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Hello Library Friends! What an amazing start to the school year we've had in library! Your students are so enthusiastic and curious, as well as eager to share opinions and discuss the main, side and hidden messages of books read each week. It's absolutely my pleasure to share in their excitement as well as to help ignite their literary passion. Mark Your Calendars! Santa Barbara County Office of Education's "Breakfast with the Authors" set for Saturday, October 21st between 9:30am-12:30pm. Enjoy breakfast while listening to a panel of authors share their writing process and latest books! For more information and to register, click HERE. - 2nd Annual MUS Book Lab! Set for Saturday, December 9th from 1:00pm - 3:00pm in the Nature Lab. Book Lab is free family-friendly and fun community literacy event with amazing and inspiring author/speakers, book themed arts and crafts and a pop-up holiday book shop with curated titles from independent bookseller Timbre books with a portion of sales going back to the school. August/September Recap:
Classroom Visits: In September, students have been exploring Habits of Mind themes "Taking Responsible Risks" and "Listening with Empathy" via an array of picture books, practicing Harvard's Project Zero, "Thinking Routines", such as Main Message, Side and Hidden messages and celebrating Hispanic Heritage month. In addition, our 4-6 Library Book Club launched! Students are reading The First Rule of Punk by Celia C. Perez and are currently preparing to interview the author via zoom on Oct. 17th! Students in grades 4-6 are also actively tracking their Battle of the Books read preparing for our Spring MUS and County Battle of the Books event. And, Library/ILab renovation initial planning has begun! In October, students in grades 4-6, learned about "National Banned Books Week" and explored an array of challenged or banned books. Next Up:
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Welcome back to school!
I am thrilled to return to such an inspiring, progressive and supportive team of professionals. And equally excited to share my passion for literacy and literature with our thoughtful, kind Mustangs! In the library space, we aim to provide a welcoming, inclusive place for students, staff and families to explore, discover, and develop a lifelong love of reading and learning. This site is a central place to review library news & updates, participate in monthly school & library themes, engage in optional library programs, access databases and additional resources. Be sure to check back often! August/September Library Education: Library orientation, book care, community, just right books, library programs, new databases, Habit of Mind: Listening with Empathy; Kindness, National Hispanic Heritage Month Weekly Library Class Schedule: Monday: K - Allison, Luna, Noble; 3rd - Monson and 2nd Judy & Craine Tuesday: 1st - Cloud & Soderborg; 6th -Berman; 4th - Gonzales & Gallup Wednesday: 4th - Bruski and Library PLC Thursday: 3rd - Hammer; 1st - Compton & Marsh and 6th - Weill Friday: 5th - Nimitarnun, Brown & Carrington and 3rd - Trent General Information & Policies: Library Hours: 8:00am-3:00pm for class visits. Additional open hours include before school 8:15am, and M-TH during morning recess and lunch. Library Class visits: In addition to browsing and checking books out each week, students will take part in monthly school and library theme discussions, learn how to get involved in optional library programs, practice database navigational and search skills and engage in a vast collection of high interest fiction and non-fiction titles. Checkout Policy: All students may check out at least 2 books for two weeks. If students need more than 2 that and have a responsible record, that is perfectly fine. Book Return: Books become overdue after 2 weeks. Students may return books earlier in order to check out 1-2 new library books. The expectation is that each student will check out at least 1 library book. If a student is in the middle of a book, they are welcome to bring it to read while others are browsing. Holds: 1 book may be held for 5 days before it is returned to the shelf. Donations: We appreciate relevant, hard back fiction/nonfiction book donations that are in good shape and in the following categories: picture books, early readers, middle grade (no YA please). Spring Stuffie Sleepover was a hoot!
Over 90 K-2nd grade stuffed animals spend the weekend in the library getting to know one another through an array of activities such as: games, tea party, visiting our new goats, enjoying spa treatments, zip-lining through the library and watching Toy Story each night! Here are two videos capturing the weekend: Day 1: http://get-puppet.com/v/Ffmd5GQHm2k?autoplay=true Day 2: http://get-puppet.com/v/PZ0pQElekmo?autoplay=true Our 1st MUS Battle of the Books drew 20 students who successfully read the number of books allotted per 3-6th grade level throughout the school year. Readers formed teams, and competed in a literary gameshow format for the title. Then three of our Mustangs qualified for the Santa Barbara County Battle of the Books. Students enjoyed a day of meeting new friends, competing on teams and meeting author Bruce Hale. We Battle buzz is on! We look forward to next year's events! May is Asian & Pacific Islander American month across the nation! We celebrated the many rich contributions and accomplishments through an array of picture and chapter books as well as showcased authors & illustrators in the library. Summer is right around the corner! Foster your child's imagination, creativity and literary development by encouraging your students to read every day. We will be sending home summer reading lists and activities. Stay tuned! Happy Spring!
"Check Out" What's Happening in the Library! New! Spelling Bee - Let's give a huge round of applause to all our top two homeroom spellers who then participated in our School Spelling Bee on March 6th! Our MUS top two spellers were Brandon Stein and Dylan McLean with Max Bunnin as alternate. Brandon and Dylan went on to successfully participate in the Santa Barbara County Spelling Bee on March 9th! Way to take responsible risks Mustangs! MUS 1st Annual Battle of the Books event takes place this Thursday, April 13th at lunch in the library! Throughout the school year, students were challenged to read their grade level’s quota from the County’s Battle of the Books booklist in order to participate in our school battle (3rd grade 5/28; 4th 10/28 and 5th & 6th 15/28). Students will participate in a gameshow like battle answering questions about the books on the list. This list minimally changes each year, so students can roll over their totals and build towards their grade level and county goals each year! We will take up to 5 students to the County Battle of the Books on Thursday, April 27th! 2nd Annual Poem in Your Pocket & Poetry Jam takes place on Wednesday, April 26th. Taking part in our national celebration of poetry during the month of April, students and staff are encouraged to place a poem in their pocket and share with others throughout the day. Additionally, during lunch, students may sign up for our Poetry Jam at lunch in the bell tower courtyard to share their poem over a microphone with a supportive audience. New! K-2nd Grade Mustang Families…Mark Your Calendars for our 1st Annual “Spring Stuffie Sleepover” set for Friday, May 5th. Students are invited to bring their favorite, backpack sized favorite stuffed animal to the library for a weekend sleepover where their stuffie will enjoy delicious meals, storytime, movies, popcorn and more! Stuffies may be delivered to the library before school, during recess or after school on Friday. We will return the stuffies to your student’s backpacks on Monday, May 8th! Stuffies are to be delivered with the following information attached. A reminder and stuffie tag will be sent home closer to the date: Stuffie ID Tag: Student Name: Stuffie Name: Interests: Special care information: Favorite bedtime books: Parent email for photos: Teacher name: Dear Mustang Family,
What an amazing cantor through the winter months we've had in 2023! Here's a recap:
Warmest Regards, Mrs. Allison MUS Teacher Librarian 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!  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...!
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 Grades 2-3 |  Grades 4-6 |  Grades K-1 |
