Stories from the Library: May 17-21

Junior Kindergartners were acquainted with Jeff Brown's classic character Flat Stanley this week. When a bulletin board falls on Stanley Lambchop during the night, he discovers that there are some advantages to being half an inch thick-- like being mailed to and from California! But being used as a kite and getting stuck in a tree isn't so fun for Stanley. In the end, Stanley's little brother Arthur saves the day with some quick thinking and a bicycle pump. Flat Stanley continues to have adventures in his flattened form-- many teachers, students and parents around the country and around the world have embraced the Flat Stanley Project, taking Stanley to far-off places and photographing his travels. You can see some of Stanley's trip photos here on the Flat Stanley website. I gave Junior Kindergartners their own Flat Stanley to color and take home, with the hope that he will go on many adventures this summer!

Kindergarten: Kindergartners finished up their continent journey with Moon Rope, a Peruvian folktale (representing South America) retold and illustrated by Lois Ehlert. Ehlert's bold, colorful collages mimic Peruvian style and accompany this fun story of Fox and Mole who try to climb to the moon on a braided grass rope.


1st Grade: 1st Graders listened to the true story of Humphrey the Lost Whale by Wendy Tokuda and Richard Hall. In 1985, a migrating humpback whale took a wrong turn into the San Francisco Bay and swam up the Sacramento River. The whale captivated and concerned onlookers, who tried to coax the giant creature back to the ocean. 1st Graders loved hearing about Humphrey's adventures and kept asking if this was really a true story. The book also served as a good reminder about the difference between fiction and nonfiction. Though the book resembles many of our fictional picture books, it's filed in our nonfiction section of the library.


2nd Grade: 2nd Graders did an amazing job presenting their Ancient Egypt Museum and missed their library time this week.


3rd Grade: 3rd Graders earned their good behavior party so we relaxed on the beanbags with snacks and the video version of Laurie Keller's The Scrambled States of America.


4th Grade: We finished with The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman, ending with a lively discussion about how authors create sympathetic characters. I asked if students felt more sympathy for Jemmy or for Prince Brat. 4th Graders shared some great insights and opinions, considering that neither Jemmy or Prince Brat are completely good or completely bad characters.


5th Grade: 5th Graders presented their amazingly creative library video projects this week. We did a rough filming of the initial performances, but will be working in the next weeks to cut and streamline their material into a wonderful final product.

Stories from the Library: May 3-7

 Preschoolers enjoyed Mo Willems' Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus. The story is a lively romp through Pigeon's enthusiastic attempt to convince readers that he is a fully capable bus driver. Willems' illustrations are spare, yet full of emotion. Pigeon's expression changes from curious to angry to pained with just a few pen strokes. By the end of the stories, Preschoolers were interacting with Pigeon, answering his questions and telling him "no!" he can't drive the bus!

Junior Kindergarten: Spring can be a restless time for some of our little people at school. They've been in school for nine months and are preparing for the next grade level (and the summer that comes in between!). Jamie Lee Curtis gently identifies with this busy, wiggly age in her book It's Hard to be Five. The rhyming text and bright, squiggly pictures illustrate some of the frustrations that come with being five: sitting still, hearing "no" all the time, and going to a new, sometimes scary school. Curtis also highlights how fun being five can be: walking by yourself, learning and growing. The author concludes that "It's hard fun to be five!" and I think our Junior Kindergartners would agree.

Kindergarten: We traveled all the way to freezing cold Antarctica in our Kindergarten continent journey with Helen Cowcher's Antarctica. In the story we see male Emperor penguins balance eggs on their feet, Adelie penguins nesting on the beach, and Weddel seals caring for newborn pups. When noisy helicopters and research boats arrive, the Arctic creatures wonder if these new neighbors will be more harmful or helpful.

1st Grade: 1st Graders listened to How I Became a Pirate by Melinda Long. A pirate's life sounds pretty jolly to Jeremy Jacob-- no bedtime, eating with your hands, stealing and plundering-- until he finds out that pirates don't get bedtime stories or goodnight kisses. 

2nd Grade: 2nd Graders celebrated their wonderful moms this week during the Mother's Day Tea.

3rd Grade: 3rd Graders endured two weeks of my western drawl with Diane Stanley's Saving SweetnessRaising Sweetness, a sweet story about a sometimes dim-witted western sheriff who adopts a passel of mistreated orphans. The books lead into a great lesson in similes, as we meet characters who are "as sweet as a Georgia peach" and "as sharp as a pocketful of toothpicks" and "as cute as kitten pajamas."  and

4th Grade: A runaway prince, a hot-potato man and a dancing bear: we're nearing the end of Sid Fleischman's The Whipping Boy.

5th Grade: Our wonderfully creative 5th Graders are working on projects that will eventually turn into a class library video. Inspired by this video produced by a Middle School in Florida, I gave the small groups free reign to create something (a song, dance, play, or commercial) that will inspire reading, teach about libraries or inform about book care. I'm excited to see what our groups come up with!