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!

Week of August 28th

Here is what we learned in the library this week!

Grades 4 & 5
We watched book trailers for some of the 2018 Bluestem Award books.  The Bluestem Award is the children's choice award for students in Illinois in grades 3-5.  While watching the trailers, we discussed elements of book trailers that make them effective.  Eventually, our students in fifth grade will be creating their own book trailers in the library.  Students discovered many new books that they are interested in reading after watching the book trailers!  We will watch the rest next week.  Here is the link to the presentation with all of the 2018 Bluestem Award book trailers:

Bluestem Book Trailers 

Grade 3

In third grade, we read School's 1st Day of School.  This is a book written from the school's perspective about a brand new school that is worried to start a new year. We learned that just like the school, people have different feelings at the beginning of the school year as well. After reading the book, we discussed different objects that we could write stories about from their point of view.

Grades 1 & 2

Students in first and second grade heard the story Interrupting Chicken.  In this funny story, little chicken keeps interrupting her father while he reads her favorite bedtime stories because she wants to change the endings.  Students had fun predicting what was going to happen next! We also practiced using the shelf markers again so that our books stay in their "homes".

Kindergarten & PK

In kindergarten and preK, we read Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes and Curious George Visits the Library.  Afterwards, we talked about how important it is to take good care of our library books so that others can enjoy them.

Battle of the Books won't officially begin until December but our book lists are set!

3rd Grade	4th & 5th Grade	6th, 7th & 8th Grade
Andy Shane and the Barn Sale by Jacobson, J	Among the Hidden by Haddix, M	Don’t Turn Around by Gagnon, M
Clementine by Pennypacker, S	Charlie Joe Jackson’s Guide to not Reading by Greenwald, T	Drowned City by Brown, D
Hilo Book 1 by Winick, J	Crenshaw by Applegate, K	False Prince by Nielsen, J
Houdini Box by Selznick, B	Escape: Story of Houdini by Fleischman, S	Final Four by Volponi, P
How to Steal a Dog by O’Connor, B	Oggie Cooder by Weeks, S	Guitar Notes by Amato, M
Lemonade War by Davies, J	Roller Girl by Jamieson, V	House Arrest by Holt, K
Little Wolf’s Book of Badness by Whybrow, I	Secret Science Alliance by Davis, E	Insignia by Kincaid, S
Misadventures of the Family Fletcher by Levy, D	Swindle by Korman, G	I Will Always Write Back by Alifirenka, C
One and Only Ivan by Applegate, K	The Terrible Two by Barnett, M	Night Divided by Nielsen, J
Stick Dog by Watson, T	The Thing About Georgie by Graff, L	Raft by Bodeen, S

Our book fair begins next week!  Enjoy the long weekend and happy reading!

Wonderful Week 1!

We have just wrapped up our first week of school and we are getting back into the swing of things in the library!  Students are already checking out books, learning library routines and expectations, and reading.  Here are some highlights from our first week:

Grades 4 & 5
Students in fourth and fifth grade participated in a library orientation BreakoutEDU!  What is a BreakoutEDU??

This activity is similar to the popular "escape rooms" except instead of breaking out of a room, students have to solve clues to open locks and break into a box.  Students work in groups and they use important skills such as critical thinking, communication, and collaboration.  This activity was a great way for students to be actively involved in learning about how to find library books, how to check out library books, how to take care of library books, and about our new makerspace.  Most of all, it was fun!

Primary Grades:

In the primary grades, we read the book How to Read a Story and talked about our favorite books and our favorite places to read. 

 Afterwards, students practiced using the shelf markers to check out books.

Students love to read in our new comfy reading area!

Happy Reading!

New Library Books!

Harrison students will be starting the school year with so many new library books!  

We now have all of the Rebecca Caudill Award, Bluestem Award, and Monarch Award books as well as so many other new books.

I can't wait for our students to visit the library and begin checking the new books out!

Excited to be back!

I am so excited to be back at Harrison School!  Get ready for some reading fun, Harrison Hurricanes!