Pennekamp's Literacy Celebration during the month of February was a huge success. We had the third annual Super Literacy Quiz Bowls, the second annual Night at the Library, and tallied thousands of minutes of reading on our reading logs. New this year, students had their picture taken behind our adorable "book dragon" display! For the sake of privacy, I avoid using personal names on this website, but I'd like to give a huge shoutout to our Literacy Chair, who gave so many hours of time, such diligence and hard work, and a truly remarkable abundance of creativity and quality to every aspect of the Literacy Celebration. Thanks also to parent and student volunteers, who pitched in at every event. The support of Dr. Gerger and the Pennekamp PTA are also gratefully acknowledged.

The CYRM contest voting took part largely during February. The winner at Pennekamp of the Primary category was The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors, by Drew Daywalt. The PK winner in the category Picture Books for Older Readers was Her Right Foot, by Dave Eggers. Still to come on March 11 and March 18, students in grades 4 and 5 who read all three Intermediate nominees will be voting at special pizza party events. For more information about our annual participation in CYRM, please click here. Statewide winners will be announced on May 1.

Rotary Readers from the Manhattan Beach Rotary Club will be reading to our students during the week of March 2, 2020. The students always enjoy meeting these service-minded community members and hearing about their love of reading. There will be readers for grades TK, K, 1, 2, and DHH.

The children's librarian from the Manhattan Beach public library is visiting on March 5 to distribute student library cards and promote our awesome public library. I love our public library very much--you can run into me there every weekend.

March is Women's History Month and includes Pi Day as well as the start of spring. Readalouds will focus on those themes. Grade 5 is studying the American Revolution, so they will hear some stories related to that event.

The book club for grade 5 is reading The Great Trouble, by Deborah Hopkinson. This historical fiction science mystery ties in nicely with classwork on historical fiction (and, purely coincidentally, with current concerns about infectious diseases). The club's next meeting is March 25.

I urge you to attend the Richstone Feast on March 26. I never miss it. The Richstone Center assists women and children who have experienced domestic violence. Pennekamp's long commitment to raise funds for this very worthy organization is something for which Pennekamp can be especially proud. And further, the feast is just a really fun event. 

The library will be open for open house. Please come by and say hello, if you have a chance.
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February is Pennekamp's Literacy Celebration Month! This month is filled with literacy events and activities to get students and their families excited about reading.

A very popular aspect of the Literacy Celebration is the Read-a-thon, which starts on Friday, February 7. From this website you can download the Read-a-thon log sheet. Students use the log sheet to keep track of the minutes they read from February 7 to February 27. Please total the minutes read and turn in the log sheet on Friday, February 28. Students receive raffle tickets for the number of minutes they read (details are on the Read-a-thon log sheet). Let's show how much Dragons love to read!

Also during the Literacy Celebration all students are voting on the nominees for the California Young Reader Medal. If you'd like to see the specific titles on which students are voting, visit the CYRM page of this site. In addition, students in grades 4 and 5 have the chance to read and then vote on the chapter books nominated for the CYRM. The nominees in that category are The War that Saved My Life, by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley; The Losers Club, by Andrew Clements; and The Detective's Assistant, by Kate Hannigan. Any 4th- or 5th-grade student who reads all three will be invited to a voting "pizza party" in March. 

Many students are also preparing for the upcoming Super Literacy Quiz Bowl games. There's a lot of information about the SLQB right here on this website. Registration is now closed, and a remarkable 82 students are playing! Good luck and bravo (or brava!) to all the SLQB participants.

For our younger Dragons, I'm pleased to announce the second annual Night at the Library, which will be on Wednesday, February 26. Parents and students in TK, K, 1st, and 2nd grade are invited to come in their PJs to Pennekamp's library after dark. We'll hear and read picture books and do a variety of fun things. This year the event is timed as follows: from 4:30 to 6:00 is for TK and kindergarten students and their parents; 6:30 to 8:00 is for 1st- and 2nd-grade students and their parents. All students must be accompanied by a parent.

The Literacy Celebration is supported by the Pennekamp PTA. I am very proud and happy to be at a school that values books, reading, and all types of information literacy. I hope you enjoy the Literacy Celebration and that reading is always a shared pleasure for you and your family.