1/2/3

2016 – 2017

January

Students in rooms 4 and 217 have been working over the past 4 weeks on a mini research project about Influential Americans with a focus on Black History Month and those who have enriched out world.  Using PebbleGo and World Book Online as our sources for factual information, students took notes, wrote monologues and the recorded their work using FlipGrid.

Our FlipGrids are password protected.  Please e-mail your students’ classroom teacher or Mrs. Wynkoop  for the password.

December

juliapotusStudents in rooms 212 and 214 have been working over the past 3 weeks on a mini research project about Influential Americans, Presidents and First Ladies.  Using PebbleGo and World Book Online as our sources for factual information, students took notes, wrote monologues and the recorded their work using FlipGrid.andrew-jackson

Our FlipGrids are password protected.  Please e-mail your students’ classroom teacher or Mrs. Wynkoop  for the password.

Ms. MessomFlipGrid room 212

Ms. LipsenFlipGrid room 214

November

Genre Studies Continue with Students in Ms. Scordas’ genreholds218class.

As a yearlong focus, students in 218 are reading one book from each of our genre classifications each month. Our newly “genrefied” fiction collection allows students to select from: Adventure, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Science Fiction, Mystery, Realistic Fiction, Scary, Humor, Sports and Graphic Novels.  Check back each month for a brief presentation of select books presented to our DBE Readers.  The picture to the right is a pile of holds placed by 218 Readers after our genre talk 11/14/2016!

October
intresearchOur school-wide mock election has come to a close alongside our national presidential election.  Thanks to Capstone Publications and PebbleGo for provided both the resources for our research and the platform through which our students voted.intelection

Over 5 weeks all DBE students, K-5, used PebbleGo to research the two
candidates from the two major parties before submitting their votes online.  This collaborative venture with all our DBE classroom teachers was a huge success.  We saw 418 of our 427 students vote on Monday November 7, 2016.

2015-2016

29 February – 1 April – March Book Madness

For the second time, DBE Readers will be participating in a worldwide March Book Madness.  Thanks to the Nerdy Book Club, all DBE readers have the opportunity to help seed (select) 16 participants (books) to compete in a bracket modeled after NCAA’s March Madness.  The theme for 2016 is FANTASY vs. FICTION.

We are using classtime to READ BOOKS!  It has be a phenomenally enjoyable experience for everyone and our students are at the perfect age to soak up the joys and wonders of picture books.  Students are cheering for their favorite stories!

Brackets are available for Picture Books, Middle Grade Readers and Young Adult Titles.  DBE Readers will be looking solely at the Pictures Books Bracket.  Thanks to our DBE PTA, and their Special Initiatives Grant, we will have 3 copies of each MBM title available!

CCSS – RF.1.1 We can demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of print.
RF.2.4, RF.3.4, RF.4.4 We can read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.

January 7 – February 22

Ms. Adriance’s Class has been writing books about countries around the world.  Using World Book Online, Culture Grams and The Book Creator App students have compiled eBooks to share (all are in .pdf format).

To view student work you will need a password.  You can contact Ms. Adriance for more information.

January 2016

October 22

Students from Ms. Scordas’ Class and Ms. Filep’s class came to the library to learn a little bit more about Indigenous Peoples.  Robbie Robertson (singer/songwriter) and David Shannon (author/illustrator) have teamed up in their new book Hiawatha and the Peacemaker.  This Iroquois legend tells of how 5 nations came together to form the great Iroquois Nation following years of fighting.

Our conversations were about the struggle Hiawatha faced as he chose peace over war/vengeance even after Todadaho had killed his wife and children.  In fact, Hiawatha, carrying the message of the peacemaker chose forgiveness and peace.

October 15

For a couple of weeks now, the students of Rm 220, Ms. Forselius and I have been thinking about our reading lives.  Specifically we talked about out book selection in relation to the choices we make about food.  We compared some books to treats or desserts and we talked about how books can feed/fuel our brains.

On our return trip to the library today, Ms. Forselius and I had an opportunity to conference with students about their most recent book selections.  Sometimes guidance is in order but the conferences most often serve to celebrate the reading lives of our students.  They have the opportunity to share their choices and talk about reading.  This was the first time in my 3+ years at Bagley that I have had the opportunity to build reading relationships with students at this level.

We have created Bingo Boards to help students set reading goals.  The game simply provided a structure and suggestions for readers.  Each student can decide the path that they choose.  Next week Rm 220 will be back to learn more about the Bingo Boards AND share more about their reading choices.

2014-2015

May 18 – June 5

Each class will be working together to make a digital alphabet book of ocean creatures.  Each student has been assigned a letter and an ocean creature.  We will be using articles from PebbleGo, World Book Kids and World Book Student for our research.

Once initial research is completed, each student will make one page in the collective alphabet book using Storykit.

CCSS W.2.6, W.3.6 With guidance and support from adults, we can use a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including collaboration with peers.

April 27 – May 15

Ocean Creatures Exploration continues!  In our last session students used identified, trusted resources to complete a graphic organizer.  Now, each student will complete an e-book planning guide.  Information from their initial graphic organizer will be sorted and selected in order to plan for the creation and publication of an e-book.

For publication, students will be able to choose from either StoryKit or Keynote.  Both tools are new to our students at DBE and we will be doing a great deal of scaffolding to help students learn to use these tools.

CCSS
SL.3.4 We can present information, finding, and supporting evidence such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development and style are appropriate to task, purpose and audience.

SL.2.5, SL.1.5 We can make strategic use of digital media and visual displays of data to express information and enhance understanding of presentations.

March 30-April 24

March Book Madness was a huge success.  Congratulations to the winning book, “The Day the Crayons Quit” by Drew Daywalt.  It was a tough competition.  Students used a 5 star rating system to evaluate 5 criteria for each book (Story, Characters and Illustrations, Setting and Theme).

CCSS – RF.1.1, RF.K.1 We can demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of print.

