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During class visits this week we continue with the nominees for the California Young Reader Medal. Specific titles are on the Weekly Readalouds page of this site. Students will be voting for their favorite of the books in the next couple of weeks.

​The next selection for PK's book club for 5th-grade students is Under the Egg, by Laura Marx Fitzgerald. The next meeting is Monday, February 26.

Next week Pennekamp's Literacy Celebration begins! This extra-special time (from February 5 to 26) is devoted to promoting literacy among our students. There are many exciting events taking place. A full list is on the flyer found right beneath this post (see PDF below). Of special note are the following: Seth Fishman school visit, Lisa McMann school visit, and the Super Literacy Quiz Bowl. 

On Monday, February 5, author Seth Fishman is doing assemblies and class visits with our students in TK, K, 1st, 2nd, and the DHH class. His book, A Hundred Billion Trillion Stars, is about really huge numbers and things that occur in very large quantities. On Thursday, February 8, at 8:30 a.m., author Lisa McMann will present an assembly for students in grades 3, 4, and 5. Her hugely popular Unwanteds series continues in the spinoff series Unwanteds Quests, of which Dragon Caves and Dragon Bones are the first two volumes. Order forms for signed books are on this website. Online orders for signed copies can be placed on Pages website. Seth Fishman book orders are due February 2. Lisa McMann book orders are due February 5.

The Super Literacy Quiz Bowl will take place during the week of February 12. This is a fun, optional activity for students in grades 3, 4, and 5. Signups are no longer being accepted, but participating students should keep reading!
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PK's book club for 5th-grade students meets Monday, January 22, at lunch recess. All club members are encouraged to attend. We will discuss Me and Marvin Gardens and choose our book for February.

The Super Literacy Quiz Bowl will take place during the week of February 12. This is a fun, optional activity for students in grades 3, 4, and 5. Although the deadline for signing up has passed, late signups will be accepted the first couple of days this week. 

During class visits this week we continue with the nominees for the California Young Reader Medal. Specific titles are on the Weekly Readalouds page of this site.

Wednesday, January 24, the library will close at 1:30. I have to attend a district meeting off campus.

Also on January 24, at 3:30, there's a really cool Native American storyteller at the Manhattan Beach public library. For details please click here.

On Monday, February 5, author Seth Fishman is doing assemblies and class visits with our students in TK, K, 1st, 2nd, and the DHH class. His book, A Hundred Billion Trillion Stars, is about really huge numbers and things that occur in very large quantities. He is an engaging, very interactive presenter, and his awesome book appeals to young readers, math-inclined children, and anyone who has ever wondered how many stars are in the sky or grains of sand are on a beach. He will be personalizing and signing copies of A Hundred Billion Trillion Stars. Order forms are available in the school office and the PK library, and there's a PDF of the form right below this post. The book can also be ordered from Pages: A Bookstore. Order by February 2 and your book(s) will be delivered to PK on the day of Seth's visit.

Monday is a school holiday honoring the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. There is no school on Monday, and all classes that normally visit the library on Monday have rescheduled their time.

Have you heard the outcome of our recent food drive? Pennekamp collected a remarkable 1,010 pounds of food for the L.A. Regional Food Bank! I am so very proud of our school and so grateful to the students, families, teachers, and staff who contributed. The Food Bank estimates this will provide meals for 841 hungry children, seniors, families, and individuals here in Los Angeles County. What a good feeling it is to know we were able to share our good fortune with those in need. And how about a popsicle party to celebrate? The Pennekamp PTA has offered this (thanks, PTA!) so a date will be announced very soon.

This week we continue with the nominees for the California Young Reader Medal. On display are books about inventions because January 17 is "KID Inventors Day" (always on Ben Franklin's birthday). We aren't reading aloud for it this year but we will next year. To accompany our reading of The Noisy Paintbox, I will show the YouTube video below (always exercise caution when viewing YouTube content at home as the peripheral ads, sidebars, and comments are often inappropriate for children). For Gaston, we'll take a quick peek at a couple of websites--that of Christian Robinson, the illustrator (http://theartoffun.com/about/) and the Teaching Books page for Kelly DiPucchio (https://www.teachingbooks.net/pronounce.cgi?aid=722). 

The Super Literacy Quiz Bowl will take place during the week of February 12. This is a fun, optional activity for students in grades 3, 4, and 5. Students who would like to play need to return signup sheets by this Friday, January 19.

PK's book club for 5th-grade students meets next Monday, January 22, at lunch recess. All club members are encouraged to attend. We will discuss Me and Marvin Gardens and choose our book for February.

Oh, and by the way...

Welcome back and happy new year!

It is my great pleasure to announce the results of our recent food drive. Pennekamp collected a remarkable 1,010 pounds of food for the L.A. Regional Food Bank! I am so very proud of our school and so grateful to the students, families, teachers, and staff who contributed. The Food Bank estimates this will provide meals for 841 hungry children, seniors, families, and individuals here in Los Angeles County. What a good feeling it is to know we were able to share our good fortune with those in need. And how about a popsicle party to celebrate? The Pennekamp PTA has offered this (thanks, PTA!) so a date will be announced very soon. 

This week I am beginning to read aloud the nominees for the California Young Reader Medal. Participation in this contest is a longstanding tradition in MBUSD school libraries. It is something to which the students really look forward and is an exceptional educational opportunity, as it involves key skills such as comparing and contrasting texts, forming and expressing informed opinions, and voting. This year's nominees can be found on the this page or on the CYRM website. The younger grades will hear The Snatchabook, by Helen Docherty and Tom Docherty, this week, and we'll do one book a week until it's time to vote (early in February). To make up for the Monday holiday, Ms. Rios's class will hear the first of the nominees for the upper grades: Barbed Wire Baseball, by Marissa Moss. (Below are a couple of images of Kenichi Zunimura, the subject of Barbed Wire Baseball.) Most of the upper grades are hearing books in honor of the Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday on Monday, January 15. All of this week's readalouds are listed on the Weekly Readalouds page of this website.

It is now time for interested students to sign up for the Super Literacy Quiz Bowl (SLQB)! Every student who wishes to participate must submit a registration form with parent signature by January 19, 2018. Please find your child’s grade-level registration form on the Book Contests page of this website. Copies will also be included in this month’s Wednesday envelope. Students can continue reading the selections right up to the competition dates, which will be during the week of February 12 to 16. Although competing in this event is optional, it's going to be really fun! Every student is encouraged--but not required--to participate!

Please read the post below for some really exciting literary and cultural events that are coming up soon right here in town.