Did You Know?

Did you know that we have access to some TERRIFIC online eBooks? Students can even access them easily from home! Just follow this link, click on "Capstone (eBooks)" and you can choose from 26 eBooks right now. Keep an eye out and soon you'll see an additional 50 eBooks for you to read! I am so excited about this resource. I hope you are too!!

P.S. If you have any trouble accessing this link either at school or at home, don't hesitate to contact your friendly school librarian (ME!) and I'll help you out!!!

Sock Puppet Video ~ Help Us Decorate the Library!! {Part 2}

Ms. Rodgers and I created this video using the Sock Puppets App for the iPad. Hope you enjoy it! Please come down to the library for your instructions, with your teachers permission, of course!

Help Us Decorate the Library!!

We're decorating the library for the holidays and we need your help!!

Here’s what you can do:

• Choose and read a new book that you haven’t read before. {Have someone read to you if you’d like!} Older kids, don’t be afraid to choose a picture book. There are some fun ones out there!
• Decorate an ornament like a character from the book. You can create an ornament on your own or come to the library for paper cut outs to give you a head start!
• You can use crayons, markers, paint, whatever else you like!
• You can glue things to your ornament, but please do not use food!!
• Fill out the form on the back of this paper and return it with your ornament, as soon as possible! Our tree is bare! {Please stop down in the library for this form if you haven't received one yet!}
• Everyone who participates will receive a little gift from the library!

Thank you!

Mrs. Gee

Ms. Rodgers

We have a WINNER!!!

Thank you to all the students who participated in the "How Many Beads in the Jar?" activity! The official number of beads is 2,304. Our student who guessed the closest, without going over, was Madason in fifth grade! She guessed 1,590! However, we had another student guess even closer, but went over, so I wanted to recognize her as well. Kiley in fifth grade guessed 2,343! I will contact both ladies for their prizes!

Keep watching for more contests!!

Estimation Jar --- Guessing Extended ONE WEEK ONLY!!

Okay, Glenbrook students!! You have ONE MORE WEEK to make your guess on our estimation jar. We want you ALL to stop in the library and participate! Come on in, make your guess and on Friday, November 16 we will announce our winner!

Little Bird Tales

I am so excited! I had the honor of working with Mrs. Skinkis's class on a poetry project that we put into a program called Little Bird Tales. Here is the result of all of our hard work!

You might have to turn up your volume as some of our little birdies are quieter than others! Enjoy!

How Many Beads in the Jar? {Students Only!}

This activity requires you to visit the library, look at the jar AND reply on our blog! Please stop in the library either during your checkout time or any other time (that is approved by your teacher!). After you look at our bead jar, make a guess as to how many beads there are in the jar and write your guess in the comment section. REMEMBER: You MUST come see me in the library to have me approve your comment. This contest will end on Friday, November 9, 2012 at 3:00 p.m. I will announce the winner the following Monday morning. The winner is the person who has the closest guess WITHOUT GOING OVER! If there is more than one winner, I will put the names in a hat and choose one winner. There will be a little prize bag filled with goodies for the winner. If someone guesses the EXACT number of beads in the jar, that person will get an extra special prize!!

Good luck and happy guessing!!

PicMonkey

I found this website while doing a little hunting for a site where you can do cool things with pictures. This one is FABULOUS! There are so many fun things that you can do with images on this site but I love doing photo collages so I did a sample one for you! The best part? You don't have to sign up for an account and it is so easy to use! Your kids can use this since they don't have to sign up either! {Come visit me if you have any questions!}

Here is my sample collage. I used images from the sample folder on my computer!

PicMonkey

Another Knightly Note Opportunity!

Do you have a hobby or play a sport? If so, what do you do?

Want an extra Knightly Note this week? Tell me how you got started in your hobby/sport and how long you have been participating?

Keep the comments coming!!

I cannot tell you how excited I am by the number of responses that I have received to our first journal prompt! I look forward to adding more to our site (be on the look out for another prompt today!). Just a reminder, please make sure you contact me about your response. I WILL NOT publish it until I speak to your first!

Thank you!!!

Projects By Jen

Teachers, this post is for you! If you are looking for a way to have your classroom connect with other classrooms outside of Wisconsin, this site is for you! Jen Wagner has used her site, ProjectsByJen, since 1999 to connect classrooms online. I realize that many of you already know about her and have already participated in some online projects, so please feel free to comment on what you've participated in and how it has gone! As always, your friendly Library Media Specialist (a.k.a. ME!) is ready to help make your project a success!!

http://www.projectsbyjen.com/index.htm

Library Helper

Today we had our first library helper in to work with us. Hannah, a fourth grader, helped us to check in books and check out books to her classmates. She really had fun! This opportunity was Hannah's after she traded in some of her Knightly Notes for a chance to work in the library. She was one of four lucky students to win this reward. Thanks for helping us, Hannah!!

Journal Prompt #1

Please take a minute to answer the following question. When you are finished sign your post with your first name only and then your grade. {For example, if I were in third grade, I'd sign my name: Amy, 3.} Then, come visit me in the library tomorrow, show me your comment, and I'll give you a Knightly Note. Only one response per student. {Adults are welcome to help younger students answer this question!} Next Monday, we'll have a new question and a new opportunity to earn Knightly Notes!

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you pick? Why?

Thanks! I look forward to reading your responses!!

