All classes visit the library this week! The library is completely up and running, with many new books covered, sections rearranged, shelves relabeled, and a full team of awesome volunteers on board. If you haven't yet, please come by and say hello!

This week the students are mostly getting to know the library, at various levels of complexity, tailored to suit each grade. For specifics, please see the Weekly Readalouds page of this website. An exception is 2nd grade, which is hearing a very cute new book, Superhero School, by Aaron Reynolds, that shows how the skills learned around 2nd or 3rd grade can actually be used to defeat supervillains. I'm glad to have this fact confirmed--I'd suspected it all along.

Hello again, here we are in week 2! 

This week the Wednesday kindergarten classes will visit the library. Our theme is names--why our names are important to us, calling people by the name they want to be called by, remembering names. I hope to begin to learn the new students' names. It sure is nice they are wearing name tags while I'm still learning! 

Grade 5 is also coming to library. We did not read a book last week as their time was focused on choosing book report books. Depending on how many students still need help with that, I hope to have time to read Thomas Jefferson Builds a Library, by Barb Rosenstock. I plan to toss out an open (if leading) question: "How are libraries related to American ideals?" and see what the students think!

Next week class visits for all grades begin.

About the library catalog: please try using it at home! You might add it to your Favorites menu; you could create a Favorites menu just for your children, with websites they need for class and other good ones, such as the library catalog, BrainPop, World Book Online, and reputable, entertaining sites such as National Geographic Kids and FreeRice. (BrainPop and World Book Online require passwords, but you can get these from me, your child's teacher, the school office, or possibly your child already knows them.) There is a tab on this website that links to the catalog. The library catalog URL is http://destiny.mbusd.org There is also a free app for your tablet or smartphone: Destiny Quest.

Please note that the library will CLOSE this Wednesday at 1:30. I will be attending an off-campus meeting of district library staff.

The incoming Common Core Standards promote the reading of nonfiction. Every class this week will be looking at at least one nonfiction book (indicated on the Weekly Readalouds post).

Many nonfiction books are creatively and beautifully written, in addition to being terrifically interesting, so consider including nonfiction in the selections you read with your children. In a library catalog such as ours, a book with numerals in its call number is generally a nonfiction book (but watch out for the call number 398.2, folklore and fairy tales, where you'll find works such as Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella, and the like). Is there a topic you and your student would like to know more about? Type that term in the catalog's search window and choose a "Subject" or "Keyword" search. In the records that are retrieved, the call number allows you to distinguish between nonfiction and fiction works, and to locate the book in our library. Students in grades 3, 4, and 5 have seen the catalog demonstrated many times during class library visits. It might be fun to ask your son or daughter to be your "teacher"--to show you how we look for materials in our library catalog!

You are invited to visit the library to learn more about catalog searching or to check out books. The library is open during school hours: from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, and from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Parents may visit with or without their students except when the library is in use for a class visit. Parents may check out 10 books at a time. 

Please note, next Monday, November 11, is Veterans Day, a school holiday. 

This is MBEF pledge week. Please contribute to MBEF, which supports our schools--and notably our school libraries--so generously and essentially. Without MBEF, we simply would not have many of the programs that enrich our students' lives and develop their minds. I am grateful to MBEF as a district employee, the parent of two young men educated in our school district, and a member of this community.

I have returned from my various travels and am looking forward to seeing a full schedule of classes this week! The class visit schedule can be viewed on this website. This week we have early dismissal on Thursday, so classes that meet Thursday afternoon are invited to visit the library at a different open time.

Library circulation policies are the same as last year. Students are permitted to check out the same number of books as their grade level; so, for example, a first-grader may take one book and a fifth-grader may take five books. Parents may check out ten books at a time. Kindergarteners are also allowed to check out one book but will not begin checking out right away. The loan period is one week, but a book may be renewed three times, for a total of four weeks.

The library volunteer schedule is filling up! Parent volunteers are still needed for the following classes: Mrs. Horowitz, Ms. Hooper, and Ms. Fletcher. Please see me or your child’s teacher to find out more about volunteering in the library.

This week the lower grades will hear stories about libraries and reading. TK/K will be working with books related to their study of the five senses. Grades 3 and 4 will be learning about the organization of the library. Grade 5 will hear a story in commemoration of Patriot Day that will also give us a chance to talk about picture books in general and literary terms.

Have you noticed how nice the library shelves are looking? We can thank the many students in grades 3, 4, and 5 who have "adopted" a shelf to maintain for this school year! Students make sure that their shelves are clean, that books are standing tall but not too tight, and that books are aligned with the front edge of the shelf. Every week students can earn a shiny star for their name tag by taking care of their shelf. Great job, students, and thanks!

Library readalouds for grades K, 1, 2, and 3 this week focus on fall, which began Saturday, September 22; distinguishing fiction from nonfiction; and finding nonfiction books in the library. DK/TK is reviewing colors and shapes. Grade 4 is building a vocabulary of "literary response" terms through discussion of The Cello of Mr. O, by Jane Cutler. Grade 5 will be hearing a Native American legend, to support their in-class work on Native American cultures as well as literary genres.

Calling all artists, readers, and library lovers--it's time for the Los Angeles County Public Library's annual bookmark contest! Entry forms are available in the public library as well as the Pennekamp Library, and can also be downloaded and printed from the public library's website. Entries are due at Pennekamp by October 26, or you can turn them in at the public library until the next day, October 27. This year's theme is "It Came from a Book!" The winning designs are made into bookmarks and distributed at public libraries throughout the coming year. Winners are honored at a city council meeting, win a prize "grab bag," and receive 50 copies of their bookmark to give to family and friends.

This Thursday, September 26, the 5th-grade book club is meeting in the library at lunch recess. Students, please come ready to discuss this month's selection: Aliens on Vacation, by Clete Barrett Smith. New members and interested observers are welcome to attend.

The past week was the last week of regular class visits to the library. Books are no longer being checked out this year, and most are being returned right on schedule. There is never an overdue fine at the library, but any student with unresolved library issues on the last day of class will have a hold place on his or her report card pending resolution. Please contact the library if you have any questions about your student's, or your own, library account.

Yesterday I enjoyed having lunch with two 3rd-grade students, Lauren and Lindsey. Lauren won my "lunch in the library" event at the teacher raffle and invited her friend Lindsey to join us. The girls were delightful companions! I hope they had as good a time as I did!

Wednesday night I was honored at the board meeting of the Manhattan Beach Unified School District as classified employee of the year at Pennekamp. My sincere thanks go out to Pennekamp's students, families, teachers, staff, and to Principal Mabry for being so supportive of my efforts. 

Also this past week I had the pleasure of introducing the new digital collection at Manhattan Beach Middle School (MBMS) to current 5th graders. Did you know that e-books can be checked out just like "regular" books? Well, they can, and like all library materials, they are free of charge. MBMS has just introduced 96 e-book titles, and MBUSD students moving up to 6th grade at MBMS are encouraged to check out these titles during the summer. Browse it by clicking on MBMS Digital Library.

The Pennekamp library is closed during the summer, so please visit the public library. Our local Manhattan Beach branch has an exciting summer reading program lined up, with entertaining events as well as various forms of recognition for participating readers. It's going to be a lot of fun, so be sure to sign up soon!