March 9-27

Most of our classes still need time to identify which ocean creatures have books in our DBE Library and which have Worldbook Online or PebbleGo articles about them.  We will be using some of our time to complete our search for quality resources prior to beginning our research.

Once our resources have been identified we will more to topic selection.  Topic selection will require students to select an ocean creature, from their A-Z list, that has a minimum of 2 resources available.  Following initial selection, we will begin our research.

Each student will be given a graphic organizer for collection information about their ocean creature.  We will only use our identified resources for our research.  During our research phase we will be focusing on close and careful reading prior to recording information in our organizers.

CCSSRI.1.5, RI.2.5, RI.3.5  – We know and can use various text features to locate key facts or information in a text.
RI.4.9 – We can integrate information from 2 texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject.

February 18 – March 6

For the first time, DBE Readers will be participating in a worldwide March Book Madness.  Thanks to the Nerdy Book Club, all DBE readers have the opportunity to help seed (select) 64 participants (books) to compete in a bracket modeled after NCAA’s March Madness.

We are using classtime to READ BOOKS!  It has be a phenomenally MBM23enjoyable experience for everyone and our students are at the perfect age to soak up the joys and wonders of picture books.  Each student is starting with a list of their top ten from each side of the bracket.  We are using that to calculate our totals and submit our school-wide response.  Students are cheering for their favorite stories!

Brackets are available for Picture Books, Middle Grade Readers and Young Adult Titles.  DBE Readers will be looking solely at the Picture Books Bracket.

If your student would like to submit their selections, independent of our school wide selections, they can simply use the Picture Books form and list their top ten titles for each of the 2 categories (2014 and before 2014).

CCSS – RF.1.1 We can demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of print.
RF.2.4, RF.3.4, RF.4.4 We can read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.

January 26 – February 13

We are digging deep into our research process this unit.  In addition, we are continuing to embed iPad skills and strategies into our work.

Students have been working in groups to use print resources to identify an oceananimalsalphabet of ocean animals.  Using our library’s print resources we found the index was an excellent place to look for ocean animals.  In addition, many of our books had a table of contents that directed us to the section of a book that had just ocean animals.  Even with extensive library print resources, there were some letters of the alphabet that we were unable to identify ocean animals for – V, X, I and Z  were particularly challenging.

Once our print resources were exhausted we moved to using the iPads and web browsers, in conjunction with strong keywords, to fill in our lists.  Now that we had iPads in hand we began to identify which digital resources were going to support our continued research.  Using our library’s catalog and World Book Kids students continued to work in groups to see if either had information on the ocean animal identified in their alphabetical list.

CCSSRI.1.5, RI.2.5, RI.3.5  – We know and can use various text features to locate key facts or information in a text.
RI.4.9 – We can integrate information from 2 texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject.

SL.1.1, SL2.1, SL.3.1,  – We can participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade level topics and texts.
SL.4.1 – We can engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their our own clearly.

January 5-23

In January we are using our time together in the library to introduce and practice the use of a PED (Personal Electronic Device) as a tool while at school.  In particular, we are fortunate enough to have a full class set of iPads available to us.

All  DBE students, K-5, agree to the following:

I will only use the iPad for its
intended purpose.
And if I don’t,
I will not use the iPad.

While the use of technology to enhance, enrich and support our work as students is vital to our continued growth as 21st century digitial citizens, it still stands that the use of the iPads at DBE is a privilege and not a right.  The agreement above, coupled with our conversations in class prior to using the iPads illustrates how our use of PEDs at home is often guided by different principles than our use of PEDs at school. We draw the line between home/entertainment and school/education.

iPad123sEach grade level is using the iPads in different ways to practice our in school protocols and procedures.  Every students is assigned an iPad color and number that will be their iPad for the remainder of the school year.  This helps to streamline distribution and collection as well as follow up with a user when an iPad has any issues regarding condition or content.

Our 4/5s have been using the iPads for some time now while our K-3/4s are using this time to acclimate themselves to a library that offers them access to iPads as a resource.  You students are using the iPads to navigate to the DBE Library Blog and then the Library’s Catalog.  Using the catalog and our “Narrow your Search” strategies, students are creating a list of “Books on Deck” in the Field Journals.  This list of on Deck Books will then help to facilitate all school check out on Tuesdays AND gives us a great place to begin to expand our interests.  For many of our students, using the Library’s Catalog to find the title, author and call # is a skill we still need to practice.

If you have questions or concerns about student use of iPads at DBE, please feel free to contact me:  rlwynkoop@seattleschools.org.

December 1-19

The weeks sandwiched between Thanksgiving and the Winter Break are a few of the most challenging weeks in school.  Students and teachers are so excited and often focus is an issue.  DBE Library users are fortunate enough, however, that each year we dive into the life and times of Snowflake Bentley as a way to harness our excitement and celebrate the magic of this time of year.

We will spend our time exploring a few different resources that will provide an opportunity to immerse ourselves in the study of snow.  Resources will include:

We will be using out Field Journals to record information gained from our fiction, non-fiction and electronic resources.  If time allows, students will be given an opportunity to create their own, one of a kind, snowflake that will be used to spruce up the library through December, January and February.

CCSS RI.4.7 Interpret information presented visually, orally or quantitatively and explain how the information contributes to an understanding of the text in which it appears.

RI.3.7 Use information gained from illustrations and the words in a text to demonstrate understanding of the text.

RI.2.7 Explain how specific images contribute to and clarify a text.

RI.1.7 Use illustrations and details in a text to describe its key ideas.

November 3 – 21

This is our last week to prepare for our visit from @TheTreehouseMan.  Daryl will be joining us on December 3rd from 2:30-3:30pm!  We are allowing ourselves the time to continue to explore books that are about or have trees in them. For this lesson we are reading Red Knit Cap Girl and the Reading Tree by Naoko Stoop.

We are also exploring the Treehouses of the Pacific Northwest App.  Students will be given time to complete their Treehouse designs/plans.  Each design should be 1) detailed 2) include labels 3) use color in a way that enhances/highlights important features.

