Fall Back Into Reading In The Meadow

Welcome back to our Mountain Meadow Library.  Did you get some good summer reading in?  I would love to hear what new titles you read and fell in love with.  

We have added some great new titles to the library over the summer, thanks to some great student recommendations. Here are a few...

Our 2020 OBOB (Battle of the Books) titles have been added and eagerly waiting to be read.  

Here are a few reminders for the 2019-20 school year:

  

Spring Dino-mite Book Fair

When:  Thursday, April 11th-
             Thursday, April 18th
Time:    Before and After School
             Open During Student Conferences
Where: WildWoods Gym

Please remember to check out the new E-Wallet option for payment.  

https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bookfairs/cptoolkit/homepage.do?method=homepage&url=molallariveracademy1

A Busy Week!

Thank you to Michelle Nelson-Schmidt and her inspiring message of perseverance this week.  Our students were encouraged to keep working hard after their dreams and doing what "lights" them up.  We had some great insights and reflections afterwards and many aspiring to be authors and illustrators just like Michelle.    

Both our OBOB teams competed this Saturday in our regional county tournament.  Each team battled hard.  Our 3rd-5th grade team learned about the intensity of the competition and learned that perseverance is hard work.  We hope to use what we learned in our losses to make us stronger for the next time.  

Our 6th-8th team made it into the Sweet 16 round and came close to moving on.  I am proud of the hard work that both these teams put into this competition but prouder still of the way they encouraged and congratulated their opponents.  

Michelle Nelson-Schmidt Visit!

We are looking forward to meeting a special author and illustrator, Michelle Nelson-Schmidt, this coming Tuesday, March 5th! She will be hosting an assembly in the Wild Woods Gym from 9AM-9:45AM.  All MRA families are welcome to join us.  

Library classes have read Jonathan James and the Whatif Monster this week and created their "whatif" statements.  In this adorable book, Jonathan James is plagued with the nagging thoughts of "what if..." only to find out in the end that he can overcome those fears by thinking positively.  Our students thought about what fears or anxieties they may have and we made a bulletin board that is displayed in front of the media center.  Please take time to stop by and read these thoughts.  

Order forms for her books will be sent home with your students this week.  We hope to see you on Tuesday!  

Dr. Seuss and Congratulations!

This week we are celebrating the life of Dr. Seuss and his whimsical writings through a Seuss-a-thon!  We are asking students who want to participate to read at least 10 Dr. Seuss books this week.  They will be given a list of books to chose from and after a signature from a parent/guardian they will bring the sheet back to me to receive a poster.  Students will also get a chance to read more Dr. Seuss books on Wednesday with their buddies.  Please contact me if you have any questions.

Dr. Seuss-A-Thon Reading List

Can you read 10 or more Dr. Seuss books this week?  Check off the ones you read and come to the library to get your prize!

Battle Off!

This Wednesday, February 20th at 12:15 our 3rd-5th Grade OBOB teams will be battling in front of the whole school to see who will move on to Regionals!  All our eight teams have worked so hard in participating in this year's OBOB.  We will be recognizing every team's hard work. 

In the 6th-8th grade division our A.S.S.K Readers team (Annie B., Shelby G., Kylie B., and Sean M.) will be attending County Regionals on March 9th!  The Reading Spell team put up a great fight and had some close battles!  

Thank you to our teams and their commitment to reading. 

Upcoming Author Visit!!!!

We are excited to announce that MRA will be hosting an author visit on Tuesday, March 5th!  Michelle Nelson-Schmidt is the author and illustrator of Cordelia, Jonathan James and the Whatif Monster, Dog and Mouse, Bob is a Unicorn, and more.  



She will be sharing her inspiring story of overcoming obstacles of doubts and rejection in becoming the author and illustrator she is today.  She brings enthusiasm and passion to students to continue the journey.    

I travel to schools all over the United States reading my books, talking about my journey and encouraging them to follow their dreams – through hard work and perseverance.  

I love that I get to show my children and all the children I meet that life is what you make it—and that persistence and hard work will overcome almost any obstacle. 
                               -Michelle Nelson-Schmidt


Please click on the following links to learn more about Michelle and stay tune for more information.  

Michelle Nelson-Schmidt

Library Updates

Our 3rd-5th grade OBOB battles will begin this week!  We are excited to begin the double elimination tournament and would love your support.  We will meet in Mr. Dante's room at 11:50.  The 6th-8th grade battles will begin on Jan. 29th.

                 Infinity Readers battling The Wild Readers

The Trillium continue to explore well-known illustrators and will spend time exploring some Chinese American authors.  We read Lon Po Po by Ed Young, a Chinese folktale, similar to our Little Red Ridding Hood and we will continue to look at other folktales from Asia.  

