Genre Challenge - December

Congratulations to Mrs. Shaw's class for reading the most Nonfiction books in December!! Her class earned 46 points!  Their class will receive a popcorn party in library sometime in January!

January's genre is Biographies/Autobiographies

All results:

3M -31 (+)

3R - 4 (-)

3S - 46 (+)

4D - 0 (=)

4H - 0 (=)
4S - 45 (+) *so close!!

5G - 5 (+)

5P - 0 (=)

6H -3 (-)

6S - 0 (-)

Winter Break to Read

Again, this year I am holding a “winter break to read” contest.  Each student is to get a blue bookmark on Friday to take home for Winter Break. If they read 5 books and have it signed by a parent, they are entered into a drawing for a prize.  Some of the prizes include lunch in the library, an extra book checkout, reading time with Mrs. Loder or Mrs. Newgard, and lots of other great prizes.  I have introduced this to your students in library (or I will be this week) and I hope you’ll support this contest.  The bookmarks must be returned by Wednesday, January 8 to qualify.  Let me know if you or your students have questions.
Thank you!

If you lose your bookmark, you may print and return a new one.

Mrs. Newgard ©2013

Happy Holidays!

Mrs. Loder and Mrs. Newgard getting in the holiday spirit!

2013

Happy Holidays from some of the Orchard Hill staff!  What festive sweaters they have on!

Winter Break 2013

Weekly Update - December 18

Kindergarten: We read Redbird at Rockefeller Center by Peter Maloney and There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bell by Lucille Colandro.  We got to use the Library Mimio board for the first time!  It was quite a treat!

First Grade: We read The Reindeer Christmas by Mo Price and wrote about animals that would be good at pulling Santa's sleigh.

Second Grade: We read The Santa Trap by Jonathan Emmett and designed our own Santa traps.

Third Grade: We continued work on the library catalog scavenger hunt using the keyword, author, title, and subject buttons.

Fourth Grade: We're still working on getting out of the library in our "Locked in the Library" activity.

Fifth Grade: We started exploring information we found online.  We're looking up information about explorers using two different websites.

Sixth Grade:  Our commercials are coming together.  We hope to finish after break!

Weekly Update - December 10

Kindergarten: Read Aloud: The Christmas Tugboat: how the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree came to New York City by George Matteson.  We also watched some short videos about how they install the Christmas tree.
   
First Grade: Read Aloud: How Santa Got His Job by Stephen Krensky.  We also talked about what skills he gained from his other jobs and how that prepared him to become Santa.  Then we wrote about what we want to be when we grow up and what skills we'll need.

Second Grade: We read Celebrate!: connections among cultures by Jan Reynolds.  We also wrote about different themes traditions have (food and drink, music and dance, dress, and use of fire).  It was fun to see the common themes throughout holidays from different times of the year and different traditions.

Third Grade: We worked on the skill of browsing this week.  We were assigned a few shelves to look at and take notes on whether or not we liked the book based on the cover, back cover, and first few pages.

Fourth Grade: We continue to work with Locked in the Library and learning about the nonfiction section!

Fifth Grade: We finally finished our Digital Passport unit.  We are now well skilled in Internet Safety and being a good digital citizen.

Sixth Grade: We continue our work on our library commercials.  They are looking good!

Weekly Update - December 2

Kindergarten: Read Aloud: Twas The Night Before Thanksgiving by Dav Pilkey and What is Thanksgiving by Elaine Landau.  As a reading response to Pilkey we wrote about what we would eat instead of turkey at Thanksgiving.

First Grade: Read Aloud: Thanksgiving is Here by Diane Goode.  We wrote about what we do on Thanksgiving and compared it to the book.

Second Grade: Read Aloud: Balloons Over Broadway: the true story of the puppeteer of Macy's Parade by Melissa Sweet.  We created our own balloons and watched a video of how the balloons are made for the parade.

Third Grade: Read Aloud: Sarah Gives Thanks by Mike Allegra.  We compared this to the video of Thank You, Sarah by Laurie Halse Anderson.

Fourth Grade: We started a unit called Locked in the Library to discover parts of the nonfiction.

Fifth Grade: We are almost done with Digital Passport.  This week we looked at copyright and created mashups.

Sixth Grade: We're continuing our work on the Dewey Decimal commercials!

November Genre Challenge

Congratulations to Mrs. Schwab's class for reading the most Historical Fiction books in November!! Her class earned 78 points!!  Their class will receive a popcorn party in library sometime in December!

December's genre is nonfiction/informational

All results:

3M - 12(-)

3R - 17 (-)

3S - 2 (-)

4C - 0 (-)

4H - 0 (=)
4S - 22 (-)

5G - 2 (-)

5P - 0 (=)

6H -56 (+)

6S - 78 (+)

Weekly Update - November 20

Kindergarten: We read Chicks Run Wild by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen.  We also tested our knowledge of book parts!

First Grade: After reading The Jolly Postman last week, we read The Jolly Pocket Postman by Janet and Allan Ahlburg this week.  We continue to talk about location of books and how to find what we're looking for.  We also tested our knowledge on this!