Students who complete their designs will begin to write 3-5 questions they may want to ask Daryl when he comes to visit.

RI1.7, RI.2.7, RI.3.7 I can explain how specific images contribute to and clarify a text.

October 13 – October 31

celebritreesboys

This week we are celebritreesgirlsspending one full day reading from Celebritrees: Historic and Famous Trees of the World by Margi Preus.  In addition to furthering our knowledge of trees we took some time to arrange our Celebritrees in order of age.  Students worked in medium sized groups to create a chronology of Celebritrees.

We spent some time looking at actual images of the 14 Celebritrees presented in the book.  In addition, a few students even made recommendations for additional trees that should have been considered for the book.

Our second day was devoted both to continuing our Treehouse design and our annual Literary pumpkins.  Students are given a blank pumpkin template and asked to turn it into their favorite literary character .  Some favorites include Bad Kitty, Scaredy Squirrel, Elephant and Piggie, Garfield and Monkey with a Toolbelt.

CCSS
RI.1.5, RI.2.5, RI.3.5, RI.3.5 We can use various text features to locate key facts or information in a text efficiently.


September 22 – October 10

treehouseWe are in the beginning stages of our Treehouse/Building projects.  Students will spend weeks (during their scheduled library times) listening to 13-Story Treehouse by Andy Griffiths.  We are using this book and its illustrations to inspire our designs and identify a good use of space with regard to labeling charts/graphs/illustrations/etc.

In addition to reading the book by Griffiths, we took some time to watch 3 short video clips from Pete Nelson – a treehouse builder from Fall City, WA.  We are excited to continue our look at trees, buildings, and communication through illustration.

CCSS
RI.1.5, RI.2.5, RI 3.5 I know and can use various text features to locate key facts or information in a text efficiently.
RI1.7, RI.2.7, RI.3.7 I can explain how specific images contribute to and clarify a text.

September 1-19

Library Schedules have changed this year!

First, all school library checkout will occur on Tuesdays!  Students should bring back their books for collection Tuesday mornings and families should be able to ask “What new book did you check out of the library?” at the end of the day.

Second, the DBE PCP schedule (visits to Art, PE, Tech, and Library) has moved to an ABC rotation.  One week your student will attend art 5 days a week for 40 minutes, then PE for 5 days for 40 minutes and the third leg of the rotation is 2 days on technology followed by 2 days of library (each visit for 40 minutes).

For the first 2 visits of library this year, the 2, 2/3 and 1/2/3 classes came to the library and reviewed library policies and procedures as well as classroom expectations.

bees

In order to build our sense of community and to serve as a visual reminder that the library is shared by everyone, each student colored a bumble bee with their name on it.  This was done K-5 and by all school staff.

Lastly we spent some time creating and organizing our Field Journals.  Students will be using their sketchbooks throughout the year to keep library/information literacy related work in one location.  Field Journals stay in the library but will be sent home at the end of the school year.  We began our Field Journals with a Table of Contents and a list of “Books We’ve Read” together so far this year.

CCSS
SL.1.2, SL.2.1, SL.2.1 I can engage effectively in a collaborate discussion.

2013-2014

May 21-23

SPRING BOOK FAIR this week!  Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week we will be hosting a Spring Book Fair in the library.  Students will be given the opportunity to browse the selecetion, brought to us by the University Bookstore, and make wish lists to share with the loving adults in their lives.  Book Fair will be open for purchases each day after school.

May 14-16

All students will continue their super hero writting this week – vital statistics, backstory and fast facts will be our focus.

CCSS
W.1.2 – Text Types and Purposes: Write informative/explanatory texts in which they name a topic, supply some facts about the topic, and provide some sense of closure.
W.2.2 – Text Types and Purposes: Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts and definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or section.
W.3.2 – Text Types and Purposes: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

May 7 – May 9

Almost all students will be working on their super hero Name and Backstory this week.  We are using our Field Journals to gather the information needed to complete the different sections of our encyclopedia of super hero animals.  Once we have gathered a critical mass of information to complete each text feature, we will begin to add these pieces to our final document.

CCSS
W.1.2 – Text Types and Purposes: Write informative/explanatory texts in which they name a topic, supply some facts about the topic, and provide some sense of closure.
W.2.2 – Text Types and Purposes: Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts and definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or section.
W.3.2 – Text Types and Purposes: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

April 30 – May 2

This week we are continuing to gather our Vital Statistics about our animals.  Students who are able to finish this information gathering activity and who show me their work is completed will be moving on to the Name and Backstory of their super hero animal.  Moving away from the factual gathering of information and into a more fictionalized use of facts is our next step.

CCSS
RI.1.5 – Craft and Structure: Know and use various text features to locate key facts or information in a text.
RI.2.5 – Craft and Structure:  Know and use various text features to locate key facts or information in a text efficiently.
RI.3.5 – Craft and Structure: Use text features and search tools to locate information relevant to a given topic efficiently.

April 23-25

Now that we have all chosen our just right reading material related directly to our topic (animal), we are diving into the factual portion of our research this week. Students are gluing a “Vital Statistics” form into their field journals to use as a guide for gathering factual information about their chosen animal.  As good researchers, and then writers, we are working to gather relevant information from credible sources.

CCSS
RI.1.5 – Craft and Structure: Know and use various text features to locate key facts or information in a text.
RI.2.5 – Craft and Structure:  Know and use various text features to locate key facts or information in a text efficiently.
RI.3.5 – Craft and Structure: Use text features and search tools to locate information relevant to a given topic efficiently.

April 9-11

This week we are finalizing our book/topic selection and preparing to read to learn.  Students are beginning their reading and animal investigations.

CCSS RF.3.4, RF.2.4, RF.1.4 Fluency – Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.

April 2-4

We are coming back to our animal books this week to begin our selection process.  Students will be working to number their book lists 1,2,3 in order to make sure our selections are good fits for us as readers/researchers.  Students will be working to find one or two animal books that they can read with fluency that they would like to learn about and eventually turn into super heroes.

