April 22 is Earth Day, a springboard for so many interesting readalouds. I plan to devote April largely to environmental issues: the nexus between humans and animals (4/8 to 4/12), food and water (4/15 to 4/19), transportation and energy (4/22 to 4/26), and consumerism and trash (4/29 to 5/3).

Also in April grade 2 takes a trip to the Natural History Museum, grade 3 heads to the California Science Center, and grades 4 and 5 participate in Pennekamp's science fair. I will definitely divert some time away from environmental topics to support these other science-themed events.

April is National Poetry Month, but at the Pennekamp library, we will venture into poetry in May.

The library will be closed on Thursday, April 11. I will be at a professional development event. 

There's a particularly great event happening at Pennekamp on the evening of April 18: the 23nd annual Richstone Feast. This is hands-down my favorite annual PK event. It is a fundraiser for the Richstone Family Center, which helps families in crisis to be safe, create stability for their children, and basically get back on their feet. There are two "feast" seatings, and the 5th-grade students handle all the set-up, serving, and clean-up. On top of the benefits to our community and to the participating students, this event is always just so much fun! Tickets can still be purchased from Mr. Warner in 3rd grade. I urge you--be a part of this outstanding community service tradition. It is Pennekamp, at its very best.
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There are a couple of great author events coming up! 

Seth Fishman visited Pennekamp a while back to share with us his first book: One Hundred Billion Trillion Stars. His new book--Power Up: Your Incredible, Spectacular, Supercharged Body--is sure to be terrific. Seth is a dynamic speaker who makes nonfiction content fun for children of all ages.
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Chris Van Dusen is the author-illustrator of many books for young readers, including The Circus Ship and Hattie & Hudson. He is the illustrator of the Mercy Watson and Deckawoo Drive series. His new picture book with Kate DiCamillo is A Piglet Named Mercy.

Pennekamp's Literacy Celebration 2019 has begun! From March 1 to 15, we will be enjoying a variety of literacy-themed events to fire up our Dragons' love of reading! 

The Super Literacy Quiz Bowls for grades 3, 4, and 5 will be played on March 11, 7, and 4 (respectively). An astounding 80 students from across these grades have signed up to compete! Information about the contests can be found on this website. The MC for the events will be Dr. Gerger, and parents are permitted to attend. 

For our younger Dragons, I'm pleased to announce the first-ever Night at the Library, which will be on Wednesday, March 6, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Parents and students in TK, K, 1st, and 2nd grade are invited to come in their PJs to Pennekamp's library after dark. We'll hear and read picture books and do a variety of fun things. Please note, each child needs to have a parent with her or him--this is not a drop-off event. It may be a bit rainy, but even if it is, the event will go as planned!

Reading logs were distributed to every student through his or her classroom, and reading logs can also be downloaded and printed out from this website (see just below this post). Students are to record every minute of reading from March 1 to March 15. Log sheets can be turned in starting March 15, and must be turned in no later than March 22 (no exceptions). Let's see how many minutes we can read! Every student who turns in a reading log by the deadline will receive a reward: an Islands restaurant gift certificate! (Thanks to our local Manhattan Beach Islands for donating these).

Mystery readers are a longtime PK tradition. During the Literacy Celebration (March 1-15), parents (or grandparents, aunts and uncles, and even siblings) choose a book to read aloud in their child's class. Most readers dress up to match the chosen readaloud, but that is optional. The time and duration of your appearance must be coordinated with your child's teacher--please be ready to accommodate our students' and teachers' busy daily schedules. The library is happy to help readers choose a book, but it's best if you have a costume or concept in mind first. 

The Literacy Celebration is a special Pennekamp event that results from the commitment and efforts of a great many people. First among these is Dr. Gerger, who advised on, supported, and encouraged every aspect of the Literacy Celebration. I'm so proud to be part of a community that puts literacy at the forefront, and that mindset starts at the top, with Dr. Gerger. I'd also like to thank the teachers for their support--for talking up the events, making time for students to prepare, and most of all, for building literacy day in and day out. Many thanks to Jason Marshall, Technology TOSA, for essential technical support with Kahoot! and the SLQB soundtrack. I'd like to give a tremendous shoutout to Jiyeon Im, chair of the Literacy Celebration, for making this huge event happen. Literacy Celebration 2019 exists because of her passion for reading, her creativity and diligence, and the hours of hard work she put in over many months. Thanks to the Pennekamp PTA for generous funding and support, and especially to Lorie McDonald, VP of Operations, for helping to coordinate the many moving parts, supplying extra assistance with the Night at the Library, and being a beacon of good cheer. Thanks finally to the parent and student volunteers, too numerous to name, whose help was crucial to the success of the SLQBs and Night at the Library. You are all absolutely wonderful!
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PK's Literacy Celebration begins on Friday, March 1! This is the start of the read-a-thon as well as many other fun literacy events.

Reading logs will be distributed to every student in his or her classroom, and reading logs can also be downloaded and printed out from this website (see just below this post).

