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. 

What a joy to see the smiling faces of our new and returning students!
Over the summer, our facilities team and Mrs. Eckhart and I reorganized the library to increase ease of access and efficiency in the library. Here's what's new:

• New air conditioning and heater! Yipppeeee!
• Conducted a complete inventory and updated collections
• Genrefied, fiction early readers for K-3 (for ease of access)
• Genrefied, fiction and some sections of non-fiction for 3-6th grades. For example, all sports fiction, sits next to all sports non-fiction titles. (for ease of access)

We are having fun checking books out and building our library community through an array of picture books discussions Here are a few titles shared these past few weeks:

 Summer Reading Programs & Lists
Keep your students reading daily by taking advantage of these great resources!

• Santa Barbara Public Library - check out their monthly calendar of literacy rich activities & programs, plus audio and print books!
• MUS Library Website Reading Lists - Newberry Medal, Caldecott Medal, Pura Belpre Medal, STEAM, CYRM Medal etc...
• MUS Audio Books - Students in grades 3-6 may log in using their Google ID and birthday to check out audio books throughout the summer!
• Haislin - Grade Level Reading Lists (compiled by teachers & librarians)
• Battle of the Books - Students in grades 3-6, get a jump start on this reading list and join us in the fall for our Battle of the Books MUS Club!
• Summer Reading Challenge - Students have been given the Summer Reading Challenge (yellow) card below, to use as a bookmark or post somewhere visible as a fun way to keep reading fresh and fun! 

Enjoy and have a wonderful summer!

Our "Poem in Your Pocket & Poetry Jam" was a hit! We were delighted to watch students and staff exchange a range of meaningful poems with one another throughout the day. And the lunchtime Poetry Jam was filled to the brim with student and staff participants! Poetry is such a fun way to extend and enrich literacy! We're looking forward to next year!

Direct Relief caught wind of our 6th grade collaboration with the Peace Crane Program and Ukrainian Refugees in Poland and Romania and offered to fly our letters and peace cranes with their next batch of support supplies. This effort not only enriched student's current activism unit of study, but it also supported our Habits of Mind "Empathy" tenets as well as our strategic plan initiative 1C. - collaborate and contribute to local and global communities to promote learning, leadership, and activism through service. Help students develop and display empathy and an understanding of various generations, schools, languages, and cultures. Go Mustangs!

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