CCSS RF.3.4, RF.2.4, RF.1.4 Fluency – Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.

March 26-28

23animals1In order to prepare ourselves for our animal/super hero research we spent the week looking through animal books that best fit us as readers.  All too often students/researchers lock themselves into their favorite animal (topic) without first looking for information that is a good fit for them as readers.

23animalsUsing pre-selected books on animals, students participated in a book pass (2 minutes at each library table, writing down possible animals only from books that are at an appropriate level).  We created T-charts in our Field Journals to help us keep track of the books that we identified would work for us as readers and researchers.

CCSS RF.3.4, RF.2.4, RF.1.4 Fluency – Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.

 

March 19-21

shextfeatures1This week we are going to begin identifying the text features of non-fiction (expository) text.  Using our superhero, Ulysses (Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures), as inspiration and The Avengers : Earth’s mightiest heroes, the ultimate character guide as our non-fiction mentor text, we will spend our time identifying the specific types of information presented, the form the information takes when presented and looking at expository language used to inform readers.  Students will be working in small groups to identify the text features evident in this particular book in order to prepare for our own work creating superheroes.shtextfeatures

CCSS
RI.3.7 Reading Informational Text – Use information gained from illustrations (e.g., maps, photographs) and the words in a text to demonstrate understanding of the text (e.g., where, when, why and how key events occur).
RI.2.5 Reading Informational Text – Know and use various text features (e.g., captions, bold print, subheadings, glossaries, indexes, electronic menus, icons) to locate key facts or information in a text efficiently.
RI.1.5 Reading Informational Text – Know and use various text features (e.g., headings, tables, glossaries, electronic menus, icons) to locate key facts or information in a text.

March 12-14

Sadly we are just about to stop our reading out loud and move towards our actual integration and evaluation of information obtained through information text.  Flora and Ulysses have provided a captivating hook for us as we dive deep into non-fiction texts that will explore our exploration (next week).  For now, however, READ ON GOOD READERS!

CCSS RI.3.7, RI.2.7, RI.1.7 Reading Informational Text – Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.

March 5-7

Holy Bagumba!

We are continuing to read from Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures.  Fortunately the chapters are fairly short.  With only 10 (sometimes 15) minutes each week to work on our units of study, it does take us a little while to move through a good sized chapter book.  We’ll keep reading for a couple more weeks and then dive into our research!

CCSS RI.3.7, RI.2.7, RI.1.7 Reading Informational Text – Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.

February 26-28

We are continuing to read from Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures.  Fortunately the chapters are fairly short.  With only 10 (sometimes 15) minutes each week to work on our units of study, it does take us a little while to move through a good sized chapter book.  We’ll keep reading for a couple more week and then dive into our research!

CCSS RI.3.7, RI.2.7, RI.1.7 Reading Informational Text – Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.

February 12-14

Our first week of Flora and Ulysses was a huge hit!  Kate DiCamillo is a master story teller and has hit the nail on the head with this fast paced story about a super hero squirrel and Flora, her caretaker.  We are continuing to read this week and focusing on our listening skills.  There is often a great deal of detail in the first few chapters and we want to be sure we know who the characters are, where the story takes place and for now, how the characters relate.  If you’d like to hear Ms. DiCamillo talk about her 2014 Newberry Award winning book, check this out!

CCSS RI.3.7, RI.2.7, RI.1.7 Reading Informational Text – Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.

February 5-7

We are starting Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures today!  In order to start with a big chunk of text, we will be spending 1/2, maybe 2/3 of our class time reading aloud from this Newberry Award Winning book.  The first chapter of this book includes a brief graphic novel/comic strip explaining the initial tragedy, “You’re going to vacuum up that squirrel!”

For more on our unit of study, centered around this brilliant book, check out the front page of the DBE Library Blog.

CCSS RI.3.7, RI.2.7, RI.1.7 Reading Informational Text – Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.

January 29-30

As a culminating activity for our unit of study on the Chinese New Year we will be making dragon paper bag puppets in class this week. We will immerse ourselves in the audio experience of listening to a playlist of Chinese New Year celebratory music and watching a very brief video of a dragon puppet in a Chinese New Years parade.

In preparing our dragons we will review our fiction, narrative non-fiction and expository on-fiction and our knowledge of the role of the dragon as a symbol in Chinese culture.

Plenty of time for checkout too. If students are unable to finish their puppets in class, they will be able to take all necessary supplies home to complete the project.

CCSS RI.3.7, RI.2.7, RI.1.7 Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

January 22-24

We are using expository non fiction resources (2 World Book Online Articles) this week to learn more about the Chinese New Year.  Students are highlighting key phrases and pieces of information and then gluing the short articles into their Field Journals.  To wrap up our lesson we are coming back together as a class to share what we have learned from our 3 sources:

  • The Runaway Wok: A Chinese New Years Tale (fiction)
  • The Great Race: The Story of the Chinese Zodiac (narrative non-fiction)
  • The Chinese New Year – World Book Online (expository non-fiction)

January 15-17

This week we are continuing our study of the Chinese New Year with teh book The Great Race: The Story of the Chinese Zodiac by Dawn Casey.  This book, published by Barefoot Books (thanks to parent Rep Alice for facilitating the acquisition of this beautiful book!), tells the story of the Jade Emperor and the race for all animals that was used to identify each of the 12 years in the Chinese Calendar.

While listening to the story, students used their Field Journals to record the names of the animals as they appeared in the story.  At the end we found that there were 13 animals listed and yet only 12 animals in the Chinese calendar.  It was apaprent to all students that the sleepy cat that trusted his “firend” the rat was the one animal in our list that did not make it on the Calendar.

January 8-10

We will spend the large majority of the month of January learning about the Chinese New Year.  This week we began to explore cultural aspects and images of Chinese New Year through the engagine story The Runaway Wok: A Chinese New Year Tale by Ying Change Compestine.  Students listened carefully for animals, foods, games/toys and setting details.

