th and 6th grade lunch, but this past time that did not work well as they were so excited about other things, they really didn’t listen well.

During their 30-minute Collaboration visit, I decided to pass out book marks with a number on the back of 4 of them.  I did this during each group.  Those lucky enough to have a number on the back of their book mark enjoyed the privilege of being the first reader of a new book.

For one of my centers, I have made QR codes that link to book trailers about many of my books.  During their library time, students in grades 4 – 6 will be able to use the library’s iPad minis to “read” these QR codes and find out about more new books that are in the library. 

I feel good that students will be able to learn about new books in our library that they can check out.  One of the worst things that can happen is for the new books to get put on the shelves without students knowing they are there.  Books that continue or complete a series are always great for those who are following characters, an adventurous story line or a certain author’s work.  The older students log in to Destiny Quest to recommend to their friends just what books in the library they have read that are really good.

So my next big shipment of new books should come in soon.  It’s exciting to go into the front office and see those red and white striped book boxes just waiting to be opened!

Scholastic Book Fair

Reading Oasis

October 24 - November 1, 2013

Much thanks to our two parent volunteers Tracy Dixon and Staci Markwardt for once again decorating the library for our book fair!  As always they did a wonderful job and all of it helps get everyone in the mood to enjoy purchasing lots of great stuff at the fair. 

To top everything off, Mrs. Alicia Ellis, one of our wonderful paras, dug into her costume closet and dressed in costume to advertise during crosswalk duty for the evening Family Night on October 24th.  She was also a wonderful "greeter" for all of our families who came and many of the students enjoyed picture taking with Mrs. Ellis before entering and after exiting the book fair.  Thanks again Alicia for helping out!

In addition to wonderful books on sale, a student will be able to win a $5 gift certificate to spend at the book fair if they guess closest to the correct number of pages in a book that is "mummied" (wrapped in toilet paper). Good Luck Roos!  Hope you are the one who wins!

Lunch with a Loved One is Tuesday, Oct. 29th (for last names beginning A - L) & Wednesday, Oct. 30th (for last names beginning M-Z).  We hope to see all of our families out to enjoy lunch and browse the book fair.

Please visit our Crockett Book Fair homepage.  If you can't make it to the fair, you can shop online by going to this site Online Book Fair 10/23 - 11/12.

Parting Gift

I would like to thank all of the students along with their families who participated in our first Crockett Library Storybook Character Pumpkin Patch.  They were all so well done and one dad commented that he thoroughly enjoyed making this a family project and hopes we will do this again next year.  We had a total of 49 pumpkins in our Pumpkin Patch and each participant received a special pumpkin book mark like this one from Oriental Trading. 

@ the Crockett Library

During the week of October 15th, students are bringing in decorated pumpkins for the Crockett Library Storybook Character Pumpkin display.  This idea was courtesy of Cari Young's blog and the inspiration from fellow librarian Shawna Ford.  See if you can figure out some of the pumpkin characters below.  We are having a great time in the Crockett Library seeing all of the creative ideas that have been put into decorating these pumpkins!