Second Grade: Milly and the Macy's Parade by Shana Corey was our historical fiction book this week.  We learned about the fictional story of how the Macy's Parade was started.

Third Grade: Browsing is a skill that students have a hard time learning.  This week, we were assigned a shelf and taught how to "browse" by looking at the front cover, reading the back, and reading a few pages.  Based on those things, we decided if the book was a good fit for us or not.

Fourth Grade: After spending time searching for books using the online catalog, we focused on where books are located within the library.  We also talked about how books are arranged on the shelf.  All of these skills build upon each other to help us be good users of the library.

Fifth Grade: We continue our work with Digital Passport and this week focused on online searches.  We want to make sure we find the best information in the shortest amount of time possible.  We practiced this on paper and using the online game.

Sixth Grade: We are beginning our Dewey commercials!  After learning about how to find books and where they're located, we're in charge of creating a commercial about one of the hundreds sections of nonfiction.  We just got our groups chosen and had a little bit of worktime!  We're very excited to start this project.

Book Fair

Books are Gifts that Last a Lifetime


Hello from Mrs. Newgard,

It's Book Fair time at our school! I've created a classroom wish list to add new books to our school library. You can view my library wish list and purchase books from our school Book Fair website. These books will be treasured by students for years to come.

You can visit our online Book Fair anytime until 11/26/2013.  All books purchased will be shipped directly to me at school with no shipping charge. Thanks for getting our class excited about reading.

Your support is appreciated,

Mrs. Newgard

Scholastic Book Fairs inspire a lifetime love of reading. A percentage of the total proceeds raised during the Book Fair will stay with the school and help get more kids reading, kids reading more! Visit the Book Fair Web site for detailed information. 

Weekly Update - November 8

Kindergarten: We had our first experience with the Mystery Box.  We predicted what the story was going to be about before we even saw the cover or heard the title.  Then we read Pumpkin Jack by Will Hubbel.  We also talked about the parts of a title page and worked on a labeling sheet.

First Grade: Read Aloud: The Jolly Postman by Janet & Allan Ahlbert.  We used what we learned from The Jolly Postman to begin discussions about how to find books in the library.  We even got to practice locating a book!

Second Grade: Read Aloud: Fall Weather: Cooler Temperatures by Martha Rustad.  We continued our discussion about nonfiction and how to find what we're looking for.  We used a house and neighborhood example, ask your second grader about it!

Third Grade: Read Aloud: The Stranger by Chris Van Allsburg.  Last Library time we read The Widow's Broom by Van Allsburg and we compared and contrasted the two stories.  This is a skill they will be learning in their classroom.

Fourth Grade:We continued working on our searching and locating materials in the library using the online catalog.

Fifth Grade:We had a "catchup" day with our Digital Passport learning.

Sixth Grade:We also continued working on our searching and locating materials in the library using the online catalog.

Conferences are next week!  Watch for information about learning in the Library!

Genre Challenge Winners - October

Congratulations to Ms. Rindel's class for reading the most Mystery books in October!!  It was a CLOSE one! Their class will receive a popcorn party in library sometime in November!

We had a record breaking 52 students participate this month!!  That's great!  All together 137 books were read this month!  Let's hope this continues into November

November's genre is Historical Fiction.

All results:

3M - 51 (+)

3R - 52 (+)

3S - 31 (+)

4C - 2 (+)

4H - 0 (=)
4S - 34 (+)

5G - 5 (+)

5P - 0 (=)

6H - 2 (-)

6S - 12  (+)

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from the Library Aliens!

Weekly Update - Two Weeks in One! - October 30

Time got away from me toward the end of this month, so I thought I'd combine the two weekly posts into one!

Kindergarten: We learned about the different parts of a book and read some Halloween stories.  We also talked about the difference between fiction and nonfiction!

First Grade:  We read Piggie Pie and Zoom Broom both by Margie Palatini.  We story mapped one and created a new ending for the other!

Second Grade: Last week we read Memoirs of a Hamster by Devin Scillian and created our own memoir.  This week we read a book about pumpkins and took notes!

Third Grade: Last week we finished up our digital citizenship unit by using what we've learned to write emails to our teacher.  This week we read The Widow's Broom by Chris VanAllsburg and summarized it!

Fourth Grade: Last week we worked more with Destiny Quest and this week we learned about finding what we need in the library.

Fifth Grade: We're still working on digital citizenship, last week we focused on staying safe online.  This week we worked on cyberbullying.

Sixth Grade:  Last week we finished our mini unit on cyberbullying and this week we moved on to searching and locating materials in the library.

Weekly Update - October 14

Kindergarten: We started discussing fiction vs. nonfiction.  We read Tony Baloney by Pam Muños Ryan and compared it to a nonfiction book about penguins.  We took a book walk through some more fiction and nonfiction books and discussed their category and why.

First Grade: Read aloud: Tom's Tweet by Jill Esbaum (an Iowa Goldfinch nominee)  We continued working on IPICK and choosing a good fit book.