December 18-20

What more could I ask for to culminate 1,2,3, 2/3 winter unit but a little snow – is that really too much to ask?  This week we are working to turn our library into a winter wonderland – a display that this time strapped librarian is hoping will last well into February!

Students are meeting at our demo station where we watch one sample snow flake (materials needed include basket coffee filters, scissors, and of course paper bags to catch our clippings).  In addition to Ms. Wynkoop modeling the taco, 1/4, pizza fold and making small cuts, we also looked at the Happy Snowflake App on the library iPad to see how the cuts we make translate into snowflake patterns.

After library checkout, we are listening to a specially selected medley of snow and winter songs while we quietly create our one-of-a kind snowflakes and bask in the magic of snowfall.  Students are delighted to see their work instantly displayed in the library!

December 11-13

Continuing with our hoping and wishing for snow, we are  continuing to read Snowflake Bentley (see below).  In addition, we are exploring the many images of snowflakes created by Willie himself by browsing through digitally preserved pictures on the library iPads.

December 4-6

Cold weather and holiday fever often prove difficult for students when focus and attention is required.  So, since the meteorologists in our area are predicting snow next week, we are going to focus our reading on snow for the month of December!  This week we are reading Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin.  This lovely biography alternates between narrative and expository text as we learn about the life of Willie “Snowflake” Bentley – the first man to photograph snowflakes.

In our field journals this week we are working on extracting information from both narrative and expository texts.

November

20-22

This week we are finishing our biography Balloons Over Broadway (see below) in order to better understand the visual images and film we will explore.

As we watch the short video clips, we will continue to take notes in our Field Journals.

13-15

We are continuing to use narrative text to extract information.  This week we began reading a biography, Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade by Melissa Sweet (a Caldecott honor winner).  We are introduced to Tony Sarg, “the boy who loved to figure out how things moved – the boy who became the puppeteer of Macy’s parade!”  Prior to starting our reading each student placed an author/title sticker on the next open page in their Field Journals.  As students listen to the story they can simply listen or sketch their idea for a giant rubber puppet that would float above the crowd in a parade.  While reading we pause to discuss vocaublary (immigrant, articulate/gesture, marionette, etc) in addition to writting down key pieces of information in our Field Journals (1924, Thanksgiving, Ohio, rubber, helium, etc).

6-8

When we last recorded in our Field Journals we made a shopping list for items needed to make the Bliss family “Loverice1 Muffins.” Returning to our work in Bliss by Kathryn Littlewood, students were given the opportunity to extract items from a recipe written in narrative form. Two units of measurement used in the recipe were “acorns” and “fists” (one fist of flour and 2 acorns of Tahitian vanilla).

Using rice, measuring spoons and cups, empty walnut shells and our Field Journalsrice2 each student was given a chance to estimate and then measure how must 1 fist and one acorns is in a more standard unit of measurement (cups/Tbsp/tsp).  As a class we made a chart of our findings to determine which measurement was most common among the students in the class.  Our finding were then recorded in our Field Journals.

October

30-November 1

pumpkins2013This week, in order to celebrate October, we read from one of my all time favorite scary stories, Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds.  Even though I did read this book with many of the same students last year the cover was met with cheers as we dove into this book that is “fat, crisp and free for the taking” just like the carrots in Crakenhoppen field.

In addition, our literary themed pumkins have returned.  What a delight to have our library decorated with such creative student work!

23-25

Book Fair this week! Students are spending 1/2 of our library time checking out books and 1/2 of our time together browsing the selection of books brought to us by the University Bookstore.

In addition to our building hours, you can also shop online to support your Bagley Library.  25% of all sales go directly to adding books to our DBE Library.

Wednesday 10/23 – 3:30-6:30pm
Thursday 10/24 3:30-8:30pm (Literacy Night)
Friday 10/25 – 3:30-6:30pm

16-18

Continuing our study of Bliss by Kathryn Littlewood, we used out Field Journals this week to make a shopping list for the “Muffins of Green Squash.  To Dissolve Love’s Various Impediments.”  Students recorded

  • 1 Large Green Squash
  • 1 Fist of Flour
  • 1 Fist of Sugar
  • 2 Acorns of Tahitian Vanilla
  • 1 egg of the Masked Love Bird from the “primordial forests of Madagascar”

In addition to talking about the magical ingredients, we identified each unit of measurement.

Next week, Book Fair!

9-11

BlissCharactersWe started with chapter 1 of Bliss by Kathryn Littlewood.  In chapter 1 most of the characters for teh book are introduced in a rapid fire fashion as Rosemary “Rose” Bliss find her mother upset over a kitchen mess created by her younger sister.

Students were introduced to their Field Journals.  As students move from their  K/1, 1/2 classes into their 1,2,3/2/3 classes they “graduate” from our weekly passports to our Field Journals.  Field Journals are kept in the library for the duration of the school year.  Almost each week students will be working in their Field Journals.  This week, as we listened to chapter 1, students glued a character sheet into their passports.  As they listened and identified which names went with which characters, they drew lines from one column to the next.

2-4

Beginning to explore parts of books as well as listening carefully were our foci for the week.  Students sat on the carpet and listened to the Prologue of Bliss by Kathryn Littlewood.  Before we began our read aloud, I promoted students to think of what sounds they heard in the story as well as what smells.

In this story about a family of magical bakers we heard and smelled:

  • rain
  • burnt toast
  • rain that sounds like gravel
  • the crack of lightning
  • the slamming of a minivan door
  • cakes and cookies
  • thunder
  • wet clothes
  • engines revving

Students were dimissed from our read aloud to check out up to 3 books.  We are trying to work our way up to a weekly checkout of 5 but many students are still struggling to remember to bring books back.  So, for now, we’ll stick with a total of 3 checkouts at a time.

September

25-27

Early Dismissals, Jogathon and other school events have thrown our library schedule for a loop this week.  For those classes that were able to come this week, we celebrted ALA’s Banned Books Week by exorcing our right to choose.  Our mantra for the week, and one that will continue throughout the year is, “Daniel Bagley Elementary readers make choices that are right for them and their families.”  Emphasizing that one student cannot choose what is “right” for another, we took some time to explore the writting of Dav Pilkey and a few other frequently banned or challenged authors.

