Go Cubs Go!

What an exciting week we've had in Chicago!

Students if you still need a baseball fix now that the World Series is over come check out some of the wonderful baseball books we have in the library.

Global Read Aloud 2016

This year all of my 1st-5th grade classes are participating in the Global Read Aloud.  The idea of the Global Read Aloud is that kids all over the world are reading the same books during the same six week period.  Then their teachers and librarians are sharing what they are doing with the books using online connections.

This year's chosen picture book author/illustrator is Lauren Castillo.
Fourth and fifth graders are reading Roald Dahl's classic The BFG.  Great timing as in September we celebrated the 100th anniversary of Dahl's birth!


Follow the link to find out more:

The Global Read Aloud

Check back for more about what we've been learning and how we've been collaborating with other classes who are also participating in the Global Read Aloud.

What I'm Reading Now: Catching up on Bluestem/Caudill

I've been trying to finish up all of the books for this year's children's choice awards as well as a couple of Battle of the Books Titles.  Jonathan Stroud's The Whispering Skull is just because I'm absolutely loving this series.  I think we're going to need more copies of Kwame Alexander's Booked.  The Crossover is so widely read here and I have no doubt that Booked will be just as adored!

What I Read This Summer

One of my favorite things about the summer is having more time to read.  Although I didn't read everything that I took home this summer (it was a huge stack of books!) I did read several books that I absolutely LOVED.  I couldn't put down Jonathan Stroud's The Screaming Staircase. How often do you find a book that's truly unique and unlike anything you've read before? The Story of Owen: Dragon Slayer of Trondheim by E. K. Johnston was so different and absolutely blew me away.  With one exception I really enjoyed everything I took home this summer.  (Even librarians have books that just aren't for them and one I took home just wasn't!)  Take a look below.

Happy fall!

The school year is well underway and the library has been so very busy!

We have finished orientation for the library and the library computer lab.

We're launching some new projects in the coming week - stay tuned.

I want to go to the library this summer!

This week we were fortunate to have a visit from the fabulous Laura Jenkins - Ms. Laura to the kids - children's librarian at the CPL Uptown branch.  She presented about the Chicago Public Library summer reading program to our 1st-4th graders.   They were so excited to hear about all the fun to be had!


Sign up for the program begins June 20th at each library branch in the city.  This year you get a bag of free books just for signing up for the program!  And as you continue you can earn other prizes as well.  In addition to encouraging summer reading there are ways to create and discover as well.

If there are little brothers or sisters at home they can join in the fun too!  There's a little readers summer reading program.  I know I'm looking forward to taking my two little boys to sign up.


For more information follow the links below:

Rahm's Readers: Explore on the Go!
Little Readers: Explore on the Go! 

AGOPPE Research: Amelse's Class

And last, but not least, Amelse's class presentations.  You might notice on all the videos that students have included a slide that lets you know where they got their information.  They may not be writing formal citations yet, but all students should be giving credit to the sources that they use for information and images for every project.  One of the many things I like about Adobe Voice (now Adobe Spark) is that there's a credits slide at the end of the presentation that gives credit for the images used.  This class did a great job - take a look!