Pop-Up Christmas

Each Christmas, I give my children a new Robert Sabuda or Matthew Reinhart pop-up book. We are starting to build quite a collection. If you haven't seen these, this website will give you a taste of the artistry and fun of these books. The website also has directions for making simple and not-so-simple pop-ups of your own. On Thursday in literature connection, I shared some of the Christmas pop-ups with my classes. Mrs. T was so intrigued that she joined me! We read The Night Before Christmas, A Winter's Tale, and The Twelve Days of Christmas (well we actually sang that one)! We showed the children how to make simple pop-ups as time allowed.

(Shhhhhh. . . parents, if you are looking for a good Christmas gift for your child, the students loved these! They kept asking me, "Where can I get one of those?")

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Who Am I? Book Exhibition

This project was done by third through sixth graders at St. Therese Catholic School under the direction of Julie Owen, librarian, with assistance from Lynn Tarleton, music teacher. Through research about pilgrims and Wampanoag Indians, the students practiced note taking skills, and comparison/contrast analysis. Then, they used this research to create fictional characters for "Who Am I?" books. A large part of the project focused on using time wisely and the creative process. Older posts below describe different steps of the project in detail.

Materials Used: computers for research about pilgrims and Wampanoag Indians, notebook paper, recycled cereal boxes, recycled paper grocery bags, crayons, colored pencils, scissors, glue, tissue paper scraps, scrap paper, yarn, hole punch, brain power, and lots of creativity!

Curriculum Areas Integrated Through Book Making: social studies, language arts, reading, research skills, math, creative writing

Book Making Website: http://www.makingbooks.com/ by Susan Kapuscinski Gaylord

This slide-show represents some of their hard work and artistry!

Books, Pilgrims, and Indians

The books are finished! On Friday, Mrs. T. worked the the students to decoupage and collage their covers. When I walked into the library yesterday and saw all of the books drying on the tables, I was amazed at the creativity. They are awesome! I can't wait to look at each one in detail and choose some for the online book exhibition. One student said that she wished they could spend more time on the project. Sometimes, it felt rushed trying to get our goals accomplished in 30 to 50 minute segments. Another student thought it was "challenging." Another student asked if we could make another one for Christmas. Hmmmm.

The first and second graders made little books, too, about the First Thanksgiving. They will take these home to share with their parents and other relatives for the Thanksgiving holidays. Happy Thanksgiving!

Book Making

What can you make from an old cereal box and a brown, paper grocery bag? Can you believe that you can make a book? The third through sixth graders did just that today in literature connection. Using and applying math skills such as spatial recognition, measurement, division, and fractions, the students constructed the container or the "book" to hold the results of their research on the pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians. Last Thursday, they researched and recorded comparison and contrast notes from this wonderful and informative website on Thanksgiving from Scholastic. On Monday, they reviewed their notes and chose to create a character for either a pilgrim or a Wampanoag Indian. They had to write four clues for their "Who Am I Book." Tomorrow, they will be decorating their book covers with Mrs. T. Finally, on Monday they will pull the entire book together as an artistic and informative creation!

And, from Reader's Theater Club today. . .

And,

Leaf Walk Book

Today, 1st and 2nd grades went on a leaf walk to gather a few leaves and look at their different shapes and colors. It was chilly, but at least the sun was shining! Yesterday, we made a little "Leaf Walk" book that describes different kinds of leaves and has a little pocket at the pack in which to collect some small leaves. Christopher L. found a leaf with a cocoon wrapped up inside of it. Now, we'll have to wait to see if it opens to release a butterfly or moth! Going outside and collecting bits of the natural world is a wonderful activity for naturalistic learners. During autumn, when the leaves are so beautiful and colorful, it is also a good time to reflect on the wonders of God's creation.

"Who Am I" Books

Today, we worked on our "Who Am I" books in 3rd through 6th grades. For instructions on how to make these, please look here on one of my favorite websites for learning how to make different book forms. The students used this activity to practice the techniques of making these books and to review the book characters that they had chosen for the election project.

This week, Mrs. Tarleton and I will be helping the students research about Native Americans and the first colonists in the computer lab. In the coming weeks, we will make another "Who Am I" book with more detail and planning out of recycled materials. This project will record some of the things we have been learning about Native Americans, colonists, Thanksgiving, and this special time of our American history. Please save cereal boxes (flatten them out) and paper grocery bags for this project.

