Destiny Practice

I love to watch the second graders working to use the online catalog to find books more independently. This is especially great when they come to the library to read and I'm busy teaching a class. We decided that it would be fun to practice using Destiny this week. A challenge was given to see how many books they could find in the time allowed (about 15 minutes.) Each class was divided into teams of two or three. Team members drew a card that had a picture of the cover of a book with the author's name hidden. They searched Destiny for the book title, wrote down the call number and the author's last name, found the book on the shelf, held its place with a marker, found the title page and illustrator's name, and replaced the book. They had heaps of fun, learned more about the library and catalog, and grew as collaborators and team players. It was definitely an unquiet library. All agree...we will do it again!

Ivy & Bean Day

Ivy and Bean are best friends. The two young characters in the fun series by Annie Barrows didn't plan on being such good friends, but they discovered that their differences didn't get in the way of enjoying each other, having fun, and getting in trouble together. Twenty nine of our second grade readers celebrated Ivy & Bean Day with a book club lunch in the library. We found out that most of these girls think that their personalities are more like Bean's, but unlike Bean, many of these girls like to shop. (See the Wordle of favorite stores.) Gummyworm cupcakes were dessert (a reference to book one where real worms landed on Bean's sister.) Some of the girls have already read all seven of the books and are excited about the eighth, No News is Good News, which is brand new and will be here in the library soon.

Be Creative Every Day!

Being creative is more than just using your imagination and having clever ideas. It requires action...making something. It is the way we learn and the way we maintain excitement about learning. In the library this week, first and second graders reminded each other of all of the different ways that we are creative...art, crafts, music, building construction, sports, science, invention, writing...and more. We enjoyed two new books written by Herve Tullet - PRESS HERE and THE BOOK WITH A HOLE. We also reread a favorite by Natalie Portis, NOT A BOX. The clever Draw a Stickman adventure website was the perfect partner for these inspiring books with its "Be creative every day!" message. We have a place in the library for creators to share their work, and we already have exhibitors! Be sure to check out the creations of our Parish readers. Be creative every day!