1st

     HAPPY SUMMER READING!  A BOOK IS A GREAT COMPANION AT HOME, ON THE ROAD, or WHEREVER YOU FIND YOURSELF.  LOVE YOUR PUBLIC LIBRARY AND HAVE FUN!

May 24th and 25th - On our last day in library class, students made groups of two or three, got a bag with puppets and a couple random objects and set to work making up a puppet show for each other. We reviewed the ideas of what makes a good story and they set to work.  The results brought laughter and enjoyment to all.

May 16th - A beautiful new book came to the library called Deep in the Sahara by Kelly Cunnane and illustrated by Hoda Hadadi, and Elizabeth had a personal connection with it that she wanted to share.  One day, a lamb customer from Mauritania came to the farm, and Elizabeth admired the cloth that she was wearing and the woman gave it to here.  Now after reading the book, Elizabeth knows it is called a malafa and she brought it in to show.  Everyone wanted to try being wrapped up and we used two Indian saris that are of a similar size  - take a look!

May 10th adn 11th - Getting ready to do something with puppets, we talked about what makes a good story, The classic beginning, middle, and end with some characters, a setting and a problem is the way it often works, and Arnold Lobel's characters Frog and Toad illustrate this very well.  We shared the story "The Garden" from Frog and Toad Together.  Then we made paper folded puppets, an easy way to get a cast of characters.

   

May 2nd  and 3rd - Our schedule was changed a bit by play rehearsals, but we gathered for make-up sessions and enjoyed Finding Winnie: The true story of the world's most famous bear and singing Bill Staines song, "All God's Critters" and seeing the picture book made from the lyrics.

      


 April 26th and 27th - We read the few Black-eyed Susan titles left and a few people changed their votes to a new favorite reflected in the SSFS count.
                                               

 

April 18th - We will finish reading all 15 nominees next week, but we need to get our votes in before we meet again, so we read as many more as we could.  As usual, at our wonderful school where we encourage people to think for themselves, the votes were widely distributed.  Dog vs. Cat got 5 votes, Carnivores got 3, Elizabeth Queen of the Seas got 2, and Peanut Butter and Cupcake and The Tooth Fairy Wars each got 1.

April 12th and 14th - More great titles for the state Kids' award: 

           

April 4th - Since I let each class choose which Black-eyed Susans they wanted to hear next the two sections got a little out of sync.  Here's a selection of their choices:

                    

                             

March 29th and 30th - It is Black-eyed Susan time!  We are trying to read as many of the nominated picture books in this kids' choice state award contest as we can before the voting deadline.  We began with Dog Vs. Cat by a funny story that illustrates even creatures who are very different from one another can be friends.  Julia's House for Lost Creatures by Ben Hatke has lots of different creatures who also have different ways, but find a path to get along.  Carnivores by Aaron Reynolds and Dan Santot follows the hurt feelings and self discovery of three top predators, the lion, the great white shark and the timber wolf.  They're not bad, they're carnivores - eating meat is just what they do.....

                    

March 14th - With Elizabeth in Britain with US  Intersession, Aldona took over the LS classes.  First graders enjoyed What's So Terrible About Swallowing an Apple Seed?  by Harriet Lerner and Susan Goldhor with illustrations by Catharine O'Neill, another story about truth.  Apples to Oregon is a tall tale with a grain of truth about how apples and other orchard fruits traveled across North America by Deborah Hopkinson, illustsrated by Nancy Carpenter.  

                

March 7th and 8th - We read stories that fit this month's spiritual theme of Honesty and Integrity.  The Honest to Goodness Truth is Patricia McKissak's story about how to tell when a truth should be told, kind of like the Quaker way of speaking the truth in love.  Hooray for Diffindoofer Day! is a Dr. Seuss story that he never finished.  His editor commissioned Lane Smith and Jack Prelutsky to do the honors and their paean to a school that teaches kids how to think and therefore gets them ready for everything, would please the good doctor.  And they found a very Seussian voice in the process. 

                                      

February 29th - We celebrated the upcoming SSFS Celebration of Science by reading How my Science Project Almost Ate the School by Judy Sierra with illustrations by Stephen Gammell.  It tells the story of what could happen if you leave your project to the last minute.

Students, heed this little rhyme:

When it's science project time,
Do not make goop,
or glop,
or grime,
And never mess with
mutant slime.

