Back-to-School Displays

There are several new displays in our libraries to welcome students back to our spaces. At Dallas Center, new books are spotted! :)

And new displays aren't just on the walls. Using new baskets, series books, graphic novels, and popular character books are on display on bookshelves and counters for easy access. 

Some of our book character friends are joining them on the shelves!

Symbaloo Featuring PBS's Math Games

Symbaloo is a web tool that allows the creator to group websites for easy access and use. One Symbaloo features PBS math games, and students can click on any of the squares to play.

Want to try it out? CLICK HERE to access PBS Math Games and play! You can also find the link on the K-2 Online Learning Fun and Gr. 3-5 Online Learning Fun tabs at the of the home page.

August: A Great Time to Prepare Our Library Centers

We have been talking a lot about what new centers we'd like to try in our elementary libraries this year, which ones we'd like to keep, and which ones we'd like to toss. We've been working on a master list and a rotation chart, both of which will be available soon! One center that was successful last year was the ICCA and Goldfinch Award Popsicle Stick Puzzles--you can read about it here.

Puzzles organized!

Goldfinch Award Puzzles

I work in a 3rd - 4th grade building for part of my day. For those kids, I took all 20-something ICCA covers, mod podged them onto Popsicle sticks, and put all of them in ONE large gallon Ziploc bag. I have the book covers displayed in my library if the kids need a visual while they are working.

For my younger K-2 kids, I separated the puzzles into smaller bags. This year, I decided to be a little more organized.

I put 4 Goldfinch puzzles in each Ziploc bag, along with small pictures of the book covers. Not only that, but I put the bag number on the popsicle stick--why didn't I do this last year?! Hopefully, this will save time AND let the kids help keep the center organized, too!

Centers planning at Dallas Center Elementary is underway as well. The centers poster was trimmed and laminated--the first quarter rotations are already in place! Once students have checked out their books, they will participate in a center based on their table numbers.

Two new centers are in the rotation this fall: the Dinosaur Puppet Center and What Happens Next? Center.

The center includes several dinosaur books from our collection, as well as a finger puppet to cut out and color should the student choose. With their puppets, students are encouraged to make up a story to share at their tables. The finger puppet is available from esterstorytimes; CLICK HERE to access it.

The What Happens Next? Center uses the book The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg as a starting point. Students will look at the book, and after choosing one of the pictures, they will tell what they think is the next part of the story. You can access the pdf from http://librarycentersblogspot.com when you CLICK HERE.

The Final (New!) Harry Potter Cover

So, if you've been keeping track, the Harry Potter books are being re-released to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the publication of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. You can read about the new covers on this blog by CLICKING HERE. If you just want to see the covers, here you go! :)

Well, it's now time to reveal the final cover for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows:

You might recognize Kazu Kibuishi's art style; he's the illustrator for the popular Amulet series. One thing that Kibuishi did when working on all 7 covers was think of how he could create another artwork piece. His idea? Create a picture when all books are side-by-side! Below is what you'll see when you line up the spines of all of the new paperbacks:

And if that wasn't cool already, he also added artwork to the boxed set--check it out!

Still haven't had enough of Harry Potter? Scholastic recently released a video trailer:

If you'd like to read more about the new covers and Scholastic's intent to release the images from the back covers from the books, you can read all of the details on Scholastic's official blog, On Our Minds. 

It's National Hot Dog Day--and July is National Hot Dog Month!

How can we possibly celebrate National Hot Dog day on July 23--and recognize National Hot Dog month in all of July--without The Pigeon?!

At the Children's Book-A-Day Almanac, blogger Anita Silvey writes about The Pigeon and his hot dog story, The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog by Mo Willems. 

Here is Silvey's summary of the book: "A pigeon and a duckling spy a hot dog, but Pigeon picks it up first, ready to chomp into his discovery. 'Is that a hot dog?' whispers the duckling. And so the two battle each other for the treat--'Each morsel is a joy! A celebration in a bun!' shouts Pigeon. As Pigeon struggles with his conscience, he gets louder and louder, but the duck remains softly persistent. In the end, they both discover the joy of sharing."

Check out this page from the book:

Want to know more about the story of Mo Willems and the book? You can CLICK HERE to visit Silvey's website. 

Mo Willems has a great website himself! You can find him--and all of his popular characters like the Pigeon, Knuffle Bunny & Trixie, and Elephant & Piggie--at mowillems.com.

While you're there, be sure to click on Visit GoMo! to play games and see videos. You can also play games and see videos at Visit Pigeon Presents! Have fun--and don't let the Pigeon use your computer! :)

The Story Behind The Story of Ferdinand

In February for World Read Aloud Day, one of the blog posts was about books we loved as children. Mrs. Ellis's favorite book was The Story of Ferdinand, by Munro Leaf. (You can read about World Read Aloud Day post HERE.)

The Spanish Civil War was the historical backdrop for this story, and after the book was published, people tried to find meaning in the characters and plot as related to that war. In Spain and in Germany, the book was actually banned! It grew in popularity after the banning, and over 80,000 copies were ordered to be published.

Even Pete Wentz from the rock band Fall Out Boys says that Ferdinand is one of his childhood favorites, and he had this to say about the book's message: "The book provides an amazing metaphor for how people can be. There's something really honorable about following your own path and not doing what's expected of you."

Here's a page from the book:

If you want to read the full story behind the book, you can CLICK HERE to learn more. 

Celebrating the Fourth of July with Our Friends!

With the Fourth of July holiday right around the corner, we thought we'd take our friends out to celebrate! You'll probably recognize some of the locations--we played at the park near the Grimes Public Library and cooled off with a frozen treat at Heavenly Delights. 

Everybody had to hold on tight on the merry-go-round. D.W. and Buster were especially nervous!

 It was a test of weights as the friends tried to teeter-totter! Looks like the Curious George/T-Bone combination outweighs Clifford and Skippyjon Jones. Arthur, D.W., and Buster aren't enough to challenge Francine and Bad Kitty, either!

Arthur has them all beat in a race to the top of the jungle gym!

Finally, after a warm day at the park, everyone headed to Heavenly Delights for ice cream. Arthur and friends were especially hungry! Good times today!