Bringing Library to Life

Bringing Library to Life

As library has been busy meeting the needs for in person learners, virtual learners, technology endeavors, and assisting teachers I have neglected our blog and sharing all of our amazing lessons and student work through this avenue. Don't forget that you can see much of what we do though our Twitter account : @AESliblearners and through our Instagram page: Living_the_Library_Life. This blog will be involved and provide a catch-up to all that has been going on recently.

September Dot Day Celebrations

During the month of September, not only did students become amazing digital citizens and learn the importance of protecting their identity, what sites are appropriate for them, and how to handle situations of alarm, but we celebrated what made us important and unique by celebrating International Dot Day. International Dot Day is lead by author Peter H. Reynolds and inspired by his book "The Dot". In the book students learn of a young girl who does not believe in herself, but with the inspiration and recognition from a special teacher she learns to challenge herself and to persevere over her struggles; building a confidence that shows you can do anything that you put your mind to! Below you will find some of the "Dot Day Celebration" lessons we completed.

October Seasonal Fun

With the month of October we finally begin to see a seasonal change here in Texas. Fall begins to rear its head in the change in weather (occasionally), colors, and the arrival of pumpkins and pumpkin patches. This month our lessons in library were centralized around celebrations of fall, fire safety, drug awareness, and of course Halloween fun. Kindergarteners practiced fire safety skills, counting skills, and learned about bats. First graders practiced reading skills over fire safety and tried their hand in their very first STEM lesson of the year. Second and third graders learned how to use our databases and we worked on beginning research skills over spiders and fire safety. Fourth and Fifth graders finished out their digital citizenship and began learning about the Dewey decimal organization system for our library. The end of the month brought the long awaited arrival of the Book Fair and begin the wish list development. 

Book Fair Success! 

I was so determined to bring our book fair to school because I know just how much our students look forward to it and enjoy the shopping experience! I worked along side our district directors to ensure that all would be safe and regulated for our students and library to benefit from our fall fair. We may not have been able to let parents in for purchasing, but our community and Alkek Family stepped up and met the challenge! We did see a decrease in sales, but you superseded my expectations and we were able to complete over $7,000 in sales, giving our library $3600 in Scholastic Dollars to purchase books and materials for our library and library programming. Thank you so much! Our next fair will be visiting in March after spring break. 

November Celebrations and Studies

November marks for many of us the beginning of the holiday season. There are many celebrations during this time that causes us to stop and reflect; reflect on what we are grateful for and sacrifices made for our country and its freedom. At the beginning of the month we all anxiously awaited the votes to be counted for the country's new President to be elected by the people. In the library we observed this freedom and tradition by learning about the voting process and even completed some comparison of story book characters as candidates and practiced our voting rights. 

Veterans Day looked different this year and we missed the past opportunity of honoring our community Veterans in to educate our students of their passions and experiences, but our Music teacher Mrs. Sarabia orchestrated a wonderful ceremony that was broadcasted for our community members and students to enjoy. In the library our students listened to books that honored and reflected on this important day, then completed activities that completed the connection and honored our Veterans. 

As we round out the end of the month we are reminded of how our nation began as we evaluate the first Thanksgiving. Our students will be listening to silly Thanksgiving stories of turkeys on the run and partaking in activities that will challenge then to reflect on the things they are thankful for and help them practice literacy skills.