Look What's Happening @ the GSE Library

Look What's Happening @ the GSE Library

Look What's Happening @ the GSE Library

Happy December Sonntag Community! It has been a BUSY week in the #gselibrary. The Sonntag Library Makerspace has picked up SO much STEAM and 4th & 5th Graders have been flying in for some maker fun! 

This week the Kinder Readers were on the hunt for the tricky Gingerbread Man! In the library, the Readers heard The Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett. Even though many of the Readers have heard this story in the past, they were excited to learn about all of the little extra details the author/illustrator includes in her artwork: Hedgie the Hedgehog, detailed plot presented in the borders of many of the pages, and the inclusion of many favorite characters from other stories. At the end of the week, the Kinder Readers even went on a hunt for the Gingerbread Man all around Sonntag!! 

1st Graders heard the hilarious book Sneezy the Snowman by Maureen Wright. The Readers brainstormed items that are cold, hot, and items that can be both cold AND hot!! It was fun to hear them make predictions!! There were things, like volcanoes (hot) and the moon (cold), that I had never thought of! 

Sonntag 2nd Grade Readers are working hard to finish The Story of Diva & Flea by Mo Willems. We should be finished with this amazing story by the new year. Hopefully we will get all 2nd Graders into the 2x2 Reading Club! 

Sonntag 4th Graders finished up their graphic novels lesson by digging into 4 different graphic novels books. They answered a few quick questions regarding specific parts of each graphic novel. One of the questions even required the students to draw on their prior knowledge! El Deafo by Cece Bell was CLEARLY a favorite and has already left the library with one of the students! 

Sonntag 3rd, 4th, & 5th Grade Makers are going NUTS for the Sonntag Library Makerspace!! Wow!!! This week, the Sonntag Makers were taken on a tour of the items that are housed in the Makerspace. Students are able to come in on their own time as well as after they check out their books during their library times to work with these creative items. 

Sonntag Makers are even helping to create a display on the library windows by making coffee filter snowflakes. The Makers are having SNOW much fun!! 

Sonntag Wee Readers heard two snowman stories this week! After the stories, the Wee Readers practiced their fine motor skills by building a snowman using glue, pretzel sticks, and mini marshmallows. 

Library Stats: November Edition

(November Edition)

It's unbelievable how fast this school year is going! November blew by like little leaves in a strong wind! Below are some pictures from our awesome Kindergarten Thanksgiving Technology research! As always, check out the statistics below to find out what happened in the month of November! 

Number of Whole Class Visits: 

77

Number of Total Items Circulated (Check-Outs & Check-Ins)

4,944

Number of Items in Collection

13,435

Library Instruction/Programs/Community Outreach 

Promoted and maintained the Coyote Reading Club reading program for all Sonntag Readers

Collaborated with the Technology Facilitator and Kinder teachers for turkey & Thanksgiving Research

Promoted the "Book Bucks for Great Behavior" program 

Taught 4th graders how to use MackinVia (online research tools) and provided direction ans support their fall research projects

Conducted weekly reader's advisory and read-alouds to students

Promoted the first Sonntag Little Free Library for staff & parents

Hosted Preschool Storytime with Sonntag's lil readers! 

Promoted the 2013-2014 Texas Bluebonnet Award Program with 3-5 grades

Promoted the 2013-2014 2x2 Reading Program with Preschool-2nd grades

Presented a weekly Good Morning Sonntag Book Bits update

Updated a daily Fact of the Day by Mrs. Mattei fact

Open checkout every day for all Sonntag students, parents, and staff  

Coordinated & hosted parent library volunteers

Administrative Activities 

Planned & hosted a variety of library lessons, library programs, & technology opportunities for all students 

Attended the monthly Sonntag PTA Board meeting as PTA Book Fair Chairperson

Participated and completed the varies duties and activities that are expected as the Texas Library Association District 5 Chair-Elect

Analyzed the FISD curriculum to provide teachers with digital content to support classroom needs 

Wrapped up the financials for the fall Scholastic Book Fair

Collaboratively planned with the campus Instructional Coach & Specials team 

Purchased & added new items to the library collection as well as weeding damaged books out of the collection

Collaborated with teachers to pull library materials for classroom lessons

Maintained a blog for staff to discuss book club books

Adjusted the library schedule to accommodate classes for various activities 

Contributed to Specials weekly newsletter

Updated library blog and Twitter (@matteibookbits) account frequently

Opened new parent accounts

Hosted new and returning library volunteers

Professional Development Activities 

Performed the duties as the Texas Library Association District 5 Chair-elect 

Attended campus and district library meetings

Read and kept up with new professional library journals & added new materials to future book orders

Read & kept up with professional, adult, young adult, and children's reads 

On the Horizon...

Books acquired from the fall Scholastic Book Fair on on the way!

5th annual Six Flags Read to Succeed program will begin in January
Texas Bluebonnet Award Voting Party for eligible 3rd, 4th, & 5th graders will be in January (5 COMPLETED Bluebonet Buzz Forms will be due on Friday, January 16th. NO EXCEPTIONS!)

1000 Books Before Kindergarten

Image retreived from http://www.beaverlibraries.org/kids.asp

Early literacy is one of the greatest gifts any child can receive. For this reason, it is critical that parents expose their wee ones to as many books as possible before they reach kindergarten. 1000BooksBeforeKindergarten.org is organization that challenges parents to read 1,000 books before their little one begins school. Check your local public library to see if they are participating in this wonderful program! 

