Announcements
Bookfair Starts October 1st!
Sep 28th
Our Annual Scholastic Bookfair opens , Monday, October 1st
It runs through Thursday, October 4th.
Our hours of operation are
Monday, Tuesday and Thursday
noon -5pm.
On Wednesday we will be open for students to shop noon-1pm.
Parents and adult family members are welcomed to come on
Wednesday from 9-10am for Books and Breakfast!
We will not be open on Wednesday, October 3rd in the afternoon.
Our bookfair coincides with the Teacher-Parent-Student-led conferences. We moved the bookfair to the same time as conferences so families who are already on campus for their children’s conferences, could easily come to the fair! It’s a win-win for everyone!
Special for adult family members is our Wednesday morning adults only shopping! Join me in the library from 9-10am on October 3rd for a morning shop-a-thon. Drop the kids off in school and walk over to the library for a chance to shop without interruptions! Here’s your opportunity to get ahead on your holiday shopping without the younger ones knowing!
When you purchase books at our bookfair you are directly benefiting our library. A percentage of the proceeds from every book purchase goes directly to the library. We use this money to purchase more new books for our library.
Many people think that the school district gives the library a book budget, but unfortunately, that is not true. The school district does not contribute any money for library book purchases. We get a small amount from our building budget. However, the majority of our books are purchased after earning money from fundraisers such as the Scholastic Bookfair. Every penny helps buy us new books!
There are lots of fun books at the fair! Looking for pre-school books for the younger children? We have them! Have teens who need a book! We have great selection for them too! Plus, after six long years, Captain Underpants is back!
These action-packed, zany and crazy books have been a hit with readers since 1997 when Dav Pilkey introduced the series. What I like about Dav Pilkey is that he is funny and relates to his readers. As he writes on his website, he wasn’t the best student in school but he was creative.
Paying is easy at the bookfair. Cash, checks, debit and major credit cards are accepted! Scholastic provides us with a professional cash machine and debit/credit card machine so we make shopping easy and pain free!
Again this year is the addition of the ONLINE BOOKFAIR!
Families who can’t attend the bookfair or have extended family members who might live out of town can also support our fair. Simply visit the Scholastic Online Bookfair link, create an account and find those books! The website includes an expanded booklist from preschool through adult.
Books purchased online will be sent to school, free of charge and given to your child personally by Mrs. Hembree.
I hope you will plan to attend this year’s Bookfair this week, where Every Reader is a Star!
Mrs. Hembree, Librarian
Everyone’s A Winner!
Sep 13th
Reading in a cave!
Reading while horseback riding!
Reading with a dog!
Reading in a dentist chair!
These are just some of the inventive ways our students chose to read for our 2nd annual summer reading contest!
Ellie with Mt. Rainier in the background
Every contest needs a winner and judges! Our Australian blogging buddies AA, BB and BB’s cousin Kayla were our judges again this year! Woo-hoo! A big round of claps to these three people who spent a lot of time helping me decide categories and winners.
AA and BB in Australia. Not pictured, BB’s cousin.
They also said it’s hard to pick just one winner.
So….I decided everyone who participated won in a specific category. When you read, you are a winner for life!
Here is a movie with all our winners!
List of winners by category
Blogging Buddies
BB in Australia
Miriam with her Mom (Mrs. Yollis’ former student)
Miriam with friends (Mrs. Yollis’ former student)
Mrs. Krebs in Iowa
Dangerous Reading
Eleni
Emily
Jaryn
Towa
Famous Landmarks
Ellie
Grace
Henry
Jake
Josa
Quincy, Ramsey & Peyton
Mackenzie
Nicholas
Parker
Just Chillin’
Audrielle
Eric
Gabe
Irislyn
Ramsey
Thank you everyone who sent in photos or made a comment during the summer!
I hope you had fun reading!
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Have you ever been to any of the places featured in our movie?
What’s the craziest place you have read?
What is your reading goal for this year?
Leave us a comment and let us know!
Choose 2 Matter Theme
Sep 8th
Welcome to the 2012-2013 school year!
I am so excited to begin our new year of reading and learning!
The theme for our year in the library is
You all matter in our world.
How will you choose to matter this year?
What awesome choices will you make?
Will you try to reach a reading goal?
Will you do your best to learn?
Will you collaborate with students in your class?
Will you solve an important problem?
Will you create something you care about?
Will you believe you are creative?
Will you imagine how you can make the world a better place?
Will you share your ideas with others?
I hope you will see this school year as a year that you can make your mark on the world. We will research thoughtfully, read awesome books, create more video projects and collaborate with our blogging buddies.
We will also participate in International Dot Day!
It’s going to be a fantastic year!
