Students in grade 4 have been independently reading several books nominated for the California Young Reader Medal in the "Intermediate" (chapter book) category. Those students who read all three nominees were permitted to vote on that category. Although I promoted this part of the contest mostly with 4th grade, there were also a few 5th graders who had read all three nominees. With votes due to the state organizers by April 1, we chose today for our voting/pizza event! The winner at Pennekamp was Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library, by Chris Grabenstein. Statewide winners will be announced around May 1. Thanks to the PTA for providing the funds that allow for our participation in the CYRM contest.

To see what all the grades are hearing this week in the library, click on over to the Weekly Readalouds page of this website. Mostly we are looking at books somehow related to spring (including books about baby animals). 

Monday, April 3, the book club for grade 5 is having lunch with Cylin Busby, author of many books for children and teens, including The Nine Lives of Jacob Tibbs, our current club selection. The students and I are very much looking forward to meeting Ms. Busby and discussing Jacob Tibbs!

Next week (after the book club meeting) the library will be closed for a week or two for replacement of the flooring and a few other improvements. I realize this will inconvenience students and families, but the changes we are making will be very worth this temporary interruption. Everything should be done by the time we return from spring break.

This Thursday, March 30, one of my favorite Pennekamp events takes place: the annual Richstone Feast. There are two serving times for what promises to be an excellent dinner--come to either the 5:15 or the 6:45 seating. Tickets can be purchased ahead of time from Mr. Warner, or you can almost for sure get tickets at the door. This event is organized and carried out almost entirely by the 5th-grade students. All proceeds go to the Richstone Family Center, which works to keep families safe from domestic abuse. Every year it's such a fun time, and it feels really good to know that we are benefiting this extremely worthy organization. Don't miss this wonderful event.

Last but not least, I urge you to check out the Wednesday STEM lineup at the Manhattan Beach Public Library. Next up on April 12 at 3:30 is an event introducing a new "mobile makerspace" van. The programs are free of charge. Click on the PDF below to see more specifics.

According to a recent UNICEF estimate, more than 3,000 children die each day due to diarrheal diseases, most of which are caused by unsafe water. Hauling water each day takes a great deal of time for women and girls in the developing world (as depicted in a new picture book, The Water Princess, by Susan Verde, based on the life of Georgie Badiel). The theme of World Water Day this year is reducing and reclaiming wastewater. There's even a clever video showing how water can be used for various purposes before it goes down the drain. You can make a difference by fundraising for and donating to organizations that improve access to clean water, such as the Georgie Badiel Foundation or the Ryan's Well Foundation, among others. Below is a very inspiring video about Ryan Hreljac and the foundation that he started (and be advised that YouTube content often comes along with comments and sidebars that are not appropriate for children).  

There are a couple of special events coming up at the Pennekamp library. Next Monday, March 27, students in grades 4 or 5 who have read all three nominees in the "Intermediate" category of the California Young Reader Medal contest will be permitted to vote at the library during lunch. Each student voting will receive a piece of Papa John's cheese pizza and a small bottled water! To show an understanding of the nominees students also need to fill out a brief questionnaire for each book. "Invitations" will be distributed on the morning of March 27 to the students who have read all three books and filled out the three questionnaires. Thanks to the PTA for funds used to buy multiple copies of the nominated books and for the pizza and drinks.

The other very exciting event coming up is on April 3: the book club for 5th-grade students will have lunch with Cylin Busby, author of The Nine Lives of Jacob Tibbs, our terrific current selection! I am so excited, as I love this book. Likely as not it will be on the 2017 MBUSD summer pleasure reading list for students entering grades 4 and 5.

Okay, now here's the inspiring video about the Ryan's Well Foundation. Have a great week!

Women's History Month is March, so pretty much all grades this week are hearing books in recognition of the achievements of women and girls.

For grades K, 1, and 2, I will be reading picture books about girls who do not limit themselves to stereotypes about what girls can or should do. For specific titles, see the Weekly Readalouds page of this website. 

​Grade 3 will continue hearing nominees for the Cook Prize, awarded by the Bank Street College of Education for an exemplary STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) book. This week's nominee, Solving the Puzzle Under the Sea: Marie Tharp Maps the Ocean Floor, by Robert Burleigh, doubles as a women's history book.

Grade 4 continues with Some Kind of Courage, by Dan Gemeinhart. The students seem to be really enjoying this exciting historical fiction set in the state of Washington in 1890.

Grade 5 will hear Elizabeth Started All the Trouble, by Doreen Rappaport, about the women's suffrage movement. It's long but does a nice job of linking the fight for women's rights to other fights for freedom and equality, such as the colonists' rebellion against English oppression, grade 5's current topic in social studies.

Pennekamp will be visited this week by members of the Manhattan Beach Rotary Club, who will be reading aloud to our students in grades K, 1, and 2 through the Rotary Reads program. It is interesting for our students to meet these service-minded adults from various walks of life, and I am grateful to the Rotary Club for their support of reading and of our school.

Grade 3 will begin hearing the nominees for the Cook Prize, awarded by the Bank Street College of Education for an exemplary STEM book (STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and math). This week I'll be reading Whoosh! Lonnie Johnson's Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions, by Chris Barton. Lonnie Johnson is on his third awesome project: after working for NASA, he invented the Super-Soaker squirt toy, and now is working on solar energy. Hard to choose which one is the coolest!

Grade 4 continues with Some Kind of Courage, by Dan Gemeinhart. They are enjoying this exciting historical fiction set in the state of Washington in 1890.

Grade 5 is beginning a month of books in honor of Women's History Month, which is the month of March. This week we are hearing one about the poet Phillis Wheatley, the first African American to publish a book of poetry, despite the various traits that would have made her the target of discrimination--being female, young, a slave, and of African origin. We are also squeezing in time for the students to research American Revolution men and women, for their presentations at the end of March. I'd urge them to consult the World Book Online encyclopedia and websites from reputed sources, and to make sure they can confirm any information in more than one source. They all seem to remember the lessons of All about Explorers, a gorgeous website riddled with inaccurate information in order to teach students to use caution when relying on the internet for research.

Book club members: there are now copies at the Manhattan Beach Public Library of our March title: The Nine Lives of Jacob Tibbs, by Cylin Busby. I also have copies I can distribute for my reimbursement cost ($6.00 each).