Reading Ctr

The month of February kept us busy in the Reading Center as we learned about biographies.  We enjoyed learning about several important individuals in our history.

March will be a great month as we dive into the theme of letter writing.  We will discuss reasons for writing a letter and parts of a well-written letter.  We have some fun books that go along with this topic such as The Day the Crayons Quit, Dear Mrs. LaRue:  Letters from Obedience School, I Wanna Iguana and more! I have some activities that I think will go a long well with these titles!  So much of how we communicate in this day and age is electronic.  I have a goal this month to help the students understand that having the knowledge of how to write a proper letter is very important.  Sometimes a situation warrants a letter, rather than an email or text.

Please continue to talk to your children about what they are reading and encourage them to return books to the Reading Center in a timely manner.

Have a great March!

January was a fun month! We learned about features of non-fiction books while also learning some facts about some interesting animals. We ended the month with our annual Book Fair.  Catholic Schools Week is always a fun time and the Book Fair is a very special part of the week.

In keeping with our non-fiction theme for January, we will be learning about biographies in the month of February.  We will learn about features of these books and how they are organized in our library.  We will explore a few of the very popular, “Who Was….” books and learn about different individuals who have made their mark in history.  Specifically, we will learn about Thomas Jefferson, Lewis and Clark and Sacagawea and how they made their mark on the beginnings of our country’s independence. Younger students will learn about William “Snowflake” Bentley.  These students will be learning about this special photographer and the science behind snowflakes!  We will also do a few fun activities to reinforce our knowledge of these individuals.

Please continue to talk to your children about what they are reading.  I was excited to see several of the students making great reading choices at the Book Fair!

Happy New Year!  I hope that you had a wonderful Holiday Season with your kids! We are getting settled back into a routine in the Reading Center at school.  We have a lot of topics I want to cover in the remaining months of school.

Happy December!  Something interesting is happening this year that has never happened before in my 20 years of teaching at Sacred Heart.  Instead of having our usual three weeks of school between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we have four weeks!  I have explained to the students that this allows us one more week to enjoy some wonderful Christmas books together!  Our days in the Reading Center will be full of great stories and lessons for all grade levels.

We will begin by reading a Christmas story by Eve Bunting called Night Tree.  We will then write about traditions that we have with our family and friends. Students will have the opportunity to share their traditions by reading aloud the paragraphs they have written. We will also read the story Mountain Christmas by WV author Marc Harshman.  With both of these books we will draw some science into our lessons!  We will discuss the differences between deciduous and coniferous trees. Another story we will enjoy will be The Nutcracker.  We will explore this Christmastime favorite and enjoy the art of ballet as well. Students may even learn some basic ballet terms and movements.  I also hope to include other stories in the coming weeks such as The Night Before Christmas, The Littlest Angel,  and The Legend of the Candy Cane.  There are just so many beautiful stories to enjoy this time of year!

In addition to the lessons and stories we will have, students will, as always, have the opportunity to check out library books. Please talk to your children about what they are reading.  They should always have a book, that they are interested in, that they can pick up at any given time.  Also, encourage them to return library books in a timely manner.  By the end of our time together in December, I will be sending notices home for overdue books.

Have a wonderful holiday season!!

Happy November!  This month in the Reading Center we will be focusing on the genre of Historical Fiction.  With Thanksgiving and Veteran’s Day on the way, I always feel that this is a great time of year to explore this genre.  We will learn about significant historical events.  We will also learn how to decipher between historical fact and fictional aspects of a given story.

One of the stories we will read is  Baseball Saved Us by Ken Mochizuki.  This book describes a Japanese American boy’s journey through a WWII internment camp and his struggle to be accepted by the Americans around him, following the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  We will also read A Picnic in October by Eve Bunting.  This is a beautiful story of a special day that a grandmother celebrates each year commemorating her immigration to a America.  The story’s setting is Liberty Island in NYC. Additionally, we will read the story Thank you, Sarah, which is a story about the woman who pushed for Thanksgiving to become a national holiday.  Students in grades K-2 will learn about pioneer life through the Little House on the Prairie picture book series.

Please talk to your children about what they are reading.  We will appreciate your interest and it will encourage them to continue reading books they enjoy.  Also, stress the importance of returning library books in a timely manner so that other students can enjoy them.

The 2018-2019 school year has started off wonderfully in the Reading Center!!  I am seeing all students in Preschool-Grade 5 and we are sharing some delightful stories and discussions!  The year began with a focus on expected library behavior and proper care for books.  Most importantly, the focus is on the students developing a love of reading for enjoyment and for  gathering information. I love giving students ideas on what they may want to read next!