Pre-K through second grade students reviewed the procedures for looking for books and checking out books. Pre-K and Kindergarten students will begin checking out books to take to their classrooms next week. This will give them good practice for taking them home later on.

Book Character Election Results

On Tuesday, November 4th, St. Therese students voted for their favorite book characters. Each class held primaries in their classrooms to narrow down the candidate fields and nominated one character for the school-wide elections. The candidates were:

Pre-K: Joseph T. as The Cat in the Hat

Kindergarten: Patrick D. as Spider Man

1st: Caleb B. as Green Power Ranger

2nd: Kennedi C. as Bumble Bee

3rd: Jessica L. as Ms. Frizzle

4th: several boys as Greg Heffley

5th: Chidi O. as Hermione Granger

6th: Tatyana L. as Willie Wonka

During the morning prayer assembly, the candidates dressed as their characters and gave a short speech to the school. Then, each student voted, placed their ballot in the ballot box, and received a bookmark decorated with the words, "Vote For Books."

Student council officers counted the ballots and made the winning announcements at the end of the day. Buzzy the Bumble Bee was elected President and Hermione Granger was elected Vice President! Way to go St. Therese Students!

Elections, Presidents, Book Fair, Mother Goose, Puppets, and Halloween!

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Originally uploaded by nolteowen

It has been a busy October in the library! Last week, we read a book called Los Gatos Black on Halloween by Marisa Montes and illustrated by Yuyi Morales. This book incorporates Spanish words throughout the text, and the illustrations are very spooky! Students in 3rd through 6th grades made puppets using only paper bags, scissors, markers, tape, and construction paper. They were so creative! On October 30th, we put on our own puppet production complete with eerie sound effects. This book's illustrations have many references to the "Day of the Dead" celebrations in Mexico. Mrs. Figueroa was also teaching about this in her Spanish classes, so students were exposed to a different culture's fall festival in both library and Spanish enrichment classes.

Also in October, Mrs. Tarleton and I team-taught about the presidents using a creative "Presidential Rap" and reader's theatre. We talked about the elections and discussed how mud-slinging and negative campaigning are similar to bullying and name calling.

The fall book fair raised $500.00 worth of books for the library and for each teacher's classroom. The students always have much fun shopping! A special word of thanks goes to St. Therese parents Mrs. Davis and Mrs. Piernas for volunteering to help. Also, high school students Jessica P. and Daniel H. earned student service hours for helping at the book fair!

I co-presented a workshop at the Whole Schools Institute Fall Retreat in Meridian on October 22nd about teaching Rhymes using book-making, drama, music, and movement. I have dressed-up as Mother Goose with "poems in my pockets" for several years now, and the Pre-K through 2nd grade classes helped me prepare for this workshop by letting me practice with them. This presentation is specifically geared towards engaging students through a variety of learning styles, and we get to have lots of fun, too!

Book character elections are coming up next Tuesday, November 4th! I can't wait to see who wins! Each class is nominating the book character who would make the best president. Speeches will be given on Tuesday morning, and the election will follow. More to follow. . .

St. Therese Featured on Sarah Campbell's Blog

On Monday, September 29th, Sarah Campbell visited St. Therese students in third through sixth grades. She has already blogged about her visit here:

http://www.sarahccampbell.com/Blog/

Mrs. Campbell is the author and illustrator of Wolfsnail: A Backyard Predator published by Boyds Mill Press in 2008. I'll write more later and include more photos of the visit. It was a wonderful experience for all and sparked many interesting questions from the students.

Book Fair Safari Home Page

Our Fall Book Fair is coming up October 14th through 17th! We are going on a Book Fair Safari!

Check out the website for the book fair to preview books, create your own wish list, volunteer to help, and much, much more!

http://bookfairs.scholastic.com/homepage/sainttherese

All third through 6th grade students will be given a penny for every Reading Counts point they have earned through Friday, October 10th. For example, if a student has earned 35 Reading Counts points, the student will be given 35 cents off of anything that is bought at the book fair. 35 cents is enough to get a free pencil!