PBIS in the Library

This year our school district has adopted Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports {PBIS} which focuses on rewarding positive behaviors rather than negative behaviors. Here in the library we are also supporting PBIS in a variety of ways. When students are caught being good (whether they are working quietly or helping out a classmate) or they've returned all of their books on time, they are rewarded with a Knightly Note. This has been a great help so far as there have been less overdue library books so far this year. Keep up the good work, Glenbrook students!!

The Cooperative Children's Book Center

The Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC), on the UW Madison campus, is an amazing wealth of resources when it comes children's literature. They are a small group of librarians who read pretty much every book that comes out, weeding through the good and the bad. Each year the CCBC comes out with a book called Choices, which is basically a book of lists. It is pretty amazing. Another great resource that they offer is an online bibliography which has books broken up into, again, many different lists. Here is the link to their bibliographies. I hope you find it as useful as I do!

http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/books/detailLists.asp?idBookListCat=7

Battle of the Books is coming!!

Battle of the Books is right around the corner and I will be running it from the library again this year! I will be taking interested participants from grades 4 and 5. A meeting will be announced shortly but in the meanwhile, you can take a look at the book list here:

• 13 Gifts by Wendy Mass
• A Ball for Daisy by Christopher Raschka
• Big Nate: In a Class by Himself by Lincoln Peirce
• Blackout by John Rocco
• Blizzard! The Storm that Changed America by Jim Murphy
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever by Jeff Kinney
• Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
• Extra Credit by Andrew Clements
• Freedom Train North by Julia Pferdehirt
• From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
• Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins
• Happy Pig Day by Mo Willems
• Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
• I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen
• If You’re Reading This, It’s Too Late by Pseudonymous Bosch
• Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key by Jack Gantos
• The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
• Polo and the Dragon by Regis Faller
• Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
• Wonderstruck: A Novel in Words and Pictures  by Brian Selznick

Destiny Quest

We have a FABULOUS program here in the library that you can use in school and from home. It is our search engine, aka Destiny Quest. Here students and staff alike can search for materials that we have in the library and see if they are available for check out. Students will learn how to see what books they have checked out as well as how to put books on hold. Staff members, you can make lists of favorite books or lists of curriculum friendly books that you can refer to year after year! Give it a try! Students and staff alike just need to use their network usernames and passwords to log onto Destiny Quest. If you don't have a username yet, you can still browse the virtual library shelves!

{click on the picture above to go to Destiny Quest}

Back to School 2012

Welcome back students and staff of Glenbrook Elementary! It was so wonderful seeing so many smiling faces today. Please be sure to check back often for many new and exciting things on our site!! Also, be sure to follow us on Twitter!! https://twitter.com/glenbrooklmc

Book of the Week

This week I am featuring a new series of books that we have ordered for the library (they are coming in May). It is called "Girls Science Club" and includes the following titles: Cool Physics Activities for Girls, Cool Chemistry Activities for Girls, Cool Engineering Activities for Girls and Cool Biology Activities for Girls. These books have fun activities geared toward girls, but that doesn't mean that the boys can't take a look and see what they can find! Stop in and find out when they are coming!

UPDATED (5/10/12): THESE BOOKS ARE NOW IN THE LIBRARY!! COME CHECK THEM OUT!

Poetry Picnic!

This week and next we are hosting a Poetry Picnic in honor of National Poetry Month. So far the kids really seem to be enjoying themselves! I got the idea from this website (and Mrs. McAllister ~ THANK YOU!!) and tweaked some of the centers to make them my own. We are only doing eleven centers but that really is more than enough!

Thank you also to the many teachers who have been helping out in the various centers. The kids seem to enjoy this even more with your help!

Check out the pictures below:

Book of the Week

This week's book of the week is a poetry book in honor of our Poetry Picnic for Poetry Month! (Phew! That was a lot of "poetry" in one sentence!) The book is called "I've Lost My Hippopotamus" written by Jack Prelutsky and illustrated by Jackie Urbanovic (of the Duck books!). This was an easy book to review as I love the whimsical poems that Jack Prelutsky writes. He doesn't let us down in the book either. Mr. Prelutsky starts us out by telling a tale of a hippo that goes missing. It's silly in that when you see the picture that goes with it, you can't believe that the girl can't actually find her hippopotamus! After all, it is obvious to us where it is hiding. Another favorite of mine can be found on page 36. This is a poem called "I Can Juggle Bowling Balls". The narrator of this poem tells us all sorts of wacky things that he can do. Or can he?

Don't forget to check out "The Screaming Weemies" on page 109 or "The Spellican" on page 126. {Where ever does Mr. Prelutsky come up with these words?} Finally, our book ends with the silly "When" on page 136.

Take it from me, you will not be disappointed in this book. It has enough silliness for all of us! Want to know more about Jack Prelutsky? Check out his website here.

Book of the Week

Each Monday I will be posting a "Book of the Week" that I have read and reviewed. I will alternate between a picture book and a chapter book. These books will be available in our library and most will be newer books but occasionally I'll toss in an older book that deserves to be remembered! Let me know if there are any books that you would like to see being reviewed and I'll try to get to them! I love recommendations from our students and staff!

WEMTA 2012

Last week I attended the 2012 WEMTA conference in the Wisconsin Dells. It was FABULOUS! Of course, when you attend something so amazing, you return with lots of ideas and need to get them out. One big idea I brought back with me was to give our library an online presence. So, I resurrected our Twitter account and am planning on Tweeting again! Be sure to follow us: @GlenbrookLMC.

Don't have a Twitter account? They are free and easy to get! You don't even need to post anything, it is fun to follow all the great people out there. Stop by the library and I'd be happy to get you set up!