Second Grade: Read aloud: Memoirs of a Goldfish by Devin  Scillian (an Iowa Goldfinch nominee).  We finished looking for books on the shelf in the fiction section.  We are able to find "our author shelf"!

Third through Sixth Grade: We completed a district survey about technology.  Some classes had time to discuss their current library focus, but most of the time was spent taking the survey.

Weekly Update - October 4

Kindergarten: We read The Shelf Elf and talked about ways we can do our job in the library.

First Grade:We read Blackout a Goldfinch Award Nominee and continued to work with IPICK.

Second Grade:We read I Dare You Not to Yawn and did an activity to locate different shelves in the library.

Third Grade: They were at Museum School and didn't get to come to library.

Fourth Grade: We are setting reading goals that we hope to achieve by November 30.  Ask us about them!

Fifth Grade:We continued working with Digital Passport.

Sixth Grade: Completed their study of digital footprints.

Genre Challenge Winners - September

Congratulations to Ms. Shook's class for reading the most Science Fiction books in September!!  This was the first month of the genre challenge this year. Their class will receive a popcorn party in library sometime in October!


October's genre is Mystery/Suspense/Scary Stories.

All results:

3M - 7

3R - 0

3S - 0

4C - 0

4H - 0
4S - 9

5G - 2

5P - 0

6H - 4

6S - 5

Weekly Update - September 26

What a whirlwind of a 6 Day cycle it has been!  I can't believe it's almost October!  Here's what we've been up to in library!

Kindergarten: Last week we read Going on a Bear Hunt and this week we read Going on a Book Hunt.  It was so much fun for the students to participate in the reading with their actions!  When we were finished, we got to color a sheet that showed books on shelves.  We only colored the ones that were put back correctly, but it was fun!  We're also working on what books we read over the last week, so if you have a Kindergarten student, remind him or her of the title before bringing the book back!

First Grade: We read Bread and Jam for Frances and completed a writing activity about what kinds of books are our "bread and jam" books.  Books we LOVE but we checkout all the time.  We brainstormed a different kind of book to checkout this time.  We also challenged ourselves to find a book on the shelf that matched our first letter of our first or last name.  If we completed the challenge we got a sticker!

Second Grade: This week we checked out first and used our IPICK strategy on our good fit book we got for the week.  We answered questions and then got a chance to read more of our book.  When we were finished we read Night Flight: Amelia Earhart Crosses the Atlantic, which is a nonfiction narrative story.

Third Grade:  We were so lucky this week!  We got to use the Chromebooks!  All we were able to do was login and change our password, but it was fun!

Fourth Grade: We also got to use Chromebooks to take an Internet Safety quiz and set the Orchard Hill Library webpage as a bookmark.  When we were finished we worked on some Internet Safety scenarios.

Fifth Grade: Mr. Grafenberg's class tried to access Digital Passport to complete an online activity on using how distracted cell phones can make us, but the site wasn't working.  So we discussed Internet Safety scenarios.  Mrs. Penberthy's class created their own "text messages" in response to people using them at inappropriate times (for example, in a movie theater).

Sixth Grade: We looked at how easy or difficult it would be to find out personal information about someone from their online presence.  Using a ficitonal person, we were able to find her name, address, phone number, family names, email address, age, description, high school, interests and made notes about her schedule.  It was an eye opener for some students.  We also were able to look at data from our Internet and Cell Phone Usage Survey.  Every year our results get better but they're still interesting!

Weekly Update - September 18

Kindergarten: We finally got to check out from a shelf!  We learned the "Booky Looky" song to help us remember how to use a shelf marker.  We also played a book care game!  What a fun day in Kindergarten!

First Grade: We reviewed the IPICK Rap!  Some of us performed it at the First Grade Literacy Night!  We also read a story called Goldy Socks and the Three Libearians by Jackie Mims Hopkins and talked about choosing "just right" books.  I challenged some of the classes to choose a book by an author that starts with the same letter as their first or last name.

Second Grade: We're learning about choosing good fit nonfiction books.  We read The Shelf Elf Helps Out by Jackie Mims Hopkins.  We were able to look through some nonfiction books and identify the different book parts.

Third Grade: We're starting to talk about emails!  Each third grade student gets his or her own email address.  We have been talking about how to do this safely and how to write friendly email.

Fourth Grade: Some of the classes finished watching the digital safety DVD and having conversations about how to keep safe.  We used scenarios to discuss what we would do at home and at school.

Fifth Grade: We talked about staying safe online and how to create strong passwords.  We previewed Digital Passport and hope to try it next week!

Sixth Grade: We took an Internet and Cell Phone survey (see the results here) and created digital footprints!

©Mrs. Newgard, 2013

©Mrs. Newgard, 2013

Weekly Update - September 9

Kindergarten: Read Aloud: Wild About Books by Judi Sierra and Marc Brown  In Kindergarten, we continued to checkout from tables as we reviewed book care.  We were also able to take a tour of the library.  We saw where different books were AND where the books go after we put them in the return slot!  It was an exciting class!  We also started computer times this week, ask your child about their experience.

First Grade: This week we learned the IPICK rap.  We will be performing this rap at 1st grade literacy night on September 16!  IPICK is a way for us to choose books that are good for us.

