What's Happening at the BSS Library?

I've created various LEGO Challenges for students to complete, and they were excited to dive right in!  One challenge is to create book characters out of LEGO.  I printed some samples to guide them, including Mo Willem's Pigeon, The Gruffalo, The Cat in the Hat, the Sneetches, and the Hungry Caterpillar.  Other challenges include replicating various landmarks from around the world (Eiffel Tower, Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Pyramids, etc.).  Fun! Below are photos of third grade girls recreating Olivia, and  two students making the Pigeon!

Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall is one of the March Madness selections in the picture book bracket. In the story, Jabari is afraid to jump off the (very) high diving board, and after some encouragement from his father and some deep breaths, he goes through with his dive. It was a great example of a character facing his fears! After reading it, I challenged students to construct their own high diving board out of legos, Lincoln Logs, popsicle sticks, or K'nex.  They were up for the task and did a spectacular job!  

Watching the The Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade has been a tradition for many families. But how did this tradition begin? I read Balloons Over Broadway with several of my classes this season, which tells the biography of Tony Sarg, who invented the first character balloons for the floats for the biggest parade around on Thanksgiving. Incredible illustrations by Melissa Sweet make this picture book biography as inviting as a warm Thanksgiving gathering!

The March Madness books were announced this week, and right away I began reading one of the selections.  We should have plenty of time to read the 16 picture books chosen before March, and then we will be able to vote for our favorites. I read Thunder Boy Jr. to Kindergarten today, and it was a big hit.  Sherman Alexie, who grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in the eastern part of Washington state, has written many books, poems, and films about his experiences as an Indigenous American.  Thunder Boy Jr. tells the story of a young boy who was named after his father, Thunder Boy Senior.  As much as he loves his dad, Thunder Boy longs for his own name. A "normal" one that is special just for him.  For instance, he once touched an orca on the nose, so maybe his name should be "Not Afraid of Ten Thousand Teeth."  Or since he once climbed a mountain, maybe his name should be "Touch the Clouds." The students loved hearing the many suggestions of names h

Dan Santat has written yet another amazing picture book, this one about how Humpty Dumpty is faring after his infamous fall.  Humpty tells us that even though all the kings' men managed to put him back together, there were some parts of him that couldn't be fixed with bandages and glue.  After reading, we realized that the part that couldn't be fixed was his fear of heights.  He says he used to love climbing up the wall to watch the birds fly by, but since his fall he hasn't had the courage to climb up.  So instead he makes a paper airplane resembling a bird, and flies it high in the sky.  Where does it land? On top of "the" wall.  He worked really hard on the airplane, so he decides to face his fears and climbs the ladder way up to the wall.  The timing was great for reading this book to 4A, since we had just come from mass.  Fr. Joe handed out erasers to all the students yesterday, telling them that everyone makes mistakes but we can erase them and ma