Students record every minute read from March 1 to March 15. Reading logs can be turned in starting March 15, and must be turned in no later than March 22 (no exceptions, no reading logs will be accepted after March 22). Let's see how many minutes we can read! Every student who turns in a reading log by the deadline will receive a reward: an Islands restaurant gift certificate. Okay, Dragons, get ready to read!

All grades at Pennekamp are hearing the nominees for the California Young Reader Medal during February. All students will have a chance to vote during their class library visit time at the end of February or early in March. If you'd like to see the specific titles we're reading, visit the Weekly Readalouds page of this site. Students in grades 4 and 5 have a chance to vote on the chapter books nominated for the CYRM. The nominees in that category are Crenshaw, by Katherine Applegate; Fish in a Tree, by Linda Mullaly Hunt; and The War that Saved My Life, by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. Any 4th- or 5th-grade student who reads all three will be invited to a voting "pizza party" in March. 

Many students are also reading in preparation for the upcoming Super Literacy Quiz Bowl games. There's a lot of information about the SLQB right here on this website. The registration forms are now available and are due by February 15. The SLQB is part of Pennekamp's annual Literacy Event, which this year is from March 1 to 15.

For our younger Dragons, I'm pleased to announce a new Literacy Event activity: Night at the Library, which will be on March 6, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Parents and students in TK, K, 1st, and 2nd grade are invited to come in their PJs to Pennekamp's library after dark. We'll hear and read picture books and do a variety of fun things. Please note, each child needs to have a parent with her or him--this is not a drop-off event.

The Rotary Readers from the Manhattan Beach Rotary Club will be reading to our students during the week of February 25, 2019. The students always enjoy meeting these service-minded community members and hearing about their love of reading.

The book club for 5th grade is in full swing. Our current selection seems to be a big hit with the students: A Night Divided, by Jennifer A. Nielsen. Rain has affected our meeting schedule a bit, so the next meeting is February 27 at lunch/recess in the  library.

This morning the American Library Association announced its Youth Media Awards for 2019. Notable for PK's age group are the following:

John Newbery Medal: Merci Suárez Changes Gears, by Meg Medina
Newbery Honor Books: The Night Diary, by Veera Hiranandani; The Book of Boy, by Catherine Gilbert Murdock

Ralph Caldecott Medal: Hello, Lighthouse, illustrated and written by Sophie Blackall
Caldecott Honor Books: Alma and How She Got Her Name, illustrated and written by Juana Martinez-Neal; A Big Mooncake for Little Star, illustrated and written by Grace Lin; The Rough Patch, illustrated and written by Brian Lies; Thank You, Omu! illustrated and written by Oge Mora

See all the winners by clicking on the PDF below.

This month's readalouds begin with books about inventors. Inventors make new things, this is a new year; and further, January 17 (Benjamin Franklin's birthday) is Kid Inventors Day. After a week of inventors we move on to books about the civil rights movement in recognition the Martin Luther King holiday, observed January 21.

After that, I will devote several weeks to reading aloud the picture books nominees for the California Young Reader Medal. There are three longer picture books nominated for grades 3, 4, and 5, and five picture books that are nominated for students in the younger grades. Every elementary school in the district participates in this competition every year: I read the books aloud, we discuss them and consider their merits, and then each student votes for her or his favorite. At Pennekamp this year, students in grades 4 and 5 who read all three of the chapter-book nominees by the end of March can also vote on that category. 

The book club for grade 5 is off to a good start. The book we are reading for January is Beyond the Bright Sea, by Lauren Wolk. It will be discussed at the upcoming club meeting on January 16 in the library at lunch/recess. (Due to rainy day schedule on the 16th, the meeting was postponed to the 23rd.) Winner of the Scott O'Dell Award for historical fiction, Beyond the Bright Sea is the story of a 12-year-old girl living on one of the Elizabeth Islands whose quest to find out about her past yields a variety of discoveries. I love this book, and I'm looking forward to hearing the students' reactions to it.

Many students have been steadily reading the books for the Super Literacy Quiz Bowl (good job, students!), but for those who haven't, there's still time to get in the game. The Manhattan Beach public library has been displaying and checking out the selected books, and the PK library has at least one copy of each book for reading here. Signups will take place toward the start of February. Students who wish to compete are asked to read at least ten books from the list for their grade.

My thanks to the district for replacing the library's heater! I invite everyone to visit the cozy PK library and see how pleasant it is in here now. I usually keep the library open until 3:30 during the week, and many students and parents are here in the afternoons. Parents may check out ten books at a time; and although I love  our local public library, we do have a pretty impressive and undeniably convenient collection right here (book purchasing is generously funded by the Pennekamp PTA). Our library is a comfortable afterschool place to read, do homework, or play a board game. It's a nice place for parents and younger students to wait for an upper-grade sibling between early and late dismissal. Children must be accompanied by a responsible adult in the library after school has been dismissed. Please come visit our warm, well-stocked library!