The idea for our Choose 2 Matter theme comes from Angela Maiers- http://www.angelamaiers.com/
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What activities could we do in the library to make a difference in the world?
How can we help others?
Can you think of great books that have this theme?
First Day of School
Sep 5th
Welcome back to school!
I hope you had a wonderful summer of fun and
READING!
Here are the latest summer reading contest photos. Also, Friday, September 7th is the last day to submit your photos.
Starting this weekend, I will be working with our judges AA and BB in Australia to determine our winners. There will be 4-5 prizes for the most unusual photographs. The announcement will come out next week, so check back often on our blog!
Ending Summer with Books!
Sep 3rd
Mourning Ivan the Gorilla
Aug 21st
Photo courtesy of Zoo Atlanta
Ivan, the 50 year old Western Lowland Gorilla died today at Zoo Atlanta. And so, today, I am sad. His story touched me deeply.
If you have not read Katherine Applegate’s novel The One and Only Ivan inspired by the real Ivan, I urge you to borrow a copy at your library or buy one at your local bookstore and read it. His story will make you laugh and make you cry. Mostly it will make you feel. This link will take you to the official book trailer.
I would like to thank Katherine Applegate for telling Ivan’s story. I would also like to thank Mr. John Schu and Ms. Kouri for sharing their photos this summer of their visit with the real Ivan at Zoo Atlanta. Their photos will now be the closest way I can fullfill my dream of meeting Ivan. You can view Mr. Schu’s photostream here.
Kid Lit Movie Project Wins!
Aug 2nd
Hey upcoming 5th graders! Your book trailer project won second place!
I hope you know how proud I am of all your hard work!
Since Monday evening, I have been at the Partners in Learning US Forum with 100 other educators from around the country. We have been showcasing the projects our students have done using technology. Mrs. Lustgarden and I talked a lot about what the poster should look like and then she put it together.
Everyone had a display booth to set up. Then on Tuesday we had three separate judging sessions. I had three judges come to ask me more in depth questions about our project. It was a lot like taking a test and believe me, I was pretty nervous!
On Wednesday, we learned about Windows 8, and took some classes to learn about some different tools we can use in our classrooms.
In the evening, we went to the Bell Harbor in Seattle for a reception and awards dinner. The weather was perfect and it was fun seeing all the teachers dressed up really fancy!
Before I knew it dinner was over and it was time for the anouncement of the awards. We had found out earlier in the day that the teachers who won would be traveling to Prague in the Czech Republic in late November to compete against teachers from around the world.
The first name that was announced was mine! I was so surprised and excited that I couldn’t even find the steps up to the podium. Our project won second place in Collaboration! I had my picture taken and sat back down at my table.
Eric Willams, a school superintendent in Virginia was one of my judges. Photo courtesy of Vicki A. Davis.
What I didn’t realize until I sat down was that I would be going to Prague! My friend leaned over and said, “You’re going to Prague!” I told her, “No I’m not, we got second place!” At that point she explained that the first and second place winners both go to the Global Forum. And then….I started crying! I couldn’t believe it and really, still can’t.
I can’t wait to see everyone when school starts so we can celebrate together! Let’s get really crazy and break the no popcorn in the library rule. Maybe we will have cake, I don’t know! We will figure out something fun to do!
In the meantime, enjoy your summer and Keep Reading! Jake and Makenzie sent in this photo of them reading at Independence Hall when they were on vacation.
What are you going to send me? We still have some great August weeks to read!
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What is your favorite technology tool?
Have you ever been on a trip far from home?
Tell me about it! What do I need to bring?
Summer Reading Contest
Jun 22nd
It’s time for our 2nd annual summer reading contest!
Summer is a time for fun, but it’s also a time to keep reading! Summer is when you get to read all the books you wanted to read during the year, but didn’t have time! The KCLS library system has their Dream Big Read free reading contest and we have our silly reading contest.
So email those super Summer Reading photos to me this summer at jhembree@lwsd.org and we will see some fun reading on the blog!
I will be posting photos too! I’m traveling with Chicken Butt and Pete the Cat! Wait till you see where we go! We like to have fun reading too! Enjoy your summer! Keep Reading! Mrs. Hembree
A Time to Celebrate
Jun 3rd
This is a blog post about celebrations!
Celebration #1! We are completing our 2nd year of the Bulldog Readers Blog. We have had over 30,000 visitors in the past two years. It’s been a wonderful experience meeting and conversing with people all over the world. These conversations and the things I have learned from my blogging friends have led me down paths I never thought possible. This has led to celebration number 2!
