Friday, March 27, 2015

This Week in the Library: March 23-27

Here's what we did this week in the library!

Ms. Bonnell reads to Little Eaglets
Little Eaglets (Preschool Story Time): Ms. Bonnell, 1st grade teacher, was our guest speaker. We heard "I Stink" by Kate McMullan.  Eaglets got color sheets about garbage trucks and the letter "G".  Next week's (4/2) reader is Mrs. Turley!

Kindergarten: Heard "Zinnia and Dot" by Lisa Campbell Ernst.  We looked at the list of farm animals we created last week and added animals from this story.  Then, we took these notes to create a "T" chart: Animals people care for on a farm and Animals that care for themselves and live near a farm. Vocabulary (Cool words to impress your friends): vain, alabaster, pandemonium, coop.

1st Grade: We Heard "On Market Street" By Arnold and Anita Lobel.  We alphabetized the words in the book as a class. Vocabulary (Cool words to impress your friends): xmas trees, playing cards, merchants.

2nd Grade:  We heard magazine presentation by some of the groups.  The presentation told us what the magazine was about, who it was written for, if there was advertising or not, and a favorite part.

3rd Grade (Keating): Worked on finding bibliographic information in a magazine.  Students looked for title, date of publication, author, article titles and headings.

3rd Grade (Pawling): We looked for animal books for their upcoming research project.

4th Grade: We finished our lesson on being responsible digital citizens.  We've been looking at how students can be responsible to themselves, their friends/family, and the larger community.

5th Grade: We learned about Strong Passwords: Why passwords are important and how to create a good password to protect their online information.  Students then changed their district account password.

6th Grade (Bogert): Began working on reading and interpreting other types of text.  This week (and next week) we are looking at a bus schedule.

6th Grade (Hansen): Finished our work on comparing online library catalogs.

Professional:  I conducted the first part of our building proctor training for the upcoming SBA.  Read more books to review for Puget Sound Council (and our library).


Friday, March 20, 2015

This Week in the Library: March 16-20

Another busy week!  Here's what we did.

Little Eaglets (Preschool Story Time): Mrs. Morehouse, Kindergarten teacher, was our guest speaker. We heard "Bear Snores On" by Karma Wilson.  Eaglets got color sheets about bears and the letter "B".  Next week's (3/26) reader is Ms. Bonnell!

Kindergarten: Heard "The Midnight Farm" by Reeve Lindbergh.  We created a list of farm animals and then added more to our notes after the story.  We checked animals we saw in the book.  Vocabulary (Cool words to impress your friends): midnight, stable, orchard.

1st Grade: We Heard "Naughty Little Monkeys" by Jim Aylesworth  We talked a little about alphabetical order and did a quick worksheet on the alphabet. Vocabulary (Cool words to impress your friends): angelic, naughty, mitt.

2nd Grade:  We learned about magazines.  Table groups began to organize presentations to teach the rest of the class about magazines at Sherwood.  They looked at what the magazine was about, who it was written for, if there was advertising or not, and a favorite part.

3rd Grade: Finished working on "Best Book I Ever Read" posters.  Sherwood will select 20 posters for the city-wide competition.

4th Grade: We continued working on being responsible digital citizens.  We were looking at how students can be responsible to themselves, their friends/family, and the larger community.

5th Grade: We did a quick review of determining fact and opinion statements.  We also talked about how we could find resources to prove/disprove a fact and to support an opinion.

6th Grade: Continued working on our activity comparing various online library catalogs (school, college, public).

Professional:  Sherwood served at the host of the Edmonds School District Library meeting.  The focus of the meeting was reading advocacy.

Friday, March 13, 2015

This Week in the Library: March 9-13

Another odd week with early dismissal days.  For the classes that did NOT have library this week, your books will be due next week.  If you had library this week, here's what happened!

Little Eaglets Story Time:  There was no preschool story time this week due to the half days.  Next week we will be back with Mrs. Morehouse, kindergarten teacher,  as our scheduled reader.

Morehouse, Gordon, Rempel:  Heard "Nurse Clementine" by Simon James.  We discussed the similarities and differences between nurses and doctors.  We also looked for details in the story that show how Clementine helped others.  Other vocabulary discussed: emergency, bandaged, and drainpipe.

Widener: Heard "A Book is Just Like You" by Kathleen Fox.  We discussed the parts of a book, focusing on cover, jacket, title, and author.  Students drew pictures and many added captions.  They presented their pictures using the document camera and microphone.  Vocabulary (Cool words to impress your friends): title, author, cover, birthday.

