This week we wrap up Pennekamp's literacy month! Over the past several weeks our school has (among other things) completed reading logs, pocketed poems, listened to picture books read by members of our local Rotary Club, celebrated Dr. Seuss's birthday, written screenplays, and most of all, enjoyed reading. This coming Friday is our reading celebration party, with a DJ! My focus this week in the library is books having to do with the creation of stories: Max's Words, by Kate Banks, for first grade; Little Red Writing, by Joan Holub, for second grade; and Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dude, by Kevin O'Malley, for third grade. 

I am using a couple of videos this week. Dear parents, if you should like to use these at home, please note that advertisements, sidebar images, and the like that accompany online videos are beyond my control, so proceed with caution. The TK students will be seeing "This Too Shall Pass," by OK GO, which demonstrates many of the "simple machines" (wheel, lever, pulley, inclined plane, etc.) they have been studying. Kindergarten is seeing a short video about Luis Soriano, a librarian in Colombia who brings books to children using burros for transportation. His story is the subject of our readaloud this week: Wating for the Biblioburro, by Monica Brown. CNN included Mr. Soriano in its video series on heroes.

Grades 4 and 5 continue with their novels. I was hoping to finish before April break but I don't think we're going to make it! By the end of April we will, for sure.

This is the first year Pennekamp has participated in the contest for the Cook Prize, which is specifically on science, technology, engineering, and math books. The winner among our third-grade students is… The Boy Who Loved Math: The Improbable Life of Paul Erdos, by Deborah Heiligman. All votes are due by April 20 to Bank Street School, the sponsoring organization, so I assume we'll find out the big winner sometime around the beginning of May. May 1 is also when we find out the statewide winner of the California Young Reader Medal--a contest in which all district elementary schools (including Pennekamp) routinely participate.

Next Monday is the next meeting of the book club for grade five. We will discuss A Tale Dark and Grimm, by Adam Gidwitz. I have added a "tab" to this website with book club information. There you can see how our book club members rate the books we read!

This week includes one of my favorite Pennekamp traditions, the Richstone Feast. This dinner event is Thursday night, March 27, and there are two seatings: 5:15 and 6:45. The form for purchasing tickets is available in the school office. The Richstone Family Center assists families dealing with domestic abuse. Pennekamp's fifth-graders put on the annual Richstone Feast to raise money for this very worthy organization. If you cannot attend, please consider donating a prize for the raffle (again, the school office can receive those). A big shout-out to Mr. Warner, for leading this event year after year, and particularly to the fifth-grade students for so ably and responsibly working to help families in need.

Pennekamp's science fair offers an opportunity to share hands-on discovery with our students, and it provides the theme for most of the library readalouds for this week. Don't miss Science Night on Thursday, March 20, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., where you can view the science fair projects and participate in other science-related activities. Grades K, 1, 2, and 3 are all hearing science-themed picture books; specific titles can be seen on the Weekly Readalouds page of this website. Grade 3 will be voting on the four nominees for the Cook Prize, a contest sponsored by the Bank Street School of Education and focused on "STEM" (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) books. Grades 4 and 5 continue with their novels, although grade 4 is also moving into a project on the Gold Rush that will utilize library materials on the topic. On display in the library this week are a great many science-themed books (picture books and nonfiction resources, including some of our new books on endangered animals).

Please note: the library will not be available to patrons this week on Tuesday, March 18, from 8:00 to 12:40. It will be in use for Safe School Ambassadors training.

This week at Pennekamp is Poem-in-Your-Pocket week. Our weeklong event is inspired by national Poem-in-Your-Pocket Day, which falls on the date of the Jogathon; so I decided to move our observance to this week, to tie in with Pennekamp's literacy month. This week, carry a poem in your pocket--to share with a friend, read to your class, or simply for the fun of reaching in your pocket and finding a poem in there! Bring your poem to the library to be photographed for our annual "Pocket Poem" poster. Many poetry books are on display this week in the library. If you would like to write your own poem for your pocket, that would be great! The ETTC Poem Generator is a fun tool for creating a poem and becoming acquainted with different poetic forms such as the sonnet or cinquain. Grades K, 1, and 2 will be hearing poetry-themed books this week during class visits to the library.

Grade 3 continues with the nominees for the Cook Prize. We will be voting next week! Grades 4 and 5 continue with the novels we are reading aloud. 

Although we are busy with poetry this week at Pennekamp, this is also Brain Awareness Week, an invitation to think about the brain--its remarkable abilities and the fascinating field of neuroscience. The Neuroscience for Kids website has some fun brain-themed games. This Friday is an extra-special day: first of all, it is Albert Einstein's birthday! The library collection includes several excellent Einstein biographies. Coincidentally (or is it…?), Einstein's birthday is also known as "pi day," because the date can be written 3.14. BrainPOP has a good video on pi (login information available from your child's teacher or from me at the library); and for more fun, you can listen to the “The Pi Song” on Googol Learning (http://www.googolpower.com/content/free-learning-resources/videos/pi-music-video-by-zap).

This is Dr. Seuss week! In honor of the birthday of Theodore Seuss Geisel (March 2, 1904), "Read Across America" day takes place every year around this time--the official date of the event this year is March 3. In honor of Dr. Seuss and as part of Pennekamp's literacy month, this week the younger grades (TK, K, 1st, and 2nd grade) will be hearing Dr. Seuss books during their weekly library visit.

Grade 3 continues hearing the nominees for the Cook Prize. Bone by Bone was very well received last week, but this week we hear Toilet, by David Macaulay, which has already gotten quite a bit of student interest. The Hyperion Treatment Plant in El Segundo offers public tours as well as a virtual tour, if anyone is interested in knowing more about how sewage is processed.

Grades 4 and 5 continue with their novels. 

Next week (March 10-14) Pennekamp will be having Poem-in-Your-Pocket week! I wish I could take credit for coming up with this idea, but there is in fact a national Poem-in-Your-Pocket Day--on Thursday, April 24, this year. Invariably the national day seems to be on or very close to the day of Pennekamp's Jogathon (it is the very same day this year!), so instead Pennekamp has a weeklong version of the event during our literacy month. Celebrate poetry by carrying a poem in your pocket next week. Come by the library next week with your poem if you would like to be photographed for our poster! Don't have a poem? You can copy one from a book or make up your own! The ETTC Poem Generator is a fun way to make your own poem.

The next book for the 5th-grade book club is A Tale Dark and Grimm, by Adam Gidwitz. Thanks to the other MBUSD schools that have lent us copies, and also to the Manhattan Beach branch of the Los Angeles County Public Library, which has plenty of copies on hand (at the "express library" bookmobile) for our use.

Coming to the shelves this week and next are a great many new books on endangered animals, in anticipation of grade 3's work on this topic as well as Earth Day next month (April 22). Thanks to the PTA for generously funding the purchase of new library books--we are lucky indeed to have up-to-date nonfiction materials for our eager Dragon readers, as well as the many other beautiful, entertaining, insightful, and thought-provoking books that come to our library through the generosity of the Pennekamp PTA.