The Huckleberries learned the importance of unlocking information about space efficiently by using text features such as the use of a table of contents, an index, keywords and glossary.  We are reading biographies of influential personal who helped make discoveries in and about space.  A favorite this week was Margaret and the Moon. 

The Clarkia are becoming more aware of how the Dewey decimal system works in the library to organize different subjects.  They have been on book hunts to discover subjects from the 000-900s!  We met Meriwether Lewis' infamous Newfoundland puppy this week in the story of Seaman's Journal.  

New Arrivals

Most of our new Usborne Books are here!  We were able to add $1000 worth of new books to our library collection.  Please stop by and check them out.  

Trillium have been working on learning some key illustrators in children's literature.  Mo Willems, Dr. Seuss, Lois Ehlert, Chris Van Allsburg and more have been our focus.  We have also read many Caldecott Award books and discussed the different medias to create award winning pictures.

Huckleberries continue to explore the elements in fiction and nonfiction literature.  We are reading fun books that deal with different cuisines throughout the world.  One of our favorite books has been,  "What's For Lunch?  How Schoolchildren Eat Around the World" by Andrea Curtis.

Clarkia continue to explore the text elements of nonfiction and discover that our brain uses different methods of reading when we explore fiction vs. nonfiction texts.  In the weeks to come  we will discover who Melvil Dewey was and how he created a system of organization we still use today in most libraries around the world.      

Thank You!

Thank you for a very successful book fair!  This was our biggest fair in sales yet.   We were able to give our teachers some great books for their classrooms and were able to buy $1200 in books for our library.  Thank you for your support. 

Trillium library classes continue to discover the different parts of books and the information it provides.  They are discovering well-known children's authors such as: Mo Willems, Dr. Seuss, Eric Carle, and more.  They learned how to make a wish list for our book fair using our right-fit rule.

Huckleberries have learned what information you can find on the title page and that a book's summary is often found on the back cover.  We have read some great books from our Usborne Book fair, including the popular Bug Hotel book.  We are excited to have this book added to our library collection.

Clarkia classes continue to discover the elements of fiction and nonfiction books.  They have learned how to use our electronic card catalog and are becoming independent in finding their resources.  We are gearing up for OBOB and listening to book talks about these books.  

Usborne Book Fair Will Be Here Soon!

Right-Fit Books And More

In all library classes this week we have continued to use tools to help us find "right-fit" books.  

The Trillium were introduced to the three parts of a book; the front cover, the spine, and the back cover.  We will be learning about the  important information that are included on these parts.  We read one of my favorite books this week to go along with our garden theme of gourds.  





The Huckleberry classes are reviewing the parts of the book and were introduced to the title page.  They learned that every book has a birthday just like they do.  We are busy locating copyright dates of the different books we check out.  We read a story about a community coming together to make a house a home for a Gigi, a grandmother in the community.  It's a heartwarming story of the power of togetherness.  



The Clarkia classes are identifying the similarities and differences of a nonfiction and fiction story.  We are learning how to use our electronic card catalog, Alexandria to find our right-fit books.  We read a delightful and funny story from the author's viewpoint, Mac Barnett, of how his story became a book.  He told us that it took 21 drafts to get this book to the publisher and how editing was a long process.  We had a good discussion on their own narrative writing process and how much work it is.  We discussed how rewarding it can be in the end when you've given a gift of a story to the world.  

What Is OBOB?

Oregon Battle of the Books is a fun and competitive way to engage young readers into different types of literature.  MRA has participated in OBOB for the past six years.   The competition is open to students in grades third through eighth with the 3rd-5th grade being one division and 6th-8th the other division.  

 Students are divided into teams of 4 or 5 and then expected to read at least eight of the sixteen books from the selected list.  At this time we are encouraging all students who may be interested, to be reading as many of the books from their grade list as possible.  In November, we begin meeting and discussing the books.  These meetings will happen during lunch.  In January, our school battles begin. Students compete in a tournament somewhat like Jeopardy, in which students earn points by answering questions about the books.

In our library classes we have been doing books talks on these books and discussing.  The enthusiasm is high.  Please continue to encourage your child to check out these books.  

3rd-5th Grade Book List:

*  3rd-5th will not be reading George by Alex Gino

Book Nooks

 Finding the right book and the perfect place to immerse yourself in the book to an important part of learning how to become strong readers.

This week our Trillium and Huckleberry classes continued to practice finding the "right-fit" book to check out and we read a fun story titled, Do Not Bring Your Dragon To The Library.

                                                              

In Clarkia classes we had a fun discussion about the different types of bridges they are discovering.  We talked about the upcoming Portland Bridge Tour and came to find out that many of us did not know what an Ariel tram was.  I am anxious to hear what they found out after Monday's field trip. We read an informative book on the life of a drawbridge operator.  

Books We Read This Week

  

Some of the great books we read this week during library classes.  

