Sharing Books Using Fodey

Example from Fodey Website

I've been looking for ways for the students to share about the books they have read and enjoyed.  During my recent trip to Austin for TCEA,  one of the things I learned about was  Fodey.com.  This is such a fun tool for students to use!  The students insert their own information into the form and a newspaper clipping is produced!  

5th graders used this tool this week to write book reviews for Wonder by R.J. Palacio. Most classes in grades 4-6 have read this book this year as a read aloud.  The students have loved this book!  
Auggie, a ten year old boy, was born with severe facial deformities.  His parents have home-schooled him for most of his life but have decided it is time for him to go to school.  The book is told through multiple points of view, including Auggie's sister, as well as friends he makes at his new school.  It is a touching book with a powerful message!  I have loved hearing the students share their thoughts about Auggie and the book, Wonder!  

We are working on setting up a Skype with 5th grade students in Kansas who have also read the book.  Hopefully we can share our newspaper clippings with them! Until then, we will display them in the library, so stop by to see them!


*Wonder is a 2013-2014 Texas Bluebonnet  nominee!  

Love books? Perfect! It's Book Fair Time!

  After an exciting week at TCEA, learning all kinds of new things to add to our library program, I am now gearing up for our February Book Fair.  I LOVE book fair and have made a habit of having our Spring Book Fair during Valentine's week.  We will have two family events, Family Night on Feb. 12th from 3:15-6:30 and our Books & Breakfast shopping time on Valentine's morning from 7:00 a.m. - 7:45 a.m.  We will stop serving our "light breakfast treat" at 7:30 a.m., but shopping will go on until 7:45 a.m.  All students must have an adult family member with them, and the RSVP slip must be returned by Tuesday so that we can make sure to have enough food. 

The ONLINE BOOK FAIR is open and will stay open until Feb. 22nd.  All orders will be shipped to the school and delivered to your student's classroom. 

Busy End to January!

Whew!  What a week!  There was a lot of fun and excitement in the Curtis LMC this week!  Here are a few highlights:


Monday we celebrated The One and Only Ivan  by Katherine Applegate winning the Newbery Medal and This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen winning the Caldecott Medal.  The students were excited to see what books actually won since we have been looking at potential winners for awhile now.

Wednesday our Morning Book Club had a 
special guest.  January is School Board Appreciation month and Weatherford ISD School Board President Charlie Martinez came to visit Curtis Elementary.  He sat in on our meeting and listened as we read Kate Messner's Capture the Flag.  The book club members were extra excited because we had finalized details for our Author Skype!  We are all very excited about Skyping with Kate Messner on March 5th!



On Thursday, I enjoyed having my sixth graders in the library and talking with them about creating a "reading community" that talks about books.  I shared with them a new "library center" I was going to set up for February, where they can create "Book Talk Bubbles" when they finished a book they were excited about.  I had seen some examples on Van Meter's website and seen Shannon Miller talk about it on Twitter.  It seemed like a great way for readers to share books they had recently finished.  It was an easy set up, and the students that created the Book Talk Bubbles this week did a fabulous job!

And then it was Friday!  Friday, 4th grade classes came in for a Research/Web Evaluation lesson. Many of the grades are working on Informational Text and Research right now, so students (and teachers ;) ) were reminded about some of the extra resources we have available.  TrueFlix was a favorite resource and provides a great opportunity for students to experience nonfiction text features.

We had a great week!  Now it is time to get ready for BOOK FAIR!!  Our Book Fair will be Feb. 11-15, with two family events.  We will have Family Night on Feb. 12th and Breakfast & Books on Valentine's Day.  Look for more information coming home this week!