Goodbye from Ms. Moore

As you may have heard, there were lots of changes to the district schedule for this year, including redoing all of the itinerant school splits. Unfortunately, the changes mean I will no longer be at Stadium. I went in today to (literally) hand over the keys to your new librarian, Mrs. Basso. You will be in good hands! Best of luck in the future to all of my kids - I love and miss you!

More Summer Reading from Ms. Moore

Running out of time to get that summer reading in ... here are my latest recommendations for Stadium students. All book covers and plot summaries are from Goodreads:

Picture books

Which sea creature is the greatest? Is it the one with the most venom, the greatest diver, the one with blue blood, or the best rotating eyes? Or is it the master of disguise, the one with the best light, the most slime, or the most eggs? Fascinating facts and spectacular illustrations will inspire young readers to choose their own favorite sea creatures!

With a little help from her fairy godrobot, Cinderella is going to the ball--but when the prince's ship has mechanical trouble, someone will have to zoom to the rescue! Readers will thank their lucky stars for this irrepressible fairy tale retelling, its independent heroine, and its stellar happy ending.

Middle grades

In the early 1900s, Robert Miller, a.k.a. “Count Victor Lustig,” moved to Paris hoping to be an artist. A con artist, that is. He used his ingenious scams on unsuspecting marks all over the world, from the Czech Republic, to Atlantic ocean liners, and across America. Tricky Vic pulled off his most daring con in 1925, when he managed to "sell" the Eiffel Tower to one of the city’s most successful scrap metal dealers! Six weeks later, he tried to sell the Eiffel Tower all over again. Vic was never caught. For that particular scam, anyway. . .

In all the ways that matter, Mark is a normal kid. He's got a dog named Beau and a best friend, Jessie. He likes to take photos and write haiku poems in his notebook. He dreams of climbing a mountain one day. But in one important way, Mark is not like other kids at all. Mark is sick. The kind of sick that means hospitals. And treatments. The kind of sick some people never get better from.

So Mark runs away. He leaves home with his camera, his notebook, his dog, and a plan to reach the top of Mount Rainier--even if it's the last thing he ever does. The Honest Truth is a rare and extraordinary novel about big questions, small moments, and the incredible journey of the human spirit.

6th graders

She’s been six different people in six different places: Madeline in Ohio, Isabelle in Missouri, Olivia in Kentucky . . . But now that she’s been transplanted to rural Louisiana, she has decided that this fake identity will be her last.

Witness Protection has taken nearly everything from her. But for now, they’ve given her a new name, Megan Rose Jones, and a horrible hair color. For the past eight months, Meg has begged her father to answer one question: What on earth did he do – or see – that landed them in this god-awful mess? Meg has just about had it with all the Suits’ rules — and her dad’s silence. If he won’t help, it’s time she got some answers for herself.

But Meg isn’t counting on Ethan Landry, an adorable Louisiana farm boy who’s too smart for his own good. He knows Meg is hiding something big. And it just might get both of them killed. As they embark on a perilous journey to free her family once and for all, Meg discovers that there’s only one rule that really matters — survival.

What Ms. Moore Read Last Week

Picture books, novels, and nonfiction, oh my! Here are my latest favorites. All book covers and plot summaries are from Goodreads:

Picture books

Hoot Owl is no ordinary owl. He is a master of disguise! In the blackness of night, he’s preparing to swoop on his prey before it can realize his dastardly tricks. Look there—a tasty rabbit for him to eat! Hoot Owl readies his costume, disguising himself as . . . a carrot! Then he waits. The rabbit runs off. Never mind! Surely his next juicy target will cower against such a clever and dangerous creature as he! Kids will hoot at Sean Taylor’s deliciously tongue-in-beak narration, belied by the brilliantly comical illustrations of Jean Jullien.

You can call her Ally-SAURUS! When Ally roars off to her first day at school, she hopes she'll meet lots of other dinosaur-mad kids in class. Instead, she's the only one chomping her food with fierce dino teeth and drawing dinosaurs on her nameplate. Even worse, a group of would-be "princesses" snubs her! Will Ally ever make new friends? With its humorous art, appealing heroine, and surprise ending, this fun picture book celebrates children's boundless imagination.

Middle grades

Ruth Mudd-O’Flaherty has been a lone wolf at Frontenac Consolidated Middle School ever since her best friend, Charlotte, ditched her for “cooler” friends. Who needs friends when you have fantasy novels? Roaming the stacks of her town’s library is enough for Ruth. Until she finds a note in an old book . . . and in that note is a riddle, one that Ruth can’t solve alone.

With an epic quest before her, Ruth admits she needs help, the kind that usually comes from friends. Lena and Coco, two kids in her class could be an option, but allowing them in will require courage. Ruth must decide: Is solving this riddle worth opening herself up again?

Note from Ms. Moore: Look for one of the riddles to be a checkout day challenge.

In this eye-opening look at our Founding Fathers that is full of fun facts and lively artwork, it seems that Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and their cohorts sometimes agreed on NOTHING - except the thing that mattered most: creating the finest constitution in world history, for the brand-new United States of America.

