QR Codes in the Library

For the month of February, we are celebrating how much we love books. The teachers submitted their favorite book for children and I created a wall display with QR codes. Students and teachers have to use a QR reader to see if they guessed correctly. We are so excited to share the wall display with visitors who stop by to celebrate Read Across America week with us on February 29-March 4th. Have you got your costume ready for the big storybook parade on March 4th? Super specials do!

Decoding the Future

Our school participated in the Hour of Code week in December. We also had a UTD graduate student teacher 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders MIT Scratch coding in an afterschool club. All 4th graders have received introduction lessons to Code.org. Some of the students choose to practice computer coding during makerspace time while others choose to build. That's the great thing about makerspace time...it can many things to many people! Check out some of the action below...

I am also still on my quest to work through all 20 of the Bluebonnet nominee books. I am happy to report that the last two have been pretty good. Crenshaw was a carefully crafted story that will make your grateful for what you already have. Circus Mirandus weaves an intricate story from long ago into the current time period. I still prefer A Handful of Stars right now, but we'll see.

"Don't Judge a Book by Its Cover"

"Don't judge a book by its cover." This is a statement that I strongly stand behind. There are tons of good books that I probably would have never read if I only looked at the cover. I like to give books a try, but I also completely believe in not finishing a book if it's just not for you.The first two books below have really intricate and interesting covers, but that was deceiving. In my quest to read all 20 of the Bluebonnet nominees for 2016-2017, I hit a roadblock (or two!) with The Fog Diver and Ratscalibur. They seem like good books, but they are just not for me. I read several chapters and could not get interested in the stories. However, I did find a really great book in the mix yesterday with a pretty basic cover. A Handful of Stars is awesome. I even cried a little at the end out of happiness! Definitely check that one out next fall when they are on display.

Bluebonnet Books 2016

Good morning readers! I have been working my way through the new list of Bluebonnet books. So far, I have read Nightmares and Hamster Princess. I enjoyed both of them and they were fast reads. I can't wait to read the sequel to Nightmares when it comes out! I am creating questions to ask about each book for a new contest next school year-stay tuned. :) Next up to read for me is A Handful of Stars. What are you reading? Meanwhile, makerspace Monday has been fun today with several interesting things being made.