This week we are continuing with our science theme.

Fifth grade will hear Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table this week. We didn't get to it last week, preferring instead to research the students' American Revolution assignment. The other readalouds can be found on the Weekly Readalouds page of this website. 

The fifth-grade book club meets this week on Thursday, March 31, at lunch recess in the library. We are discussing Loot, by Jude Watson.

Again we have some videos coming up this week: the Will Allen one we didn't see last week, OK GO "This Too Shall Pass" (which has become a tradition for TK, to accompany that class's study of simple machines such as levers and pulleys), and the video below (made by a young person) that explains how Archimedes is thought to have discovered his principle of buoyancy. Shortly after spring break Ms. Gretchen in our "maker space" will begin working with the students on stop-motion animation films using Lego minifigures. I hope the video below inspires students to begin thinking of stories they'd like to tell with their Lego stop-motion films. Further, I particularly hope it shows how effective it can be to take factual information and depict it through a clever, exciting, or beautiful story ("Like in a picture book, Ms. Barbara?" Yes, like in a picture book.)

As always, be very careful in allowing children to view YouTube content, including the YouTube videos linked here. Commercials, comments, and sidebars accompanying the videos are often inappropriate for children.

Spring begins on March 21. This week several grades will be hearing books about springtime, seeds, plants, and animal life cycles. We are heading into the time of year when I like to focus on science, so the coming of spring provides a nice reason to get that started. Books on springtime topics are on display.

​Students in kindergarten, grade 1, and grade 2 will hear books about seed germination. We'll also take a look at the video below.

Students in grades 3 and 4 will hear a book just added to our library about horseshoe crabs and will see the video below. High Tide for Horseshoe Crabs is the second of the books we'll be hearing that are nominated for the Cook Prize.

And in grade 5, the students will hear a very inspiring book about Will Allen, recipient of MacArthur "genius" grant in 2008, who uses hydroponics among other techniques to bring fresh produce to urban communities. The students will watch the following video, too.

If you use my links to get to YouTube, please be advised that some YouTube content (especially comments and sidebars) is not appropriate for children.

Classes will be hearing books this week primarily about math, in honor of Pi Day (March 14, also written 3.14). I recommend celebrating Pi Day with a slice of pie. In keeping with the math theme grades TK, 1, 3, and 4 are all hearing books about counting, numbers, or computation. Grade 5 is hearing a short biographical picture book about Albert Einstein, whose birthday happens also to be March 14 (quite a coincidence!). Grade 2 will hear a nonfiction book about the brain, as this is also Brain Awareness Week. Kindergarten will not be visiting the library this week. They will be practicing for the Jogathon. Also, I will be taking a vacation day on Wednesday (the day kindergarten usually comes to the library), so the library will be closed that day.

I explained last week about the Cook Prize, but we did not get to the nominee last week. Instead we read Knit Your Bit, an example of historical fiction set at the time of World War I, when women and men, girls and boys were urged to knit woolens for American soldiers. We will do the first Cook Prize nominee, Ada Byron Lovelace and the Thinking Machine, this week, which fits in nicely with our math theme.

The next book for the Pennekamp 5th-grade book club will be Loot, by Jude Watson. I still have a few copies available to students for $6.00 (my reimbursement cost).

There are some good events coming up at the Manhattan Beach Public Library.

• ​This Thursday, March 17, from 3:00 to 5:00, there is a creative arts workshop at the public library. Along with making art, children attending the workshop can contribute to the Girl Scouts 7545 Bronze Award project: creating boxes of toys and activities to cheer children in hospitals for significant medical procedures (“Jared Boxes”). Please consider donating small toys, craft items (e.g., crayons), or books to this very worthy effort. Please see the attached flyer, and go to jonasyip.com/troop7545 for even more information.
• There has been tremendous interest in D.J. MacHale's new book: Project Alpha, first in the new Voyagers series. The second book in the series--Game of Flames, by Robin Wasserman--is the selection for the public library's Tween Book Club meeting on April 1, 3:30 to 5:00.
• April is National Poetry Month, so the public library is putting on a haiku party and poetry reading--the "Haiku Hullabaloo." To participate, children write an original haiku about Manhattan Beach, then come to the library on April 16 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. to read their haiku aloud. Refreshments will be served. Haiku must be submitted beforehand--by March 31, along with a submission form (click on the PDF below to print one). 

Voting has just concluded at Pennekamp for the California Young Reader Medal. The winners here at our school were The Day the Crayons Quit, by Drew Daywalt (in the Primary category) and A Nation's Hope: The Story of Boxing Legend Joe Louis, by Matt de la Pena (in the Picture Books for Older Readers category). Our votes will be tallied along with those of other students throughout California, and a statewide winner will be announced on May 1, 2016.

Grades 3, 4, and 5 had a wonderful time with author D.J. MacHale on the past Thursday, March 3. He presented two exciting assemblies and had lunch with the 5th-grade book club. D.J.'s newest book, Project Alpha (first in the new Voyagers series) is in high demand at the library! Grades TK, K, 1, and 2 also enjoyed visits last week from members of the Manhattan Beach Rotary Club.

Credit for the Women's History Month comic goes to Self magazine. A poster of the comic can be purchased on Etsy.