Goodsky:  Heard "When Grandpa Says 'I Love You'" by Douglas Wood.  We decided that the message of the book was that people can show you their love through actions and words might not be needed.  We talked about how other relatives and friends do this all the time.

Gregerson:  We learned about magazines.  Each table group presented a magazine and told about it's title, who would love it, did is have advertising, and their favorite parts.

Keating, Pawling:  Worked on our posters for the Best Book I Every Read Poster Contest sponsored by the Edmonds Arts Commission and the Friends of the Edmonds Public Library.  Students finalized their plans and began to work on their final poster.  Posters need to be completed by March 18.

Gibson:  Started a lesson from Common Sense Media on the rings of responsibility students have to themselves, their friends & family, and the larger community.  Each group brainstormed responsibilities they have to each group.  Next week we will look at these groups in relation to technology.

Alderson: Reviewed fact and opinion.  We worked together on some example statements.  We are working on brainstorming potential resources that could prove a fact and determining which words in an opinion could be argued.

Hanson:  Students began to work on a chart comparing call numbers at several different types of libraries (school, college, public).  Students were practicing finding books using a variety of web sites, using google docs efficiently, and using Google Classroom.

Professional:  Drove to Selah (just north of Yakima) on Saturday, March 7 to attend the Washington Children's Choice Picture Book Award Committee meeting.  I met with librarians from around the state and we discussed and debated which 20 picture books should be placed on the 2016 WCCPBA nomination list.

Attended Sherwood's Professional Learning Community groups meeting before school on Tuesday (3/10).  We are discussing student research and how it relates to writing and the Common Core State Standards.  I presented information about Webpath Express, one of the features of our library catalog, so they can help student find resources at their reading ability level.

Helped with the set up of the Sno-Isle 3rd Grade Reading Challenge - school level contest held Tuesday morning.  See the previous post for more information about this awesome event!

Attended the district's Smarter Balance Assessment Test Coordinator training on Wednesday (3/11) to bring information back to our Sherwood staff regarding the state testing.



Tuesday, March 10, 2015

3rd Grade Reading Challenge - School Contest

Sno-Isle's 3rd Grade Reading Challenge rolled into Sherwood, Tuesday (3/10) morning.  Three teams competed for the opportunity to represent Sherwood at the Semi-finals.  The teams did an awesome job.  Our top team,  Fangaroos, had a perfect score!  The other teams only missed one and two questions.  Jane Lopez-Santillana of Sno-Isle Regional Libraries was the presenter and Edith Farrar from Edmonds Public Library served as judge and scorekeeper.  Special thanks to Mrs. Pawling, Mr. Cooper, and Ms. Becky for working with all of the students who participated.  Good luck to Fangaroos!

The Semi-Final Challenge information is below.  The public is invited to attend and cheer on our team!

Semi-Final Reading Challenge Information
Location: Lynnwood HS Gym
Address: 18218 North Rd., Bothell, WA 98012
Date: Tuesday, March 17
Time: 6:30 PM (participants should arrive early)
Participating school in this semi-final: Cedar Way, Frank Wagner, Hilltop, and Sherwood.

Monday, March 9, 2015

Schedule Changes for Early Release Days

There are some changes for the early release days this week (Mar. 11-13).  Below is the list of who's coming to the library.....

Wednesday, March 11

  • Library CLOSED.  Mr. Sonnen will be attending the District Test Coordinator Meeting.


Thursday, March 12

  • 8:55 - 9:15  Newspaper Club, optional work time
  • 9:45 - 10:30  Mrs. Pawling's 3rd Grade Class
  • 10:45 - 11:30  Mrs. Gregerson's 2nd Grade Class
  • Library will be open recess, but laptops will not be available due to the short time.


    Friday, March 13

    • 9:45 - 10:30  Mrs. Keating's 3rd Grade Class
    • 10:45 - 11:30  Mrs. Widener's Kindergarten Class
    • Library will be open recess, but laptops will not be available due to the short time.

    Thursday, March 5, 2015

    Herald Photographer Visits Sherwood's Newspaper Club


    On Thursday, March 5, Genna Martin, staff photographer for the Everett Herald visited Sherwood.  The newspaper club met with Genna in the library and saw some of her work and found out what a newspaper photographer does.

    We studied some of her photos and learned how to take a great picture.  Then, students went out to the playground and worked on their photography skills with Genna's guidance.  Students worked together and with Genna to figure out potential subjects for their article photos.