Happy holiday season, Dragons! This month I will be reading aloud books having to do with Hanukkah and Christmas, of course. Specific choices can be found on the Weekly Readalouds tab of this site.

Third grade is working on two projects right now, so library visits for those classes will not be about the holidays. Instead, the students are learning about research strategies, checking out books on an endangered animal, and choosing biographies. With third grade I've been talking a lot about accuracy in internet research. We at Pennekamp have access to two online encyclopedia that are accurate and at our students' reading level: World Book Online and Britannica School. I can't put the passwords on this website, but you can get them from me or your child's teacher. Over the years the library has acquired more and more books about the animals that third grade researches, so the library should have a book for each student on their chosen animal. The public libraries are also great resources. If you would like to extend your child's learning on the topic of endangered animals, I have a suggestion: I recently saw the Photo Ark exhibit at the Annenberg Space for Photography and I recommend it highly. The Annenberg Space for Photography is in Century City and is free to enter (although parking is not free). This would be a fun activity to do over the winter break with your third-grade student or really for anyone at all. The exhibit is beautiful and fascinating, but it's not huge--I think most people could really see it in just over an hour. There's a short promotional video below.

The PK library's book club for 5th grade is starting up. The introductory meeting will be Wednesday, December 19, at lunch recess in the library. Consent forms are going home in the Wednesday envelope. The club is a social activity, and participation is completely optional. Club members read and discuss one chapter-length book each month. Each participating student must obtain a copy of the monthly selection (public library copies and e-books are fine to use), but parents need to be ready to help with that!

Reading for the Super Literacy Quiz Bowl continues until the competition events in March 2019. The PK library is checking out the chapter books and has on reserve the nonfiction and picture book selections; the Manhattan Beach public library is checking out all SLQB title (subject to availability) and has even created a nice display of the SLQB books under the big staircase. The grade-specific lists can be seen on this website. 

Wishing you joyous holidays and happiness in 2019!

November means voting, Veterans Day, and Thanksgiving. On display in the library right now are books on civic themes such as citizenship, military service, heritage, immigration, and elections. Also on display (on the other side of the room) are many beautiful nonfiction books on a wide variety of topics, to support grades 3 and 5 as they work on recognizing and using nonfiction materials.

Classes do not visit the library during the half-days of November 5 to 9. The library is open and I am here, but classes instead visit our awesome "Enchanted Forest" book fair, which runs from November 6 to 9. It's a great time to buy books to encourage your child's love of reading, and don't forget that books make wonderful holiday gifts! 

After the book fair week there is just one week of class visits to the library before the Thanksgiving recess and one November week after the break. I'll be reading books on the theme of gratitude--for family, home, food, and the sense of comfort and security that these give us. For the specific selections for each grade, please click over to the Weekly Readalouds page of this site. 

I will be talking more and more about the upcoming Super Literacy Quiz Bowl! This event takes place in March, and signups will be around the end of January. The SLQB is a fast-paced trivia game for grades 3, 4, and 5 that tests teams on their knowledge of a set of selected books. Sounds fun? It is! To get started, students should begin reading (and dare I say, studying) the selected books, which are listed below. The PK library has at least one copy of each of the books. On the day of the event, students will be randomly placed on teams with other students in their class. Anyone who wants to play should read at least 10 of the books for his or her grade, but there is no other requirement--everyone is encouraged to participate. 

Also in March will be a special event related to the California Young Reader Medal. Any 4th- or 5th-grade student who reads all three of the Intermediate nominees will be invited to a voting party during the school day at lunch. The three Intermediate nominees are Crenshaw, by Katherine Applegate; Fish in a Tree, by Linda Mullaly Hunt; and The War that Saved My Life, by Katherine Brubaker Bradley. (The three nominees are also on the SLQB lists for grades 4 and 5.)

In the community, the Manhattan Beach public library continues to offer great activities and resources for all ages. You can subscribe to a monthly email from the library about all that's going on there. I am truly thankful for our wonderful public library. Another landmark in Manhattan Beach's literary landscape is {Pages}, our local independent bookstore. For their many upcoming events, see their website. If you have never made it to Pages, I really recommend you visit! The store is beautiful, the children's section manages to be both extensive and carefully curated, and the staff is super knowledgeable and helpful. You know when you could visit Pages? On the evening of the Manhattan Beach Pier Lighting, which is Wednesday, November 20, along with a variety of holiday activities in downtown MB from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. 

Thanks to the many students, families, and teachers who donated underwear and socks to our drive to benefit homeless individuals. Pennekamp gathered 155 packages of socks and underwear! In addition, the PK PTA donated 95 pairs of Dragon-themed socks! The People Concern--our selected receiving agency--is very grateful to everyone at Pennekamp. It's nice to know we were able to offer a little help to some of the many housing-insecure individuals who are trying to get back on their feet and into stable housing. The winner of our raffle was Sophie R., in second grade--congratulations, Sophie, and enjoy Dav Pilkey's presentation tonight!