The Cat in the Hat Visits Pre-K

Mrs. Davis and Mrs. Green's Pre-K classes had a special visitor in the Media Center this week.  We had just finished reading "The Cat in the Hat" when who should appear but the Cat himself!  The students were excited to get to visit with one of their very favorite storybook characters!
Thank you Cat in the Hat for spending some time with us in the Media Center!

Book Fair Dr. Seuss Birthday Bash!

Our next book fair will begin on February 28th. We are tying the book fair in with Dr. Seuss' birthday and with Read Across America, so we should have a lot of fun! Students may dress up as their favorite Dr. Seuss character on Friday, March 1st. We will also be participating in the online book fair once again.

Click on the Book Fair Link on the right hand side of this page to see more information about out upcoming Book Fair.

Dalton Public Library Visits

Ms. Karol and Ms. Marlene visited with our pre-k classes.  They shared stories and finger plays and we all had a great time.  If you would like more information on the Dalton Public Library, please click HERE.

Research

Third and fourth graders have been using Internet Pathfinders, stored on our Media Wiki, for Internet researching. For both grades, this is an opportunity for using informational text, in electronic forms (websites and eBooks), to find the information they need. The Colonial Webquest that the fourth graders have been working on also incorporates skills such as using charts, map reading, drawing inferences, and forming and supporting opinions. Third graders are also using printed reference and non-fiction books in their research on rocks, minerals, and soil.

Snow Day for Pre-K!

Happy New Year!

Here are some pictures where we are making SNOW with pre-k.  We read several books on snow during the last two library visits, but we hadn't seen any snow in Dalton yet, so we made our own!  The pictures are a little grainy because we had a power outage right before we started!  Funny story - I was getting the students to quiet down by counting down from 5 to 1 so we could start making snow.  Just as I said "One" - out went the lights and the kids all thought I made them go out!  :)   It was neat to watch the snow forming and everybody got to feel and play with it for a few minutes before it was time to leave. 

Gingerbread Baby Hunt

Our Pre-k classes have been listening to different versions of the Gingerbread Man stories during their library time the past couple of weeks. Today we concluded the unit with a search for the Gingerbread Baby. We followed the clues left around the school, using our nifty binoculars to help us search. In the end, we found the Gingerbread Baby and a tasty treat! What fun!







We also decorated gingerbread ornaments to take home!

I Dream of Reading...

Author/magician Chad Crews performed for our students right before our Thanksgiving break. I think you can tell by the photos that a good time was had by all! He amazed us with his feats of magic and while doing so, also impressed upon our students how important it is to be good readers. I must admit that even after seeing all four shows, I still have NO idea how to do any of his wonderful magic. I guess I will just have to get a book and read up on magic! Our students will be able to do the same, as we sold 100 copies of "So You Want to Learn Magic: The Sequel" by Chad Crews - a record number of books for any of our author visits. We also have several new books about magic in the Media Center that will be available for check out soon!

Welcome Chad Crews!

Continuing our tradition of inviting special performers to our school, we have arranged for popular Magical Educator Chad Crews to visit our school. Chad will present one of his educational assembly programs, the “I Dream of Reading Extravaganza!”

Chad will WOW our students with incredible feats of hilarious magic, comedy and live animals. Students will participate onstage in the magic, witnessing things they never thought possible! Best of all, our students will learn that good readers can learn all kinds of things, meet all kinds of people, and go on all kinds of adventures. We are so excited to be able to bring this special guest to our school!

As a way to reinforce the importance of reading for our students, our school will be selling copies of Chad’s unique book, “So You Want to Learn Magic: The Sequel” which contains lots of amazing magic tricks that are super easy to learn, and the tricks themselves are in the back cover! We encourage you to participate in this exciting opportunity. If you would like to purchase a book for your child, please return the order form that was sent home last week and return it with your child.

Please make checks payable to Brookwood Elementary or you may send cash in the exact amount. The cost is only $10.00 per book! A portion of the book sales go back to our school so that we can have future programs!

(If you can not locate the form, a note with your child's name and their homeroom teacher will do!) All orders should be turned in to the Media Center by Wednesday, November 14th.

We will post pictures after the visit, so be sure and check back later!

Literacy Night

The Brookwood PTA is hosting Literacy Night on Tuesday, November 13th. There will be a PTA meeting at 6:00 pm followed by several sessions for parents that will be hosted by grade levels. I will also be in the Media Center to show parents some of our resources, such as BookFlix, TrueFlix, Follett Shelf, Destiny Quest and iPad apps for literacy.

Where did October go?

I can't believe we are already at the end of October! We have had quite a busy month.
Our 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders have learned to use our new OPAC (Online Patron Access Computer) System. They have enjoyed being able to connect with their school friends and recommend books to other students, too. 5th graders have also used the Destiny Quest App on the iPad, learned how to post their own reviews of books they have read on Quest, and conducted online research with Destiny Quest for their 4H projects. PK through 1st graders have enjoyed fall and Halloween stories this month on their weekly visits and 2nd graders have been learning about tooth customs from around the world. (Of course, we have had a Halloween story or two, also!)


So far this year, we have already circulated 10,180 books! Wow!