As a new parent, I'm taking on the challenge! I accept the challenge to read 1,000 books and will keep track of what we have read before she skips off to school in a few short (and I mean REALLY short) years. I am going to keep a journal of what we have read and plan to give the journal to her when she is older so that she, too, can keep track of all of the wonderful books she has read. Here we go! Happy reading! :)

Here's my Lil Librarian going BANANAS over her Pinkalicious library book!! I'm not kidding! She went nuts when I gave it to her. :)

Click here to find out more about this great challenge as well as printable reading logs for you and your little one. 

(November Edition)

Where did November go?? November was another busy month in the Sonntag library! The month started with the closing of our fall Scholastic Book Fair. Because of the wonderful Sonntag community, the library as well as classroom libraries were able to acquire so many books for the students! Wow! In addition, 5th graders researched ecosystems using library books, encyclopedias, as well as our online databases. Kinder students also participated in a fantastic pumpkin technology project. Finally, the library played host to a Librarian & Library Aide of the Day. Check out the photos below to find out more about these amazing activities! 

Here are some of our fantastic 5th graders researching using the online databases. 

The 5th graders also used other library resources to use during their ecosystems research. 

Check out this amazing pumpkin technology project that Kinder kids participated in! 

Meet our wonderful Librarian & Librarian Aide- of - the - Day! 

Number of Whole Class Visits: 

81

Number of Total Items Circulated (Checkouts & Checkins)

2,118

Number of Items in Collection

11,969

Library Instruction/Programs/Community Outreach

Wrapped up the 2012-2013 fall Scholastic Book Fair 

Assisted and hosted all 5th grade classes during their ecosystems research

Collaborated with the technology facilitator as well a fellow librarian to create a pumpkin technology activity with the Kindergarten students 

Promoted the 2011-2012 Texas Bluebonnet Award Program with 3-5 grades

Promoted the 2011-2012 2x2 Reading Program with Preschool-2nd grades

Presented a weekly Good Morning Sonntag Book Bits update

Updated the Where in the World Do You Read? board

Maintained student writer & new items displays to promote reading interests 

Updated a daily Fact of the Day by Mrs. Mattei fact

Open checkout every day for all Sonntag students, parents, and staff

Weekly preschool storytimes with future Sonntag students and families  

Hosted parent library volunteers

Hosted & promoted the Sonntag Staff Book Club for the 2012-2013 school year

Administrative Activities

Won a grant from the Frisco Education Foundation that will add more Playaways to the library shelves!!!! 

Wrapped up fall Scholastic Book Fair

Processed and added several new books to the library collection that were purchased using funds from the fall Book Fair

Collaborated with tech facilitator and fellow librarian to create tech-based activities for a pumpkin technology project with kindergarten students  

Planned and implemented the UIL Spelling tryouts for 3rd, 4th, & 5th graders 

Assisted the staff members in hosting the Sonntag Science Night for Sonntag families

Maintained the mobile app for the Sonntag Library

Maintained a forum for staff to discuss book club books

Adjusted the library schedule to accommodate classes for various activities 

Contributed to Specials weekly newsletter

Purchased new library books and materials 

Updated library blog and Twitter account weekly

Planned weekly library lessons

Opened new parent accounts

Hosted new and returning library volunteers

Professional Development Activities 

Attended campus meetings

Attended district library meeting

Read and kept up with new professional library journals  

On the Horizon...

Sonntag staff book club meeting in December & January 

Even more books for the library collection from the Book Fair are on their way! 
Weekly UIL Spelling practices for the UIL Spelling Team

Spring Book Fair will be in February

5th Grade book clubs are on the way

Mysterious school activity will be here soon! ;o)

Before the Thanksgiving break, the library, technology, and kindergarten staff members collaborated and hosted an AMAZING interactive technology and learning event that directly supported classroom lessons regarding pumpkins. The kindergarten students not only had the opportunity to listen to nonfiction stories about pumpkins, but they also participated in hands-on  pumpkin measurement activities as well as a wide variety of technology-centered stations around the library. The students (and staff members) had a FANTASTIC time and learned so much about this amazing fall icon. Some of the technology stations included pumpkin videos on iPod Touch devices, a Kidspiration Life Cycle activity on desktop computers, pumpkin puzzles on MacBook Airs, and MUCH more! A HUGE thank you goes out to the parent volunteers, teachers, and technology staff members who helped to make this all possible!! :)

Check out the pictures below to take a peek inside this awesome activity! 

- Have You Seen the Gingerbread Man? - 

Last week, Sonntag Kindergartners took a journey through the school to hunt down the Gingerbread Man! They searched all across the school and even into the library to find the Gingerbread Man. With every stop they made they discovered a note that the Gingerbread Man had left behind. After a great morning of searching they were able to catch the Gingerbread Man in their very own classrooms! He must have been hiding! Check out some of the Kindergartners as they were about to search the library...

Want to read some good books about the quick-as-lightning Gingerbread Man? Check these out!

The Gingerbread Man

Retold by Jim Alyesworth

A freshly baked gingerbread man escapes when he is taken out of the oven and eludes a number of pursuers until he meets a clever fox.

The Gingerbread Cowboy

by Janet Squires

A freshly baked gingerbread cowboy escapes from the rancher's wife's kitchen and eludes his pursuers in this western United States version of the "Gingerbread Boy."

The Gingerbread Girl

by Lisa Campbell Ernst

After their first gingerbread disaster, the lonely old couple decides to bake again and create a gingerbread girl who proves herself to be one smart cookie. Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett

A young boy and his mother bake a gingerbread baby that escapes from their oven and leads a crowd on a chase similar to the one in the familiar tale about a not-so-clever gingerbread man.

- Link to Love - 

Check out this musical edition of the story of the Gingerbread Man! Happy listening! :)