Second Grade: We are working with good fit nonfiction books.  We talked about books that are too easy or too hard in nonfiction.  We worked at looking at nonfiction books and picking one that fit us well.

Third Grade: Soon we will have access to our Gmail accounts in third grade but first we had to learn about the rules.  We talked about the rules and what that means for us.  We also talked about the Genre Challenge, which this month is Science Fiction.

Fourth Grade: We are working on being good digital citizens.  We watched a short video about our online usage and that everything is public and permanent!

Fifth Grade: We also are working on being good digital citizens and watched a video about our choices online also.  We took a short quiz to see our current knowledge.

Sixth Grade: We're working on digital citizenship though our digital footprint.  We started with a video and will use extension activities in the weeks to come.

We're a busy place!

Checkout Days

The class schedule is as follows.  I hope it helps you remember when to send your books back!

Day 1 - Ms. Shook (4), Mr. Grafenberg (5), and Mrs. Schwab (6)
Day 2 - Ms. Edson (K)
Day 3 - Ms. Rindels (3), Ms. Hewett (4), Mrs. Schlatter (1), Mrs. Halvorson (K), and Mrs. Winkowitsch (2),
Day 4 - Mrs. Watters (1)
Day 5 - Mrs. Michael (3), Mrs. Canady (4), Mrs. Bobeldyk (1), Mrs. Barnard (K) and Ms. Schatzberg (2) 
Day 6 - Mrs. Shaw (3), Mrs. Penberthy (5), Mr. Halvorson (6),  and Mrs. Balthazor (2)

If you have questions or concerns, feel free to call or email me!
Mrs. Newgard

Welcome! - Weekly Update x2 (August)

Wow!  I can't believe how much school has passed by and I haven't posted!  Welcome to the new school year!  I hope your families are adjusting well and staying cool!  We have been back in full swing at the library.  Below are what we have covered the first TWO library classes!

Kindergarten: Our first library class, we met the Library Lion and discussed library rules. Our second day we got to checkout a book!  We discussed safe places to keep the book and how to treat our books.  We read What Happened to Marion's Book.

First Grade: We read The Best Book to Read and talked about different kinds of books in our library.  We also took a tour to remind us where our favorite books are.  The second library class, we read Hands by Lois Elhert and talked about different kinds of gloves.  We compared gloves to books and we want to search for a book that fits us well.

Second Grade: Our first library class we read Read All About It by Barbra Bush and Jenna Bush.  We also talked about different kinds of books in our library.  Our second class together we talked about what makes a 'Good Fit Book' and we reviewed the IPICK rap!

Third Grade: To start our year we had a scavenger hunt for different parts of the library.  When we came back as a class we talked about all the different places we explored.  On our second class, we talked about the new Genre Challenge.  We spent some time talking about good fit books and writing a little about ourselves.

Fourth Grade: We played Library BINGO on our first day of class.  Our second day, we wrote about ourselves and talked about our new Chromebooks.

Fifth Grade: In our first library class we wrote about ourselves and our reading habits.  We also reviewed rules and procedures in the library.  In our second class, we started talking about our Acceptable Use Policy for technology.

Sixth Grade: Library class #1 was spent reviewing the library rules and procedures.  We also shared what we had read over the summer.  Our second class was spent reviewing the Acceptable Use Policy for technology and talking about skills 6th graders need before they leave Orchard Hill.

We've had a great first few weeks!  I can't wait to see what all we discover this year!

New Library Friends!

It's been so great having all of the students back!  We have two new friends who have joined our library this year!  They'll be watching us in the library and on the playground!

© Mrs. Newgard, 2013

© Mrs. Newgard, 2013

Also, please follow us on our new Facebook page!

New Year Sneak Peek!

Here's a sneak peek into this year's library!

Summer Check-in

During these first few weeks of summer is when reading habits are formed.  Don't forget the reading programs available at the local public libraries (Cedar Falls & Waterloo) along with one at Barnes and Noble.

I've been doing a lot of reading so far this summer!  Some of the best I've read so far are...

- Waiting for the Magic by Patricia MacLachlan

- Eight Keys by Suzanne LaFleur

- Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai

- Liar and Spy by Rebecca Stead

Have you read anything great so far this summer?

Weekly Update - May 20

This year has FLOWN by!  We are finished checking out books and students are allowed to keep books until they are finished, but we're hoping most of the books will be back soon!!

Kindergarten: We worked on spiral stories this week.  We read The Napping House by Audrey Wood , This is the House that Jack Built by Simms Taback and Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? by Bill Martin Jr.  Spiral stories are ones where there are parts that are repeated or added on to each page.

First Grade: We finished our ___landia's!  We wrote and drew animals, plants, holidays, and sports that would be in our land.  If we had time, we also created maps and flags.  It was fun and VERY creative!

Second Grade:  We continued to work on Internet Safety and spent some time working with the Netsmartz curriculum. We talked about being safe online AND offline.

Third Grade: We had a "hodge podge" day in library this week!  We shared our Last Night I Dreamed of Chickens spin off, we looked at our essential skills for the year and some classes had time to watch the Dewey rap!

