Thanks 3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade Lunch Brunch Members

I just want to send out a big thanks to the 45 students who did extra work to get invited to our Book Award Book Brunches. Students had many interesting things to say about Mighty Jackie, Niagara Falls, or Does It? and The Report Card. We enjoyed the discussion, and look forward to our next book brunch. So, what are the next books students must read, and when are the next book brunches?

• 3rd Graders - Fri., Dec. 15 Circle Unbroken (this blog's summary--egads! Not found--I'll get on that right away!)
• 4th Graders - Mon., Dec. 18 Young Man & the Sea (this blog's summary)
• 5th Graders - Tues., Dec 19 Buttermilk Hill (this blog's summary)
  

I have had many 1st and 2nd grade students and their parents ask why they are not being included or offered a chance to participate. Same is true for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students asking about attending the brunch for other grades if they read the books. I may factor that in for our December brunches. But please know when the idea was conceived, our Title One coordinators (Ms. M. Vaughan, Ms. E. Howie, and Ms. P. Bechtler) were going to devise a similar concept for the younger grades, since those are the grades primarily served by our Title One teachers. Look for details regarding book brunches for the Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd graders soon (hopefully).

SCASL Children's Literature SC 2007 Book Award Nominee

Coming NEXT week--Oct. 18, 19, & 20

Okay boys and girls! Next week (Wed.-Fri., Oct. 18-20) we will have our next book brunches. 3rd Grade's is Wednesday, and the book focus is Mighty Jackie. 4th Grade's is Thursday, and the book focus Niagara Falls, or Does It? 5th Grade will meet Friday to talk about the book The Report Card. There are six ways to get an invitation:

• Take an AR Quiz
• Write a short summary and give to Mrs. Nelson
• Post a review on our online book review form (link here)
• Post a comment on our blog --feel free to do it at the end of this enry!
• Create a shoebox diorama
• Just meet with Mrs. Nelson and tell her all about the book

Hopefully you can pick whatever is easiest for you. I will be letting students know on the morning of their book brunch who is invited. I look forward the talking about these three books.

We've been NOTICED! Where are the author comments?

On Friday, October 6th, at the EdTech Conference in Myrtle Beach, SC, a fellow media specialist presented a session to many educators from across our GREAT state on the topic of blogging. Her name is Mary Haddon, and she has a blog for her school library too. Be sure to visit it. She mentioned our school library blog (this one - "@ the Northside Library") and let everyone know that we had three diffrent authors visit and post comments. You see, I had contacted them and told them about blogging about their books, which are on this years SC Book Award Nominee list. To help visitors find those posts Mary referenced, I am including the links below. Happy visiting! Feel free to comment!

• Lee Waits, author of Seaward Born
• Betty Birney, author of The World According to Humphrey
• Pam Munoz Ryan, author of Becoming Naomi Leon

It was indeed very exciting to get responses from the authors. Initially I got a response from Lee Waits, with no proactive initiative of my own. She must have been googling her books, and found our blog, and posted. I was SO EXCITED. Then I just decided to find contact information for all the authors of the books I'd blogged, and see if they would visit and respond. Imagine the excitement of the kids when I showed them that the actual authors of the very books they were reading were posting to our blog. The blog thing has been an exciting activity for me and my students this year, and I am still learning all about it right along with my students.