Last Friday I received the notification from Microsoft that my Partners in Learning US Forum application was accepted! I will be attending the US Forum at the end of July to showcase our 4th grade book trailer project. You can read about our project in our Taste of Hollywood post. I first learned about making movies from our blogging friend, Mr. Avery. He is a master at movie making and urged me to give it a try! After making a few book trailer movies, I knew that our students could do this too! At the forum I will have a chance to meet other educators and learn about their projects while also showcasing ours. More professional development is included in the three days so I can start next year with a new set of ideas! This leads to celebration #3!
People often ask me where I get my ideas, and more often than not, I tell them from people I meet on Twitter! Last spring I ventured into the Twitter world because I was curious. I had heard that you can get lots of information and ideas from fellow educators. I wanted to see for myself. Sure enough, they were correct. After watching a webinar from ISTE11 (International Society of Technology Educators) last June, I decided I didn’t want to watch from home anymore, I wanted to go and experience everything this gigantic convention has to offer first hand. So, on the last two days of school, I will be in San Diego absorbing everything I can. I also will have the chance to meet some amazing people who have helped me like Mrs. Yollis in California and Mrs. Morris from Australia!
I will also meet a fellow librarian Miss Tiffany Whitehead, also known as The Mighty Little Librarian in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Her idea of making a year in review for her blog has led me to celebration #4! After reading her Year in Review, I decided that would be a fun project to share with our readers. Many hours later, here it is! I hope you enjoy our celebrations and have many to celebrate yourselves!
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What has been the best part of your year?
What are you celebrating?
What do you hope to learn this summer or winter?
Kid Lit Movies
May 18th
Have you ever been to the movies and watched the previews for upcoming attractions? If you are like me, you have seen lots and lots of them!
Those previews for movies got me thinking. What if we took that same idea and applied it to books? We could have previews for awesome books in the library! And…..what if instead of me making them like the one I made for The One and Only Ivan, the STUDENTS made them? How awesome would that be? That’s how our book trailer project got started!
After watching the ‘Ivan” trailer, some 4th grade students asked if they could make one too. A new technology and literacy project was born!
To start, we watched some other book trailers in our 4th grade library classes to get ideas from the website Booktrailersforall.com Then we watched some book trailers that I made. The One and Only Ivan trailer is the one that Katherine Applegate saw and asked to come to our school and meet us! You can see them here on my book trailer page on our blog.
Then next step was to form cooperative groups. Each group could choose it’s own members and then they had to pick a book for their project.
Once a book was selected, it was time for the storyboard plan. Here students were required to figure out what parts of the plot was important to include, how that could be transformed into a visual, and what text needed to be included to get previewers interested in the book.
The purpose of a book trailer is very different than the purpose of a book report. In the typical book report, you write about what happened in the book. In a book trailer, you are selling the book, to make other people want to check it out and read it! The tricky part is to share some goodies, without giving away too much of the book!
Once the storyboards were complete, groups moved to the computer were they used MS One Note to record their storyboard notes and begin importing creative commons photos for their trailers.
One huge advantage of using OneNote its the linked note component, that allows you to import photos and keep the link to the original source. This is especially helpful when it’s time to write the credits slide. Flickr also allows you to save photos with the original link in galleries, but Flickr is not available for student use at our school.
Photo by Steren Giannini Used w/CC permission
Finding Creative Commons photos was hard work! You have to think of the words to search for, and if those words don’t bring up the images you are looking for, you have to try again with other term or synonym. The students discovered that a lot of Creative Commons images are available via Community Clips on the Microsoft online site. That made it a lot easier for some groups. Once all the photos were found, it was time to load them into MS Live MovieMaker!
After a 10 minute “how-to” demo, students were on their own as they imported photos, added words, transitions and animations to create visual interest in their books.
The next to last step was finding the perfect music for the trailer. Some students experimented with creating music using Songsmith. Ultimately all teams decided to use royalty free music. I had already created a Digital Kit of royalty free music from Kevin MacLeod at Incompetech.com He shares his music for free for others to use as long as you give him credit. The resource is AMAZING! The students had fun listening to different songs and figuring out which music would give the correct mood to the trailer.
Once the Credits slide was completed, the book trailers were complete and ready to be rendered into a movie! Each was uploaded to our SchoolTube account and our blog where others can view them. I also created QR codes linking the book trailer to the book and placed them on the covers of our library books and on a special bulletin board! Each student received their own QR code on an index card to take home and share or hang on their refrigerator doors for everyone to see!
The biggest question is, “Do book trailers work as good advertisements?” The answer is “YES!” Our books are being checked out and read at home! I couldn’t ask for anything better! Try it sometime! Book trailers are a lot of fun to create! Who knows…maybe someday one of our students will be the next Hollywood movie director!
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Have you ever made a book trailer?
What book would you choose?