Fourth Grade:  We officially finished our Spine Label poetry and some students worked on library skills on the computer.

Fifth Grade: We learned about Destiny Quest and how to write reviews for other students to read about the books we have finished this year!

Sixth Grade:  Our student lead projects are coming along nicely.  We hope we can get them finished our next library time!!

Summer Reading Programs

Both the Cedar Falls and Waterloo Libraries have Summer Reading programs where students can earn FREE books!

Both programs have the theme 'Dig Into Reading'.
More information about the Waterloo program can be found online.
The Cedar Falls Library has a flyer posted below and can be found online.

Both have great opportunities this summer!

Click to view larger

Weekly Update - May 10

As the year is winding down, we will be at limited or no checkout.  This is a perfect time to checkout the public library or the teacher collection in the child's classroom!

Kindergarten: We are creating our OWN circle stories during library!  They're turning out great!

First Grade: We shared our poems (look for these to come home) with the class.  We read Weslandia by Paul Fleischmann.  We will create our own civilizations next library time!

Second Grade: As the year winds down we are spending a few class periods talking about Internet Safety.  As the summer comes around, there are more opportunities for students to use computers, and sometimes unsupervised or with a babysitter.  This makes the end of the year a perfect opportunity to teach Internet Safety skills.  This week's lesson was on privacy.

Third Grade:  We wrapped up the classroom animal projects by spending time online with Owen & Mzee as well as working on library book order in Order in the Library.

Fourth Grade: We finished our Spine Label poems.  They will be online soon!

Fifth Grade: We discussed text features in non-fiction; what they are and why they're important to the text.

Sixth Grade: We finished our Lewis Carroll author study and chose our end of the year topics.  We are doing mini-mini-research projects, a video project, or both!

Library Update - May 2

Kindergarten: We're continuing to work with circle stories.  This week we focused on If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff and What to do if an Elephant Stands on your Foot by Michelle Robinson.  The students worked on retelling using the Mimio for both books.

First Grade: We're now finished with poetry!  We created In ____ poems.  There were some great ones like In my backpack, In my room, In Iowa City, and many more!

Second Grade: We worked with the book Water Dance by Thomas Locker.  It's a book of riddles on the topic of the water cycle.  We guessed the riddles then tried to put the story back together in small groups.  It was a fun tie-in to our weather unit.

Third Grade: Owen & Mzee was our focus during library.  We read the remarkable story between these two and had a chance to visit the website telling us more about them.

Fourth Grade:  We started creating Spine Poems using books from the library.  They are great and will soon be available online for viewing.

Fifth Grade: We finished our "Where I'm From" poems and some students shared theirs online!  Take a look!

Sixth Grade: We're starting a mini-unit studying Lewis Carroll.  This week we read The Crocodile.  Students were given a chance to memorize the poem in a short amount of time.  We also discussed that it is a parody poem and compared the original (Against Idleness and Mischief by Isaac Watts) to the Carroll version.  We will spend a little more time on this.

5th Grade Poetry

Fifth grade has been writing "Where I'm From" poems during library time and they are fantastic!  I wanted to share them with more than me so with permission I uploaded them to our library website!  They are worth reading!

Genre Challenge: April

Congratulations to Mrs. Shaw's class for reading the most Poetry books in April!  This is her class's FIRST win of the year!!  The class will receive a popcorn party in May!  The final genre of the year is traditional literature (fairy tales, folk tales, etc.) including classic novels (Ramona, Little House on the Prairie, Boxcar Children, Cam Jansen, etc.). 

All results:

3M - 4 (-)

3R - 2 (-)

3S - 12 (-)

4C - 0 (-)

4H - 2 (=)

5G - 0 (-)

5P - 0(-)

6H - 0 (=)

6S - 0 (=)

Graphic Novels Have Moved!

Oh No!  Our Graphic Novels are missing from the 741.5's!  

They have been relocated next to the magazines!  We hope this helps students find what they're looking for!

© Mrs. Newgard, 2013

Weekly Update - April 24

Kindergarten: We're starting to learn about circle stories.  We read Rosie's Walk by Pat Hutchins and The Best Nest by P.D. Eastman.  Circle stories start and end in the same place, we'll be learning about more of these stories in the weeks to come!

First Grade: We're continuing with poetry.  This week we typed our acrostic poems and created a word cloud.  They look good and we're proud of what we accomplished!

Second Grade: The shape poems we created last week were typed into a website and printed in the shape they chose!  They turned out fantastic and very creative!

Third Grade: In collaboration with the classroom project, we printed pictures of our animals from Encyclopedia Britannica!  Some were even able to find videos and continue learning about their animal.

Fourth Grade:  We're DONE with the bibliographies!!!  It was an important project, but we're glad it is over!!

Fifth Grade: We continued working with our "Who I Am" poems, and will finish those next library time.

Sixth Grade: We completed watching our commercials and we're getting ready to start on poetry!

Weekly Update - April 16

April is National Poetry Month and to celebrate, I choose poetry projects for the grade levels to participate in.  Here's what we're up to!