Tall! Short! A scientist! A dancer! A farmer! A soldier!

The founding fathers had no idea they would ever be called the "founding Fathers," and furthermore they could not even agree exactly on what they were founding! ... Slave owners, abolitionists, soldiers, doctors, philosophers, bankers, angry letter-writers - the men we now call America's Founding Fathers were a motley bunch of characters who fought a lot and made mistakes and just happened to invent a whole new kind of nation.

6th graders

As the youngest marcher in the 1965 voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Albama, Lynda Blackmon Lowery proved that young adults can be heroes. Jailed eleven times before her fifteenth birthday, Lowery fought alongside Martin Luther King, Jr. for the rights of African-Americans. In this memoir, she shows today's young readers what it means to fight nonviolently (even when the police are using violence, as in the Bloody Sunday protest) and how it felt to be part of changing American history.

Note from Ms. Moore: This is one of the most gutwrenching books I've ever read - and it's only 100 pages long.

What Ms. Moore is Reading This Week

July 29 was #readwhereyouare day ... I've been doing most of my reading on my front porch. Here are some more new books I've read that I think students would enjoy. All book covers and plot summaries are from Goodreads:

Picture books

As a boy and his mother move quickly through the city, they're drawn to different things. The boy sees a dog, a butterfly, and a hungry duck while his mother rushes them toward the departing train. It's push and pull, but in the end, they both find something to stop for. Acclaimed author/illustrator Antoinette Portis' signature style conveys feelings of warmth, curiosity, humor and tenderness in this simple, evocative story.

A moth with a sixth sense. A wasp that hunts beetles nearly twice its size. The lives of fascinating creatures such as these were unknown until one man introduced them to the world. Meet Jean-Henri Fabre, one of the most important naturalists of all time. As a boy in the French countryside, Henri spent hours watching insects. He dreamed of observing them in a new way: in their own habitats. What he discovered in pursuing that dream was shocking; these small, seemingly insignificant creatures led secret lives—lives of great drama!

With its lively, lyrical text and richly detailed illustrations, this intriguing picture-book biography introduces the man who would forever change the way we look at insects, bringing to life the fascinating world of dazzling beetles, ferocious wasps, and other amazing small wonders that exist all around us

Middle grades

A hidden book. A found cipher. A game begins . . . . Twelve-year-old Emily is on the move again. Her family is relocating to San Francisco, home of her literary idol: Garrison Griswold, creator of the online sensation Book Scavenger, a game where books are hidden all over the country and clues to find them are revealed through puzzles. But Emily soon learns that Griswold has been attacked and is in a coma, and no one knows anything about the epic new game he had been poised to launch.

Then Emily and her new friend James discover an odd book, which they come to believe is from Griswold and leads to a valuable prize. But there are others on the hunt for this book, and Emily and James must race to solve the puzzles Griswold left behind before Griswold's attackers make them their next target.

Tabitha Crum is a girl with a big imagination and a love for mystery novels, though her parents think her only talent is being a nuisance. She doesn't have a friend in the world, except her pet mouse, Pemberley, with whom she shares her dingy attic bedroom.

Then, on the heels of a rather devastating announcement made by her mother and father, Tabitha receives a mysterious invitation to the country estate of the wealthy but reclusive Countess of Windermere, whose mansion is rumored to be haunted. There, she finds herself among five other children, none of them sure why they've been summoned. But soon, a very big secret will be revealed— a secret that will change their lives forever and put Tabitha’s investigative skills to the test

6th graders

When Triss wakes up after an accident, she knows something is very wrong. She is insatiably hungry, her sister seems scared of her, and her parents whisper behind closed doors. She looks through her diary to try to remember, but the pages have been ripped out. Soon Triss discovers that what happened to her is more strange and terrible than she could ever have imagined, and that she is quite literally not herself. In a quest to find the truth she must travel into the terrifying underbelly of the city to meet a twisted architect who has dark designs on her family-before it's too late . . .

Set in England after World War I, this is a brilliantly creepy but ultimately loving story of the relationship between two sisters who have to band together against a world where nothing is as it seems.

#readwhereyouare

July 29 is the first "Read Where You Are" day of action, launched by the White House and Department of Education to draw attention to the importance of summer reading. To help celebrate, you can take a picture of yourself reading and email it to me at mmoore@cpsed.net. So long as your parents signed off on posting your photo online last fall, I'll add it to this post.

What Ms. Moore is Reading

I hope everyone is having a fun summer ... and that you are finding fun things to read! Here are some books I've read over the past month that I think students would enjoy. All book covers and plot summaries are from Goodreads:

Picture books

Who knew that cakes were so rude?! In this deliciously entertaining book, a not-so-sweet cake—who never says please or thank you or listens to its parents—gets its just desserts. Mixing hilarious text and pictures, Rowboat Watkins, a former Sendak fellow, has cooked up a laugh-out- loud story that can also be served up as a delectable discussion starter about manners or bullying, as it sweetly reminds us all that even the rudest cake can learn to change its ways.

