April 9 through 13 is National Library Week! I know the library is one of my favorite places to be. What about you? February 26 through March 2 is Read Across America week. This week is celebrated each year in recognition of Dr. Seuss' birthday which is on Friday, March 2. To show our love of all things Seuss, Southwest will have a Dr. Seuss week February 26 through March 2. Check out the schedule below and be prepared to celebrate with us! Monday: Cat in the Hat - wear your favorite hat Tuesday: Oh, the Places You'll Go! - dress for success (career day) Wednesday: Fox in Socks / Wacky Wednesday - crazy socks and wacky attire Thursday: Green Eggs and Ham - wear green Friday: Happy Birthday to You! - dress as your favorite book character Today, February 16, is Chinese New Year! Happy Year of the Dog! This week my second grade classes have been learning a little more about Chinese New Year and the customs that go along with this celebration. My book for the week has been The Runaway Rice Cake written by Ying Chang Compestine. The kids figure out quickly that this story is very similar to the story of the Gingerbread Man. Only here, instead of the Gingerbread Man running away, the Chang family is chasing a runaway rice cake they were planning to eat for the new year's celebration. After enjoying the story we have talked about the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac. Many students have shared their experiences of visiting Chinese restaurants and looking for their birth year on the placemats on the tables. I have shown the students a much larger version of this on my SMART board. Together, we located their birth year, discovered their zodiac animal, and read about the characteristics of their personality. Most of the students have either been oxen or tigers. No matter their animal, they have enjoyed this discovery. So, in the Chinese zodiac, what animal are you? Each Wednesday I get the privilege of going down to our PreK classes and reading to them. I have to admit that this is one of my favorite things to do. A couple of weeks ago the classes were learning about winter and winter animals. Check out some of their artwork I noticed in the hallway for the book The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats!
In my second grade classes we have been talking about our favorite stories and our favorite kinds of books to read. We have had some wonderful discussions on the subject. Students have talked about their favorite book characters and subjects they like to learn about. This has led us into learning about fiction and nonfiction. As students named their favorite stories we decided, as a class, whether their choices were fiction or nonfiction. To go along with this unit, we have read two books that I love to share with the students. One is Miss Smith's Incredible Storybook by Michael Garland and Wild About Books by Judy Sierra. As each of the second grade classes visited the library we made a list of favorite stories from those students. I told each class that at the end of the unit we would share the lists and compare responses across the grade level. To make the comparing / contrasting a little easier, I created a Wordle with all of the second grade responses. Check out our Wordle and see all the wonderful stories we love to read. Are any of them your favorites, too? |
About me . . .Formerly a classroom teacher. Currently a School Library Media Coordinator. I loved being in the classroom, but now that I am in the library I can't imagine doing anything else! The library is my favorite place to be. From my rocking chair to my ABC rug to the smiling student faces checking out books, the library just can't be beat! Archives
March 2020
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Learning in the Library
I have a fixed schedule in my library which means I get to see all the students in my library classes each week. This blog highlights some of the things we are learning and some of the great things going on in our library!