A guy with a "flaky" hobby

William "Snowflake" Bentley spent his whole life studying and photographing snowflakes. How cool is that??

This is a Caldecott Award winning biography about his life with lots of links to satisfy your curiosity about snow.  You can even make snowflakes yourself.  Follow the hotspots to find out more!

Hi! My name is Melvil Dewey!

This week, another librarian sent out a link to this video that is an excellent way to learn about Melvil Dewey and the Dewey Decimal System.  4th graders definitely learn about Dewey but I think 3rd and even 2nd grade would also learn from this as well.  Watch and find out for yourself!
Be careful - this song might get stuck in your head!!

http://www.breitlinks.com/dewey1.htm

Thank you, Sarah!

Who is Sarah and why are we thanking her?  She is Sarah Hale and not only did she write the poem "Mary Had a Little Lamb", she also wrote to politicians for years then five different presidents(!) until she finally convinced Abraham Lincoln to make Thanksgiving a national holiday.

Thank you, Sarah, for being an example of perseverance... and for the turkey and the pumpkin pie!

11-11-11

We will only see this date once but every year on November 11, we observe Veterans' Day and take a moment to remember veterans in the past and thank our veterans today.

Thanks to Mrs. Cupples from Tipps Elementary for the image with the hotspots and to Ms. Robison from Anderson Elementary for gathering such great links!
Thank a Veteran today!

Shake, shake, shake dem bones now!

This is a new favorite of mine even though it's been around for years.  My 1st graders make shakers with rice in small envelopes and shake along as I read the story.

Funniest author ever (according to my PK classes)!

Mo Willems has written several hilarious children's books and most have won some kind of award but the kids don't care - they just know he's funny!
Here is one of my favorite titles which happens to be his first book as well:

Columbus Day - Who was Columbus?

Christopher Columbus is a famous explorer who sailed to the Americas in 1492 - over 500 years ago!  We will observe Columbus Day on October 10th this year.

Check out Mrs. Cupples's blog at Roberta Tipps Elementary to find out more:

A peach of a story!

James and the Giant Peach turns 50 this year. If you visit followthatpeach.com, you can print out and send a peach to someone in the world - a little like Flat Stanley.

Roald Dahl books are wonderful, wild, wacky rides so, like a peach, pick one and enjoy!

Read for the Record

Our school is joining the Jumpstart Read for the Record campaign again this year to help beat the Guinness Book of World Records. We will be reading Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney on October 6. The hotspots on the cover below will lead you to several wonderful book connections. Enjoy and join us to Read for the Record!

 

The man with a plan

September 26 is John Chapman's birthday - better known as Johnny Appleseed.  There are several books showcasing his life and his plan to plant apple seeds all across the country. Here's one of my favorites:

Remembering September 11

There are several books that address September 11 and this one has a unique point of view:

Thanks to Mrs. Cupples at Roberta Tipps Elementary for tagging this cover.

Texas Bluebonnet books

3rd and 4th graders,
Have you started reading your Texas Bluebonnet books yet?  Here's one you might try:

Imogene's Last Stand by Candace Fleming

Welcome to 2011-12 school year - yee-haw!!

Hello and welcome to our school library blog!  I hope to share all kinds of interesting things with you here.

I'm trying something new called ThingLink to share lots of about books - links to the author and illustrator, book trailers, awards, and other connections to the book.

Saddle up for a great year!!