Younger readers

Lights! Camera! Action! Jules is back to take center stage! Jules is a third grader at last! But so far, the reviews aren't good. Her new teacher makes her feel totally tongue-tied. Charlotte shows up on the first day wearing the one thing Jules really wants but will never get. And she already has homework-researching a famous person to become for the class wax museum project. But how will she decide who to be?

Even worse, her after-school sitcom rehearsals are harder than ever-especially since the TV show is about to air for all the world to see. Jules needs to find her inner superstar if third grade is ever going to be a smash hit.

Middle grades

It's the summer of 1969, and Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern are off to Alabama to visit Big Ma and her eighty-two-year-old mother, Ma Charles. Pa can't remind them enough that the South's not like Brooklyn, and that you can't get more southern than Alabama.

Across the field, through the pines, and over the creek is the Trotter home, where Ma Charles's half sister, Miss Trotter, lives. The two half sisters haven't spoken in years, each determined to hold on to her version of the truth. Dramatic Vonetta plays middleman to the two warring, elderly sisters, while Delphine struggles against her to bring the family together. ... When a tragedy comes to the farm in Alabama, Delphine discovers that the bonds of family run deeper than she ever knew possible.

Do you believe in magic? Micah Tuttle does. Even though his awful Great-Aunt Gertrudis doesn’t approve, Micah believes in the stories his dying Grandpa Ephraim tells him of the magical Circus Mirandus: the invisible tiger guarding the gates, the beautiful flying birdwoman, and the magician more powerful than any other—the Man Who Bends Light. Finally, Grandpa Ephraim offers proof. The Circus is real. And the Lightbender owes Ephraim a miracle.

With his friend Jenny Mendoza in tow, Micah sets out to find the Circus and the man he believes will save his grandfather. The only problem is, the Lightbender doesn't want to keep his promise. And now it's up to Micah to get the miracle he came for.

6th graders

Once upon a time, two best friends created a princess together. Libby drew the pictures, May wrote the tales, and their heroine, Princess X, slayed all the dragons and scaled all the mountains their imaginations could conjure. Once upon a few years later, Libby was in the car with her mom, driving across the Ballard Bridge on a rainy night. When the car went over the side, Libby passed away, and Princess X died with her.

Once upon a now: May is sixteen and lonely, wandering the streets of Seattle, when she sees a sticker slapped in a corner window. Princess X? When May looks around, she sees the Princess everywhere: Stickers. Patches. Graffiti. There's an entire underground culture, focused around a webcomic at IAmPrincessX.com. The more May explores the webcomic, the more she sees disturbing similarities between Libby's story and Princess X online.

Alpha Order with Room 4

Second graders are practicing their alphabetization skills, because we're learning about guide words, because the annual dictionary races are coming up!

Guide words help you find what you're looking for without having to look at every single page. For example, these are words that would come between the guide words "baby" and "eagle":

The kids had fun playing Guide Words Rags to Riches ... the highest score so far was 64,000. Do you think you can beat it? Try it by clicking this link.

Finally, here is Room 4 getting themselves in order:

Catalog Shopping with Grade 5

I'm starting to put together my orders for next year, and I want to make sure that we're getting books the kids will actually want to read ... especially next year's 6th graders. There's always a big dropoff in checkout activity between 5th and 6th. To that end, I had them go through my stack of book catalogs and make purchase recommendations. Here they are shopping:

April is School Library Month!

April is School Library Month; I'll be reposting quotes from the American Association of School Libraries on the blog. Feel free to add your own in the comments!

THANK YOU SPIE!

Thanks to the generosity of SPIE, the library was able to use bookfair proceeds to acquire nearly two dozen in-demand titles from Scholastic. What a treat to get brand-new books in the middle of the year. THANK YOU!!!!

Here's a sneak peek of what we've got ... my plan is to add them to the catalog tomorrow before school. If you see this blog post today and want to borrow one of the books below, come see me first thing on Monday to place your hold!

Room 7's Trillion Dollar Footprint

We discuss digital citizenship in library class, and Common Sense Media has some good lessons that I use with the fifth and sixth graders.

This month, we did "Trillion Dollar Footprint"; the kids play the role of television producers choosing a host for a talent show. They have to sift through online evidence that a private investigator found via social media and decide which candidate should get the job.

The students were able to defend their choices with evidence - some picked "Linda," some picked "Jason," and some picked neither. All of their arguments were based on posts, photos, and comments that were found online. In the end, I think they all understood the objectives of the lesson:

• Define "digital footprint" as the profile that is created from all the information posted about you online
• Realize that your information can be searched, copied and passed on
• Understand that your digital footprint can be helpful or harmful to your reputation

And the Winner Is ... Gaston!

85 students chose from among
9 Mock Caldecott finalists, and
1 came out on top with
  18 votes:

Gaston by Kelly DiPucchio, illustrated by Christian Robinson

Mock Caldecott Review - Rooms 1 and 2

Voting for the Monday kids was delayed by snow days, but they finally got to choose their winner ... which will be revealed in my next post! Here are the first grade students giving the contenders one last read: