This week I will talk to grade 5 about using websites for research. This is occasioned by their explorer report assignment, which is due late in October. The main point I'm trying get across is that the students should approach websites with a healthy degree of skepticism. We talk about Wikipedia. I encourage them to make sure they can confirm the information they find; a "fact" that appears in only one source may not be accurate. Finally, and very important, they are told not to use All About Explorers. This website is a teaching tool that is full of inaccurate information! Last week we talked about books and databases. Please go to last week's post to find some good links to databases, notably World Book Online (login information is available from me or your child's teacher). Here are some websites that may be helpful for your 5th-grader's research on explorers:

Harcourt School
https://harcourtschool.com/activity/biographies/
 
Mariners Museum
http://ageofex.marinersmuseum.org/index.php?page=explorers
 
Enchanted Learning
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/explorers/
 
Mr. Nussbaum
http://mrnussbaum.com/explorersflash/
 
Fact Monster
https://www.factmonster.com/people/notable-explorers/notable-explorers

PBS Learning Media
https://ca.pbslearningmedia.org/collection/wolrd-explorer-vid/
(yes, that misspelling of "world" is really in the functional URL)

Students in TK/K, 1st grade, 2nd grade, and 4th grade (including our DHH students) are hearing books about pumpkins or apples. Books on display are also about pumpkins and apples. Time permitting, students in TK/K will watch a short video of a pumpkin regatta--a sailing race where the boats are actually hollowed-out giant pumpkins!

The County of Los Angeles Public Library's annual bookmark contest for children is happening right now! You can download the entry form from the public library's website or from the PDF link right below. The theme this year is "What's Your Story?" Entries that are mailed in must be postmarked no later than October 7, 2017. Entries can be turned in at the PK library up 'til Friday, October 13, 2017; or entries can be hand-delivered to any County of Los Angeles public library branch (such as our Manhattan Beach public library) by Saturday, October 14, 2017.

For almost all the students, our topic this week is trees. The only exception is grade 5: 5th-grade students are being reminded of (or perhaps introduced to) ways to evaluate research sources. I talk about this every year with 5th grade to help them prepare for an assignment on explorers. This year I'm moving the discussion ahead of the actual assignment and dividing it into two weeks, in hopes that everyone will already have their skills tuned up when the project is actually assigned. This week we our focusing on books and databases. Of special interest is World Book Online, an online version of the encyclopedia to which Pennekamp subscribes (through the generosity of the Pennekamp PTA--login information available from me or your child's teacher); also highlighted will be some of the resources available through the County of Los Angeles Public Library, especially the Social Studies Fact Cards. Next week we will look at websites to use and one in particular to avoid.

But all grades except 5th will be hearing books about trees--specific trees, the life cycle of trees, personified trees, tree planting, the virtues and benefits of trees, it's just all about trees. One of the most interesting of this week's readalouds is The Tree that Would Not Die, by Ellen Levine. In this picture book, the Treaty Oak located in Austin, Texas, recounts its remarkable 500-year history. Although, sadly, in 1989 someone applied a strong herbicide to the base of the Treaty Oak in an apparent effort to kill it, the Treaty Oak survived. It had to be significantly pruned (as the photos below show), but as far as I know it is still thriving today, though the most recent internet information I could find is from 2015. Austin, Texas, is a marvelous town--I visited it a couple of times in the early 1990s. Maybe I will have to take another trip there and snap a few current photos of the Treaty Oak.

Above, at left, is a picture of the Treaty Oak in 1969, before it was poisoned (http://texasforestservice.tamu.edu/websites/FamousTreesOfTexas/TreeLayout.aspx?pageid=16153). At right is the Treaty Oak after it was poisoned and trimmed (http://www.texasescapes.com/AustinTexas/TreatyOak/AustinTreatyOak.htm).

