What's Happening at the BSS Library?

 I have been working on gathering resources onto a new Google Site! It is still in the beginning stages, but check out what I've added so far.  There are plenty of read alouds and instructions for BSS students to access ebooks on the Destiny Discover library catalog.  If you have any questions, feel free to email me! BSS Virtual Library Site

Because it has been difficult lately for many people to access books, I have been gathering read alouds here on my " Virtual Library ." I will be updating these pages, so check back often!

Scary Stories for Young Foxes by Christian McKay Heidicker and illustrated by Junyi Wu   CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON ABOVE TO LISTEN TO THE AUDIO OF THIS REVIEW This story begins with seven fox kits begging their mother to tell them a scary story. Their mother says if they really want to hear   “a story so frightening it will put the white in your tail," they need to venture out into Antler Wood to find a storyteller who lives in Bog Cavern. So the brave kits do just that. And the kits get just what they asked for - six stories that are so dark and so scary and so creepy that one by one the foxes run back home to their mother. The scary story revolves around two young foxes named Mia and Uly. Mia and her mother are forced to leave their den when members of their family are stricken with "the yellow," a disease which sounds a lot like rabies. When Mia and her mother become separated, she is forced to live on her own until she can reunite with her mother. Uly is constantly t...

I have posted information about required and suggested summer reading in the  Summer Reading page  of this blog.  I love creating suggested reading lists for students, and I know how important it is for students to be able to choose what they want to read.  I will be updating it throughout the summer, so be sure to check back! I also included information on how to access the e-books purchased by BSS for students to read. To go right to my lists of suggested reading by grade,  visit this link .

Click on the image below and choose an activity that you are interested in! Clicking on the links will bring you to different slides or websites. You can make the slides larger by entering full screen mode (click on the square next to the gear at the bottom of the slide). You can always click the "Go Back Home" button to return to the main menu. Have fun!

I was very inspired by this story, Emmanuel's Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah . At the time of his birth in Ghana in West Africa, he only had one functional leg. He was otherwise healthy, but where he lived disabled people typically did not go to school or work but rather just begged for money.  His mother encouraged him to go to school and do the things that other children could do. His life story was made into a documentary called Emmanuel's Gift, which I highly recommend for anyone interested in his story.

I thought that this book would be a nice send off as the students head off into summer vacation.  It's a simple and sweet story about the things we hope for those that we love. I hope that everyone has a fantastic summer!

Hello BSS Students and Families, As we transition into online learning, I have been gathering links to ebooks, audiobooks, and other virtual activities that students can use at home. I've gathered these resources onto my Online Resources   page so take a look!  I have also created pages for: Read Alouds by Mrs. Ferguson Author's Websites and Social Media Pages Weekly Library Choice Board (choices of activities to try, will be changed every week) March Book Madness Voting (to vote for BSS students' favorite picture book) View the Pages section of this blog to see other material too! Feel free to comment on any of the posts to let me know what you enjoyed or if you have questions.  You can also email me with any photos or your child learning at home so we can post to the BSS social media pages. I will be having virtual Zoom office hours on Wednesdays at 11:30 (information will be provided by the classroom teachers on either Seesaw or Google Classroom)....

J. K. Rowling  is releasing a new book called  The Ickabog ! She is posting two chapters per day online. AND she wants children to illustrate the printed version! More details can be found at:   https://www.theickabog.com/home/

Here is another Final Four contender by Drew Daywalt. Adam Rex's illustrations really complete this hysterical book!

Overdrive has an app for students called Sora, and the company is giving our school free access to some of their ebooks and audiobooks until June 30th.  Here's how to access them: Visit this link:  https://soraapp.com/library/ blesssacma .  (There is also a Sora app you could download.) For Grades 3-8 and for faculty: Where it says Select your School, choose "Google (Grades 3+)." Then click on the green button that says "Sign in Using Google Grades 3+." You will then log in with the same credentials that you do for your BSS Google account. For Grades PreK-2: Where it says Select Your School, choose "User ID." I will be sending you your usernames and passwords.  You will enter your username where it says "Library Card," and then click the green Sign In button. Once you are logged in, you can browse ebooks and audiobooks.  There are some great ebooks and/or audiobook chapter books like Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, In...

Ben's Dream is another great story by Chris Van Allsburg, the author of The Polar Express, Jumanji, The Widow's Broom, Two Bad Ants , and many others. Click on the play button to hear me reading it out loud.  If you are interested in learning more about landmarks, check out the collection I created in EPIC . Click the tool in the right corner to view the video in full screen.