During our time together, we have discussed different genres of children’s literature.  We have discussed Tall Tales and enjoyed the story of Mink Fink, but  we are currently focusing on Fantasy as a subset to the more general genre of Fiction.  This week we are reading Sweet Dream Pie by Audrey Wood and focusing on the magical aspects of the genre. We will discuss and do an activity differentiating realism and fantasy.  During the next couple of weeks, I hope to share other stories with the students that display the characteristics of fantasy.

As we move closer to October, please ask your child at home what book they are reading.  I know that children will often express that they don’t like to read or they are “too busy.”  Encourage your child to continue to look for something they enjoy!  If your child seems to resist the idea of reading independently, take the time to read with them.  No one is too old to be read to.  I have heard it said that “everyone is a reader, some just haven’t found their favorite book yet!”  I believe that this is completely true!

Have a wonderful month and a spectacular Fall!!

February was filled with learning about biographies and many interesting people.  We learned about Wilson Bentley, Florence Nightingale, Benjamin Franklin and Harriet Tubman.  We discussed the features of biographies as nonfiction books and also learned about all of these individuals and the mark they left in our history.

In the month of March, we will explore a couple of areas.  In the first two weeks we will talk about the life and stories of Dr. Seuss.  It is always fun to look into his life and enjoy a few of his uniquely entertaining books!  In the last two weeks of the month, we will transition into a few books of Poetry, focusing mainly on Shel Silverstein and Jack Prelutsky.  We will look into their use of descriptive words and discuss different types of poetry.

Please talk to your child often about what they are reading.  I see many students walking around the school with some really great books!  Also, please ask your child if they have books checked out from the Reading Center that need returned. Thank you!

Mrs. Annie Price

January was a fun month! We learned about features of non-fiction books while also learning some facts about some interesting animals. We ended the month with our annual Book Fair.  Catholic Schools Week is always a fun time and the Book Fair is a very special part of the week.

In keeping with our non-fiction theme for January, we will be learning about biographies in the month of February.  We will learn about features of these books and how they are organized in our library.  We will explore a few of the very popular, “Who Was….” books and learn about different individuals who have made their mark in history.  Specifically, we will learn about the lives of Wilson Bentley (Snowflake Bentley), Florence Nightingale, and Lou Gehrig.  We will also do a few fun activities to reinforce our knowledge of these individuals.

Please continue to talk to your children about what they are reading.  I was excited to see several of the students making great reading choices at the Book Fair!

Happy New Year!  I hope you had a wonderful break with your kids.  December was a busy month throughout our school!  In the Reading Center, we are getting settled in to a nice routine for the month of January.

This month we will be focusing on nonfiction books.  We will start by understanding the difference between fiction and nonfiction by making comparisons.  We will do some fun research using nonfiction magazines (National Geographic: KIDS) and share some of our findings.  We will also learn about the nonfiction section of the library and that it is sorted by the Dewey Decimal System.  Nonfiction books often have features that other books do not.  These features include a Table of Contents, a Glossary, an Index, captions, maps, graphs and others.  We will be introduced to these features as we learn that wonderful knowledge can be gained by using the nonficiton section of the library.

At the end of the month, we will enjoy the Book Fair!  All students will have the opportunity to browse before they buy.

I have been noticing that many students have not been returning their books in a timely manner.  Please talk to your child and ask them if they have any books that they are not able to locate.  They may just need a little help.  I want all of the students to be able to check out books freely and keep reading!

Have a great January and stay WARM!

October was a fun month in the Reading Center!   We read Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl in grades 3-5.  The younger students enjoyed several fall books as we discussed fiction and non-fiction selections. We also enjoyed some Halloween stories!

As we move into November,  we will be focusing on Native American legends. With Thanksgiving approaching,  I believe the students will enjoy exploring this genre. We will focus on the character traits in these legends, where often a particular character overcomes some type of adversity or weakness. Some of the titles we will explore are The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush, The Legend of the Bluebonnet, and The Girl Who Loved Horses.  We will discuss Native American lifestyles and their unique culture.  I hope the students find enjoyment in the activities that will accompany these stories.

Please continue to talk to your children about what they are reading.  Also, ask them if they have any missing books from the Reading Center.  Often, other students are waiting to check out the very book that another students has.  I hope you have a wonderful November!