Book Gravy

April is...National Poetry Month Links for April, 2017 - Poetry for Elementary From Handy Handouts:   Types of Poetry by Becky L. Spivey, M.Ed. Homework, Oh Homework ! Video by J.J.Rafferty.  Poem by Jack Prelutsky Houghton Mifflin Harcourt:    Poetry Kit, 2009  Shape/Animal Poem handou ts Poetry Definitions:   Poetry, by Jenny Eather  [shockwave flash] ReadWriteThink:   Acrostic Poem interactive ReadWriteThink:   Acrostic Poem handout ReadWriteThink:   Alliteration Brainstorm handou t RhymeZone:   Rhyming dictionary. Shel Silverstein website:   A lot of great activities in the learning resources page. Scholastic:   Poetry Idea Engine [shockwave flash] Slideshare:  Intro to Poetry, Claire McKinnon  [ppt], great for 5th grade and up. WriteAHaiku:   Write A Haiku interactive  

For our school site, we held Read Across America Week during the week of March 6th.  I thought I'd share some of the highlights. For Monday, the Library Helpers Club and the 5th grade ASB hosted Dr. Seuss games during the recess periods. Students participating in the Read while Hoola-Hooping game Students participating in the Dr. Seuss ring toss game. On Tuesday, we had the mayor of Fontana visit the school and  be the first to sign our school banner.  Those who signed the banner pledged to read every day. For Wednesday, our site hosted a "Reading Under the Stars" community event.  We invited our students and their families to bring their blankets, lawn chairs, and snacks and join us for story time under the stars.  We were able to project the picture book pages on a blank wall, and used a microphone to read the stories aloud.  My school district's Library Director was able to attend, and not only did she share a fabulous retelling of Cloudy wi

 Last year, I found a copy of Thinking Skills for grades 3-4 , from Evan-Moor Publishers, in a stack of obsolete items in an unused classroom.  As I was looking through the book, I thought, "Wouldn't it be fun to share these with students and see how they respond?"  The only issue was how to share these puzzles/sheets with the students in a library setting.  So my solution was to create a Think Board. The purpose of the Think Board is to get students to think beyond right or wrong answers.  The questions and puzzles in this book challenge the reader to use logic, think creatively, and problem solve.  I felt that it would be a great way to have students practice critical thinking skills, if only for five minutes during students' library visits. The Think Board isn't a board.  Its butcher paper I've pinned to a section of our story corner.  Perhaps next year it will upgrade to a more formal platform.  There's a "Think" title, and instructions to