Category Archives: Children’s Literature

The Bear Ate Your Sandwich

My students in prekindergarten through grade 2 participated in JumpStart’s again this year.  “Jumpstart is a national early education organization that recruits and trains college students and community Corps members to serve preschool children in low-income neighborhoods. Threir curriculum helps children develop the language and literacy skills they need to be ready for kindergarten, setting them on a path to close the achievement gap before it is too late.” Through its Read for the Record event, JumpStart  promotes early literacy, and encourages teachers, librarians, parents, and students around the world to read the same book on the same day in support of early literacy.

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JumpStart’s Read for the Record 2016 book.

This year’s picture  book was The Bear Ate Your Sandwich by Julia Sarcone-Roach, and it was read by over 2.35 million adults and children! But did the bear really eat your sandwich? Read it together, and find out!  If you would like to read the online version of the book, please visit here  (scroll to the bottom of the web page to find the book in both English and Spanish).For additional teacher resources, click here.

One of my 2nd grade classes even had the chance to connect with a 2nd grade class at Orchard Elementary School in Vermont – the media specialist, Donna Sullivan-MacDonald, and I alternated reading the pages of the book to each other’s students.  What fun!

Did you know? It is important for parents to read aloud 15 minutes every day to their children – from birth all the way through school-age. According to the Academy of Pediatrics, “This time together has a powerful impact on children’s development because it strengthens their relationships with their parents and caregivers, the most important people in their world. A great deal of research supports this statement, yet fewer than half of children younger than age 5 in the United States are read to daily.” Here is some recent data on the importance of parents reading aloud to their children.  I encourage all parents to spend 15 minutes a day reading aloud with their children – it is time well spent – and priceless, too!

Reading Challenges Can Be a Good Thing!

I have challenged my students in grades 3 to 5 to read as many Maryland Black-Eyed Susan (BES) Book Award nominees as they can – and those that read more of the books than I do this year will be recognized at the end of the year (there will be classroom and grade level recognitions as well).

 

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As you can see from the bulletin board display, many students are participating in the challenge. The black centers each represent a student, and they earn a petal for each BES book they read. The Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award is selected by Maryland students in the spring, so all students who participate in this challenge will have the opportunity to vote on their favorite picture book, chapter book, and/or graphic novel, if they have read the required number of books. To learn about the Black-Eyed Susan Book Award, please visit the website here, and for teacher librarian resources, please visit here. As the year progresses, I will post updated pictures of this bulletin board to watch the flowers bloom!

A second challenge for students is to participate in the Reading without Walls challenge from Gene Luen Yang, National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature.

For more information about the Reading without Walls challenge, visit Gene Luen Yang’s website here .

From the beginning of school through September 30th book circulation for all grade levels was 3779 books, compared to 3304 last year. 400 more books were read this year than last! Whoo hoo! That is cause for celebration!

Reading challenges CAN be a good thing!!

Scholastic Reading Summit for Educators

Forget the pool, the beach, or a romantic summer getaway … I have again taken full  advantage of professional development opportunities presented to me this summer!

  • Represent MSEA as a delegate at the week-long 2016 NEA Convention (✓)
  • Help revive Library, Information Literacy, and Technology special interest caucus (✓)
  • Attend week-long class Mentoring for All: Strategies, Activities, and Assessment (✓)
  • Attend  Scholastic Reading Summit for Educators (✓)

I am thankful to have discovered the Scholastic Reading Summit for Educators, and especially thankful that my school’s PTA graciously paid my registration fee with Scholastic Dollar$!  Muchas gracias,  Flower Hill Elementary School PTA!

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 I finally had the opportunity to meet the fabulous Mr. Schu – John Schumacher – and now understand why he has such a devoted following, and why he is the new Ambassador of School Libraries for Scholastic Book Fairs®. He’s awesome!  His book talks were full of energy and inspired me to find time – to make time — to sit and read as many of the  the more of the wonderful children’s books available, so that I can give authentic and inspired book talks to my students, too.  I was also pleased to discover that I am not the only person to smell the inside of a new book, or thrill in revealing the book under the dust cover! Thanks, Mr. Schu for the reminder that the goal of libraries is not to get back the books, but to get back the readers!!

Donalyn Miller had wonderful things to say about school librarians and the wonderful world of literature. “We are not simply teaching the readers our children are; we are reaching the readers they will become!”  I was thrilled to discover that we received a copy of her book, Reading in the Wild   and will be incorporating many of her suggestions for developing life long readers.   I’ve also become a fan of the Nerdy Book Club blog of which she is one of the four facilitators.   Thank you, Donalyn, for your wisdom.

Nancie Atwell, author of The Reading Zone (among others) offered an inspired discussion of reaching each student where they are, and how to nurture joyful reading, even with the most seemingly difficult-to-reach kids.  Thank you, Nancie (and daughter, Anne Atwell Merkel) for sharing your love of literature and reading.

