Hello MUS! Our Mustangs charged into the New Year by participating in the California Young Reader Medal Program. The California Young Reader Program, encourages California students to read recommended books by other California students, teachers and librarians. Mustangs read then vote on their grade specific categories. Votes are sent to CYRM and the author/illustrator who receives the most votes earns a special CYRM sticker award for their book. In addition, we have launched our first MUS Writer's Club focusing in on the graphic novel. Over 40 students meet each Tuesday during lunch to learn and explore their writing process. Graphic novelist, James Burks zoomed in with our writers this week and shared his creative process. We're super excited to see so many engaged young writers! Go Mustangs! The Spelling Bee is back!
Students in grades 4-6 will participate in a homeroom spelling bee first. Then each homeroom will send their top two spellers to the library for a school wide spelling bee. The top 2 students plus an alternative will head to the Santa Barbara County Spelling Bee on March 9, 2023. The library is a happening place during morning and lunch recess! We have readers of course, but also students enjoying chess, banana, checkers, puzzles, coloring and knitting!
0 Comments
![]() Phew! Check out what our readers have been up to in the Library this Fall! Students in grades 2nd and 3rd are in the midst of a new reading program called "Read Around the Genres." The ultimate goal is for students to sample different types of stories to expand their reading interests. Our focus this year is to update our early reader chapter books and as the new batches of books have arrived, students are devouring them! When they discover a new book, a new series or a subject close to their hearts, their enthusiasm is precious! Facilitating their passion is my favorite part of the job. Students in grades 3-6 who have opted in to the "Battle of the Books" reading program, are also in the midst of reading high quality books in preparation for the first annual MUS Battle of the Books competition which will take place in March. Five MUS students will continue on to the Santa Barbara County Office of Education competition soon after. Our first annual "Booklab" event was a HUGE success! The MUS Foundation and the library co-launched, a very special literary event for all attendees. Mustangs and their families listened to five amazing authors and illustrators who shared their creative process, created stories, led sketches and sang and danced. The 5th grade students sold lemonade and treats as a fundraiser for their colonial trip and Timbre Books bookstore pop up helped fundraise for new library books. We were extremely touched by one of our families who made a substantial donation to help update our collections. Thank you!! Such a fun event. I can hardly wait for next year! Many MUS students were spotted at the "Breakfast with the Authors" SBCOE event in October. We ate a solid breakfast while listening to many published author's creative process. In late January, SBCOE will host another event called Author-Go-Around which will be another wonderful literary opportunity. Finally, over 35 students in grades 4-6 joined the Library Book Club and read Ruby Holler by Sharon Creech, a John Newberry awarded author! We met in the Nature Lab each week to discuss and ultimately to plot our scavenger hunt finale. Students wrote to Mrs. Creech and she responded, multiple times! She loved our scavenger hunt pictures and sent students special Ruby Holler pins letting them know they made her day, week and month! In January, our first MUS Writer's Club will launch! We will focus on the graphic novel!! Details to follow! Fall is the perfect time to enjoy to join a fun reading incentive program! The colors are changing, the days are shorter and well, it just feels natural to find a yummy book, cuddle up and read! Here are some fun ways you can share this reading joy with others.
Grades 2 & 3: Read Around the Genre - (September 26 - June 2) Read Around the Genre is designed to encourage students to expand their reading awareness and preferences by sampling books from an array of genres. In a nutshell, students will be given a bookmark consisting of 8 genres (2nd grade) or 11 genres (3rd grade). When students complete a book, they will draw a response card and discuss their answer with Mrs. Allison or Mrs. Eckhart. If students earn all 8 or 11 completion hole punches on their card, they are intrinsically rewarded with an expanded reading experience and extrinsically rewarded by picking a goody from the Library Treasure Trunk! Grades 3-6: MUS 4th Grade Battle of the Books - (October-March) Students in grades 3-6 will read a certain amount of books per grade level between October and March 2023. Third will read 5/9 books, fourth 10/15 books and 5th&6th 15/28 from the Battle of the Books list (Library Book Club read, Ruby Holler by Sharon Creech is also on the list) Once your student finishes reading a book they will go to the library (before school, at recess, or at lunch) to share their thinking and understanding of the book in some way with Mrs. Allison. Students will get an online emoji stamp on their progress tracker, receive a small prize and then spin the Battle of Books wheel to select their next book. Each student that reaches their grade level goal will be able to participate in the quiz-show-style Springtime Battle (during March parent conferences). More information will be sent home in October but feel free to click on the link to view the. lists and pre-register. Grades 4-6: Library Book Club - We will be reading award winning author Sharon Creech’s book, Ruby Holler. We will meet on Tuesdays during lunch in the library on the following dates: September 27th, October 4, 11, 18 and 25. Students will be given a copy of the book and will meet with the club to eat lunch, discuss the book and engage in fun book related activities. Grades 4-6: Santa Barbara County Office of Education's, "Breakfast with the Authors" event Saturday, October 15th at 10:00am. For more info and to register, click HERE. Coming Soon...!
|
MUS LibrarianJamie Allison Archives
January 2023
|