Thursday, September 21, is a school holiday in our district. For many, September 21 is Rosh Hashanah, and it is also the U.N. International Day of Peace. To most classes this week I am reading books about Peace Day. Third grade, however, continues to work on the Dewey decimal system, this week viewing the crowd-pleasing "Dewey Rap." (Please be careful screening YouTube content as the comments, sidebars, and advertisements often contain content that is not suitable for children.)

Be sure to visit the webpage of our local public library now and again--there are always great events going on! For example, this Wednesday, September 20, at 3:30, there will be a screening of iCount Film for Kids: The Color of Friendship, described by the library as follows: "Winner of an Emmy, the NAACP Image Award, and Children's Media Award, this film explores issues of prejudice, race, apartheid, global relations, and bias." This event is for young people in grade 3 or older. Then on Saturday, September 30, from 2:00 to 4:00, the Global Cardboard Challenge takes place. Children of all ages are invited to come build with recycled materials.

Do you ever look at the Indie Next lists? IndieBound, an organization of and for independent bookstores, frequently prepares Indie Next lists of recommended books. Sure, I buy a lot of books from Amazon and library suppliers, but where would we be without our vibrant, community-based independent bookstores? For new books worthy of reading, have a look at the latest Indie Next Kids list. Do note, however, that the books recommended for kids from ages 9 to 12 include a pretty wide range of content, some definitely tending toward middle-school issues and ideas.
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This week Pennekamp students are on half-day schedule, except for kindergarteners, who are on regular schedule. Students are being assessed to determine their Fountas and Pinnell (F&P) reading level. Did you know that you can search the library's catalog for books at specific F&P levels? At the bottom of the Catalog search screen, select Fountas and Pinnell from the Reading Programs pull down, and then put in whatever level letters you wish. (Be sure to remove this filter when you resume searching for books irrespective of level, though, or it may appear that the library has fewer books than it actually does!)

Students in grades 2 and 3 are hearing about the Dewey Decimal System this week. Second-graders will be receiving a bookmark with popular Dewey topics listed. 

Bill Nye, the Science Guy, has a new series of middle-grade mystery/adventure books coauthored with Gregory Mone, a journalist. The two authors will be speaking at Mira Costa on Wednesday, September 13, at 6:00 p.m. I believe all tickets have been distributed, but interested folks can add their names to a ticket waitlist. This event is sponsored by Pages, our local independent bookstore.

Friday is both Picture Day and our Dragon Jamboree! Picture Day speaks for itself. The Dragon Jamboree (Friday, 4-7 p.m.) is a school fundraiser that's basically like a huge carnival on the field! It is for students and their families and friends. There will be food, games, prizes, live music, and (everyone's favorite) a dunk tank! Don't miss this super fun Dragon event!

MBUSD is collecting items to aid victims of Hurrican Harvey. Below please find a link to information about the collection. Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, please bring donations of baby-care items to Pennekamp--things like diapers, wipes, and formula. Other items can be brought to other district schools or to the Manhattan Beach City Hall. Click on the letter below--it really explains everything.

Monday this week was the Labor Day holiday. Labor Day, held on the first Monday in September, is an American holiday that honors working people. According to the online database World Book Online (for which Pennekamp has a subscription), the first Labor Day parade was in New York in 1882. President Grover Cleveland made Labor Day an official national holiday in 1894. In recognition of the day, on display in the library this week are books about a wide variety of occupations. 

The week's readalouds can be viewed on the Weekly Readalouds page of this website. Mostly we are hearing books about libraries, or about occupations, or both! Miss Moore Thought Otherwise, by Jan Pinborough, is a charming book about Anne Carroll Moore, who first welcomed children into the New York public libraries--back when others felt children should not be allowed in libraries and certainly couldn't be trusted with library books. Thank goodness Miss Moore thought otherwise!

Bill Nye, the Science Guy, has a new series of middle-grade mystery/adventure books coauthored with Gregory Mone, a journalist. The two authors will be speaking at Mira Costa on Wednesday, September 13, at 6:00 p.m. I believe all tickets have been distributed, but interested folks can add their names to a ticket waitlist. This event is sponsored by Pages, our local independent bookstore.