February 22 and 23rd - We talked about Books Change Lives and the way to earn a bonus for each  week. We read local author Jennifer Connolly's picture book inspired by a an actual event, Eye of the Whale. When she does a school visit she brings an actual sized painting of the whale in the story.  We figured out how far down the hall toward aftercare that would be.  We also read I like myself! Karen Beaumont's celebration of self-acceptance with funny illustrations by David Catrow, another book from the new books shelf.  

             

Remember to bring in your slips each Friday so the beest can get the books to Ghana!

February 9th and 10th - Stories of love and Friendship in a week of Wee Mail and Valentines.

February 2nd - We talked about the upcoming reading program Books Change Lives.  We looked at the map to see the path the books we are collecting will take.  First Graders will keep track of their reading on slips that will be returned each Friday, and each week will have a way to earn a bonus hour.  We read Anansi and the Moss Covered Rock, an Anansi story retold by Eric Kimmel and illustrated by Janet Stevens.  That lazy Anansi!  He is always getting in trouble.  That was followed by a story about Anancy and Mr. Drybone written and illustrated by Fiona French.
January 12th and 13th - We shared the book, Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table about the MacArthur Genius who is teaching people how to grow food all over the world - his "table" just keeps getting bigger and bigger.  It was written by the versatile Jacqueline Briggs Martin and illustrated by Eric-Shabazz Larkin  and has an afterword by Will Allen himself.  That was followed by a requested book Frog Girl written and illustrated by Paul Owen Lewis.  Set in the Northwest, it is a tale of bravery and quick thinking by a young girl in the face of great danger. 
  
                        

January 4th, 2016 - Happy New Year!  We read and acted out the story of The Seven Gods of Luck by David Kudler, illustrated by Linda Finch.  Japanese tradition holds that there are seven kinds of happiness, each represented by one of the seven lucky gods - Wisdom, Long Life, Beauty, Laughter, Strength, Honest Work and Plenty.  My favorite line in the book is one said by Long Life - "I have learned that those who give happiness to others, give happiness to themselves as well."  When we brainstormed before the story, 1st graders suggested that the things that bring happiness are family, friends, nature and animals, and having food, a home and fun.  Sounds like the god of wisdom has already paid a visit to them.

O-Shagatsu!

December 15th and 16th - We enjoyed the imaginative story of Auntie Claus by Elise Primavera. Did you know that Santa has a sister?  Kids checked out lots of books, thinking about the upcoming winter break that would afford extra time for reading.

December 7th - we shared a Hanukkah book, The Miracle of the potato latkes by Malka Penn, illustrated by Giora Carmi, a story about faith and miracles.  BrainHive gave us a look at an old Swedish book called Snipp, Snapp, Snurr and the Gingerbread by  Maj Lindman.  The misadventures of the triplets were first published in the 1920's.  BrainHive has quite a few of the titles in the series.
                      


December 1st and 2nd -  We shared two Brain Hive books.  The first was The Tooth Fairy's First Night by Anne Bowen and illustrated by Jon Berkeley.  Sally has a rough start to her career as a tooth fairy, but succeeds by remember the good advice she gets from her family.  She remembers to be patient, to look on the bright side, and to always get her tooth (without waking up the child).  This was followed by non-fiction Teeth by Sneed B. Collard III, illustrated by Phyllis Saroff.  It is fun to project the books and see the illustrations in large format.  You can use BrainHive, too, to read lots of good books any time you have an internet connection - or, if you use the app, you can download them and read them any time. There is a link from the library web page.  Each student has a login username made up of the first five letters of the last name and the first two of the first name.  The password is friends and the account number you need for setting up the app is 4290097586.  Please be in touch if you have any questions about using this great resource.
                                                                      


November 23rd - We celebrated Thanksgiving with Minnie and Moo and the Thanksgiving Tree by Denys Cazet.  A Mohawk poem, "Thanks to Mother Earth" from Joseph Bruchac's The Circle of Thanks led us to a song to share - "The Earth is my Mother".  We put leaves on the Thankful Tree at the bulletin board.  We meet next  on December 1st (1B) and December 2nd (1A). 

                                   

November 17th and 18th - We read a book from the new book shelf called Susan Laughs by Jeanne Willis and illustrated by Tony Ross about the many things Susan can do, just like the things we can do even though (we learn on the last page) she happens to use a wheelchair.   Our  next book came from the new dragon display, Raising Dragons by Jerdine Nolen, illustrated by Elise Primavera.  The protagonist tells us "There are some things you just know" (about yourself).  

