Grade 6 highlights from their summer readings

In their MYP Language and literature class the 6th grades shared the highlights from summer readings through the attached banner book recommendations. The class, their teacher Ms. Kuhn and I agreed to display these in the library during the MYP Open house and keep these up for their peers to read and get inspired. Some of the titles are also available in the library and a few will arrive in the library order very, very soon. Well done grade 6! Thank you for sharing your ideas on book!

Come and take a look!

Start of the school year read aloud

First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg, illustrated by Judy Love is one of my all time school year starters for read aloud in the library. 
Haven't we all experienced the below as kids, parents and teachers especially in international schools settings? 
"I don't want to start over. I hate my new school..."
"... just think of all the new friends you will meet."
"I don't know anybody, and it will be hard..."
"Don't worry. Everyone is nervous the first day..."

Although I know the surprise ending observing the reactions of new listeners is always exciting and allows for meaningful conversations on starting school anxieties, making friends, feelings, welcoming new students etc.

Ths book of course is available at ISE library:)

What is your favourite start of a school year book to share with your students?

Books as concept manipulatives

I came across an intriguing idea reading "The Library Element" blog by Philip Williams. I think it is worth sharing and exploring further. Have you ever thought of using books and library for math instruction? Organizing, sorting, counting, size and other math topics could easily be explored in the library. Great, or what?

"Books, as physical objects, can similarly be considered as  “concept manipulatives“. Apart from the rich stories, informational texts & all that books represent, the physical artefact that is a book gives students the opportunity to hold ideas in their hands. This is not a print versus digital argument either. It is simply an appreciation for the physical act of grasping a book or a pile of books on a subject & organising them, categorising them, classifying them, sorting them and all the while discussing & engaging with various concepts that may relate to that subject area. Even the act of searching the library shelves for a book engages the whole body in the process of research." Read more

Exploring books in the library.

Manipulatives in the library.

It all comes together in the library.

Caldecott Award 2012

 Caldecott Medal winner 2012 "A Ball for Daisy" by Chris Raschka is available at our library.

The Caldecott Medal was named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children.

The 2012 Caldecott Medal winner is A Ball for Daisy, written and illustrated by Chris Raschka, published by Schwartz & Wade Books, an imprint of Random House Children's Books, a division of Random House, Inc.
In a wordless book with huge children’s appeal, Chris Raschka gives us the story of an irrepressible little dog whose most prized possession is accidently destroyed.  With brilliant economy of line and color, Raschka captures Daisy’s total (yet temporary) devastation. A buoyant tale of loss, recovery and friendship.
“Chris Raschka’s deceptively simple paintings of watercolor, gouache and ink explore universal themes of love and loss that permit thousands of possible variants,” said Caldecott Medal Committee Chair Steven L. Herb. ‘A Ball for Daisy’ holds as many unique stories as there will be young readers and re-readers.

Caldecott Honor book  Grandpa Green, written and illustrated by Lane Smith, published by Roaring Brook Press, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishing Holdings Limited Partnership is also available at our library.

Elaborate topiary sculptures give visual form to memories in a wildly fanciful garden tended by a child and his beloved great-grandfather. Using an inspired palate, Lane Smith invites readers to tour a green lifetime of meaningful moments.
http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/caldecottmedal/caldecottmedal

New book! Wonderstruck by Brian Selznik

From Brian Selznick, the creator of the Caldecott Medal winner THE INVENTION OF HUGO CABRET, comes another breathtaking tour de force.

Playing with the form he created in his trailblazing debut novel, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Brian Selznick once again sails into uncharted territory and takes readers on an awe-inspiring journey.

Ben and Rose secretly wish their lives were different. Ben longs for the father he has never known. Rose dreams of a mysterious actress whose life she chronicles in a scrapbook. When Ben discovers a puzzling clue in his mother's room and Rose reads an enticing headline in the newspaper, both children set out alone on desperate quests to find what they are missing.

Set fifty years apart, these two independent stories--Ben's told in words, Rose's in pictures--weave back and forth with mesmerizing symmetry. How they unfold and ultimately intertwine will surprise you, challenge you, and leave you breathless with wonder. Rich, complex, affecting, and beautiful--with over 460 pages of original artwork--Wonderstruck is a stunning achievement from a uniquely gifted artist and visionary.
Age level 9 and up
Grade level 4 and up
Scholastic Press

Happy New, 2012 -2013, School Year!

I' d like to say a warm welcome to all our students and their families, old and new. I hope you had a relaxing yet exiting summer holiday, and managed to find a moment, even a brief one, to read a book.

