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.

Biggest Book Fair Yet!!!

Thank you for a great start to our book fair.  We are 1/3 of the way to meeting our goal!

Beginning this Friday, April 13th through Thursday, April 19th we will be holding our annual Scholastic Book Fair.  This book fair is so important for our community for two important reasons.  First, getting the right fit books into your child's hands to create a love for reading, adventure, knowledge, and deepening their senses of a greater world around them is so essential for developing character and depth of brain development.  Second, this fair is our biggest fundraiser to bring new books to our growing library collection.  Our goal is to sell 600 books which will bring in about $1000 in profit for our library!  We will be having the book fair open during our student-led conferences.  Please take a stroll through and "Paws for Books".
Please click on the following link to take you to our online book fair as well as more information.  Don't forget to browse our teacher wish baskets.  Thank you for all your support.

OBOB Results

Our Enchanted Readers and Rock-n-Roll Readers represented MRA proudly during their battles this past Saturday at our County Regional Tournament.  These ladies read 16 books, memorized titles and authors, and recalled many details of dates and characters in each.   Each battle consists of 16 questions.  The first 8 questions are identifying in which book some detail is found.  The second 8 questions are content questions and can be from any of the 16 books.  It takes a lot of focus, dedication, and commitment to reach this achievement.  We are so proud of these ladies.  

From left to right:  Lily Olson, Elise Quinlan, Hope Wanderscheid, and Rachel Zacher

Our Enchanted Readers (3rd-5th grade team) won one of their four battles and gained a combined total of 95 points.  From this experience they had fun reading books together and are determined to become a better team for next year's battle.  

From left to right:  Layla Ball, Shelby Goetz, Kylie Benim, and Annie Border

Our Rock-n-Roll Readers (6th-8th grade team) soared through their first four battles and came out ahead.  They had a combined 155 total points which took them to the Sweet 16 round.  They were in 9th place at this point.  They battled fiercely but lost to St. Mary's by just 10 points.  To be in our county's top 16 schools is quite an accomplishment.  With their many commitments to other extracurricular activities,  they've made sacrifices to give up their lunch and recess times to dedicate to this competition.  We are proud.
Please help me in congratulating these readers.  

Celebrating Dr. Seuss