There is a lot of library news to report! First, I'd like to mention that the L.A. County Public Library is having its annual bookmark contest again. The theme this year is "Read, Seek, Explore!" All students are encouraged to participate. The entrance form is available here as well as at the Pennekamp library. Submissions are due by October 19 and can be turned in at the public library, the Pennekamp library, or the Pennekamp school office. Please note, designs must be in black or very dark blue ink.

We had our first ice cream coupon winners in the library's "Mystery Person" ticket drawing. The winners are Lauren C. (grade 5), Makena H. (grade 5), Evan L. (grade 4), and Joe S. (grade 5). These students (among others) were recognized for the quality of their participation during class visits to the library. Great job, students!

Several students have asked me to post the link to the "Dewey Rap" shown last week to grade 3, so here it is. Please be aware that this video is found on Youtube and that not all Youtube content is appropriate for children.

This is the first week that kindergarten students will be checking out from the library! They are very excited! Family members, please try to help your child remember his or her library book on the day that his/her class visits the library: Cannon, on Monday; Rios, Vanderpool/Schneck, Vavao, all on Wednesday. A student in kindergarten or first grade can only check out one book at a time, so students must return the book they have in order to take another. Parents, did you know that you can check out 10 books at a time under your own name?

Grade 5 is choosing new book report books. The "Resource Lists" in our catalog have been created to direct students to materials suitable for book reports and other projects. Please click on the tab for "Public" lists if they do not appear right away.

Grade 3 is hearing Moonshot, by Brian Floca, to support their in-class work on the phases of the moon. If your child would like to know more about the Apollo 11 mission, consider looking at information online with him or her. NASA, National Geographic, and the Air & Space Museum all have great resources. You might also consult World Book Online, to which our school subscribes (through the support of the Pennekamp PTA). For the World Book Online username and password, please ask your teacher or contact me. Grade 4 is hearing about John Muir and Teddy Roosevelt's designation of our national monuments and parks. For all grades weekly readalouds, please visit that page of this website!

Thanks to the PTA for providing the funds and support that are necessary to the library's success. Clicking through from this website to Amazon (see banner below) generates funds for our PTA, whenever you then make a purchase. Try it! 

Welcome back from our week off! I hope everyone had just the week they wanted, whether yours involved skiing, resting, catching up on things, or reading (I do admit a preference for that last one...).

This week the library welcomes members of the Manhattan Beach Rotary Club, who will be reading to kindergarten, first-grade, and second-grade students. The Rotary Reads program is a long-standing and beloved tradition. It is just one more way that our schools and community affirm the pleasure of reading, its role in lifelong learning, and the social benefits of cultivating a community of readers.

This week the library begins circulating titles from our new Graphic Novels section! Thanks to the PTA for funding the purchase of new books in this genre. The graphic novels in this section will increase the range of readers and interests met by our library collection. This genre offer excellent options for beginning readers as well as for students interested in drawing and comic books. Many of these books can be completed in one or two sittings, which can be encouraging for students who begin books but don't always devote the time needed to finish books. They will also serve our lunchtime readers, now that our lunchtime library has been "reclaimed" as a quiet space.

Book club meets Friday, March 8. We will be discussing The Apothecary, by Maile Meloy.

Classes this week will hear Dr. Seuss titles, except for a few classes picking up readalouds and activities missed in previous weeks: Romines, a PowerPoint on the five major reference books; and some 3rd-grade classes still completing the CYRM nominees.

Also this week, I will not be at school on Thursday and Friday, so the library will be closed. My apologies. Classes have been rescheduled as much as possible. 

I was unusually pleased with the outcome of last Friday's book club for 5th-grade students! Club meetings are always fun, if sometimes loud; but I very much want to recognize the participating students for their respectful and insightful discussion of our last reading selection, A Tale Dark and Grimm, by Adam Gidwitz (or for those who had already read it, the sequel--In a Glass Grimmly). The book is a retelling of tales collected by the brothers Grimm, strung together as if Hansel and Gretel are the central characters of each tale. Its themes (as ably identified by the students) include forgiveness, duty, loyalty, and sacrifice. Next month's selection is a mystery: The Potato Chip Puzzles, by Eric Berlin. Some students (and parents) will be relieved to know it involves neither death nor destruction, and no blood or guts! The novel is about Winston Breen, a skilled puzzler, who is invited to compete in a logic puzzle competition for prize money to benefit his school; but in addition to the puzzles that make up the contest, another mystery arises when it begins to seem that someone involved with the event is not playing fair. I will have paperback copies to purchase (probably by Tuesday) at the discounted price of $6.00 (just to reimburse my cost), thanks to pages:a bookstore. The Potato Chip Puzzles can be used  for the November 5th-grade book report whether or not mystery is your child's assigned genre. Thanks to the 5th-grade teaching team for their support of book club.

During library visits this week we will be wrapping up Halloween and getting ready for next week's presidential election. In addition to our readaloud, grades 2 and 4 will see a short video from the awesome educational site BrainPOP/BrainPOP Jr. Pennekamp teachers, students, and families have access to BrainPOP through a subscription paid for by the Pennekamp PTA. BrainPOP login information will be given to second- and fourth-grade students this week on a handy bookmark. If you would like the login info, please email me at bbroka@mbusd.org. Grade 5 is hearing a short story involving a magical transformation: "Bored Tom," in the collection Strange Happenings, by Avi.

Please note that the public library's bookmark contest is no longer accepting submissions. Thanks to the many students who created terrific designs, and good luck to you all!