This summer I personally explored e-books and magazines. I find it fascinating to be able to carry a small library (in one's mobile reading device) in a bag and for instance take it on a plane. However, enjoying a leisure book on the beach or cuddling up in an armchair with a suspense novel, my preference remains with the old-fashioned printed volume. 

At ISE we are looking into ways to introduce e-books into our library collection for studying and leisure reading purposes.

I am looking forward to see all the students in the library during their designated class time as well as at other times. 

With PYP students, even the youngest ones, we will  share stories and explore the library, learning where to find answers to our questions.

For the very first time we are glad to offer Information studies class in middle school. This is a weekly class to improve students' information literacy skills, understanding research cycle, and allowing time for in-depth research.

Please find below some reading suggestion for the beginning of school:

Billy and the Big New School by Laurence Anholt, Bad Boris Goes to School by Susie Jenkins-Pearce, The Brand New Kid by Katie Courice for elementary students.

Funny books like Pippi Goes to School by Astrid Lindgren, Junie B. Jones, Ramona, Marvin Redpost and Wayside School stories will be a big hit among upper elementary students.

Popular books from Diary of the Wimpy Kid and Harry Potter series will amuse older students.

Book recommendations by Grade 34

We have been learning about various ways to recommend books, and the reasons for recommending books. We learned that book reports are informative reports that discuss and describe a book in general. Book reports describe what happens in a work; talking about the major plot, characters, and/or main idea of the work. Book reviews are more challenging writings, they are often found in magazines and newspapers. Book reviews focus more on the evaluation of a book. Book talks are discussions held about books. Book talks make listeners care enough about the content of the book to want to read it. We also looked at some book trailers, the newest way to promote books with video. They are similar to a movie trailer, designed to build interest in a book and to encourage people to read, check out or buy the book that they are based on.

Please read Grade 34 book recommendations below and enjoy their PYP Attitude awards given to the book characters.

Viola’s Book recommendation

“Something about Hensley’s” by Patricia Polacco c2006

The book is about a man called John and he owns a shop, Hensley, where everything anyone could wish is on sale. Once two girls, Kate and Molly, who have just moved to the town come to Hensley. The smaller girl, Kate, had wished for a kitten for a long time. One day Molly could not breathe but Old John knew the best doctor in town. Everything turns good again when Molly gets well and Kate gets a kitten.

Henry’s Book recommendation

“Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever” by Jeff Kinney c2010

This book is about Greg Heffley. He is writing a diary. His older brother Rodrick bullies and pushes him around. In this book Greg gets in new problems. I think this book is better and has more interesting events than others. It has different writing (Greg’s handwriting).This book is excellent. It is funny and it is calling you reading!

Klara’s Book recommendation

“My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother” by Patricia Polacco c1994

This book is about a girl, Patricia Polacco. She has this annoying big brother. Her babushka (grandma) looks the other way when the older brother does something mean to Patricia. I enjoyed this book because my older brother is just like hers.

Ugne’s Book recommendation

“Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” by J.K. Rowling c1997

Character: Hermione Granger

This book is exciting and excellent. Hermione can do anything to anybody with her magic wand. She is so cool! I wish I had a magic wand like her, and could do the things she does in the book.

Happy holidays!

Holidays are here soon.
I would like to share "The Polar Express" by Chris van Allsburg a classical Christmas Story, available at the library, with you all.
Happy Holidays!

Read aloud version available here

Polar Express Games and activities

Review from School Library Journal

Given a talented and aggressive imagination, even the challenge of as cliche-worn a subject as Santa Claus can be met effectively. Van Allsburg's Polar Express is an old-fashioned steam train that takes children to the North Pole on Christmas Eve to meet the red-suited gentleman and to see him off on his annual sleigh ride. This is a personal retelling of the adult storyteller's adventures as a youngster on that train. The telling is straight, thoughtfully clean-cut and all the more mysterious for its naive directness; the message is only a bit less direct: belief keeps us young at heart. The full-page images are theatrically lit. Colors are muted, edges of forms are fuzzy, scenes are set sparsely, leaving the details to the imagination. The light comes only from windows of buildings and the train or from a moon that's never depicted. Shadows create darkling spaces and model the naturalistic figures of children, wolves, trees, old-fashioned furniture and buildings. Santa Claus and his reindeer seem like so many of the icons bought by parents to decorate yards and rooftops: static, posed with stereotypic gestures. These are scenes from a memory of long ago, a dreamy reconstruction of a symbolic experience, a pleasant remembrance rebuilt to fufill a current wish: if only you believe, you too will hear the ringing of the silver bell that Santa gave him and taste rich hot chocolate in your ride through the wolf-infested forests of reality. Van Allsburg's express train is one in which many of us wish to believe. Kenneth Marantz, Art Education Department, Ohio State University, Columbus
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

"For those who truly believe."

