Sergeant Reckless by Patricia McCormick

This week in library we are reading about an animal war hero, Sergeant Reckless.  This is a great non-fiction picture book about this amazing race horse from the Korean War.  I have loved listening to the students talk about the different animals that have served in our military. We discussed our Veteran heroes and the sacrifices they have made to keep our country free.  I think the kids favorite part was hearing all the things this horse ate, peanut butter sandwiches, lots of chocolate, and even an ice cold Coca-Cola.  This is a fun, yet interesting look into one of our war heroes.  We respect our veterans and this was a great book to read right before Veteran's Day. 

Reading with Rik

I wanted to share a company that I think is amazing for encouraging reading. It is called Reading with Rik.  It is owned by one of our amazing librarians in Alpine School District.  She had put together kits that go with specific books.  These kits contain fun surprises the kids can open at certain chapters in the book.  As they read, it gives them incentive to keep going to get to the next surprise.  As a librarian I see many students that do not possess the stamina to finish a chapter book.  This program is perfect for engaging that type of reader.  We are using one of the Reading With Rik kits right now in our 6th grade lunch bunch.  This would make a great holiday gift for students of all ages.  Let's keep reading! 

Coming Soon! Book Fair is 1 Week Away!

Just letting you guys know that we will be having the Scholastic Book Fair next week.  The schedule is as follows:

The Book Fair will run from Monday, October 1st - Thursday, October 4th!

Monday, Oct. 1st from 1:00-4:00 pm

Tuesday, Oct. 2nd 2:00-7:30 pm

Wednesday, Oct. 3rd 2:00-4:00 pm

Thursday, Oct. 4th 2:00 - 4:00 pm

Money earned from the Book Fair will benefit our school.  Please come and choose some great books from the Enchanted Forest Book Fair!  Thank you for your support!

What Can We Learn from "We Don't Eat Our Classmates"

This week in our 2nd & 3rd grade classes we have read the hilarious book by Ryan T. Higgins, "We Don't Eat Our Classmates".  Did you guys love it?! I thought is was a super funny book with some great advice.  You won't have any friends if you eat your classmates!  I loved our discussion in Mrs. Kohli's class and Miss Walton's class about how picture books can have a deeper meaning, even the books that just seem like ridiculous stories.  

This year in library we will be talking about deeper messages and themes in the books we read (even the silly ones).  We are going to try and see how each book might fit into one or more of our Patriot Pathway values of RESPECT, SELF-MASTERY, COMPASSION, AND RESILIENCE. 

As we talked about this book in Mrs. Kohli's class, Sarah commented that she thought this book taught self-mastery because Penelope knew she shouldn't eat her classmates, and showed control of her body even though it was hard.  What a great deeper thinking comment Sarah! 

If you haven't read "We Don't Eat Our Classmates", you must. It is a laugh out loud, fun book to enjoy!

Yo Ho! Yo Ho! A Reader's Life for Me!

I am so sorry it has been forever since I updated our library blog! I was working hard to prep our library with our new theme.

"FIND YOUR READING TREASURE!"

I hope you are as excited as I am to jump right in and find a good book.  I have many fun things planned this year to help you along the way.  We will be starting Patriot Reading in September.  You can try out a new genre, find a new series, or finish a book you've been reading over the summer.  Turn in your bookmark and earn a gold coin to choose something from our treasure chest.  Next week we will be going on a book treasure hunt and reading some books that will for sure be a new favorite of yours.  

Happy 4th of July!!

Who wouldn't want this bookshelf in their room! Happy 4th of July! I am so proud to be a citizen of this great country we live in! We often take advantage of the freedoms we enjoy, so this is a great day to be reminded.  One of those freedoms is being able to read whatever book we choose.  What are you reading right now?  I am still working on "The Honest Truth" and am loving it.  It is a great adventure book. I hope you are all enjoying your holiday with your family and friends, eating lots of good food, and remembering to be thankful for our freedom. 

P.S. Next week, I am headed to a Young Readers Conference down at BYU.  I can't wait to go and find new books to share with you! I will meet and hear from cool authors and might even be able to buy some new books for our library.  Now go read a good book under the shade of a tree before the fireworks! 

Happy Summer!!

The end of our school year was so much fun I didn't get on our library blog to update.  I hope you guys are having the best summer so far.  I hope you are all reading, reading, reading!  Have you gotten on OverDrive and checked out the summer reading books we talked about?  Remember, if you go on your OverDrive account there are books available for summer reading that everyone can check out all at once.  There are some good ones on there, so go check it out!  I was at Disneyland the very first week we were out of school and as I waited in the long lines, GUESS WHAT I DID? I downloaded a book on OverDrive and read it while in line.  You can read anywhere! I have another list I want to share with you, I just need to figure out how to get it on here. :)  I'll work on that while you read a good book & I'll check back in a couple of days!

Happy Summer!

March Madness Tournament of Books Finals!!

I hope you have been enjoying your Spring Break! I hope you have done a lot of reading too!  I wanted to announce our books entering the Finals in our March Madness Tournament of Books!

The Winners Are:

Kindergarten-3rd Grade Bracket:

"The Wolf, The Duck, and The Mouse"

vs.

"Read the Book Lemmings!"

4th Grade-6th Grade Bracket:

"Fuzzy Mud"

vs.

"Ghost"

Voting in the final round will take place this coming week in the library! I can't wait to see who wins!

OverDrive is Here!!

I am so excited to add OverDrive to our school library! I think you will will find it is a great extension to our Forbes library.  Here are the instructions to use OverDrive.  

If you are using a computer or laptop: 

click on this link to head to the Alpine School District library.  

Choose Forbes Elementary from the drop down list

Login using your Skyward Student ID number and your last name.

If you are using a mobile devise (iPad, tablet, smart phone, etc.):

Download the OverDrive app from your app store (it's free)

Search for Alpine School District

Choose Forbes Elementary from the drop down list

Login using your Skyward Student ID number and your last name.

If you guys have any problems or questions, please come talk to me and I will help you.  I want you guys to have fun reading and listening to books, so try it out! 

American Fork City Library

Have you ever been HERE before?? Do you know about the fun programs that the American Fork Library offers.  Now is a great time to check out their website and sign up for a fun FREE activity.  I am going to add a link to our blog so that you can easily access their website to see what is happening each month.  Here are some of the fun things they are doing:

It is National Take Your Child to the Library day on Saturday, February 3rd.  Sign up for some fun while you are there!

HERE  is a link to the American Fork City Library.