April is National Poetry Month! Inspired by Santa Barbara spring, April showers, our nature lab and Earth Day, Mustangs have been writing an array of poems in the library as well as in class. Additionally, our students have been writing poems with our talented Santa Barbara County poet laureates.  On April 28th, the library will host a "Poem in Your Pocket Day" and a lunch time open microphone, "Poetry Jam." Students are encouraged to wear an outfit with a pocket or two. They will select one or two of their favorite poems, place them in their pocket and throughout the day, exchange a poetry reading with other students or staff members. 
On another note, our 6th grade students participated in the Peace Crane Project. This organization promotes global peace by connecting students around the world through origami peace cranes and letter exchanges in effort to learn about one another's culture, geography and language. Disney illustrator, author and Founder of the Peace Crane Project, Sue DiCicco-Smith shared her career path while guiding students through a Micky Mouse sketch and led them in folding origami peace cranes for Ukrainian refugees currently living in Poland and Romania. During library time, students wrote letters of support to accompany their crane. 

March has been very exciting in the library!
First, we welcomed Mrs. Eckhart as our new library assistant! She is a MUS mom and a wonderful addition to the team! We feel so fortunate to have her in the library.
In addition, students in grades 2 - 3 and 4 - 6 took part in March Book Madness, an activity that mirrors the March Madness's Sweet 16 college basketball competition. In the Library, the top 16 circulated books for these two age groups are placed in 8 brackets and "compete" with one another each week via a student vote until a "winner" emerges. Next week students will decide which book will become the champion!

                     2 & 3                                         Final Round!                                                4-6

Also, all students celebrated Women in History through a collection of picture books. Students listened to and explored a range of courageous women's lives who persevered in spite of societal limitations. As a result, their life stories continue to inspire and encourage both girls and boys, women and men to strive for their dreams. 
Finally, on March 17th, the leprechauns must have noticed our St. Patrick's Day decorations because a handful of gold coins were discovered in the library! Word spread like wildfire, and we had many leprechaun detectives searching during lunch. Students had fun learning about St. Patrick's Day and why we celebrate this unique holiday in the US. 

February buzzed by with students in grades 4-6 learning more research skills via an online game, "Shelver." This activity helps students understand the organization of both fiction and nonfiction and the purpose of the Dewey Decimal system and call numbers. The goal is for students to navigate the library efficiently and effectively when researching or looking for books of interest. 

In grades 2-3 students explored "Animal" and "Fantasy" genres by participating in a "Book Boogie."  Tables are pre-curated with genre specific books. Students go through several rounds of browsing and "boogying" with a particular book. At the end of this activity students typically want to check out one of the books they read. The ultimate goal is to introduce students to a range of genres to expand their reading interests and foster a love for reading. 

In grades K-3, students reviewed our Habit of Mind Listening with Understanding and Empathy by discussing and drawing inferences; tracing character responses and identifying key details through several relevant books. See below.

In March, we will celebrate Women in History, March Book Madness, St. Patrick's Day and for 4-6 grade Battle of the Books practices begin!

This week Mustangs in grades K-3, celebrated Valentine's Day with an array of fun loving Valentine's Day books before browsing and checking out books . All students received a Valentine's Day bookmark to color if desired.
Mustangs in grades 2-3 were challenged with a "Book Boogie." This activity encourages students to select a book from an array of books at their table and read for 5 minutes. We went through 2-3 rounds before students browsed and checked out books. This exercise exposes students to different genres in addition to supporting and stretching their current reading level.  As a result most students checked out new and different books this week. Yay!
In grades 4-6 Mustangs continued to celebrate the contributions and achievements of Black Americans through picture book read arounds. Afterward, active discussions and appreciations ensued. 
Also, students voted for their favorite California Young Reader Intermediate picture book and the MUS winner was The Sky Diving Beaver by Susan Wood! Our votes have been sent to the CYRM organization which should announce the official "winner" this April. 

Coming soon: March Book Madness & Battle of the Book practices

What a week!
Mustangs have celebrated the Lunar New Year, Groundhog's Day, the fun date of 2/22/2022 and the 100th Day in School! Students have learned the difference between the Gregorian and Lunar calendar as well as their Chinese Zodiac birth year animal. And our 4-6th grade students celebrated the "Year of the Tiger by making Tiger corner bookmarks.
February is also Black History Month! Mustangs will dive into the amazing accomplishments and contributions of Black Americans throughout the month. Join us by checking out the following booklist below!

Hello MUS Families!
Over the past few weeks, Mustangs in grades 4-6 have listened to each of the California Young Reader Medal Program nominees in the "Older Reader Picture Books" category and will begin voting for their favorite book next week! Student votes will be sent to the CYRM Program who will then tally and award the author with the very special CYRM Honor Award in April or May.  

Students were also encouraged to participate in the CYRM Intermediate Books category which included the following chapter books. These books flew off the shelf each time they landed. So I know we'll have a great voting turn out in this category too!

Students in K-3 have been listening to books that support the Habit of Mind characteristic of "Managing Impulsivity." After reading an array of funny, yet poignant books that support this characteristic, we had engaging discussions around real life situations where students could practice thinking before acting, choosing behaviors that make the situation better and remaining calm. Books included:

Happy New Year! 
Last week our Mustangs have immersed themselves in rich literary experiences over the past few weeks! Welcoming 2022, K-3 celebrated with the whimsical book Maybe by Yomi Komoda. Students considered what they "may become" one day with each other. In grades 4-5, students listened to Because by award winning author, Mo Willem. This book shows how our choices, chances, persistence and even a little magic create our life paths. Finally, in 6th grade students celebrated the inspirational and wise words of author Charlie Mackesy's, The Boy the Mole the Fox. These books make meaningful home library adds or gifts!

During the past few weeks, our K-3 Mustangs have finished listening to the 5 nominated books for the California Medal Reading program which included: Hair Love by Mathew A. Cherry and Drawn Together by Minh Le. This means it's voting time! Students will learn how to express their opinion using an official ballot. All votes will be sent to the CYRM program and the winning book will receive the CYRM award. All are winners truly!

In grades 4-6, students have been mapping the library and learning about the Dewey Decimal system through several activities. 
We have received a second batch of new library books which creates an exciting buzz in the library! 
Additionally, Library Book Club has launched for those students who expressed interest in our fall read, A Wolf Called Wander. We have an average of 30 students who meet in the Nature Lab once a week in smaller groups to eat lunch and discuss the book. We are super excited to Zoom with the author Rosanne Parry from her tree house office in Oregon on December 8th!!