Glory Be

 This week's quote of the week is:

                                                   "Unless someone like you
                                                     cares a whole awful lot,
                                                 nothing is going to get better.
                                                              It's not! "

from The Lorax
Dr. Seuss

Following our month's guiding principle of responsibility, we are encouraging each other to take a responsible risks by standing up for what we believe is the right thing.

On the 2013/14  DCF list is a perfect book for this theme. Glory Be, by Augusta Scattergood, takes place in the summer of 1964 when Glory is about to turn 12. Her town of Hanging Moss, Mississippi  is beset by racial tension when town leaders close her beloved pool rather than segregate it. Glory finds herself having to make some tough choices as she comes to understand the full impact of what the town officials are trying to do.

Give it a try and get your name up on the chart!

Encyclopedias

We have bought subscriptions to both World Book Online and Encyclopedia Online. Both offer access at different levels of scholarship. In other words, there are articles available for adults as well as students.

The student versions have cool videos, maps. and interactive games and are fun to just browse. There are always interesting facts to learn!

To try them out click on Encyclopedias and other Data Bases on the right column of the screen. World Book is a one click entry. Encyclopedia and Brittanica require a user name and password which are posted.

Enjoy!

                                           Do the Right Thing!

This month Oak Grove School has been focusing on the guiding principle of Responsibility. Every week students are given a quote to consider, and this week's quote is "do the right thing".

Here are 4 biographies of famous people who struggled with different issues and chose to do what they considered to be The Right Thing. ALl books are available at  the school library.


Teammates by Peter Golenbock

This is the story of how shortstop Pee Wee Reese stood up for Jackie Robinson, who was the first black man to play in a major baseball league, when he thought that Robinson was being treated unfairly.







Who says Women Can't be Doctors? by Tanya Lee Stone

Elizabeth Blackwell was interested in many things, but chose to become a doctor when a very ill friend told her she would have much preferred to be seen by a woman. This was a time when women were not encouraged to have a profession, but Elizabeth persisted against the odds and became the first woman doctor in America.
Nelson Mandela by Kadir Nelson

Nelson Mandela has been a champion against apartheid (or segregation) in South Africa  since he was nine years old. He has lived a life filled with purpose and has won  the Nobel Peace Prize. This story is richly illustrated by Kadir Nelson, an award winning artist. A real treat!

Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist makers Strike of 1909 by Michelle Markle

Clara Lemlich immigrated to the United States at the turn of the 20th century. Her family moved into a New York tenement building and Clara went to work in the garment district to help support her family. The conditions are terrible, and Clara is infuriated. When she learns that some men are trying to form a union, she encourages her fellow female workers to join as well. She attends rallies, call the women to strike in protest, speaks out, and in the end convinces the bosses to agree to shorten the workweek, raise salaries and form unions.

Red Clover Program

     The red Clover Award is the Vermont Children's Choice book award for picture books. Each year children grades K-4 read 10 picture books that have been selected from among thousands of titles. The books are used as springboards for rich conversation, art projects, research, and all manner of connections. In April students vote on their favorite book, the numbers are sent in to the state department of libraries where they are tallied and in May a winner in announced.

Last year's winner was The Princess and the Pig by Jonathan Emmett. 

     To find tis year's list and to read about some great activities and connections you can make at home, go to https://sites.google.com/site/redcloverbooks/home

     All the Red Clover Books are available at the Oak Grove Library and my be checked out one at a time. Hope you have fun reading some really great books!

Parent Library Cards

Did you know that as a parent or guardian of an Oak Grove student, you can get a library card and take out up to 10 books at a time to supplement your child's reading? Reading to and with your child is the BEST way to support literacy at home. For parents of older students, there are hundreds of fabulous middle grade and young adult titles in the library that you may enjoy reading on your own. Setting a time each evening when the whole family is reading together either silently or out loud, is great modeling and can help foster a lifelong love of books. As I often tell my students, if you can read, you will NEVER be bored!

Cards are free and there are NO overdue fines! If you have books checked out for a long time, you might receive a phone call or a note from me reminding you that you still have the books. You may keep them for as long as you need them, however we do ask that if you lose a book you replace it with either a copy you buy yourself or money to buy a new copy.

Feel free to contact me at the school if you have any questions or need some good recommendations. Stop by during Open House and get a card if you don't already have one. And if you do, check out some books!

E-Books

Just a reminder that there is a collection of ebooks that can be read online. All you need is a computer or other e-device at home and you can access the books from anywhere. To get there, go to the main library page, look at the choices on the right of the screen and click on ebooks. It will take you to the district follettshelf login screen. The username and password are right under the link, so take note of them before you click on the link!

There are currently 188 titles to read. These books can not be downloaded. They are read-on-line only. When you click on a title and open the book it is automatically "checked out" to you.  The checkout period lasts for 2 days after which you will need to re-check it out by clicking on the title. As long as you keep the page open the book stays checked out to you. As soon as you close the book it becomes available for someone else.

For many books, there is a read-to-me button on the bottom left of the screen. If it is working for that title, a computerized voice will read to you as soon as you open the book. You can go into the system preferences of your computer to change the style and speed of the reading voice.

Happy Reading, and feel free to contact me if you have any questions! My e-mail is andra_horton@wsesu.org.

Library News 9/6/13

Students in grades 4, 5, and 6 have been hearing book talks this week and checking out the new 2013/14 Dorothy Canfield Fisher books. There are lots of GREAT reads this year. Two fabulous non-fiction selections are a biography of Temple Grandin and the story of the race to build the Bomb during WW II. 

Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World is they biography of an autistic woman who explored (among other things) humane ways to handle cattle. She had a difficult childhood because of her differences, yet grew up to be a brilliant inventor, speaker and teacher at the college level. Her story is inspirational. There is also an HBO video about her starring Claire Danes that is well worth watching in conjunction with this book.

Bomb: The race to Build and Steal the World's Most Dangerous Weapon is the ultimate spy story and a piece of non-fiction that reads like it can't be true. But it is. It's the history of how the atom bomb was invented, the enthusiasm of the scientists who were engrossed in inventing something so huge, the politics around keeping it secret, the spies who were sent to steal plans so other countries could have a bomb too, and, finally, the aftermath of finally dropping the bomb on Hiroshima. There is so much to think about in this book. We have one copy in the library, and there is already a long wait list. Another copy is on order. So, if you want to read this amazing book, get your name on the reserve list, or try the public library, or better still, buy it!

I have copies of the new DCF list with annotations for all books. Feel free to pick one up in the library. And remember, if you are a parent, you can get a FREE library card and check out up to 10 books at a time. Reading to or with your child is the number one way to help them be better students. If you don't already have a card, come on in and get one. And if you do have a card, come check out some great books. We have THOUSANDS!!!