                                

November 9th - We celebrated Divali a couple days early by reading W a rousing story of good triumphing over evil that has been told for thousands of years.  We also looked at a book called Pumpkin Circle that shows that great circle of life from seed to plant to fruit to seed. It is one of the many titles in the library recommended by the National Science Teacher's Association for teaching about science.  They are marked on the spine with a black and white NSTA sticker.  

November 4th - Only 1A had library this week due to the professional days on Monday and Tuesday. We looked at some of the books in the library about seeds.  We shared a wonderful book called Who Will Plant a Tree? by Jerry Pallotta, illustrated by Tom Leonard.   It shows many different way tree seeds get transported and planted by different animals.  

October 26th - We enjoyed Halloween stories from the display and learned the tale of The Ghost With One Black Eye, a story with shivers and laughs that I learned from my mother.  Story can be a safe place to get scared.  




October 20th and 21st - The first book about Skoob, The Shelf Elf, finally came back to the library and we shared Skoob's tips about how to take care of books and return them on time.  Then we talked about what a house for Skoob might look like and what he might use from the human world to furnish it.  We found some inspiration and ideas in a book called  by A House for Papa MouseNorbert Landa.  I brought in the elf house from the garden for the winter.  Would it make a good house for Skoob?  What could we use to make him comfortable?

October 6th and 7th - One of the most famous trolls ever is the one who lives under the bridge where the Three Billy Goats Gruff cross over the the mountainside with all its good, green grass. We enjoyed this story in the Paul Galdone version.  1A read a tale inspired by the Norwegian original called the Toll Bridge Troll  by Patricia Rae Wolff and 1B enjoyed Jethro and Joel were a Troll by Bill Peet.







September 28th - From elves to trolls - we talked about the many magical creatures that don't exist in our world, but that populate lots of the stories in our library.  There was some difference of opinion concerning the existence of  leprechauns based on first hand observations in the K classroom...but this led into sharing Peter and the Troll Baby by Jan Wahl and Jan Brett's Trouble with Trolls.  We looked at the world map to see where Norway was and talked about clues in the book that helped us know where it was set.  


















September 22nd and 23rd - A favorite elf, is Skoob (that's books spelled backwards) who came to work in a library after leaving the shoemaker.  He is the creation of Jackie Mims Hopkins and we read the second book about him, The Shelf Elf Helps Out.  It explains how the call numbers are like addresses and the sections of the library are like neighborhoods.  We toured the non-fiction nook and identified where each of the Dewey centuries are located, and what kinds of books are in each area.

September 14th -

We talked about stories that have several versions and looked at four versions of the Grimm's tale called The Elves and the Shoemaker.  We enjoyed the retelling by Jim LaMarche.  Then we talked about the computer catalog of what's in the library and looked at both the basic and visual searches.  We talked about and practiced how to use the library chromebooks - how to type on them, how and where to click on the touchpad, how to treat them and how to carry them if they ever need to be moved.

I wonder where those elves went when they left the shoemaker's house?

September 9th and 10th -
We toured the library to see where everything is and looked at all the books about books and libraries on display.  Then we shared I Love my Little Storybook by Anita Jeram and admired what a great imagination the author-illustrator has.  We made our new shelf markers and talked about the rules for good learning in the library and the classroom.  Our next class will be on September 14th

 

 

WELCOME TO THE 2015-16 SCHOOL YEAR!

FIRST GRADE LIBRARY TIME IS GREEN WEEK MONDAYS (1B FROM 12:05-12:50 AND 1A FROM 12:50-1:35) AND GOLD WEEK  TUESDAYS (1b 1:30-2:15) AND WEDNESDAYS (1A FROM 1:20-2:15).  LET THE FUN BEGIN!

Did you like reading about William and his windmill?

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What we are reading:

On the theme of quilts we read Gail Gibbons non-fiction title, The Quilting Bee followed by a story called Quilt of Dreams by Mindy Dwyer.




 We read an older book with lots of SSFS connections - Different is not  Bad, Different is the World:  A book about Disabilities by Lab School Founder Sally Smith and illustrated by former SSFS teacher, parent of an SSFS teacher and board member Ben Booz. Students then thought about something they are good at and illustrated it for our 1st grade Can Do Quilt. Here are a couple of examples -

4/22 -   we read the last of the Black-eyed Susan titles and voted.  The SSFS winner was Lion vs,
Rabbit.

4/14 -

 






4/7 -  Three more nominees

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3/10 These two titles, each with a story about a creature as well as a lot of interesting facts, started off our Black-eyed Susan children's choice contest for this year.