A Car Full of Librarians Have the Best Day Ever #IMWAYR 9/23/2013

It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme began by Sheila at Book Journeys as a way to share what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and what is in store for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading. I first learned about it at Teach Mentor Texts. 

This week has been full of the best kind of professional development. On Tuesday, I watched and listened to Kevin Henkes introduce his newest book on a School Library Journal webcast. On Friday, I took part in great take and share conversations taking place in cars while traveling out of town with nine amazing librarians. Our long day trip was fantastic! I picked up wonderful resources and tips at the 20 @ 20 Library Resource Round Up in San Antonio. I met authors Alexander London and Carmen Tafolla and listened attentively to their heart warming keynote speeches where they shared their writing journeys. I got to meet a member of my Twitter PLN- Cari Young aka @myschoollibrary as she presented a session on library centers and through it all, I kept up with the helpful and informative daily conversations on Twitter. 

Last week was Dot Day Celebration Week and what fun we had!

After reading The Dot last week, we read Press Here to continue our Dot Day Celebration. Every class got so excited when the rainbow dot page appeared. On the same day, our students had witnessed a double rainbow on their bus ride to school and it had been the talk all morning. 

My  personal favorite was Let's Give Bot the Chicken Pox!

 

Step 1: Read Boy + Bot.
Step 2: Let kids decorate and cut out dots to put on Bot.
Step 3: Give Bot the Chicken Pox with dots.
Step 4: Have fun

During Dot Day Celebration, we learned about the art of Pointillism and Obliteration art. ECDC kids created their own unique dots and then did their best to obliterate the library. The ECDC Train and Bot were the two favorite places to "make their marks".

I also read Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes. Can you guess why?

It turns out that there are dots on every page.

School Library Journal Kevin Henkes webcast

I very much enjoyed this months School Library Journal's webcast with Kevin Henkes as he introduced his newest book-The Year of Billy Miller. It sounds just perfect for my library. 

Take note: School Library Journal is offering more FREE webcasts with outstanding authors. The next webcast entitled Non-Fiction Book Buzz takes place on Wednesday, September 25 at 3:00 p.m. EST. Take a look and register HERE

For a look at upcoming webcasts with authors you don't want to miss click here: SLJ Webcasts

I also read these Kevin Henkes books to PK and Kinder this week. 

#Virtualbookclub Turtle in Paradise 
Join the conversation on
Monday, September 23 at 9 p.m. EST

I have been enjoying re-reading this Jenni Holm book. It was one of my favorite books nominated for the Texas Bluebonnet Award.

Visit my 2011 Bluebonnet Book Club page: Turtle in Paradise

Now that a movie has come out based on the book, I have been re-listening to Austenland by Shannon Hale. I just wished the movie would come to my area. I guess I will have to wait to purchase the DVD because that decision is already made. I loved the book, and the movie trailers look terrific.

To learn more about Shannon Hale's book and view the movie trailer Click Here

I hope  you have had as lovely as a week as I have had. Happy reading!

Dots, Dots, Everywhere Dots! Getting Ready for Dot Day 2013 #IMWAYR 9-9-2013

It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme began by Sheila at Book Journeys as a way to share what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and what is in store for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading. I first learned about it at Teach Mentor Texts. 

Sure I read a few books this week, but the only one I am talking about today on #IMWAYR is 
The Dot by Peter Reynolds. I read this book to every class and they all loved it. We had a small Dot Day Celebration last year but this year we are doing it up big time.

I met with our new art teacher who was very intrigued by the idea and immediately agreed to collaborate with me. She is teaching students the art technique of Pointillism. Every grade level will approach their dot projects a little differently. For example, three year old PK students will be adding dots to a Pete the Cat page. Older grades will create a in depth project consisting only of dots to create an image of an object or person. We liked the part of the story when Vashti's dots were featured in a school art gallery so our Fifth and Sixth graders will be in charge of setting up our very own "Dot" Gallery to display ECDC students' works of art.



Most kids found this dot fascinating. I think they might decide to try their arts skills at a "dot without making a dot"

Do The DOT!

Peter Reynolds shares The Dot book related activities

Be inspired by the gorgeous Dots at Celebri-Dot

This website features dots created by authors and illustrators. It is remarkable to see the originality and personality in each dot. These dots are good examples for students to see and begin to come up with their own creative dots. 


