Bookfair

Click Here to See the Online Fair!

To preview books or purchase online, go to Brimhall's Online Book Fair! Available Apr 16 - May 2 Only!

Finally Some More Caldecotts

We have been reading Caldecotts...as you can see they were such a hit, they were reread by my five year old.

 

Mother Goose (1945 Honor) Tasha Tudor

High This delightful book of rhymes was a huge hit for both of my kiddos. They loved that it had many "chapters," since there was a table of contents in the front. They also loved reciting the rhymes that they knew. A huge hit was "Ding dong bell, pussy's in the well..." which my mother had just taught them the prior week.

 

Low  I was unfamiliar with many of the rhymes, and had a difficult time finding the rhyme and rhythm of them.

 

 

Many Moons (1944 Winner) by James Thurber, Illustrated by Louis Slobodkin

 

High This clever little tale about a spoiled princess that wants the moon had a fun story that both my kids enjoyed. Above, Frankie is pointing to her favorite illustration of the princess in her bed. Notice all of the pink. We read this story three nights in a row.

 

Low We read this story three nights in a row.  (kind of long....and predictable)

Big Nate T-Shirt Winner

S. from 4Y won the signed Big Nate t-shirt. He is a Big Nate fan, and so excited!

Dewey with Third Grade

 In third grade, students have been working to find books in the nonfiction section of our library.

I taught the students how the call numbers worked, and the arrangement of our library. They then worked to find different books using prepared cards that have and image of the book and the call number.

Students worked with a partner. One student found the book, and the other was a human shelf marker while the finder brought the book and the card to me or their teacher to check. Students then reversed roles. An added bonus was that many books in the nonfiction section were checked out, because students thought they looked interesting.

Links to 6th Grade Websites

In 6th Grade, students learned how to create websites to teach others about the information they had learned in Social Studies. Click on the links below to see their great work:

1.	Zach6k	22.	Sam (6- J)	43.	roman( 6k)
2.	Oman6k	23.	Liam (6- J)	44.	Quinton( 6K)
3.	Angela 6K	24.	Jerry 6-J	45.	navid (6k)
4.	Akiko6R	25.	joshua (6- J)	46.	Emily (6- K)
5.	annabel6R	26.	Devin 6J	47.	Jason( 6K)
6.	brandon6r	27.	Emile6J	48.	Julia (6K)
7.	Hafeni6r	28.	Teigan (6J)	49.	Elian (6k)
8.	Dai6R	29.	Zach 6J	50.	Frank( 6K)
9.	Jungho (6- R)	30.	Lizzy (6- J)	51.	Will (6k)
10.	Chance6R	31.	ryan 6j	52.	Hae- joo (6- K)
11.	Jun6- R	32.	Karl- 6J	53.	alexia pliego
12.	Anmol (6- R)	33.	Calvin (6J)	54.	Claire (6- R)
13.	Sam6R	34.	Lia (6J)	55.	Claudia 6-R
14.	Austin 6-R	35.	Owen (6- J)	56.	Sophie (6R)
15.	R' Elle6R	36.	Sammy 6J	57.	Maggie (6R)
16.	skielett 6R	37.	Isabel (6- J)	58.	Seth (6R)
17.	Aya (6- R)	38.	Aniruddha 6j	59.	Ethan (6R)
18.	Marc 6R	39.	Claire (6K)	60.	Kristina (6K)
19.	Megan- 6K	40.	Stefanno (6k)
20.	Kaitlyn (6K)	41.	Colin (6K)
21.	michael- 6J	42.	Kasyah (6K)

Research

Research has been thriving at Brimhall this spring. In 3rd grade, students have been using books to take notes independently on different topics about Native American Cultures of the Southwest. Students worked brainstormed what they wanted to learn to teach others, learning note taking skills, and practiced using the index and table of contents to find important information. We also worked really hard to put our notes into our own words so that we would not plagiarize.

In 2nd Grade, classes used an eBook to conduct research. Classes thought of 3 facts they wanted to learn about the Liberty Bell. I modeled using the eBook, and we found the answers to two of their questions together. Students then worked in partnerships to answer the third question and find extra information. These mini guided research projects are really preparing them for their work in 3rd grade.

Dewey in Our Library

In fifth grade we learned about how the Dewey Decimal System helps organize the nonfiction side of our library.

Students learned what each of the hundreds classified as a class. We then broke up into small groups of 2-3 students to examine one section closer. Students first looked at the books and the heading for each section. They then chose 5-6 books that really represented that section of our library and recorded the title of the book and call number on a note card. This week, students went back to the shelves, and photographed the books they had chosen. Next week, we will be learning how to edit our photos and upload them to Glogster (I thought I would get my 5th graders prepped for the big Glogster project they will do next year). Look for our work about Dewey in Our Library soon!

Pete the Cat

In Kindergarten this week we were rocking out to Pete the Cat by Eric Litwin. Seriously, life doesn't get much better than singing and reading with the kindergartners.

If you have not yet read Pete the Cat, I highly recommend reading it and singing with this song: Pete the Cat Song.



....and here is Pete Rocking in My School Shoes.

Eric Litwin's new book Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons comes out next month--we can hardly wait!

Liberty Bell Research

In 2nd Grade we are using ebooks to research the Liberty Bell. I purchased one book from Mackin Via. For research it is allowing multiple students to view the same text at the same time, for a reasonable price. Students may access the ebooks from home or from school.

Today J. brought me a miniature of the bell that he got in Philadelphia, since he thought we would enjoy seeing it. He also took notes on what the bell says in English and Korean

I love these kids and their excitement about learning new skills!

H. and J. with notes and the bell

Liberty Bell Notes