It's Pennekamp's Poem-in-Your-Pocket week! Students can bring a poem in their pocket (or sock, or shoe), be photographed with their poem, and present their poem during library time. Or not--these activities are purely optional and fun for many, but not all, students. It is also perfectly fine to be the audience. Each teacher will be provided with a poem for the week; no pocket need be empty.

One interesting thing for me in preparing for this week has been looking at YouTube videos of American Sign Language poetry to share with our deaf and hard-of-hearing students. The one below ("Caterpillar," by Ian Sanborn) is my favorite of the ones I've watched. (Be aware that YouTube sidebars, comments, and advertisements are often inappropriate for children, so I recommend parents supervise children's use of YouTube.)

Also this week: we will finally find out on May 1 which books won the actual California Young Reader Medal in the categories we've been following--Primary, Intermediate, and Picture Books for Older Readers.

Pages bookstore is accepting orders for summer reading books for students entering 6th-grade at MBMS. Orders are due by May 31, 2018. Here's the link.

Last Monday we had such a fun and interesting visit with Juana Martinez-Neal, who read us her new book, Alma and How She Got Her Name. Signed copies are still available at Pages, our local independent bookstore.

If your child was one of the top readers in our recent Readathon, it's really time to turn in her or his book order form. These forms can be given to me in the library, and I will get them to the event co-chair. 

The library will be closed Wednesday at 1:30 as I am hosting the monthly meeting of district library staff.

Pennekamp's 1st- and 2nd-grade students enjoyed a delightful visit with Juana Martinez-Neal, author/illustrator of a brand-new picture book: Alma and How She Got Her Name. Signed copies (both English-language and Spanish-language versions) can still be purchased at our local independent bookstore Pages. Does your son or daughter know the history of family names? It's a great introduction to ancestry, a topic recently studied by our 2nd-graders.

Next week is our annual Poem-in-Your-Pocket week. Today (April 26) is national Poem-in-Your-Pocket Day, and at Pennekamp we typically extend this event for a whole week to allow students to participate during their weekly class visit to the library. For our observance, students who have a poem in their pocket when their class visits the library can read their poem aloud and have their photo taken for this year's Pocket Poem poster. On display in the library this week are many poetry collections, from which students can copy a poem to pocket; or students can compose their own original poem to carry (a minimum of two lines, please). Some classes are working on acrostic poems right now--that form is fun and easy for anyone, even beginning poets. 

is here: Alma and How She Got Her Name. Orders will be accepted until April 21, 2018. Thanks to Pages for helping set up her appearance at Pennekamp!

Most of our focus this week, though, is on Earth Day, which is April 22. The first Earth Day happened way back in 1970, and it's been observed annually since 1990. Earth Day is unusual in that it's a global event: many civic events are based in one country or other, but countries all around the world mark April 22 to promote environmental conservation. The theme this year is "End Plastic Pollution." There are many excellent online resources to learn more about Earth Day. I'm particularly impressed with Earth Day Network. 

So most grades are hearing books about the environment this week. The deaf-and-hard-of-hearing class will hear a classic picture book on the Amazon rainforests--The Great Kapok Tree, by Lynne Cherry--and also view the BrainPOP Jr. video on tropical rainforests. Have I mentioned lately that our school subscribes to BrainPOP and that families may view BrainPOP content at home? If you need the login, please contact me or your child's teacher. (The Pennekamp PTA pays for the privilege of using BrainPOP, so I don't want to share the login information here, for all the world to see!) BrainPOP and BrainPOP Jr. offer many videos related to Earth Day, so this is an ideal time to take a look at what's available there.

​Among the other books I'm reading, A Boy and a Jaguar is a standout. It touches upon so many important points--the experience of being a stutterer, the many and varied ways that animals benefit humans, and a sense of gratitude, among others. The short video below (on YouTube) is of Alan Rabinowitz, author of A Boy and a Jaguar, and it will accompany our reading of the book. I recommend you supervise children watching YouTube content because the advertisements, comments, and sidebars are often inappropriate for children. If you want information on stuttering or are looking for ways to talk to a child about stuttering, try the website of the Stuttering Foundation. 

Welcome back, Dragons! This time of year--after spring break until the end of school--is always very busy! While the library schedule carries on, there are a lot of school events that may necessitate rescheduling a class visit time. Some students find it helpful to keep their library books in their backpack, so that they always have their books if their class happens to visit on a different day. The end of the year is approaching; and many students have been waiting patiently for books that are (in some cases) being kept a rather long time... so it would be great if you would check in with your students and help them return materials as soon as they are finished with them. June is just a couple months away, and all library books must be returned in good condition by the end of the school year. If your student has lost or significantly damaged a book, please make payment for it in exact change or a check payable to MBUSD. Collecting payments for missing items is not my favorite part of the job! But it bears mention: libraries are still an extremely good deal, even if one has to pay now and then for a lost item. 

Weekly readalouds this week are on a mix of topics related to the goings-on of different grades. The library will be closed Thursday, April 12, until noon, as I must be off campus. The Pennekamp Science Fair is Tuesday, April 10, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Come see the terrific work of our upcoming scientists. For news on many upcoming campus and community events, click over to the Pennekamp website.