Students were each given a page from a book and asked to didact those words they thought someone might find offensive, inappropriate, misleading or in general, just not fun to say.  We were left with some very choppy, incomprehensible text that left us wondering where the story had gone.  As students cried, “that just doesn’t make sense” (inbetween their giggles), we talked about how it just doesn’t make sense for one student to choose what is right for another.  In fact, “DBE readers make choices that are right for them and their families.”

18-20

Checkout has increased to 2 books.  However, if students did not remember to bring their books back they can only check out up to 2 books, total.  We will incrementally move towards our delightful goal of checking out 5 books each week but it can be a bit of a slow process.  Fortunately, our schedule will remain constant for year.  So, if you child has library on Wednesdays now, that will still be the case in June.

We read a fun book with charming illustrations, by Jennifer Sattler, this week.  In the book Chick and Pug, Chick wants desperately to grow up to be a WONDER PUG!  Chick, in an effort to save his idol from the ferocious cat, Mr. Snuggles, find that even though he is a chick (and not a pug), he can use his words to help his friend.

Part of learning to use the school library has been to come in quietly, sit patiently and wait for instructions.  Students have quickly mastered this practice and have begun to look for book independently during checkout time.  We are also talking about sharing our library and our books with the whole DBE community.  One way we can do this is to use a book mark to keep our place or even remember which book we’ve borrowed.  Students were given time, after checkout today, to finish the book marks they started last week.

11-13 September

What a delight it was to have students so eager to check out books this week.  We are reading a very clever story, “Gilbert Goldfish Wants a Pet” byKelly DiPucchio.  In addition to reading the book, I have the pleasure of introducing our students to our library pets – Gilbert the goldfish and his buddy Fluffy (our bottom feeding pleco).

Students were given plenty of time to look for their first book of the school year.  While waiting for the class to finish, students began working on book marks that they will be able to take home and use to keep their places in their exciting books.  The 2 requirements for the book marks included: 1) your name 2) pictures or words appropriate for school.

Next week will be our first week to return books.  Please be sure to send all the DBE Library books to school with your student(s) on the days listed below:

Wednesday | Green, Moore, Vonderlage, Messom, Forselius and Humphrey

Thursday | Scordas, Bauer, Stackhouse, Bader, Sams and Filep

Friday | Young, Manley, Outhouse, Roos, Stone, Richards and Norton

4-6 September

Welcome Back to the DBE Library!  I am delighted to have opened our library with tons of new books and a renewed sense of organization and purpose.  Due to new data systems at the District level our circulation of library books has been delayed until the second week of school.  This delay, however has provided a unique opportunity to wet the appetites of all our Readers and I am sure we’ll have them ready to go for check out next week.

For the first day of class we took the opporunity to browse all of the new additions to the library.  Some highlights include:

binsIn addition, we took the time to practice returning our books to the library bins that get placed outside of each homeroom in the morning on the day each class has library.  With new bins and a renewed focus on respecting our library and its resources, we have done an excellent job practicing this skill in small groups.

Lastly, to begin our community building and understanding of the library as a community space that is shared by all, wemural worked as an entire school (during our library time) to add to our mural.  Our mural asks students and staff to reflect upon the question, “Where did you read this summer?”  Our mural will be posted in the main stairwell for the first few weeks of school.

2012-2013

June 5 – 13

This is our last week of library and last week of school.  Please, don’t forget to return all your books!

May 29 – June 3 scratchboard

We are finishing our reading of The Faithful Friend by Brian Pinkney and jumping into other Pinkney writte/illustrated workds (Cendrillon: A Caribbean Cinderella, Sparrowboy, etc.).  Students have been finishing their scratch board projects in Art with Ms. McNeer and I am delighted to be able to display some of their work in the library!

May 22-24

Book Fair this week.  We’ll be previewing all books.  In addition, this week is that last week to check out books.  All books must be returned next week.

May 15-20

Continuing in our study of Brian Pinkney, we are reading The Faithful Friend.  This retelling of the traditional tale from the French West Indies, in which two friends, Clement and Hippolyte, encounter love, zombies and danger on the Island of Martinique, continues to provide examples of Pinkney’s use of scratch board and rich colors to tell complex stories.

May 8-13

We are jumping into a corss curricular unit that will culminate at the Art Walk and Book Fair on Thursday May 23rd.  Ms. McNeer (art) and I are studying the art and writing of Brian Pinkney.  This week we are going to read JoJo’s FLying Sidekick written and illustrated by Brian Pinkney.  Mr. Pinkney uses a photograph and scratch board for his inspiration and medium.   He grew up posing for photographs his father took of him that then were used to inspire the scratch board artistry.

If you’d like to know which Pinkney book the DBE Library has, follow this link.

May 1-6

Concerned that we often lose the understanding and appreciation of communications when conducted electronically I wanted to be sure that the 2/3s had a chance to express our gratitude to Zoo Atlanta for their time and organization, as well as for their willingness to share their knowledge with us.  This week we signed a large posted of thanks that will be sent to Zoo Atlanta staff who met us online via Google+ Hangout.  In honor of the original Ivan, students first signed the posted with their thumbprint and then signed their names.  Ivan always sigend his paintings with his thumbprint.

April 30 – Hangout with Zoo Atlanta

Ivan the Gorilla: Beyond the Book

April 24 – 29

Each students has selected one question they would like to ask the Zoo Keepers from Zoo Atlanta during our Google+ Hangout on Tuesday April 30, 2013.  We are so excited to finally get to ask our most pressing questions about Ivan the Gorilla.  For more information on the Hangout, visit the Zoo Atlanta’s You Tube page to learn more.

April 10-22

Students referenced the article published by Zoo Atlanta to answer the questions we glued into our Field Journals.

April 3 – 8

Students have placed the following questions in their Field Journals.

