April

April is Poetry month! Since we didn’t have Summer Bridge Activities Workbooks when I was growing up, my three sisters, three brothers and I were assigned poetry memorization by my mother during the summer. I can still recite The Owl and the Pussycat in its entirety. While I did not appreciate poetry at that age, I have come to years later. We will spend some time hopefully unlocking the magic of poetry in all grade levels this month.

In anticipation of Loren Long’s visit during Right to Read Week in May, all grade levels will be introduced to some of his delightful books. Loren has most recently partnered with President Obama and illustrated Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters. More information about Right to Read Events will follow soon!

We will do a study of Mark Twain in 4th grade during April. 2010 was the 1ooth anniversary of his death and the year that his autobiography was released. I will be sharing bits of that with the students so that they get the flavor of his writings, and we will also read two charming accounts of his life, The Extraordinary Mark Twain (According to Suzy) and The Adventures of Mark Twain By Huckleberry Finn. Many of our 4^th grades students this year are reading the Great Illustrated Classics series. I anticipate a run on Tom Sawyer!

Grade levels K-3 will be previewing the story of Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse in anticipation of the production of it at the Madeira High School Medert Auditorium on Saturday, April 16 at 3:00 performed by the Playhouse in the Park Touring Company. Admission is free and the production has been made possible by the Madeira City Schools and the City of Madeira.

Clearly we have lots still to do so we are going to be busy in the library!!

February, 2011

Our months keep flying by!! It's so hard to believe that we are at the halfway point in the 3rd quarter already. Although it is a short month, we have a lot to cover in February. In the lower grades we will cover the history of Groundhog and Valentine's Day and read some fun fiction to go with them.

We will also continue to explore author and illustrator crafts that are used to tap into the creativity of the students as they begin to brainstorm for their Young Author books. We've studied rhyming, Mo Willems use of speech and thought bubbles, adding non-fiction facts to our fiction stories and SO, SO much more!! In May, look for Young Author books like you've never seen before!

In the 3rd and 4th grades we will spend some time studying Black History Month.

Third graders will discuss the Underground Railroad and learn how slaves would Follow the Drinking Gourd.

We will spend two weeks reading Patricia Polacco's, January's Sparrow in fourth grade. This is a very moving book about a family's escape from slavery.

Additionally, each 3rd grader has worked hard to find the perfect person to research and portray for their biography project and fourth grade will be introduced to a few of my favorite authors so that they have some ideas for Book of the Month for the remainder of the year.