Welcome back! Check it out!

I hope everyone had a great holiday, read at least one book, and are ready for the 2011 - 2012 school year.
I recommend the following book (available at ISE library) for the start of a new school year to get ready for our little darlings, I mean students, and to remind the little darling how to make a school day memorable for all of us. Enjoy!

Booklist review:
We know this kid by now. It wasn't just because of the award-winning No, David! (1998). We know this kid because he is our brother or our cousin or our best friend, or us. Now he has to fit his irrepressible exuberance--and his boyishly disgusting habits--into the classroom, with predictable results. Teacher's brief admonitions appear in careful printing on lined scraps from a school notebook; David is the snaggle-toothed, roundheaded kid. And he can't sit down, or come in from recess on time, or remember to raise his hand. When he chews gum, it's the biggest wad you've ever seen; when he isn't paying attention, it's because the clouds outside the classroom window are resolving themselves into dinosaurs and such. Shannon's picture-book-a-clef, with its acid colors and bold, flat planes, can be laugh-out-loud funny or catch-in-your-throat memorable. The spread in which a distressed David, knees locked together, raises his hand (the teacher's line: "Again?!"), or the penultimate image, where David gets a gold star for cleaning all the desks after school, are as emotionally resonant as can be. And we know David turned out all right, because he's making these books now. GraceAnne A. DeCandido

Periodicals

I am glad to let you know that the following additions to our periodicals collection are available at the library:

CLICK Magazine for Kids ages 3-6
CLICK children’s magazine presents science & nature for kids with fun characters, articles, & science activities.


Special Added Bonus:
Free with each paid subscription to CLICK magazine for kids comes access to bonus content on the CLICK magazine companion Web site. Play interactive games, read extra features, submit your own book reviews, comments, and more!
http://www.clickmagkids.com/

ASK Magazine for Kids ages 6-9
ASK children’s magazine explores arts & science for kids with fun, unique articles and activities.

Special Bonus Content:
Free with each paid subscription to ASK comes access to bonus content on the ASK magazine companion Web site containing contests and book recommendations that expand on each issue's theme, while Marvin and all his friends offer fun polls, games, and projects to keep children engaged and learning about their world.
http://www.askmagkids.com/


MUSE Magazine for Kids ages 9-14
MUSE children’s magazine is the kids magazine about everything-past & present; history, science & the arts.

Special Added Bonus:
Free with each paid subscription to MUSE magazine for kids comes access to bonus content on the MUSE magazine companion Web site. Play interactive games, read extra features, submit your own book reviews, comments, and more!
http://www.musemagkids.com/

FACES Magazine for Kids ages 9-14
FACES children’s magazine shows readers how kids around the world live, study, work, eat, and play. FACES magazine takes kids on a journey across the continents as it brings articles about the cultures of the world to their mailboxes. Each issue focuses on a different culture including stories about daily life, folk tales, and engaging articles about the history and traditions of the people and places. The stories and articles are accompanied by fabulous photography and illustrations, as well as fun activities, maps, folk tales, and biographies that are unique to the featured culture. Be it games from Samoa, maps of the Kalahari, or Palestinian folk tales, FACES has it!

FACES readers learn how other kids live around the world and about the important inventions and ideas that a particular culture has given to the world. Recipes, hands-on projects, and book and video recommendations help kids further explore each issue's topic.

I recommend you to check out these periodicals and their online companions to expand your teaching resources. Add back issues to your reading nests and book shelve. Encourage your students to check these out for free reading activities.

Also available:
Time
Newsweek
Macworld
National Geographic
National Geographic Kids
Seventeen
Twist
Phosphore
Täheke
Hea Laps

and more...

Letting the holiday spirit in the library

This is the view out from my library window and here is a reading recommendation for a snowy day:

"Snow is My Favourite and My Best" by Lauren Child

The weatherman has predicted snow, and Lola absolutely cannot wait. She just loves snow. "Why can’t it be winter ALL the time?" she asks her brother. But on an adventure to the Arctic, Charlie shows Lola why never-ending snow might not be so perfect for kids. How could Lola go swimming or wear her favorite stripe-y party dress if it were always cold?

In this book, Lauren Child brilliantly and hilariously captures every-kid feelings and emotions—this time about the magical first snowfall of the year.