Click the tool in the right corner for full screen. People are talking an awful lot about germs these days.  It is on our minds constantly just how easy it is for germs to spread.  Told in a very entertaining way by Microbiologist Ben Barak, this story serves as an important reminder of how easily germs can spread from a book to your finger to your mouth. Everyone might be tired of being constantly reminded to keep hands clean (and to avoid licking things like books!), but this story does so in a way that is not too preachy. Here is a great BrainPOP, Jr. video about the importance of washing our hands: SEE MORE OF MRS. FERGUSON'S READ ALOUDS HERE!

Click the tool in the right corner for full screen viewing. I am a huge fan of this book! The premise, the history, the illustrations--all revolving around the oldest dessert in Western civilization. This dessert is called Blackberry Fool, made from fresh berries and cream. The book describes families from four generation (1710 in Lyme, England, 1810 in Charleston, South Carolina, 1910 in Boston, and 2010 in San Diego, California) preparing this dessert. The word “fool” originated from the French word “fouler” which means “to mash” or “to press,” which is what you must do to the berries in this recipe. The video I posted below is a fascinating look at the research that went into the making of this book. It was fun to watch them actually make the dessert. They even tried whipping the cream using a homemade twig whisk! I found it to be fascinating that Sophie Blackall used actual blackberries as paint to decorate the endpapers of this book (see the photo below). B...

April is National Poetry Month! Read a poem out loud each day. Practice it a few times and you will find it sounds better each time you read it! If the page isn't loading correctly, use this link instead.

BSS Library Choice Board #1 Please select at least one of these (hopefully fun!) activities to complete this week. Please comment below or email me if you have questions, if you'd like to share a photo or a description of what you chose, or if you just want to say, “Hi!”  Choice #1- Read a Book! Read a book you have at your house or an ebook from the list of online resources I posted. Or listen to my read aloud of Mrs. Roopy is Loopy from the My Weird School series here . Check out the list of " Amazing Ways to Read ," and challenge yourself to try as many of these ideas as possible! Choice #2- Wonderopolis Wonderopolis answers all your burning questions! Read one of the Wonders of the Day and then click the Test Your Knowledge button to see how much you remember. What are you wondering? Add your question on the Wonderopolis site here . Choice #3- Write a Book Review Search for a book you loved from the BSS Librar...

Click the tool in the right corner of the video to view in full screen. In honor of March's character trait of the month (honesty), I have selected The Honest-to-Goodness Truth by Patricia C. McKissack and illustrated by Giselle Potter.  Temporary permission to post this reading online has been granted by Simon and Schuster.

MRS. ROOPY IS LOOPY  (BOOK #3 IN THE MY WEIRD SCHOOL SERIES)  BY DAN GUTMAN AND ILLUSTRATED BY JIM PAILLOT Dan Gutman and Harper Collins have given temporary permission to post this reading online to share with students during school closures. The entire recording lasts 40 minutes, so I divided the reading into four sections. If you enjoy this series, be sure to like Dan Gutman on Facebook, where he has been reading live from his books every day (I believe at 2:00). I hope you enjoyed this read aloud! Mrs. Roopy is making me look bad...I guess I have to start dressing up in costumes more often! I guess dressing up as book characters is more my forte...

READ ALOUD OF BIG RED LOLLIPOP Big Red Lollipop by Rukhsana Khan and illustrated by Sophie Blackall is a great story about sibling rivalry and about a family getting used to the customs of a new country. After watching my read aloud, I recommend that you watch the video below of the author discussing how this book was inspired by an incident from her childhood. Students should make sure they ask permission from their parents before going on You Tube to watch the author video. Click the tool in the right corner of the video to view in full screen. AUTHOR RUKHSANA KHAN VIDEO LEARN MORE ABOUT PAKISTAN There are several online resources and books to help you learn more about the country of Pakistan, which is where the author Rukhsana Khan was born. EPIC. There are several books about Pakistan in the EPIC collection. Many are nonfiction books about Pakistan, a couple are stories where the setting is in Pakistan, and several books are about one ...

If you are in need of some entertainment, here's a video I created earlier in the year featuring all the things that BSS does so well. It is one way to see some familiar faces!  I had to make it low quality to upload it here (the original file with better quality can be found here on Facebook ). Enjoy!