Fall Into New Books

We have this book at Halliwell!
Photo source: amazon.com

We've added copies to many fiction series, including Warriors: The New Prophecy, Goosebumps, and Big Nate. In nonfiction, we purchased books on topics that students told us they wanted to read about, such as cookbooks (641.5), fishing and hunting (799), and Katy Perry (B PER).

As always, we welcome donations as well as student suggestions for future additions to the collection.

Every Year is an Election Year ...

... when it comes to the Rhode Island Children's Book Award (RICBA)! Did you know that you can share your opinions about the nominees with other students around the state? Just head over to the RICBA blog and post your comments!

And if you think that one of the titles would make a great readaloud for your classmates, let your librarian know.

Mark Your Calendars!

The annual Rhode Island Festival of Children's Books and Authors will take place on October 13 from 9 - 5:30 at Lincoln School in Providence, R.I. You can meet the people who wrote some of your favorite books! Like...

Michael Buckley, author of THE SISTERS GRIMM

Tom Angleberger, author of THE STRANGE CASE OF ORIGAMI YODA

Chris Van Allsburg, author of THE POLAR EXPRESS and JUMANJI

And the grilled cheese truck will be there too in case you get hungry!

Dog Days

The new Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie opens on Friday! Have you seen other Wimpy Kid movies? Are you going to see this one?

What do you think? Did the movies leave out parts of the books that you thought should have been included? Did they change stuff? Do the characters look the way you imagined them?

You can imagine yourself as a Wimpy Kid at the Wimp Yourself site.

Here is Ms. Moore:

What Are You Reading This Summer?

I (Ms. Moore) want to know what you're reading! List your summer books in the comments section below (you may need a Google account) or sign in to the library catalog and write a review! Here are a few books I've read this summer that I think would be good additions to the Halliwell library collection:*

Fangbone! Third-Grade Barbarian by Michael Rex: Eastwood Elementary has a new student, and he's nothing like the other kids in 3G. Fangbone is a barbarian warrior from another world! And he's been charged with the task of keeping a deadly weapon from Skullbania's vilest villain, Venomous Drool. Can Fangbone's new classmates team up to help him triumph over hound-snakes, lava-ferrets, and his first pop quiz?

Remarkable by Lizzie K. Foley: In the mountain town of Remarkable, everyone is extraordinarily talented, extraordinarily gifted, or just plain extraordinary. Everyone, that is, except Jane Doe, the most average ten-year-old who ever lived. But everything changes when the mischievous, downright criminal Grimlet twins enroll in Jane's school and a strange pirate captain appears in town. Thus begins a series of adventures that put some of Remarkable's most infamous inhabitants and their long-held secrets in danger. It's up to Jane, in her own modest style, to come to the rescue and prove that she is capable of some rather exceptional things.

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma by Trenton Lee Stewart: Join the Mysterious Benedict Society as Reynie, Kate, Sticky, and Constance embark on a daring new adventure that threatens to force them apart from their families, friends, and even each other. When an unexplained blackout engulfs Stonetown, the foursome must unravel clues relating to a nefarious new plot, while their search for answers brings them closer to danger than ever before. Filled with page-turning action and mind-bending brain teasers, this wildly inventive journey is sure to delight.

* summaries courtesy of Goodreads

Summer Reading Events at the Public Library

Have you all signed up for the summer reading program at the public library? This year’s theme is “Dream Big. Read.” Related activities explore dreams and nightmares, what kids want to be when they grow up, and how to make North Smithfield a better place to live. Each week, kids who read 80 minutes or more will be entered into a raffle. Did you know that the library hosts weekly events for different age groups?