Product Description, amazon.com

Check it out from the library!

In case you love Charlie and Lola see the video Snow is My Favourite and My Best.

Aren't you just as excited about the snow as Lola?

Check it out!

Come to the library to find and check out the new additions to our collection.
Below are some of the brand new titles added this school year. Many have received starred reviews and several awards, and are part of ALA Notable/Best Books lists.

The lion & the mouse /Pinkney, Jerry. Caldecott Medal 2010

Horn Book starred (March, 2010) By retelling Aesop's fable entirely in his signature pencil and watercolor art, Pinkney encourages closer exploration of the pleasing detail with which he amplifies it. On every page, this beautiful book suggests even more than it tells about its real setting, and about that fabulous world where rescues may happen between lion and mouse. An artist's note is appended.

When you reach me /Stead, Rebecca. Newbery Medal 2010

Horn Book starred (March, 2010) Sixth grader Miranda's life is an ordinary round of family and school. But when she starts receiving anonymous notes that seem to foretell the future, it's clear that all is not as it seems. The story's revelations are startling and satisfying but quietly made. Their reverberations give plenty of impetus for readers to go back and catch what was missed.

PRESCHOOL

Chicken Little /Emberley, Rebecca.

How to clean your room /Spinelli, Eileen.

Let's do nothing! /Fucile, Tony.

Little Oink /Rosenthal, Amy Krouse

Otis /Long, Loren.

Read it, don't eat it! /Schoenherr, Ian.

Spoon /Rosenthal, Amy Krouse.

The clever stick /Lechner, John,

The curious garden /Brown, Peter,

The lion & the mouse /Pinkney, Jerry.

The OK book /Rosenthal, Amy Krouse.

What's wrong with my hair? /Kitamura, Satoshi

MIDDLE SCHOOL

Al Capone shines my shoes /Choldenko, Gennifer,

Cirque du Freak /Shan, Darren.

Coraline /Gaiman, Neil

Ghostgirl /Hurley, Tonya.

Heck: where the bad kids go /Basye, Dale E.

Moribito /Uehashi, Nahoko.

The chronicles of Vladimir Tod /Brewer, Heather.

UPPER SCHOOL

Beautiful creatures /Garcia, Kami.

Hate list /Brown, Jennifer,

Liar /Larbalestier, Justine.

The girl who played with fire /Larsson, Stieg,

The girl with a dragon tattoo /Larsson, Stieg,

The last song /Sparks, Nicholas.

Wintergirls /Anderson, Laurie Halse.

Read this book!

At the end of last school year PYP students wrote book recommendations for their fellow readers. Come to the library to see what are some of the books they have read and enjoyed.

"Midnight for Charlie Bone" by Jenny Nimmo
I recommend this book for fantasy and action lovers because it is full of magic and adventures. Isabelle Geers

"Tales of Fourth Grade Nothing" by Judy Blume
I really recommend this book because it was interesting and humorous. Nils Ygeby

"The Big Book of Trains"
I recommend this book for 2nd and 3rd graders but even for my dad because he likes steam locomotives. Zack Archer

"Matilde" by Roald Dahl
I like the book because it was exciting, funny and creative. Sophie Geers

Step in the library to learn more about student recommendations or discover your own favourites.

See you in the library.

Welcome back! Check it out!

I hope everyone had a great holidays and are ready for the first day of 2010 - 2011 school year.
I recommend the following book (available at ISE library) for the start of a new school year to remind everyone that we are all human, even teachers... right?

First Day Jitters by Danneberg, Julie

School Library Journal (May 2000)

K-Gr 3-Sarah is hiding under her covers as Mr. Hartwell asks, "You don't want to miss the first day at your new school do you?" From under the blanket she replies, "I'm not going." When he reminds her how much she liked her other school and asks her to think of all the new friends she'll meet, she imagines a classroom where a paper airplane is flying, a boy is pulling his neighbor's pigtail, and another is blowing a gigantic bubble. Mr. Hartwell finally gets Sarah to stumble out of bed, eat a bit of toast, and get into the car where she slumps down into her seat. At school, the principal cheerfully welcomes her and takes her to the classroom where she is introduced as "Mrs. Sarah Jane Hartwell," the new teacher.
A little subplot in the illustrations shows the family cat and dog having their own contest of wills while their owner is trying to get his wife up and out. The joke provides a good laugh and children may find it reassuring that they are not alone in their anxieties about new situations.-Adele Greenlee, Bethel College, St. Paul, MN

Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.