  • How old was Ivan when he died?
  • How did Ivan die?
  • When was Ivan born?
  • Where was Ivan born?
  • How many years did Ivan live at the Tacoma shopping mall?
  • What year did Ivan leave the Tacoma shopping mall?
  • What didn’t Ivan like in his Zoo habitat?
  • How did Ivan sign his paintings?
  • Did Ivan live a long life? How do we know?

We are returning to our article published by Zoo Atlanta this week to answer the questions above.  Right now we are still on track for a Keeper Question and Answer in May!

 

March 27 – April 1

Due to vacations, school events and classroom curricular support, some of our 2/3s are a little off schedule.  I’ll continue to post the trajectory of our work in the library though your student’s class may be slightly off by a week.

This week we are taking our questions that we compiled, as a class, and using an abridged article written by Zoo Atlanta to try and answer some of our more basic questions.  We are still working toward solidifying our Keeper Questions and want to eliminate those questions we can already answer with thorough research.  Students are gluing a questions sheet into their field journals and reading the article together.  We’ll come back in a week and work through our questions together. 

March 20 – 25

Following check out this week we are returning to our selections from Seymour Simon’s book Gorillas.  Students are rereading their selections and asking questions about new or important words.  Then, collectively, we are working to create a list of questions we might ask keepers at Zoo Atlanta.  I am currently working with the education department at Zoo Atlanta to arrange a Skype of Facetime with the Keepers who took care of Ivan.  Students are listening to each others questions as we work to build complex questions that avoid yes or no answers AND actually lead us towards the information we are hungry for.

This week I was able to buy and deliver copies of The One and Only Ivan to each 2/3 class.  This is a captivating book that recently won the Newberry Award and is a gem for teaching literary device, narrative, and historical fiction.

March 13 – 18

Continuing our study of Ivan AND Non-Fiction, we are working this week to learn more, as a collaborative, about Gorillas.  Students will be given short selections from Seymour Simon’s book Gorillas.  Using highlighters and pencils, students will read independently and highlight NEW information and circle UNKNOWN words.  Students are then going to place this in their Field Journals for further discussion next week.

March 6 – March 11

This week we reviewed our work with the library catalog and shared some information about Ivan the Gorilla from the B&I Mall in Tacoma.  Katherine Applegate wrote The One and Only Ivan – a fictional retelling of this fascinating Silverback Gorilla’s life.  The DBE Library is pursuing a special initiatives grant to purchase enough copies for each classroom teacher – copies that will also be made available to students through the library.  In addition to watching the movie trailer for The One and Only Ivan, we watched some footage of Ivan at both the B&I and Zoo Atlanta.

February 27- March 4

We used our class time today to briefly intro biographies for next week’s selection and we were working to finish our small group work centered around the library catalog and searching for keywords.  Students are sharing the iPads well, working collaboratively and are able to navigate between both the PCs and the iPads with little difficulty.

February 20-25

More non-fiction!  This week we are practicing our library catalog skills.  Students are using PCs and iPads to access the DBE library catalog.  In small groups they are searching for books on pre-selected topics.  Students then work together to identify the title, author and call number of the book they have selected.

February 13-Feburary 18

Who doesn’t love a good old fashioned love story?  I’d say 2nd and third graders are a good place to start.  You should have heard the groans with the first class when I told them I was going to read them a love story!  Much to their surprise, however, we read a very different kind of love story – one that they could definitely relate to: Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin.  While listening to the story students also wrote literary valentinesto their favorite authors, genre’s titles, series, topics, etc.) 

February 6-11

Last week we worked through 2 of the 3 columns on our KWL charts.  Students worked collaboratively to record what we already know and what we want to know about Valentines Day.  This week we are reading the book Valentines Day by Trudi Strain Trueit and using this information to answer the questions we asked in the What do I Want to Know column.

In addition, Ms. Trueit suggests that one way to celebrate Valentines Day is to guess  how many candy hearts are in a jar.  So, for the next week students K-5 will hone their skills of estimation to try and win a jar of candy hearts for their classroom.  So far our estimates range from 72 to 1,000,000.   How many candy hearts do you think are in our jar?

January 30 – February 4

Delving deeper into Non-Fiction this week we are using a article from World Book Online to add to our knowledge about Valentines Day.  Students use a pre-printed KWL (What do I Know, What do I Want to Know and What did I Learn) to record information before and after we read the World Book article together.   We share what we know and ask questions about what we want to know before we read the article.  I model this and share my writting with the students on the document camera. While students listen to the article they can also read along, from the copies on their tables.

When we are done reading the article we will take time as a class (independently if students are so inclined) to record in our last column what we Learned from our reading.  When we are done, students glue their KWL charts into their Travel Journals.

January 23-28

We are launching into a non-fiction unit that begins with reviewing the Anatomy of a Book (an lesson we completed in our Field Journals in September).  Students were divided into two large groups – a division that sparked a shuffling of library furniture that is sure to stick.  I love it!  Each student was given a pre-selected non-fiction book that had been screened for content and organization.  With books closed students waited for a book part to be drawn from the basket (Cover, Title Page, Table of Conents, Chapter Headings, Pictures, Captions, Charts/Graphs, Glossary and Index).  The first student to find an example in their book earned a point for their team.

In the battle between Team Aluminum and Team Mercury, Team Mercury suffered a crushing defeat in the the final speed round.  The Saint Bernards squeaked by with one extra point over the Newfoundlands.  More results to come next week.

January 16-21

Puppet Shows this week.   Due to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday not every class got to perform.  We talked briefly about audience as well as performance expectations before diving in to the show.  Students were given their puppets to take home.

January 9 – 14

Puppets, Puppets, Puppets – next week, Puppetshows!

December 19 – January 7

We are spending one more week working on our puppets.  Taking our time to color, cut and build our puppets takes time.  In addition, for library checkout this week students are being asked to think of titles that will allow them to practice their reading at home over break as well as titles that will sustain them for the long holiday (reading with parents is highly recommended).  We continue to try to find a balance between just right books (dinner) and books we LOVE (dessert).  Of course I am a breakfast for dinner kind of mom and that is a perfect example of dinner/dessert – this would be my wish for all Bagley Readers.  Find books that you can read and that you LOVE!

