Ahhh librarian heaven.....

Yesterday I attended the Boston Book Fest and went to librarian heaven.  Some highlights:

Key note speaker- Lemony Snicket.  He was a riot and read aloud his new picture book The bad mood and the stick.  

I purchased a copy for Upham (as a birthday book) and had it signed by Lemony!

One of the highlights of my day was listening to Javaka Steptoe read Radiant Child.  His book won the Caldecott medal in 2017!  It was one of our UpCott selections from last year (Upham's mock Caldecott award) and I read the book to many of the classes.

 I also enjoyed listening to Bryan Collier read a few of his books.  He read his newest title, It's shoe time, which hasn't been released yet!  I was able to purchase a copy for Upham (as a birthday book) and got it signed.

Peter H. Reynolds was there signing his books.  I had him sign Upham's copy of the Dot (remember how we celebrated Dot Day?!), Ish and Sky Color.

Learning the parts of a book

First graders spent two weeks learning the parts of a book.  In the first week, we read Charlie Cook's Favorite Book by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Shuffler and discussed its parts:

We talked about the cover (title, author, illustrator), back cover, title page, and spine (what's on the spine?!).

The following week, students showed me their skills by working with a partner to label their own book:

Just right???

This week second graders learned more about choosing a "just right" book.  A "just right" book varies by reader, but some suggestions:

• look for books with pictures!  Pictures help tell the story when you're hung up on some of the words
• avoid books with very tiny print
• read some of the book- you should understand most of the words and most of the story (but it's okay to still have some questions)
• look for books with topics that interest you

We followed our lesson by listening to the book How to read a story by Kate Messner

Students then got to practice choosing "just right" books by organizing a pile of books into "just right" and not "just right"

Acceptable Use Policy (AUP)

Last week 4G students reviewed Wellesley's AUP -- the acceptable use policy for technology.  Students worked in teams to break down each rule.  Each team was assigned two rules-- their job was to put the rule in their own words, provide examples of the rule in the "real world" and explain why the rule is important.  Each team presented their rules in front of the class.

After discussing what it means to sign your name on something, students signed that they "agree to the Wellesley Public Schools Acceptable Use Policy".

Our newest center was a hit!

Yesterday, students were very excited about our new library center- origami!  Lots of creations were made after being provided origami paper and instruction books.