For the past few weeks, the fourth grade has been enjoying Island of the Blue Dolphins by Newbury-award winning author, Scott O’Dell. This work of historical fiction details the experience of a teenage native American girl who lived alone on the island of San Nicolas (off the coast of California) for 18 years before she was rescued by Christian missionaries. Though this tale of survival and resilience centers around events that took place nearly 200 years ago, the spirit of Karana, her strength and her determination resonate with us today. Students also have created a bulletin board display in the library inspired by this book and the corresponding film which we are currently watching.

Happy Reading!

Second Graders tested their literary knowledge today with a giant floor sized game of Five Alive! Teams had to select a letter from my magic bag which corresponded with a literacy-based question. Correct answers were rewarded with a checker (red or black) that could be strategically placed on the game board. Students demonstrated their knowledge of genre, book organization, library organization, reference materials and alphabetization. We concluded with book browsing and checkout. Happy Reading!

This week in the library, First Grade explored castles as a point of departure for the distinction between fiction and non-fiction books. We pulled the library’s assortment of books about castles and explored the types of information found inside. The students noticed some books had pictures while others had drawings; some books were full of information, others had stories in them. We concluded that although all the books talked about castles and the people and activities that happen around them, some books had true information while others were “just for fun.” Why not ask your child tonight about your current bedtime tale? Fiction or Non-Fiction? Next, we read aloud a non-fiction book, Medieval Castles by Jim Whiting. This is one of the First Fact series of books which provides a lively introduction to non-fiction for beginning and intermediate readers. Some of our favorite new facts are:
1. Only the lords of the castle ate off plates; everyone else ate off of stale bread
2. Castles took about an average of 10 years to build.
2. Castles had toilets. Well, actually holes floor with a board to sit on.

We concluded with book browsing and checkout. Happy Reading!