When learning about history or current events, it's easy to gloss over numbers and facts without stopping to think about the individual lives those numbers represent. This week the 5th Graders listened to The Librarian of Basra by Jeanette Winter, which tells the true story of Alia Muhammad, a librarian in Basra, Iraq, who saved thousands of books from her library during the war in 2003. We talked about why it's important to hear stories like Alia's--oftentimes we can mistakenly look at certain people and make judgments about the whole group without knowing its individual parts. Winter's wonderful book gently delves into wartime realities, providing an opportunity for discussions about how we view our world and the people in it.
Preschool: After a freak snowstorm this past Sunday, we're back to "regular" fall weather, which serves as a great backdrop for seasonal stories. Preschoolers enjoyed Apples and Pumpkins by Anne Rockwell, a picture book about visiting a farm. We also peeked out the library window to observe the changing leaves.
Junior Kindergarten: To celebrate the changing seasons, we read Mouse's First Fall by Lauren Thompson. This fun picture book introduces many colorful words as Mouse and Minka run, kick, skip and swish through the leaves.
1st Grade: Continuing our unit of Fables, we read Tony Ross's The Boy Who Cried Wolf, a modern twist on the classic story. Though the ending is just a bit goofier, the message of "crying wolf" is still loud and clear.
4th Grade: To help us understand why we need to learn things like reading a spine label and how to use our online catalog, 4th Graders listened to Our Librarian Won't Tell Us Anything by Toni Buzzeo. As the book points out, a librarian's job is not simply to find books, but to give students the tools needed to be "a Library Success Story." After the story 4th Graders watched a presentation on how to use OPAC, our online search catalog.
5th Grade: See opening post.
Kindergarten, 2nd and 3rd Grade missed Library time this week due to conferences.
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