Before We Go...

Spring break is always a time to press the reset button. It is a time for relaxation, reflections and reading. All around the Lower School you can find children in all grades reading and sharing their of joy of reading. Just last week fifth grade students spread their joy around campus when they competed in the annual Rooster Games. Our hope is  that their love for books and reading will never die. With that in mind here's a few reading lists and challenges for students and families to enjoy over the break. We look forward to hearing about books and characters students have enjoyed over the break when we come back on March 25th.

I have compiled a list of of great reads for students in  Early Childhood. This list includes books that are fiction, nonfiction, books about the alphabet, numbers and books about colors.

Lastly, we leave you with a few reading challenges for the month of March. We hope you find some time over break to complete one or two of these challenges.

• Read a book written and/or illustrated by a female
• Read a nonfiction book about a female who has made a difference or a great contribution to our world 
• Read a book to your pet or favorite stuffed animals 

Here is a list of suggestions to help you complete some of these challenges. Simply click on the tab that says 2018-2019 Reading Challenges. 

The Rooster Games

Excited 5th graders decked out in their team colors

On Thursday, February 21st the 5th graders participated in our 17th Rooster Games along with the students from Lincoln School.  They have been reading from the Rhode Island Children's Book Award Nominee list since the summer.  The list consists of 20 books chosen by librarians and teachers around the state.   The 5th graders must read at least 10.  The kids then play a variety of games focused on the books. They match the title and authors and titles and first lines of the books. They also answer 40 multiple choice questions in just 10 minutes (We've never had a team not complete it!). They match an object to each book, make a poster based on the books without using words or symbols and finally they just have 20 minutes to create a cheer for their team.

We end the event with a celebratory pizza lunch and a beautiful rooster cake.  It really is one of the highlights of 5th grade and so fun to see this level of excitement over reading.  As one 5th grader put it, " It will be one of my favorite 5th grade memories!"

2019 Youth Media Awards

On January 28th the American Library Association's Youth Media Awards were announce. I talked about some predictions on my podcast with Wheeler Voices. Additionally students in second grade have studied one of the awards; the Caldecott Award and they have made their own predictions.

Here's a link to all the winners. These award winning titles serve as a great recommended reading list for children, teens and adults. Many of these titles can be found in our libraries here on campus.

4th grade FlipGrid Vlogs

Last year, Megan O'Hara's class began using FlipGrid to keep track of the Battle Books they read.  This year the whole 4th grade has joined in.  The students have a great time recording short videos that include a summary and the star rating they give their books. The kids then record responses to their classmates videos.   Several students have enjoyed it so much that they have recorded book recommendations at home!  On Wheeler Day Ms. O'Hara's 4th graders showed their parents the FlipGrid videos they previously recorded. The parents and kids then recorded videos together. 

Calling Caldecott

Every year my second grade classes participate in a Mock Caldecott. Students choose the best picture book of the preceding year based on these four essential questions;

1. Are the illustrations well done?
2. Do the illustrations match the mood and the theme of the story?
3. Are the illustrations important to understanding the story?
4. Does the illustrations make me want to pick up the book and read it?

Three out of the four of the answers to theses questions must be yes to keep a title on our list of considerations.

The Randolph Caldecott Award is given every year to an illustrator, who's work is distinguished. One gold medal is given and three to four silver medals are given. Last year's winner was Wolf In Snow by Matthew Cordell. Last year's Mock Caldecott winner was The Three Billy Goats Gruff by Jerry Pinkney.

Check out this link on Monday February 4th to see the second grade class' Mock Caldecott winner and the actual winners of the annual Randolph Caldecott Award.

Using SORA

Overdrive has a new kid-friendly app for you to use to download audiobooks and ebooks from our library's collection for free.  First, you will need to download the free app to your device.  Click on the link below to view a tutorial of how to use the app.  Please let us know if you have any questions about it!  Happy Reading (and listening!!!)

January's Reading Challenge

Happy New Year and welcome back! We are so excited to be back for the second half of the school year. We are starting 2019  with a reading challenge and our hope is that many of our students in the Lower School will participate.

We are challenging students to read a book about the following three subjects. Students can read a book on each subject or choose one or two subjects to read about.

• Martin Luther King Jr. in honor of Martin Luther King Jr Day on January 21st
• Polar Bears; a fascinating animal to learn about in the winter season
• Choose a book that has a snow setting

There will be books on display in the library or you can ask one of the Lower School librarians. Share your experiences through photos or a written response with one or two sentences that tells what you learned or enjoyed about each subject. 

Prescott Library's Best of 2018 Book List

At the end of every year the librarians at Wheeler come together and think about all the books we have read, discussed and heard about. We usually create a holiday list to share with the Wheeler Community.

This year the Head of the Library Department, Christine Smith suggested we create a Best of 2018 list to be more inclusive and aware of those who may not celebrate these particular holidays.

Below you will find the link to our Best of 2018 Book List. This list includes picture books, beginner readers, chapter books, non fiction, books for young adults and adults. Most of the titles on the list can be found in the libraries here on campus and/or easily purchased through Amazon.