 This is a great story to introduce students to what a library is and what the job of a librarian is.  With fun pictures it keeps all well entertained.

This book is a great way to teach library check out procedures and etiquette while rhyming.  Ms. Blythe helped compose a complete rhythmic chant for our library classes.  The students all love to clap along to our beat and learn quickly how to follow our library procedures through this lovely book.




Weslandia is a story of a boy who develops his own civilization.  Through his creative designs from the ground up he realizes the importance of community and what it takes to make it successful.  The Clarkia classes enjoyed, Wesley's creative way he created his own clothes, food, and sports.  

New Titles!!

We have eased back into our library routine in the Mountain Meadow.  We have reacquainted ourselves with our library routines and expectations.  In the Huckleberry classes we have learned how even a lion in the library can follow the behaviors leading to successful library community.

The Clarkia classes have jumped in with review our Shelf Elf slogans on book care.  Here are some of our favorites:  

Turn the pages with great care, leave them whole without a tear.
Keep your books clean and neat, Away from all you drink and eat.
Return your books when they are due, So others can enjoy them too.
Keep books safe and out of view, from little ones and pets that chew.  

Please remember to help your child to bring back their library book on their library days!

Trillium:  Monday

 Huckleberry North:  Tuesday

Clarkia Classes:  Wednesday

Huckleberry South:  Friday

Here are some new titles to our library:  

Welcome to 2018-19 School Year

Dear MRA Families,

I would like to welcome you and your students to a new school year!  It was exciting to see how many student participated in our scholastic summer reading program.  We have read for a combined 27,666 minutes! I am looking forward to creating an environment for a passion and love for books and resources.   I encourage you to come and wander around our media center. We’ve been busy adding new books to our library collection.

I am excited to see that our library collection has grown and is growing.  With that in mind I want to make sure that we continue to respect the gifts of books we have been given.  The students will be challenged to understand that our media center is a special collection of resources and requires care from all users.  We will be focusing on how to locate and access many different digital/print resources. They will be using the information they gather in their classroom and personal projects.   I hope you will partner with me in helping our students become responsible learners.

The students (K-8thth) will have a media center time each week and will be allowed to check out 1-4 books depending on age and responsibility shown.   They have two weeks to read and enjoy their books. After that time if they have not returned their overdue books they will not be able to check out another until those are returned.  If a book becomes lost or damaged (accidents happen) please let me know. Then a fee will be issued to replace the book unless we can come to another agreement.

I am looking forward to a great year and thank you for your support.  Let me know if you have any questions. iquinlan@mra-k8.com

Happy Reading!

Summer Reading Program

Summer is good time to instill lifetime habbits. One of those all important habits is keeping your child invested in reading.  It has been researched and proven that children who read during the summer have a head start over others when fall rolls around and school begins. Take time to check out our local library, join summer reading clubs, and find a fun book to read together. This is such a valuable asset to our community of learning at MRA.  

Your child should come home this week with their Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge packet. It includes a letter explaining the program and your child's username and password to keep track of minutes read this summer. They have the opportunity to unlock prizes and other activities.

The Alder and Cedars have compiled a list of their favorite books. Along with some teacher recommendations we are encouraging them to read five or more books this summer. We would love your help in encouraging our young adults to continue to read.

Update On Library Classes

Trillium have been learning the difference between fiction and nonfiction texts.  We are discovering that a proper definition of a fiction book is more then "not real".  Fiction stories are ideas that come from an author's imagination.  Nonfiction books are books that give us information and facts about a subject we may want to learn more about.  Our purpose to read fiction books is for entertainment and our purpose to read nonfiction is to learn.  We have been reading books about chickens, eggs, elephants, and more and putting them into the correct genre. Including this delightful story about an unlikely friendship built between elephant and dog.

The Huckleberry classes have been reading the folktales of Stone Soup.  We have learned that this fun tale came first from France and then has spread across the world in it's many different versions.  We have planted our very own stone soup garden in the school garden and can't wait to try our hand at creating our own stone soup recipe.

       

The Clarkia have been looking into Native American heroes under the biography genre.  We have read some heart-touching stories of real Native American's that have overcome great odds to make a difference in our world.  "Saltypie" is a story told by a Choctaw woman's grandson on how she overcame being different not only by skin color but blindness.  Her determination to never give up inspired the story Tim Tingle wrote.  We also read a few stories about the residence boarding schools that many of Native American children were sent to and how these children tried to hold on to the memories of their tribes and traditions.

  

  

Thank you!

Thank you to all who participated in this year's Scholastic Book Fair.  We sold 629 books and made close to $1000 in profit.  This money will be used to buy books for the library.  The students are making their suggestions and we can't wait to add to our collection. 

I would like to give a special thank you to K'yla Djoseland for all her help and support during our bookfair.  Thank you to all our faithful bookfair volunteers.  We appreciate you.