First Garden Club Afternoon

We had our first meeting with the Fall Gardening Library Club yesterday afternoon. After a snack of cookies and a lesson on flower bulbs, the children took all of our supplies to the courtyard. We planted some daffodil bulbs, weeded a little bit and had a special treat. The courtyard apple tree was loaded with Golden Delicious apples. We ate them and they were delicious!!! Thank you, Mrs. Asmus for planting that tree years ago.
We will be continuing to work each week until the end of October. We have lots more bulbs to plant. Unfortunately, the apples will be gone.

More Kalli Dakos poems

Students in Mrs. Pettit's second grade wrote and illustrated couplets like the the one in Kalli Dakos' poem "Mrs. Cole on an onion roll". We began with the words "I was so hungry that I could eat...". Students then brainstormed things they liked to eat and a silly rhyme for that food. Here are some terrific examples. I'll get the pictures up soon. They are delightful!

Kara: We're so hungry
That we could eat
A can of corn
And a unicorn.

Danielle:We're so hungry
That we could eat
A can of canned peas
And some fleas.

Kelsey:We're so hungry
That we could eat
A bag of chips
And lizard lips.

Nick:We're so hungry
That we could eat
A pizza pie
And a butterfly.

Poems like Kalli Dakos' poems

Last Friday Mrs. Ballard's class wrote a poem from the point of view of a new library book. We had just read The Bug in the Teacher's Coffee and talked about point of view. We have lots of new books in the library. The children wrote:

New Book

My cover is stiff.
My pages are clean.
I'm the best new book
You've ever seen.

My pictures are bright.
My binding is strong.
If you read this book
You can't go wrong.

OPEN HOUSE and BOOK-LOOK

We had a terrific turnout for our school open house last night I was thrilled by the number of people who visited the library to check out our new books and get their cookies. Parents, grandparents, MHP students, older brothers and sisters and babies came in huge numbers to look and books and to chat. Thanks for the visit.
This morning teachers came to the MHP library for our annual new book "Book-Look". They were able to select new additions to the library collection for use in their classrooms. We have almost 300 new AR books and many other curriculum-related books. Now that staff have had a look, students may check out our new books.

Kalli Dakos

We are very excited that Kalli Dakos, a wonderful author/poet, will be visiting MHP next week. We have been reading Ms. Dakos' website and laughing at the funny poems in The Bug in the Teacher's Coffee. We learned that Ms. Dakos uses all kinds of points of view, from buildings to food trays, in her poems. We wondered what library books might say if they could write words.
We'll see what we can write for Ms. Dakos.

Learning Respect

Kindergarten children have been learning about respect, our word of the month. We read the book Clifford's Manners by Norman Bridwell and discussed ways that we show respect. We learned that we should:

• say "please" and"thank you"
  
• wait our turn
  
• say "excuse me"
• use a tissue
• share
• play by the rules
• help clean up
• wash our hands before we eat.

Lots of New Library Words

Kindergarten children have been having fun listening to library stories and learning words that we will use all year in library and in our Trophies Reading program. So far we have talked about the words "title", "author", "illustrator", "characters", "setting", "problem" and "solution". We have been singing these words in a song we call "Hi Ho Librario". The tune comes from "The Farmer in the Dell".
Here are our verses so far this year:

The title names the book,
The title names the book,
Hi Ho Librario,
The title names the book.

The author writes the words, (holding imaginary pencil)
The author writes the words,
Hi Ho Librario,
The author writes the words.

The illustrator draws the pictures, (holding imaginary paintbrush)
The illustrator draws the pictures,
Hi Ho Librario
The illustrator draws the pictures.

Learning the OPAC

Second Grade students have been learning to use the OPAC. We have been looking at book records on our computer and using our skill with call numbers to figure out where the books live in our library. We know that there are three main "neighborhoods" in the library: Easy books (call number start with E), Fiction (call numbers begin with F), and Dewey numbers. We also learned that biographies have a B call number and that book and tape kits have "KIT" call numbers. Soon we'll be able to tell whether a book is in the library and find our own books on the shelves. That's a skill we'll use for the rest of our school time!

Learning Dewey

Our library is organized using the Dewey Decimal System. This week second grade students are getting their first taste of Dewey numbers and how to find books using those numbers. We begin with the major divisions- the 100s. I like to think about Dewey as a series of questions. Perhaps you can think of other Dewey questions.

• 100s Who am I? These are books about feelings. Our character education books are here.
• 200s Why am I here? These are religion books and mythology books.
• 300s Who else lives here? How can we get along?These are community and family books, books on manners, and books of folktales.
• 400s Can we talk? These are language books, including sign language.
• 500s What else is in my world? These are science books: stars, dinosaurs, plants and animals.
• 600s How can I use the things in my world? These are the books about things people use, from cars to pets, from cookbooks to woodworking.
• 700s What can I do for fun? Sports, arts, music and games are here.
• 800s Can I share my ideas with you? These are poems, jokes, riddles, and stories. Our fiction and easy books could be in the 800s.
• 900s What is the history and geography of our planet? Books about New York, other states, countries, and regions are found here.
• 000s Things that don't fit in other places: Encyclopedias, books about UFOs and computers.

Taking Care of Library Books

Students have been learning about taking care of library books. We have been reading the book "The Shelf Elf" by Jackie Mims Hopkins. Her character, Skoob, has taught us many good ideas about taking care of books. If we practice, we might earn the Golden Shelf Elf Award!!

• Use a shelf marker, you can't go wrong, put books back where they belong.


• Return books when they are due, so others can enjoy them, too.


• Keep your books clean and neat, away from all you drink and eat.


• If you need to save your place, stick a book mark in that space.


• Turn the pages with great care; leave them whole without a tear.


• Keep books safe and out of view, from little ones and dogs that chew.


• When in the library make this choice: always use your inside voice.

Pictures of Ms. Nugent on her first day.

I took a few pictures of Ms. Nugent on her first day here at MHP. These are not too good, but you can see her dynamic personality in them. We'll post lots more library pictures as the year goes along

Welcome, Ms. Nugent

The Millard Hawk Primary School community and the MHP Library would like to welcome Ms. Nugent to our library. Ms. Nugent, the librarian at A.A. Cole, will be working with three classes this year: Mrs Jensen's, Mrs. Morgan's and Mrs. Clark's classes. Ms. Nugent is very enthusiastic and students should have a great year with her. Welcome and have a great time.