Springtime books are on display this week and will be read aloud to grades TK and K—lots of flowers, birds, and baby animals. Grade 2 is not far off with a book about a big, tough dog who just happens to like cute, fuzzy bunnies. Grade 1 will be hearing Rosie Revere, Engineer, in which a budding engineer learns to enjoy the whole process of inquiry and creativity, including “first flops.” Grades 3 and 4 continue with the Cook Prize contest, with the fourth nominee, Mr. Ferris and His Wheel. For grade 5, I am very pleased to have gotten a hold of Mesmerized: How Ben Franklin Solved a Mystery that Baffled All of France. This book was favorably reviewed in the New York Times and then went out of stock at most booksellers, but it’s available again! A true story is used to walk readers through the scientific method; and the book stars Ben Franklin, so it’s a nice tie-in with 5th grade’s current focus on prominent figures from the Revolutionary War period.

I haven’t mentioned it lately, but please note that through our PTA we have access to a quality online reference work: World Book Online. Your child’s teacher or I can give you the login password. This is a valuable resource right now in particular for 3rd-graders, who are researching endangered animals; and for 5th-graders, who are researching figures from the American Revolution. It is available to Pennekamp families at home or anywhere you have internet access.

Following spring break there will be a couple of weeks where you may find the library closed. I apologize for the inconvenience, but I will be working elsewhere on campus to process new books for guided reading instruction. You can always return books to the school office staff if you find the library closed.

Have a nice spring break!

We continue this week with recently acquired science books. For specific titles that I will be using with classes, please visit the Weekly Readalouds page of this site. On display are many beautiful, interesting science books, both new acquisitions and old favorites. Around the story rug are dinosaur books, in particular.

Below please find a couple of YouTube videos. YouTube videos are particularly easy for me to add to this website--it's just how this website hosting software works. When I show videos to classes, I avoid YouTube because it's hard to control the ads that come along with the content I'm trying to show. I would suggest that you supervise the viewing of the YouTube content I'm including here!

This week with TK we will view "This Too Shall Pass" by OK GO (the first of the videos below) in support of their work on simple machines (levers, pulleys, inclines--that sort of thing). This has become a bit of a tradition with our youngest students! The video is really fun to watch (and, just as well, the lyrics are pretty much unintelligible). 

The second video below is the book trailer for The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate. Next Monday is the next meeting of the book club for 5th grade, and we will be discussing this Newbery Medal-winnign book. If anyone is having trouble getting a copy I recommend you buy one on Amazon (paperback is $6.00) or request a copy from the County of Los Angeles Public Library system. Apparently the public library's digital copies are in use; an actual physical copy should not be hard to get, although the time is now somewhat short.

The library will be focusing mainly on science for the next month or so. This follows upon our school science fair and leads up to Earth Day (April 22). The library has recently acquired several outstanding new science books that I want to be sure to introduce to the students. Grades 3 and 4 are participating right now in the Cook Prize—a national contest among four science books selected by the Bank Street School in New York City. We are hearing the second of the four Cook nominees this week. In springtime nature provides a lot of opportunity to observe and study the natural world, as plants get new leaves, the days grow longer, and the weather gets warmer. Don’t miss the vernal equinox, which is coming up on March 20. The equinox sun will be eclipsed by a “supermoon,” but only people in Greenland and Iceland will get to see it.

I recently attended a really valuable workshop on how the library can support students’ mastery of the Common Core Standards (CCS). Please note: I am not a credentialed teacher, nor am I an expert on educational standards. However, the workshop pointed out some interesting ideas that I hope to share in this blog and utilize in the library.

Standard 7 from the CCS Reading Standards for Literature and from the Reading Standards for Informational Text calls for evaluating content from diverse media formats; Standard 9 for both sets of standards calls for comparison and contrast of two of more texts (which could mean books or other media).

With these two standards in mind, this week I have found two videos short enough to pair with two of the week’s readalouds. For grades 1 and 2, I am reading a new book, Tiny Creatures: The World of Microbes, and with it we are watching* the “Ask the Producer” clip from the Magic School Bus episode “In a Pickle.” (Magic School Bus can be streamed on Netflix, if you have that service.) For Behold the Beautiful Dung Beetle, there is a great National Geographic video on this unusual creature.* It might be fun to find out which your student thinks was better, book or video? Why, and for what purposes? We are lucky to live in a world with so many different options for presenting information and ideas. It is interesting to think about how best to choose, whether you are trying to research a topic or to create your own content.

*I am able to present the video content only if time permits. Maybe you can watch the videos at home with your child!

Just a brief post this week, as I am a little behind on my regular posting schedule!

This coming Saturday is Pi Day: March 14 (3.14). This is an extra good one, as it is the year 2015, so it is actually even 3.1415! Did you know Pi Day is also Albert Einstein's birthday? Funny coincidence. This week we are reading math books during library time. Saturday, I hope you have some pie and listen to the "Pi Song."

We are beginning the nominees for the Cook Prize. Our first nominee is on fractals, a topic about which I did not know very much. If you have a 3rd- or 4th-grader, you might ask him or her which vegetables grow in a fractal pattern?

Today I was at a program on how our school library can help students meet the Common Core State Standards. It was very interesting and gave me some great ideas that I look forward sharing with the students. Thanks to the district for allowing for the district elementary library media specialists to attend.

The "pocket poem" poster is up! It looks great! Please come by and see it.

This week at Pennekamp is Poem-in-Your-Pocket week! Our weeklong event is inspired by national Poem-in-Your-Pocket Day, which this year will be on April 30. I decided to move our observance to this week, to make it into 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 and 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. I will also be handing out poems to students who need one. Every teacher has been provided with a poem that he or she can carry and share. All grades except TK will be hearing poetry-themed books this week during class visits to the library. If, however, many students want to read aloud their pocket poems, we may devote library time to that instead. 

TK will be hearing Dr. Seuss books, to honor the birthday of Theodore Seuss Geisel (aka "Dr. Seuss"), which is today, March 2. We will also watch a short PowerPoint I put together about Dr. Seuss's life and achievements.

Speaking of Dr. Seuss, how about seeing Seussical at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center! I have not seen it myself, but I hear it is an excellent production. It plays from February 28 to March 8, with evening and matinee performances. 

The library is closed today (Monday, March 2), as I am helping out with a family matter. The library will be closed next week on Wednesday, March 11. I will be attending a conference: "Best Practical Strategies to Ensure that Your School Library Program Helps Students Meet and Exceed the Common Core Standards." I am grateful to the district for making it possible for me to attend.

And on the topic of gratitude, I am so pleased the Rotary Readers could be here last week. They did a great job reading to the students and answering their questions! We all really enjoyed spending time with these dedicated volunteers, who do so much here in our town and around the world.