First Reader's Theater Club Meeting

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Originally uploaded by nolteowen

On Thursday, September 25th, students in the St. Therese Reader's Theater Club gathered in the library for their first meeting of the year. We warmed up our brains by playing a game of "Zip" in which students pass a clap around a circle and practice teamwork and communication. Then, we warmed up our tongues with a few tongue twisters to help us practice enunciation. Not one person escaped without laughing!

The main attraction of the meeting, however, was to dive into a reader's theater script. We read a script by Judy Freeman based upon Lane Smith's John, Paul, George, and Ben. In the photo above, Brevin L. plays a young Thomas Jefferson who was known for his independence. All in attendance did an awesome job at our first attempt, and the group intends to read this script again at our next meeting and switch up parts.

In this photo, Jimmy B. volunteers to read a tongue twister.

Field Trip to the Mississippi Museum of Art

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Originally uploaded by nolteowen

On Tuesday, August 28, 2008, Ms. Bentley's 4th graders and Mrs. Holder's 3rd graders took a field trip to the Mississippi Museum of Art. During August, Mrs. Tarleton and I co-taught lessons to prepare for the field trip and the special exhibit at the museum titled "The Sight of Music." During library and music classes, we researched musical instruments, listened to recordings of different instruments, and discussed what visual representations of sound might look like.

At the museum, students, parents, and teachers participated in a scavenger hunt to locate musical instruments depicted by artwork in the exhibit. Teachers also modeled different ways of interacting with art by choosing their favorite piece in the exhibit and sharing personal thoughts and reactions. Then, parents led small groups of students around the galleries of "The Mississippi Story." Some students chose to remain in a quiet corner and sketched artwork that they liked, and some students wandered excitedly through every room. Finally, we gathered outside on the patio for our picnic lunches.

In library on Thursday, third and fourth graders reflected on the field trip and practiced letter-writing skills by writing thank you notes to the wonderful parents who accompanied us on the field trip. In addition, students wrote thank you notes to the Mississippi Museum of Art and to the generous sponsors of our trip, Trustmark National Bank and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mississippi.

Other photos from this field trip are located in my Flickr photo collection for the St. Therese Library in the right hand column.

Second Graders Make Books

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Originally uploaded by nolteowen

On Tuesday, August 12, second grade students made books from recycled library catalog cards (you know-- those cards that we used to have to look through to find books before computers were invented). Ms. Kizer's second graders are studying China and comparing American culture to Chinese culture as part of their August social studies unit. We read a book called "Count Your Way Through China" by Jim Haskins about Chinese culture that introduced different aspects of Chinese culture with each numeral.

Olympics Book Challege!

The Olympics started today! If you are looking for more information, the official websites are:

http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/beijing/index_uk.asp

and

http://en.beijing2008.cn/

The online knitting community is sponsoring an Olympic event of starting a new project during the Olympics and trying to finish it before the Olympics conclude in 17 days. This gave me the idea to start a book today and try to finish it before the Olympics conclude on August 24th, 2008. Or, you could also keep track of how many books you read in the next few weeks. Challenge your mind like an athlete challenges his or her body! The book I'm starting was recommended to me at the poolside this summer by a fourth grader. It is a children's book titled The Secret Order of the Gumm Street Girls by Elise Primavera.

Happy Reading! Julie Owen

Preparations for the New School Year

I am so excited to begin the new school year in the library! This year, we will be working more closely with teachers to interface with learning in the classroom. I also have plans to incorporate more technology and my experience in arts integrated teaching and learning into library lessons. There will be lots going on! I hope to use this blog to highlight what students are doing and reading in the library, great new books, really cool websites, issues in using technology, etc.

During the summer, I've been reading some old classics of children's literature and some brand new books that I have loved. I've also been knitting a lot (one of my passions) and reading books, blogs, and websites about knitting. My knitting exploration on the internet has lead to a new interest in learning how to sew and helping my daughter learn how to sew. Of course, I had to find some new books on sewing to help me out! And, I've been following a listserv of school librarians across the world that always gives me great new ideas of interesting things to try in the library. Stay tuned for more information about "Treasure Bottles" filled with messages about books and library resources. I can't wait to get started!

Julie Owen