Sign up for stories, booktalks, and crafts:

7-8 yrs - Tuesdays @ 1:00 or Thursdays @ 1:00 
9-10 yrs - Wednesdays @ 1:00
11-12yrs - Wednesdays @ 3:30

And you can sign up for special events, too:

July 23 – Moira Richardson - Find your inner artist and create a painting of a nighttime scene using Van Gogh’s Starry Night as inspiration.
July 30 – Mat Franco - Throughout the show, some of the magical effects exemplify how reading has played a role in Mat’s success in following his dream to be a professional magician
August 2 – Ric Morin - Let your imagination run free to create rhythms using buckets, cans, voices, hands, recyclable materials, real percussion instruments, and more
August 17 – Greg Cooney - Join the musical fun with as you learn about people who had BIG DREAMS that changed the world.

Free Rice!

Did you know that you can help feed people in need, while having fun AND learning stuff? Check out Freerice.com. You can quiz yourself on a variety of topics, from vocabulary to math to French to geography.

Dewey Decimal GAMES

Want to test your Dewey knowledge? Have fun playing these games.

http://www.purposegames.com/game/1410

Review Quiz

Bingo

Matching Books to 100s - Easy
Matching Books to 100s - Medium
MatchingBooks to 100s - Hard

Name the numbers

Multiple Choice

Doing Dewey

After Grade 4 students investigated several Dewey Decimal 100s categories, we practiced assigning topics to those categories.

Each table received a stack of cards with information like "You want to find crafts to make at your birthday party" and "You want to find a map of Japan." Students worked together to figure out where they'd go to find the information and paste them into the correct column of their "gameboard."

There were some heated discussions. Where would cats go versus tigers and lions? What about the history of dinosaurs?

Even if students didn't put a card in the right column, they got credit for having a good reason for choosing the one they selected. We don't all think the same way as Melvil Dewey!

Being able to categorize information is a skill that students will use in the future, from structuring writing assignments to organizing computer files.

Do YOU know which 100s to look in for the following topics?

• You need to do a report on hurricanes.

• You need to show your classmates how to do origami.

• You need to find a recipe for pancakes.

• You need to learn about what life is like in Brazil.

Beware These Dangerous Animals!

To finish up our animal research unit, the third graders read "Never Smile at a Monkey" by Steven Jenkins (which won the 2011 RICBA). We learned why we should never pet a platypus, clutch a cane toad, or go near a variety of animals who could hurt or even kill us. Did you know that the HIPPO is the deadliest land animal? Or that a spitting cobra can shoot its venom 8 feet?

Then we found the animals' ranges on a world map. Luckily, we only need to worry about black bears and beaded lizards here in North America. Africa, Australia, and the oceans have some of the deadliest animals. Make sure you never corner a cassowary!

 

Top Catalog Searches - Q4

1. big nate
2. what's new cupcake
3. percy jackson
4. skellig
5. bone
6. dogs
7. dork diaries
8. amulet
9. the lost hero
10.drawing

Kids Reading Across RI

We’re just about done with our library giveaways for the year, but that doesn’t mean you are out of chances to get a free book! The KIDS Reading Across Rhode Island program encourages students across the state in grades 4 through 6 to read the same book, and engage in community discussions and programs.

This year’s selection is Dave at Night by Gail Carson Levine. On June 16, a kickoff celebration at the State House will include crafts, games, and a free copy of the book (one per family) while supplies last. Levine (who also wrote Ella Enchanted) will speak at 2:15 and 3:30 p.m.

Visit the OLIS web site for more information.

Interesting Animal Facts 3T - cont'd

After using the index and table of contents of animal books to find information and take notes, 3T students created posters. Everyone has now finished making their presentations and sharing some pretty interesting facts.

Dolphins have very good hearing; they can pick up sounds that people cannot hear.


Nurse sharks live close to the ocean floor.

Zebras are endangered.


Narwhals can weigh up to one ton.

Chameleons' eyes move separately; one can look forward while the other looks back.


Iguanas' tails are twice as long as their bodies.

Cougars' babies are called kittens.

Sea otters are the slowest sea mammals.


Turtles live everywhere in the world except Antarctica.

Beavers are the largest North American rodents.


Cheetahs are the world's fastest animals.

Blue whales migrate to warmer water in the winter.

Wolves prey on deer, moose, and caribou.


