What's Happening at the BSS Library?

In this very short week we read some more Thanksgiving books. Here are two! BALLOONS OVER BROADWAY BY MELISSA SWEET 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!  I did hear that it might be too windy this year to include the giant characters. After I talked them up to get the students excited about watching the parade, let's hope that the forecast changes! THANKSGIVING ORIGAMI! As a fun way to kick off the break, 5th graders made origami turkeys.  We based the project from the book  More Thanksgiving Origami  by Ruth Owen. It was a bit challengin...

It was another fun week here at the library!  We read more Thanksgiving stories, got a bunch of new books from the Scholastic Book Fair, continued animal research in fourth grade, and found out students' "Genre Personality" in 5th Grade. Here are some highlights of the week: BOOK DONATION FROM OUR WISH LIST Thank you to the Miller family for purchasing the funny (and punny) book, 7 Ate 9: The Untold Story , in honor of Jackson's 7th birthday. It is always exciting to get new books, and I know the students will love this one! (See our Amazon Wish list here ). MORE THANKSGIVING STORIES THE PERFECT THANKSGIVING BY EILEEN SPINELLI First graders enjoyed hearing about the two families portrayed in  The Perfect Thanksgiving  by Eileen Spinelli.  Abigail Archer's family was perfect in every way- from the perfectly cooked turkey to the well-mannered guests, to the mother who was all dressed up and baked homemade pies. The narrator of the story explained that h...

NOVEMBER IS A MONTH FOR GIVING THANKS It was a short week with the Veterans Day holiday.   I aim to read books with themes of thankfulness and generosity during the month of November.  Also, fourth graders have begun their research for their animal projects.  We began last week by finding resources in the library to help with the project. THANKSGIVING BOOKS There is a wonderful book called  Thank You, Omu!  by Oge Mora. In Nigeria, "Omu" (pronounced AH-moo) is the Igbo term for "queen," and it was the word Mora used to refer to her Grandma. In the story, Omu is preparing a delicious thick red stew, and the lovely aroma wafts outside and attracts several people from the neighborhood. Because she is so generous, Omu shares her stew with every person who knocks on her door.  But when it is her dinner time and she prepares to fill her own bowl, she is saddened to realize she has given it all away.  The ending is very heartwarming an...

IN NOVEMBER WE CELEBRATE VETERANS DAY We have been reading books about Veterans Day to celebrate the holiday on Monday.  First graders learned about the meaning of the words from the Pledge of Allegiance. 5th graders learned about the symbolic place settings set for our POW's, MIA's, and those soldiers who never made it home from war. We also read some books about animals who helped in the war and a service dog who helps a veteran suffering from PTSD. Hopefully everyone gets a chance to thank a veteran for their dedication to our country and their hard work to keep us safe! A NEW BOOK FROM OUR WISH LIST! Thank you to the Schiavo family for purchasing  I am Marie Curie  by Brad Meltzer for the library in honor of Lizzy's birthday! Mrs. Ferullo thought it was a great choice and said when she was in the third grade, she did a report on Marie Curie! The Ordinary People Who Changed the World is a great series, and I am glad to add another to our collection. It wa...