April in the Library 2021

 April always feels like the longest month, but I think it is just the anticipation for May/the end of the school year. There has been so much to do as we get ready for testing season and summer. 

Our students rocked it with myON yet again! 

Our spring, Earth Day, and books about reading/libraries filled our shelves.

We finally got our myON banners hung up. We added another one after this picture!

To celebrate National School Library Week, I was featured in our main hallway. I loved getting to share about my husband and our two dogs!

Our amazing office staff and admin blessed us with these baskets of goodies. I am so thankful for them and my incredible library assistant Ms. Plote!

The students wrote such sweet notes to us all week long!

My scanner died in an unfortunate accident when the CTA borrowed it so I have been typing in barcodes during library checkout...I am so happy to have a new scanner!

Our annual poetry contest was color poems. The students did a great job!

More of the cool color poems!

The representatives from myON came to present us with the Literacy Leader Award for this school year. We will be formally presented with it at the school board meeting in May-eek!

These fifth graders have been the top myON readers all year and are a big factor of why we won the award so I wanted to take a photo with them to celebrate. 

I collaborated with our counselor to work on an application for an SEL award for our school. We finally found out that we received the highest ranking of gold on our application!

Tomorrow starts MAY and so it is time for this song to be stuck in my head. We have a jam packed month of teacher appreciation, STAAR testing, and preparing for next school year while celebrating the success of this one. Pray for all the teachers in May ya'll because it a wild ride!

March in the Library 2021

 March is such a quick month, but also action packed. We had Read Across America week, but no book fair this year. Then, we did a week of intersession and a week of Spring Break. The final week was a catch up and get ready for the rest of the year week. 

Our myON numbers for February were amazing! We won another banner for the contest in the district.

Our spring decorations are up along with books to celebrate Women's History Month.

Women in history are also in many of the books we have in the library. 

Green books celebrate March as well!

We were lucky enough to have author Chris Grabbenstein visit virtually with our first graders to discuss his book No More Naps. 

We had dress up days throughout the week and ended with our annual storybook character parade. I enjoyed wearing my favorite color and meeting Belle!

Students completed a reading bingo card throughout the week and then we did a drawing for prizes!

Over the break, our wonderful library aide Ms. Plote was awarded Paraprofessional of the Year! We are so proud of her and all of her hard work. 

I spent some time over the break working on professional development. Colby Sharp did a fantastic video for the North Texas Teen Book Festival. He discussed how he loved to read and then lost it, but then found that love again. He is so inspiring!

I also viewed this author panel and learned a lot about how they put their stories together.

I went to a couple of technology sessions that our district offered. One of them was some new ways to do digital breakouts. 

I was so excited from the breakout training that I created one of my own for the groups of 5th graders that I am working with. 

March marched in and out quickly, but always a fun month. I always feel anxious about April, but hopefully it passes quickly and quietly. It is hard to believe we only have a couple months left!

February in the Library 2021

 Just when we thought 2021 was going to be calmer than 2020, a blizzard happened! Check out the February events we managed to have even with the crazy Texas weather. 

Our students continue to do awesome with myON! 

February is Kindness month so we put up some inspiration quotes and participated in dress up days.

Our library got a little Valentine's Day spirit!

Our story walk for this month celebrated the Lunar New Year with Goldy Luck and the Three Bears.

This is was a definite favorite read aloud for this month. Everyone, including teachers, loved the message!

These books were purchased with a grant from DonorsChoose. They are great additions to our collection.

We celebrated self-care this month and our counselor did this awesome bingo game!

We received our last big book order of the year. I had originally ordered many of these titles at the start of the school year so I am happy to finally have them here!

I was nominated to be the Garland Chamber of Commerce Teacher of the Month for our campus. During the time of Covid, it just meant celebrating virtually but I sure appreciated the honor and support.

Thursday afternoon read alouds were back this month with this book. I love this series and the students joining me on Google Meets are enjoying the silly story.

We missed a whole week (plus a random day) for not one, but three ice/snow storms. We even had an actual blizzard. 

I did not have power for 48 hours straight so  spent most of the time just like this-a lap full of dogs trying to stay warm. My husband was home for part of the time so we read ghost stories and tales about Bigfoot. On my own, I read a biography about Lucille Ball.

We did a Twitter contest in the district for the where we shared books related to snow during the time that school was out. 

I could definitely relate to this one even though it is about a warm blackout day.

We celebrated Digital Learning Day when we got back from the unexpected week off of school. I posted this choice board on my Canvas page for all students. I also shared a video tip that was tweeted out in the district. 

March is going to fly by because we have a busy week of testing and Read Across America celebrations followed by two weeks off for spring break. I am definitely looking forward to some warmer weather!

January in the Library 2021

 2020 is finally over and 2021 is already looking brighter! Check out the awesome things that happened in the library this month as we began a new year. 

Our myON numbers for December looked amazing! We even had a student win one of the prizes for the contest over the break. 

The library displayed books about all things winter.

Our PLC activity for January was to follow directions to create three snowmen.

We had another story walk posted for the school to enjoy as they walked the halls. 

I spent a whole week doing inventory. This means I had to scan every book in the library. I was so happy to hear the sound that meant a lost book was found. 

I am hosting a Black History Project Contest. I am so excited by the entries that have come in already.

Our table of books to give away for the 100th day of school. 

 I was so glad we still have enough books to give away this year because it is a highlight for me. 

I did a grant for Black History Month to get more diverse books. These are so fabulous and I cannot wait to read them all!

I am participating in Multicultural Children's Book Day this year. Candlewick.com gifted me a copy of Northbound: A Train Ride Out of Segregation by Michael S. Bandy and Eric Stein. Coretta Scott King Award winner James E. Ransome is the illustrator. This story details how Michael achieves one of his dream to ride on a train when his grandma takes him on a trip to Ohio. The boy wants to explore the train, but he in hindered by the signs that divide whites from blacks on the train. As the train passes through various cities with different rules, Michael is able to meet a new white friend named Bobby Ray. They develop a friendship as they spend time wandering around the train and then playing together. The train chugs on and they are once again split by the colored only sign. Michael is gifted a drawing by Bobby Ray that depicts his dream of one day when all people can sit on a train together. Of all his adventures from the day, Michael is most fond of that moment.

The illustrations of this book really guide the story along because James. E. Ransome focused on the details in the facial features of the characters. The reader is able to see the emotions of the characters through the pictures while also reading as the story unfolds. I think this book would be a great introduction to how people were treated differently due to their skin color. Children could relate to how Michael just wanted to explore the train and did not understand why he could not stay with his new friend as they passed into a different city. I also loved how the story ended on a hopeful note as Bobby Ray shares that he has desires of a better future for all people. #readyourworld  

I did a grant for a 4th grade teacher to get books for a novel study. How exciting!

My wonderful aide and I were chosen as the staff members of the month for December, but we just found out this month. She has been a true blessing to our school and library. 

I always enjoy the month of February because it just seems like everyone is a little kinder.