Chimpanzees have long fingers and short hair.

Bears can use their sharp claws to kill prey.

Great white sharks like shallow water.

Do You Have Questions for Jeff Kinney?

National Public Radio (NPR) has an online kids' "book club" each month, and the June pick is Diary of a Wimpy Kid.  

The attached story includes links to previous questions for Jeff Kinney as well as your chance to ask him what YOU'VE been wondering about!

P.S. The next book in the series will be out on
November 13!

Summer Reading Kickoff - June 1 Event

Ready for some REAL family fun? Reading Aloud in Rhode Island (REAL) will kick off the 2012 Statewide Summer Reading Program at the Providence Children’s Museum on Friday, June 1 from 5:30 – 7:30 pm.

Ten local picture book authors and illustrators will read from their work, answer questions, and sign and sell their books as local children's librarians offer engaging book-related activities.

Learn more about this FREE event, which is recommended for families with children from ages 4-10.

Interesting Animal Facts - 3T

After using the index and table of contents of animal books to find information and take notes, 3T students created posters. This week they started making their presentations and are sharing some pretty interesting facts.

Mamba snakes like to hang out in trees.

Boa constrictors have jaws like rubber bands.

Black widow spiders like to hide in dark corners.

Crocodiles literally weigh a ton: 2,000 pounds.

Penguins are birds, but they can't fly.

Zebras: 30 years ago, there were 100,000 zebras; now there are only 2,000.

Koalas live in their mothers' pouches for six months after they are born.

Polar bears can drift for miles on Arctic ice.

African buffalo babies weigh 90 pounds.

Raccoons like to go in humans' trash cans (as this researcher can attest).

Wordling Dewey - 4G

Have you ever used Wordle? It's a neat Web program that takes words and creates a colorful collage with them; words that you enter more frequently have more prominence.

We're using it with Grade 4 as we try and figure out how Melvil Dewey divided up all of the world's knowledge into 10 main categories.

This week, 4G explored the shelves, selecting a variety of books on different topics from their assigned 100s ... and then tried to figure out just what their category was. We entered some of the topics into Wordle. As you can see below, some Dewey categories are a lot easier to figure out than others.

11 Card Flickr - 5O

Credit: MiserlouBehind The Aperture

Once there was this cat watching a Patriots game. He was tiny and his name was Tiny.

Credit: JefferyBeall

Tom Brady threw an interception, and the cat meowed. After that, he (Tom Brady) crashed his car into a zoo.

Credit: law_kevin

Then all the tigers in the zoo went loose.

Credit: wizan

The tigers ate Tom Brady, but afterwards, they felt sorry. They attacked a bowl of fruit.

Source: 23am.com

There was still some left when they were done, so the dog ate it. Then the dog went to play with his owner.

Credit: 32fefab169

Meanwhile, the cat was staring at the TV and became hypnotized.

Credit: Marysol

Then the cat eats the angry birds. Then he wondered, "Where is the BBQ sauce?" So he went on a giant journey around the world to find the best BBQ sauces.

Credit: Carrie Stephens

The cat found a gingerbread house in China and attacked it. While continuing his journey, he stopped by Gilette Stadium and watched the Broncos defeat the Patriots.

Credit: Jelene

Then the android dude in a jelly bean car was going off to buy an Android phone.

Credit: Sean MacEntee

So the guy stopped in Guatemala, where Katy Perry was performing an exclusive concert. But then he got kicked out because he was stealing the little breath mints at the bar. The cat brought him back in and then barfed up the Angry Birds, which reminded him of his iPhone, and they got in a fight over which phone was better. Then Steve Jobs came back alive and kicked the Android right in his tushy. Then the cat went to the bar and he had a bunch of martinis, and then he got in the car and drove to Arizona and crashed into a cactus and caught on fire.

Credit: Roshan Album

When the jaguar saw the car catch on fire, he called all his friends and told him he was going to perform a circus trip and jumped over the car.

NOTE: All photos are Creative-Commons-licensed; students found them by using a specialized search.