Kindergarten: We read Old McDonald Had a Farm and compared it to Ms. MacDonald Had a Class.  We had extra time to listen to the poem book Chicky, Chicky, Chook Chook.

First Grade:  We created Acrostic Poems using our first name.  They turned out great and the students did a nice job!

Second Grade: We are creating and typing shape poems using nature themed shapes.  Some of the shapes tie into the classroom study of weather.

Third Grade:  Jack Prelutsky is our author focus and we created our own version of his poem Last Night I Dreamed of Chickens.  They are humorous!

Fourth Grade: Our bibliographies are taking us longer then expected, but we're still plugging away on them!

Fifth Grade: We started creating biography I Am poems.  We used two music songs as inspiration, "Who I Am" by Jessica Andrews and "Where I Come From" by Alan Jackson.  We'll spend a few class periods on this project.

Sixth Grade: We finished our Dewey commercials!  They are great and some are VERY creative!

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

I don't always post as many book reviews as I could, but today I couldn't contain my excitement!  I started and finished The One and Only Ivan today by Katherine Applegate.  This was the Newbery Winner for 2013!  I found it to be FABULOUS!

The story centers around a gorilla, Ivan, who lives at the Big Top Shopping Mall.  He lives with his friend, Stella, an elephant, and Bob, a dog.  They live in glass "domains" (cages) where visitors come to see Stella and Ivan.  One day, Ruby, a baby elephant joins their group and changes things up.  Ivan's favorite activities are eating and creating art.  He started creating art with crayons that Julia (the custodian's daughter) shares with him.  After Mack, the mall owner, finds out Ivan can create art, he sells Ivan's pieces for $20.  Ivan loves to create art and it's through his drawings that he finds happiness.

This book is written from Ivan's point of view and a great read for people who love animals.  Ms. Applegate does a fantastic job of getting the reader inside the head of a gorilla.  I found myself rooting for the animals and sharing their emotions.  It is one of the best books I've read in a awhile and completely deserving of the gold medal it received!

Weekly Update - April 8

Kindergarten: We are continuing to work on bookmaking and were able to create our OWN books!  We made stapled books and even cut off the edges like we saw in the video last time.  Ask us to share ours with you!

Kindergarten books - © Mrs. Newgard, 2013

Kindergarten books - © Mrs. Newgard, 2013

First Grade:  Ms. Shook's class finished their animal reports while Mrs. Bobeldyk and Mrs. Watters' classes created class books called It's Not a ...  We finished our library time by reading poetry in preparation for creating our own!

Second Grade: We completed our work with the online catalog, talked about locating books and then started discussing poetry.

Third Grade:  We finished our biography posters today.  They look great and contain a lot of text features!

Fourth Grade: We created bibliographies today based on the information gathered from our last few weeks of work.

Fifth Grade: We presented our projects and they looked great!  The students worked very hard!  It's a big sigh of relief to be done!

Sixth Grade: Continuing to work on their Dewey commercials is the focus in library.  There are some very creative commercials being put together!

Weekly Update - March 29

Kindergarten:  We are starting to look at how books are made.  We read How a Book is Made by Angela Royston and How a Book is Made by Aliki.  We also watched a video on the production of books to see first hand what the machines look like!

First Grade: Ms. Shook's class has been doing a collaborative research project, so we started working on the final copy of the poster.  Mrs. Bobeldyk and Mrs. Watters' classes took an assessment on Nonfiction Text Features and read Not a Stick and Not a Box both by Antoinette Portis.  Next time we will do an activity based on those books.

Second Grade:  We finally got to search the library catalog for books!  We practiced using the Keyword, Author, and Title buttons.

Third Grade:  Finishing up our work on text features, we're creating biography posters using at least four text features.  We will finish them during the next library class.

Fourth Grade:  We finished locating materials on our chosen topic by using Encyclopedia Britannica.  We will learn about bibliographies next time.

Fifth Grade:  We had our FINAL workday to finish our presentations.  We will present our hard work during our next library time.

Sixth Grade:  Dewey Decimal commercials were introduced and started in class.  We will be finishing these in the next few library classes.

Genre Challenge - March

Here are the March results!

Congratulations to Ms. Rindels' class for reading the most Award Winning books in March!  This is her class's THIRD win of the year!!  The class will receive a popcorn party in April!  April is National Poetry Month, so Poetry is the genre. 

All results:

3M - 23(+)

3R - 40 (+)

3S - 25 (+)

4C - 2 (+)

4H - 2 (=)

5G - 4 (-)

5P - 12 (+)

6H - 0 (=)

6S - 0 (=)

Library Update - March 14

Kindergarten:  We continue to work with fiction and nonfiction books.  We are very good at knowing the difference!  We played a Mimio game and each student had a chance to move a book into fiction or nonfiction columns.  There were a variety of read alouds this time.

First Grade: No read aloud as we are continuing to learn about text features.  We used some of the new nonfiction books that POWWER purchased for us to locate different features!

Second Grade: No read aloud for us either as we explored the library online catalog.  We learned how to search by keyword, title, and author!

