What's Happening at the BSS Library?

A great way to read for information is to take notes in the form of an outline.  I explained that an outline gives a snapshot of all the main ideas of a passage, and can be helpful when studying for a test.  I pointed out how the more general information appears to the left, and as the information becomes more specific it is indented to the right. I like to have them try to outline "Mrs. Ferguson's Outfit," with the two main ideas being my Clothing and my Accessories.  They picked out the major pieces (top, bottom, shoes) and ( bracelet, necklace, watch), and labeled each with descriptive words.  Then we had them outline the Blessed Sacrament School Elementary Uniform, with two supporting topics (Girl and Boy).  They did a great job! The hard part is remembering to wear something easy to describe (and to accessorize!).

Jasper Rabbit is back in the followup to BSS favorite  Creepy Carrots.   Aaron Reynolds and Peter Brown collaborated once again in this hysterical story about the creepy underwear that Jasper cannot seem to get rid of.  They glow in the dark and they keep him awake at night, but whether he puts them in the laundry hamper or cuts them to pieces, they always find their way back to him.  Now that is creepy!  The glowing illustrations are a lot of fun, and the story is just the right amount of creepy for the Halloween season! We also read Annie Was Warned , about a girl who is warned by her family and friends not to go to a haunted mansion because it is much too spooky.  Annie isn't scared of anything though, especially because she was born on Halloween.  She sees some creepy things and certainly has plenty of reasons not to enter the mansion, but what will she decide?  Students love the ending of this story!

Family members, friends, and members of our BSS community sometimes ask me if I have a wish list for the library.  I of course always have one a mile long but it's usually in my head.  So I started putting some of these wishes down in an  Amazon wish list . Maybe you would like to dedicate a book to a student to honor a special occasion, such as a birthday or Christmas.  Or maybe a grandparent would love to honor his or her grandchildren with a special book with their names inside.  Or maybe you just want to make sure that the library is stocked with more great books!  You have the option to have the book sent to the school address on file or send it to yourself and have your child bring it to the Library.  Once the book is received and cataloged, I will add a special bookplate with the student's name on it. When you are checking out on Amazon, under gift options there is a spot to write a note and here is where you could specify what the bookplate sho...

Thunder Cake is my favorite book by Patricia Polacco, who grew up in Michigan where there was plenty of stormy weather.  A girl is terribly frightened by the thunder and lightning and hides under the bed, until her grandmother - her Babushka - tells her she needs to come and help her make Thunder Cake before the storm gets all the way to their farmhouse. The girl gathers eggs from the mean old hen who likes to peck, milks the cow who likes to kick people, and climbs high on the trellis to gather the secret ingredient (overripe tomatoes).  Each time they see the lightning, they count until they hear the thunder to see how many miles away the storm is.  When they finally get the cake in the oven, the grandmother says there is no way the girl could be scared of a little old thunder and lightning since she performed so many brave tasks that day.  There’s a lot of great onomatopoeia in the story, especially the “Boom Baroooooom!” of the thunder. The  book...

Preschool students were great, sitting for three pumpkin stories this week.  Many of them helped me with the reading of  Five Little Pumpkins  since they were familiar with the rhymes. They enjoyed hearing how the Jack-o-lantern in  Pumpkin Jack  was tossed in the yard after it began to rot, and after the long winter a new plant began to sprout in the spring.  It's a great story of how things grow and how a big ingredient is patience!  Happy Halloween, Stinky Face  is a fun Halloween book, and after reading the students enjoyed sharing with me what they planned on dressing up as this year. I can't wait to see all these great costume ideas!

Not only did we “visit” 14 states around the U.S.A., but we also read many synonyms for the word “big” throughout this book by Wendell Minor.  Did you know that in Vermont and in other New England states, enormous pumpkins are turned into boats to race in a regatta? Or that the world record for biggest pumpkin was set at the Toppsfield Fair in Massachusetts? Could the most colossal pumpkin fill the Grand Canyon? Students had fun guessing the setting for each page, and recalled several of the synonyms for the word “big” from the book. View the book trailer here: https://youtu.be/w646799lLj8

Second graders have been listening to some Little Red Riding Hood tales from around the world.  This week we traveled to Ghana and read  Pretty Salma: A Little Red Riding Hood Story from Africa  by Niki Daly, and then we read  Lon Po Po : A Red-Riding Hood Story From China by Ed Young.  The students were great at picking out details that were similar across the stories and also the differences.  Next time we will create a Venn Diagram to chart the similarities and differences we found.