Best of 2018

From the Library Department,

Reader's Theater

Performing for Nursery and Kindergarten

Each year, I work with the kids who choose not to be part of the play to create a Readers' Theater.   Not only do I want the kids to have a low-stakes performance experience, I also want them to take ownership of the creation of the script.  First, the kids did a run through of a Reader's Theater based on the book The Great Fuzz Frenzy.  They used this script to come up with criteria for how they would choose a book for their Reader's Theater.  They decided that they wanted one that was funny; of interest to Early Childhood students (since they planned on presenting it to them); and  included good narrator and character roles.  After reading 12+ books, the kids chose the book Big Mean Mike by Michelle Knudsen and illustrated by Scott Magoon.

I divided the students into three groups and they each wrote a section of the script.  When they finished, we read through it to look for errors.  Once we had the script finalized,  we picked names out of a bowl to determine parts.  During this week of play rehearsals, we practiced our script multiple times and  performed it twice--once to Nursery and K and once to 3rd grade.  This year the kids wanted to make sure the audience could see the pictures in the book since a bunch of the humor relates to the illustrations.  So we projected the book on the screen during the presentations.  The audiences were fantastic and the Kindergarten liked it so well that they sparkled us with Gratitude Glitter!

My Experience at the People of Color Conference

Last week I traveled with eleven of my colleagues and six students from the Upper School to Nashville, Tennessee. We were in the heart of the city in the downtown area. We walked daily to the People of Color Conference held at the Music City Center.

Over the course of three days I attended six workshops, participated in my affinity group twice and heard some amazing speakers. I vigorously took notes each day and upon my return I have been spending a lot of time reflecting, reviewing and thinking about the best way I can incorporate what I learned into what it is I do here at Wheeler.

Here's what I have come up with so far....

 1. I plan to share my identity and culture with my students and encourage them to do the same.

2. In one of the workshops I attended a kindergarten teacher shared how she writes good morning in a different language every two weeks. During those two weeks students work on pronunciation and learning about the country or countries where the language is spoken. I plan to incorporate that idea in to my  class greeting as well. I will use the library databases to help students learn about the language and countries. Through this tactic I can expose our youngest students to the world beyond what they see in their everyday lives.

3. Luz Santana an advocate for minority women spoke to an audience of over 6,000 people myself included. She spoke at length  about the idea of encouraging students to continue to ask questions. She presented studies that had showed over time our children are not asking questions once they reach a certain age. This may be caused by fear and  a lack of confidence in their abilities.  She encouraged us as educators to create space for children to ask questions daily. Their ability to ask will empower our students to be advocates for themselves and others in the present and in the future. I am currently restructuring my curriculum so that I can provide my students the opportunity to ask questions and to seek answers.

Blogging with Lincoln School

This week the 5th grade started blogging with the Lincoln School in preparation for the Rooster Games in February.  Right now the kids are discussing the books on the list and once they find out which teams they are on, they will begin to talk strategy.  One of the questions asked "If you could cook a meal for Chef Roi Choy, what would you cook and why?"  Answers ranged from "I would cook (or microwave) chocolate chip cookies because they taste so good and I know he'll like my family's spin on the cookie" to "I would probably make something that is savory and flavorful because he cooks that way." 

Picture Book Month

November is the time year that reminds us all to give thanks and be thankful. I often encourage my students to be thankful for their family, friends, teachers, home and all the many resources they are fortunate to have. As the librarian for  our youngest learners I made it a goal to find small and simple ways my students could give thanks. 

I interact with my students daily through picture books. I recently found a calendar that included picture books in a list of things to celebrate in November. I immediately said to myself "that is perfect!" This month my kindergarten students will join me in celebrating Picture Month. Over the next few weeks I will be exposing them to various authors, illustrators and genres. Our guiding question will be why are picture books so important?

My hope is that my students will appreciate the hard work and dedication each author  and/or illustrator puts in to creating picture books. By them understanding the process they will be thankful for picture books that expose them to different worlds and ideas. Here is a link to keep up with all the books we will be thankful for this month, along with information about the authors and illustrators. 

What can we learn about immigration from the people who experienced it?

This is the essential question Ms. O'Hara and I ask 4th graders to consider during our Aerie Unit on Primary Sources.  During our first class, the children examine 3 photographs and a ship's manifest to see what they can learn about immigration, at the turn of the century, from these documents.  After looking at the various pictures and manifest,  we gather together to discuss what surprised them and what they learned from the primary sources.

IMMIGRANTS ON SHIP, c1900. - Steerage passengers on the 'S.S. Pennland' in New York Harbor, c1900.. Fine Art. Britannica ImageQuest, Encyclopædia Britannica, 25 May 2016. 
quest.eb.com/search/140_1634535/1/140_1634535/cite. Accessed 28 Oct 2018.

In our second class, the kids listen to recorded recollections of immigrants who entered the US through Ellis Island.  They also read remembrances from those who immigrated through Angel Island.   We wrap up  the  rotation by creating a list of all the things we learned about immigration from looking at pictures and reading or listening to people's memories of immigrating.  The 4th graders will use the ideas they generate when they take on the persona of an immigrant and write journal entries as that immigrant.

Here are just some of the things they learned:

• At Angel Island people were locked in their dorms after dinner like prison.
• People were asked lots of questions when they immigrated through Angel Island including things like how many windows in your neighbor's house.
• The meals in detainment were awful.
• Steerage was smelly, crowded and there were rats.