Third Grade: We used a class set of the nonfiction book Penguins to search for text features.  We also played a game where we guessed the text feature based on our classroom definitions.

Fourth Grade: We're starting a mini research unit!  We chose a magazine we were interested in and looked at the different text features.  One class was able to look for a book on the topic as well!

Fifth Grade: Our research projects have been started.  They're starting to come together in their final forms.  So many great projects coming forward!

Sixth Grade:  We started Dewey Decimal commercials.  Each student is in a group for a given hundreds section of the library.  I can't wait to see the final results!

Have a fabulous Spring Break!

Dr. Seuss Truffula Tree Seeds Winners

Congratulations to the winners of our “Guess the Truffula Tree Seeds” Contest! 

The correct answer was 312.  Five students guessed 300 and two guessed 324.

The winners were Rachel Brokenshire, Olivia Combs, Charlie Bartlett, Tyler Emkes, Carter Halvorson, Ella Millman, and Ja’Niyah Sydney!  Thanks to all who guessed!

Thank You POWWER!

Each year I am lucky enough to be supported by POWWER to purchase books for our library.  This year I focused on finding nonfiction books that would fit our younger readers.  I was able to purchase 100 books!  88 of them came recently and most are ready for checkout.
Thank you POWWER for supporting our library and our students!

Mrs. Newgard, 2013

Dr. Seuss Truffula Seed Contest

Since we didn't have school on March 2 (the recognized day for Dr. Seuss' Birthday) we decided to have a little contest this week!

© Mrs. Newgard, 2013

I filled a jar with Truffula Tree Seeds (Nerds Jelly Beans) and I am asking students to guess how many "seeds" are in the jar.

To take part in the contest, students fill out the form below and put it into our Cat in the Hat hat.

© Mrs. Newgard, 2013

On Monday, March 11, at 3:30 I will find the person with a guess closest to the actual number.  That student will win the jar and the contents!  Good luck to all of our participants!

Idea from Printerest

Library Update - March 6

Kindergarten: Read Aloud: Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed by Mo Willems & The Naked Mole-Rat by Jody Rake We finished our Mo Willems author study and will move into nonfiction.  We used the two read alouds to discuss fiction vs. nonfiction.

First Grade:We're starting work on nonfiction.  We talked about nonfiction text features and what they are used for in nonfiction.

Second Grade:  We are continuing working on the nonfiction and where books are found.  We will be moving into locating books next!

Third Grade:  Nonfiction text features are our focus as well.  We're looking at different ones and why they're important in our reading.

Fourth Grade:  We are also working on nonfiction text features and starting a mini-research project.

Fifth Grade:We learned about creating bibliographies using EasyBib.  We worked on them during class time.

Sixth Grade: We learned about EasyBib and how useful it can be to create a bibliography for our decades research in social studies.  We worked on them during class time.

Genre Challenge - February

I can't believe it's March already!!  

Congratulations to Mrs. Michael's class for reading the most Biography/Autobiography books in February!  Her class will receive a popcorn party sometime in March!

March's genre is Award Winners (Newberry, Caldecott, Coretta Scott King, Geisel Award, current and old Iowa Children's Choice, etc.).  This does include honor books as well.

All results (and whether the class increased or decreased):

3M - 16 (-)

3R - 4 (-)

3S - 6 (+)

4C - 0 (-)

4H - 2 (-)

5G - 5 (-)

5P - 0 (-)

6H - 0 (=)

6S - 0 (=)

Library Update - February 20

Kindergarten: Read Aloud: Leonardo the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems and Mo Willems by Sheila Griffin Llanas.  We are winding down our author study of Mo Willems with these great two stories.  We discussed what a biography is and learned more about Mo Willems.

First Grade: Read Aloud: Lights Out by Arthur Geisert (wordless book)  Each student was given a wordless book and did a story map of the characters, setting, problem, and solution.

Second Grade:  We are working on search and locate in the library and continuing to talk about popular nonfiction areas for second graders.  We even went on a "field trip" to see the library organization.

Third Grade: We started typing our book reviews and putting them on Destiny Quest.

Fourth Grade: Read Aloud: The Library Gingerbread Man by Dotti Enderle  After reading we practiced searching and locating for materials on the shelf as a relay game.

Fifth Grade: We're continuing our research project and had a whole class period just to work!  We got a lot accomplished!

Sixth Grade:We finished our posters for our K pals and will share them soon!

Look for Library Link conference reports in conference folders next week!

Library Update - February 11

Kindergarten: Read Aloud: Knuffle Bunny and Knuffle Bunny Too by Mo Willems. We started discussing things we've noticed in Mo Willem's books so far.

First Grade:We started a mini unit on wordless books.  We're focusing on the setting, characters, problem, and solution.

Second Grade: We continued to explore some of the nonfiction sections that second graders like.  We talked about how books are organized in the library.

Third Grade:  We started discussing and creating our own book reviews.

Fourth Grade:  We FINALLY finished Locked in the Library and started talking about mysteries which is a connection to the classroom unit.

Fifth Grade: We are continuing to learn about our topics and some students are starting to plan their final project.