December 12 – December 17

With a 35 minute window for library, once a week, we are still working on our storytelling unit that revolves around the Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.  Each library period allows 15-20 minutes for checkout and 15-20 minutes for a mini lesson and time to work.  Our time together always flys by.

This week we finished coloring our characters and began cutting them out and taping them to bendy straws.  Students are putting a great deal of care into creating their puppets and we are excited to put our puppet show together soon.

December 5-December 10

In addition to our regular checkout, we began to prepare for our next phase in our story telling unit – puppet shows!!  While the previous librarian was a master puppeteer, I regret to report that I am a novice.  Students, however, have begun to prepare their puppets and will work from an adapted script of The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore for the next couple of weeks.

November 28-December 3

In order to preserve the predicatbility of the 2/3 visits to the library we returned to our checkout first, work second routine.  Students get their excitement for checkout done first and then are able to really focus on their learning and the mini lesson presented.  In addition, students have begun to take ownership of the transition from checkout to work by passing out our Library Field Journals and settling quietly into their seats while they wait for everyone to finish.

We continued with our storytelling unit today diving into visual literacy.  I created a graphic novel version of The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore using StripDesigner on my iPad.  As a class we then used a modifed table to work through and identify the People, Objects and Activities in the graphic novel (adapted from ISTE).  Students then pasted their tables into their Field Journals.

For our “Celebrating our Reading Lives” promotion this month, students simply have to have their library records up to date (no late/overdue books) to be entered to win one of two reading pillows for November.  Congrats to Nathan and Alex (both in K/1 classes) – they were our lucky winners for October.

November 14-26 – Conferences AND Happy Thanksgiving!

We have read and are now watching The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by William Joyce.  This work will serve as the foundation for our storytelling unit that will take place throughout December.

If you are interested in our work in the library to date, please take a minute to read the First Trimester Review.

November 7-12

This week students were invited to preview the DBE Book Fair sponsored by the Univesrity Bookstore.  Students were given the opportunity to make wish lists to share with the loving adults in their lives.   I am pleased to report the Book Fair was wildly successful and raised almost $2000.00 for the DBE Library!  Of course we checked out lots of great books too!

October 31-November 5

Watching Trick or Treat Folks, last week, kicked off a discussion about storytelling.  We will be using The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by William Joyce to look at different ways stories are told, what audiences they are created for and the formats they are presented in (animation, print, strips,  puppet shows, electronic books, etc.).  Throughout the months of November and December we will be creating our own stories, in various formats to share with our classmates and reading buddies.

October 24-29

Storytelling comes in many forms.  This week, to celebrate the October holiday, we are watching a short 8 minute Disney film titled Trick or Treat Folks.  This film, from 1952 features hand drawn and colored animation and Donald Duck finds himself on the receiving end of one of the terrible “tricks” he has played on his nephews, Huey, Duey and Louie.

October 17-22

To build on our listening and note-taking skills students were given a copy of an article from World Book Kids Online to paste into their Field Journals.  First we listened and read along with the article.  Next we listened a second time and highlighted information that was new to us.  Finally, to wrap up, we turned to the next page in our Field Journals and used a bulleted list (from 2 previous lessons) to write down any information, old or new, that we remembered from the article we read.

If you’d like more information about resources available online to your families, through the Seattle Public Schools’ Library Services, please contact Ms. Wynkoop.

October 10-15

This week we are celebrating our reading lives.  Check out our literary themed pumpkins!

October 3-8

Sharpening our listening skills and building auditory notetaking strategies is our focus this week.  We are reading The Insomniacs by Karina Wolf.  While listening to the story we are writting down, in our Field Journals, all the things the Insomniacs see or hear at night.

To help with focus and attention, 2/3s have flipp-flopped our regular library schedule.  We begin each class with book selection and check-out and then settle down to work in our field journals – and once a month we READ!

September 26 – October 1

2/3s flipped our regular schedule and we started our days with book selection.  Teachers assessed students’ reading levels and students then used this information to find Just Right Books in the Daniel Bagley Library.  We used the dinner and dessert metaphor, often used by Mr. Millsap in Health and Fitness, to identify how and why we make the choices we do as readers.

Students recorded their reading levels in their Field Journals and one title they chose for “dinner.”

September 19-24

Chickens and Pigs and Cows, Oh My!  This week we are reading Click, Clack Moo, Cows that Type by Doreen Cronin.  Short of wondering how cows can type and if farm animals could actually unionize to overcome the mis-treatment of the farmer, this book is hilarious.

Students will be looking this week at a non-ficiton book related to farms, harvesting, food, animals, etc to look through and identify the anatomy of a non-fiction book.  Field Journals.  We’ll using our Field Journals to document what we (title page, chapters, index, glossary, captions, pictures, etc.) to determine what makes a good non-ficiton book.

September 12-17

After Reading Mo Willem’s new book Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs students selected their own library books to check out from the library.  2-3s were allowed to check out up to 3 books (we’ll eventually be working our way up to 5).

Before checking out, however, we thought a little bit more about our lives as readers.  We made a list in our Field Journals “Kinds of Books I like to Read.”  Students drew pictures, made bulleted lists and underlined their titles as they listed adjectives, emotions, authors, and titles they love the most.

First Week of School! (September 5-10)

Students began the school year listening to Just Another Ordinary Day by Rod Clement.  For me this story represented how not-so-ordinary it felt to be back at school after a wonderful summer!  Throughout the year we will be keeping Field Journals that will provide authentic points of assessment for the librarian and also allow students to see their work cumulatively throughout the year.  While listening to the story, students drew pictures of their Ordinary (or not-so-ordinary) days.

In addition to our work in the Field Journals it was our first library check-out of the year and most students were disappointed that the NEW librarian would only let them check out one book for the first week – this will all change!!

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