We really liked this Celebri-Dot  by Cynthia Lord. Her book Rules is one of our favorites. 

If you want to see more amazingly creative Celebri-Dots, click here

Mr. Bones is ready for Dot Day!

 

It's not too late to sign up for Dot Day 2013! You can sign up HERE


Check out my International Dot Day Pinterest Board
I have had a lot of fun collecting resources for Dot Day and saving them to my Pinterest Board. (love Pinterest almost as much as I love Twitter).






Pointillism

This beautiful example of Pointillism art "Touch the Sun" was created by Hungarian artist Sakura Chrno 

Pointillism: 15 striking examples of dot art 

I am looking forward to seeing all the wonderful dots created by our students but I needed to learn a little bit more about Pointillism too. This is what helped me a lot.  Click HERE

Mr. P Studio demonstrates Pointillism, Great idea for Dot Day using paint and Q-Tips.

Here is a very nice Pinterest Board "Pointillism for Kids"

Pointillism technique using pencils as stampers from Classic Play

Good-bye my Angel Boy!

This week, I plan on reading lots and lots of pictures books to my grandson who is moving away to Tennessee. The choice of books will be his to make. How will I ever survive without my little angel boy? My heart is broken. I will make sure to become his new school's best book donor and send a new book or two each month on his behalf. Hopefully that will make his transition a little easier and maybe he won't forget his BB (Best Buddy). 

Mr. Bones Shares Books #IMWAYR September 2, 2013

 It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme began by Sheila at Book Journeys as a way to share what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and what is in store for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading. I first learned about it at Teach Mentor Texts. 

The timer is set for 45 minutes. As my days get fuller and jam packed, I find that setting a timer helps me stay on track PLUS I love to compete against myself. Oh, the little thrills in life. 

 Here is a cool time keepping tool you can  download 
 Scholastic Reading Timer









 What I am reading electronically:

I would read this faster but I have to compete with the 3 year-old for use of my Ipad. It's that face and the "May I use the Ipad, please? I want to learn too" The kid is a genius at manipulation using a smile and those nice manners.

Maggie Stiefvater: The Dream Thieves

I have been getting nervous about things that can escape from our dreams but that's all I can say about it without revealing anything. Like all of Maggie's books, it's a good read and her personality shows through in all the car references and interest in things Celtic. I also learned that there is a possible anti-laser paint that can be added to a car's paint job or headlights to help avoid speeding tickets. I, of course, am like that older person who wears those large, heavy, dark sun shades that drives 20 in a 35 mile per hour zone. Please note that I also never make left turns if it can be avoided. Maggie would plow me over in her Camero.

What I am Reading at School

Since I am pouting about having to report to work on Labor Day, I am going to ask my colleague, Mr. Bones, aka the ECDC Library Watch Dog to take over for me and share what we read to students this week. (Mr. Bones on Twitter @BonesBooks)
Mr. Bones will be sharing all the happenings in our school library on Twitter as a way to keep our families updated.

PK 3 year-olds really loved this one: 
Five Little Monkeys Reading in Bed.

Kinder-2nd
What Happened to Marion's Book
I love to use this for teaching about good book care. If you don't have it, good luck. It appears to be out of print. I have great resources for this book including our example of a Book Hospital.

PK, Kinder, and First also listened to these books about Library manners and the care of library books.

Wild About Books by Judy Sierra. All other grade levels (even 6th graders) were treated to this picture book about a librarian who introduces animals to reading and a love of books. 

 Mr. Bones caught these kiddos reading in the hallway before school. Way to go, guys!

Time is running out! Only 15 minutes to go because Mr. Bones and I get too easily distracted.

Greg Heffley revealed a secret to Mr. Bones but the kids overheard them whispering. A new Diary of a Wimpy Kid book will be released November 15, 2013! We can pre-order it at our upcoming October book fair! Happy cheers were heard for miles!







Hard Luck
by Jeff Kinney











We love this resource! Jeff Kinney's Cartoon Class: How to Draw Greg Heffley

Ms. Murphy also re-read The Dot by Peter Reynolds at home this week to brush up and get ready for our upcoming Dot Day Celebrations. 

Look how this clever Kindergarten class created their own interpretation of The Dot.  Love it!

...and that's time up! Here is the same timer that I was using. I ordered it though the Scholastic Resource catalog using Scholastic dollars. It has come in handy for many library activities.