Sixth Grade: We're getting close to finishing our author projects for our K pals.  Our posters are coming together!

Library Update - February 1

Kindergarten: Read Aloud: a variety of Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems. We also created our own comic using Gerald and Piggie.

First Grade: Read Aloud: The Snowman by Raymond Briggs.  We wrote about what a snowman might do at night.

Second Grade: We played the "I have, who has" game with text features and we started to explore some of the nonfiction.

Third Grade:  We continued to explore Destiny Quest to find books we want to read, make a list of books we read, and we started discussing reviews.

Fourth Grade:  We FINISHED Locked in the Library this class period!

Fifth Grade: We're continuing to take notes on our topic.  We started discussing outlines and what information will be included in the product.

Sixth Grade: We're continuing our author projects for our K pals.  We started working on our posters.

Genre Challenge - January

Congratulations to Mr. Grafenberg's class for reading the most Biography/Autobiography books in January!  His class will receive a popcorn party sometime in February!

February's genre is Historical Fiction.

All results (and whether the class increased or decreased):

3M - 18 (-)

3R - 11 (-)

3S - 0 (-)

4C - 28 (-)

4H - 4 (-)

5G - 36 (+)

5P - 0 (-)

6H - 0 (=)

6S - 0 (=)

Library Update - January 23

Kindergarten: Read Aloud: Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems and class choice of Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late and The Pigeon Wants a Puppy.  We also drew our own pigeon!

First Grade: Read Aloud: The Hat by Jan Brett  We summarized the book and made comparisons between it and The Mitten also by Jan Brett.

Second Grade: Read Aloud: Edwina, the Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct by Mo Willems. We did a writing activity about what dinosaurs would do if they were alive today.

Third Grade: We worked on creating a GoogleDoc and sharing it with our classroom teacher.  Some classes had enough time to log into DestinyQuest and find new books we are interested in!

Fourth Grade: We're closing in on the end of the Locked in the Library project, and we're continuing to work on locating materials on the shelf.

Fifth Grade: Our research project is underway.  We spent the class period looking for information about our topics!

Sixth Grade: Our next project is an author project to share with our Kindergarten pals.  We're choosing a children's book author to learn about.  Next time we will create a poster with our information!

Library Update - January 11

Kindergarten: Read Aloud: Mouse Shapes by Ellen Stoll Walsh  We built a mouse using different shapes.  We also read Mouse Paint by the same author and compared the two books.

First Grade: Read Aloud: The Mitten by Jan Brett  We summarized the book.  Next time we will read The Hat also by Jan Brett and make comparisons between the books.

Second Grade: Read Aloud: The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins by Brian Selznick   We read and discussed this biography.  It tied well to the dinosaur unit they are doing in their classrooms.

Third Grade: We continue to work on the nonfiction section of the library and the Dewey Decimal system.  We explored different titles in the different hundreds section.  It was fun to see different kinds of books!

Fourth Grade: We're continuing with Locked in the Library but extending it to finding things in the library and using the catalog to find what is available.  We're also working on our order of library materials.

Fifth Grade: We are starting our research projects.  This class period we read a book called R is for Research by Toni Buzzeo.  Even though it's a picture book it had good ideas for us to think about.  We listed our top three research topic ideas and started to look at what would be available.

Sixth Grade: We finished our presentations and presented them to our classmates. These projects will be shared with the teachers at Orchard Hill to help them learn about the different AEA Online Resources.

Library Update - January 4

Due to the two snow days before break, this update looks a lot like the other update, but I wanted to stay on target!  I hope everyone had a fun and relaxing two weeks off!

Kindergarten: Read Aloud: Sniffles, Sneezes, Hiccups, and Coughs by Peggy Raife Durant.  We discussed that it is a nonfiction book and we learned about our body.  Some classes made a comparison to the book Pigs Make Me Sneeze by Mo Willems.  That is a fiction book because pigs and elephants can't talk!

First Grade: Read Aloud: The Great Mitten Mystery by Steven Kellogg  We wrote about what our favorite snow activity was.  We illustrated our sentence and hid a mitten in the picture.

Second Grade: We are still working on our Nonfiction Lap Books.  We're getting closer to getting them completed!

Third Grade: Read Aloud: Sam and the Lucky Money by Karen Chinn  We worked in table groups to complete a summary of the book.

Fourth Grade: We began a library quest called Locked in the Library.

Fifth Grade: We looked at a websites about DHMO and discussed the validity of them.  Then we were introduced to the Pomegranate Phone!

Sixth Grade: We are continuing work on our AEA presentations.  Today was our last work day and our projects will be presented during the next class period.

Genre Challenge - December

Congratulations to Mrs. Canady's class for reading the most Realistic Fiction books in December!  Her class will receive a popcorn party in library sometime in January!

January's genre is Biography/Autobiography.

All results (and whether the class increased or decreased between  November & December):

3M - 23 (-)

3R - 28 (-)

3S - 18 (-)

4C - 43 (+)

4H - 5 (-)

5G - 6 (+)

5P - 2 (+)

6H - 0 (=)

6S - 0 (=)