Week of September 25th

Maker Week!!

This week ALL of our students in grades 3-5 were introduced to our Makerspace!  What is a Makerspace?  It's a place where students are provided materials and time to make, design, build, explore, learn, discover, tinker, invent, and grow.  Makerspaces support 21st learning skills such as critical thinking, creative thinking, collaboration, and communication.  Why put a Makerspace in the library?  Libraries have always been a place for people to learn, discover, and grow.  We know that learning happens best when it is hands-on.  Libraries are also a place that every student has access to.  For these reasons, and more, many libraries have started Makerspaces. This week, students in our Makerspace created with Legos, Strawbees, the puppet theater, craft materials, puzzles, and comic templates.  We started with low-tech materials but we will be adding high-tech equipment throughout the year.  Here are some pictures from our week of making:

I loved all of the collaboration and creativity!  Students in grades K-2 will be introduced to the Makerspace next month.  

Dot Day

We have received MOST of our Dot Day dot halves from the other schools we connected with.  Here are a few pictures of students connecting their own dot halves with those from a school in New York.  We are still waiting on dots from two schools in Ontario (international mail takes a little longer).  

Happy Reading!

Week of September 18th

Here is what we did in library this week!

Grades PK & K

We read the book Friendshape by Amy Krouse Rosenthal.  



In this book, the shapes share what it means to be friends.  After reading the book, we talked about how we can be good friends to others. Harrison students had some great ideas such as helping others, asking others to play, and taking turns!

Grades 1-3

In these grades, we introduced the 2018 Monarch Award lists and read the first book Red: A Crayon's Story.  



Afterwards, students said that the message is to be yourself, no matter what.  Students then shared what they are good at doing.  Here are some of their thoughts:

Grades 4-5

We learned how to search for books in Destiny Discover, our school's library catalog.  Students also learned how to login to Destiny and check out eBooks to read on their devices.  Here is the link to Harrison's Destiny Discover:

Destiny Discover

Username: first initial, last name, graduation year from Harrison
Password: student ID number

Example:
danderson2018
12345

We have almost 90 eBooks and these are perfect for reading on the Chromebooks or on any device at home.

Then, students practiced locating fiction books in our library.

We're looking forward to putting our dots together next week with the school in New York!

Happy Reading!

Week of September 11th

Dot Day 2017!

This week, all of our PK-4 students celebrated international Dot Day!  What is Dot Day?  Based on the book The Dot by Peter Reynolds, Dot Day celebrates that everyone, no matter how small, can make a difference in the world.  It is also a day for connecting with others.



This week for Dot Day, our students at Harrison were connected with students at schools in Canada (2), New York, and Texas in various ways! After reading the book, students in grades K-4 each decorated a dot.

Then, we cut the dots in half and sent one of the halves off to students in Canada and New York. Next week, we will hopefully receive their dot halves and we will connect their halves to our own halves. Stay tuned for pictures of our combined dots!

Also this week, Ms. Olson's class had a great opportunity to meet students in Texas! Through Skype, we asked each other questions about the book and questions about our location. It was so interesting to see and talk to them!

Our Pre-K students participated by reading different books about dots (circles). We read the books What is a Shape and Put Me in the Zoo. Afterwards, we had fun playing with circles!



We had such a great week talking about how we can make a difference in the world and connecting with others!

Happy Reading!

Week of September 4th

Book Fair Week!

The library was a very busy place this week with the PTO Book Fair in full swing! The book fair brings excitement about reading, inexpensive books for our students, and free books for our library.  Thank you to Mrs. Stinger and the PTO for running this big event!

Here is what we did in the library this week...

Kindergarten and 1st Grade:

We read the fun book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and talked about different parts of a book.  After reading the book, students were given a design challenge using blocks, popsicle sticks, and plastic letters.  Their challenge (thank you to Storytime Steam) was to build a "coconut tree" that could hold as many letters as possible.  Here are some of their creations:

2nd and 3rd Grade:

We read the book What Do You Do With an Idea? and students said that the message is to never give up on your dreams or ideas.  After reading the book, students told some of the BIG ideas that they have about robots, time travel, flying, and shrinking!  Here are a few:

4th and 5th Grade:

We finished watching the Bluestem Award book trailers!


A note went home this week explaining our Harrison Library policies.  If you missed the note, here is the information:

Dear Parents and Guardians,

I am so excited to be your child's library teacher this year! My goal is to promote a love of reading at Harrison as well as teach information literacy skills necessary in today's world. Each week, students will have the opportunity to check out library books. Here are our library policies:

• PK & K: may check out one book per week
• 1st grade: may check out two books per week
• 2nd-8th grade: may check out two books and may keep for two weeks
• Renewals: students can always bring in a book to have it renewed provided there isn't a waiting list for the book
• Overdue books: We do NOT charge fines for overdue books. Overdue notices are sent home to remind students to return their books so others may check them out
• Lost or damaged books: We do charge for a book if it is lost or damaged beyond repair. Please take care of our library books!

I will be using this website to post weekly updates of what we are doing in the library: https://theconnectedlibrary.blogspot.com

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. I'm looking forward to a great year at Harrison!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Denese Anderson

Teacher-Librarian

Danderson@hsd36.org

815-653-2311 x 2150

Happy Reading!