Sara Pennypacker, author of middle grade novel Pax, was the keynote speaker.  Pax is the story of Peter and his pet fox Pax, who are separated when Peter’s father goes into the military to serve during the war, and their journeys to find each other again.   Pax Book Discussion Guide .  To listen to her NPR interview, click here.

Pax was illustrated by Caldecott Medal winner Jon Klassen (click here for more information about his artistic inspiration.)

I left the July 14th event filled to overflowing with ideas for books to read (and share) and unique ways in which to encourage my students to develop a love of the written word – such as hanging book talk mini-posters in the girls’ and boys’ bathroom stalls!  Check back for a future post that will include pictures!

Still to come this summer:

Love, love, love being a lifelong learner!!

Hooray for Mistakes!

As the Creative Librarian, I am always looking for interesting ways to get my students’ creative juices flowing. Today, my kindergarten and first grade students explored their creative side after reading the book Beautiful Oops! by Barney Saltzberg, an ode to those who make mistakes – and how they can be turned into something beautiful.

Tying in the importance of recycling and reusing our resources, we discussed risk-taking and challenging oneself to make the world a better place. One of the many wonderful things about teaching elementary age students is that they generally are willing to explore an idea and embrace it fully with abandon.  My students were given scraps of ripped, wrinkled, and worn construction paper, scissors, glue, markers,and crayons, and began creating their own Beautiful Oops– inspired artwork. They selected just the right pieces of paper, and began crunching, coloring, cutting, and ripping. Within a few minutes their scraps transformed into art. I was thrilled with their excitement, and impressed by my students’ masterpieces!

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Beautiful Oops book trailer

Beautiful Oops – A Program to Foster Creativity

I hope you and your students will be inspired to make your mistakes beautiful, too!

 

GBF – The Greatest Book Festival!

As an enthusiastic member of the Gaithersburg Book Festival Committee, I was thrilled to see our lineup of featured children’s authors and illustrators, which included: Dianna Hutts Aston, Cece Bell, Gennifer Choldenko, Paul Czajak, Alexis Frederick-Frost, Laura Gehl, John Green, Steve Light, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Dave Roman, Aaron Reynolds, Syl Sobel, Maris Wicks, Timothy Young among others.

Paul Czajak reads Monster Needs Your Vote.

A family oriented event, the GBF also offers outstanding  (if I do say so myself!) series of children’s and teens workshops and other entertainment in the Children’s Village and Young Adult Pavilion.

2016 Children’s Workshops included:

 

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Despite the rainy (and cold) weather, our dedicated guests arrived in full rain gear.  And stayed.  And listened. And participated in the many author talks and workshops.  It was a wonderfully creative and enthusiastically attended community event, led by a group of totally awesome lovers of literature…Cannot wait for next year’s event!

Gaithersburg Book Festival

The 2016 GBF Children’s Village:  About  100 Reasons to Bring the Kids on 5/21

 

GBF: Opportunity for Deeper Connection with Authors and Illustrators

Gaithersburg Book Festival: Opportunity for Deeper Connection with Authors and Illustrators first appeared on the GBF website on January 4, 2016. Click link to GBF website here. 

By Melissa McDonald

As an elementary school librarian, my favorite part of the Gaithersburg Book Festival is the opportunity to listen to the children’s book authors and illustrators read their books and talk about their inspiration and their craft.  I can read a book aloud to my students with enthusiasm, providing the voices of the different characters, and emphasizing what I think are the important parts on each page.  However, nothing compares to an author reading aloud his or her own book to their adoring audience, or watching the illustrator start with a blank piece of white poster paper and creating the book characters in front of our eyes.  It is magical!  That moment when the author and illustrator connect with his or her readers is a great one indeed.

Throughout my school library I have pictures of myself with authors and illustrators – I think it is important to show my students that the people who create their favorite books are real people – to show them the connection we have through their written word and art.  When I am able, I like to video their talk and book reading, and love to share with my students as most of them are unable to attend events such as these.

51mdbfxwdgl-_sx258_bo1204203200_Last year I enjoyed Michelle Knudsen’s reading of Marilyn’s Monster and listening to Michelle Knudsen and Matt Phelan discuss how they worked together to create the book. Because of these videos, my students were able to connect with the book, the author, and the illustrator on a deeper level than if I had simply read the book to them.  For this I am deeply grateful, and hope that this is one way in which I can encourage life-long readers.

Michelle Knudsen’s Website: http://www.michelleknudsen.com/

Matt Phelan’s Website: http://www.mattphelan.com/

Marilyn’s Monster by Michelle Knudsen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38zCZCqG06M

Michelle Knudsen and Matt Phelan discuss creation of  Marilyn’s Monster

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AemRfey6Og8

Melissa A. McDonald is a school library media specialist with Montgomery County Public Schools and a member of the Gaithersburg Book Festival planning committee.