Author Archives: lslibrary

Apr
01
2012

April is National Poetry Month

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Let’s be honest. Many of us do not consider poetry. We may have a fond memory or two of a favorite poem as a child, but chances are as adults we do not work poetry into our “to be read” pile.

We should work on changing this! And why not make that change during April which is National Poetry Month!

Here are a few things you may want to experience with your children during the month of April!

– Why not visit Poet’s House? Located at Ten River Terrace, Poet’s House is a lovely respite filled with poetry and has a children’s room to boot!

– Unable to visit a physical space? Why not check out librarian Travis Jonker’s blog where he always has something poetry going on … including the now famous spine poem gallery! Why not make a spine poem or two of your own?

– If you are near the library at LREI, come on in and ask about our 811s! That is the Dewey Decimal Section where you will find our fabulous poetry collection. We have anthologies and many, many picture book poetry titles as well!

Mar
08
2012

Living in New York City

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We are incredibly fortunate to be living in or close to NYC. We have 3 amazing public library systems, and a number of independent bookstores that are great places not only to find children’s books, but to attend author events as well. On any given weekend, there are a number of events around books and literacy that are open to the general public.

This weekend there is a middle grade author even happening at Books of Wonder, a Shakespeare program for children at the Schwarzman Building Children’s Room , and every Saturday at 11:30 a.m. McNally Jackson has a children’s story time.

Why not take advantage of some bookish events that New York City has to offer!

Jan
25
2012

Book Recommendations

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As many of you know, I have just ended my Newbery tenure year. It was an honor to be a part of the oldest award for children’s literature in the world, and it’s an experience that I will never forget. There are, however, many other awards as well as lists of recommended books that are put forth during ALA.

I think one of the lists that is most useful to parents and educators is the Notable Books list put out by ALSC (The Association of Library Services to Children). The list is divided up by age range, and many amazing books that do not fit the super specific criteria of the well known awards show up on the Notable List.

Please take a moment to click over to the 2012 Notable List to see if there is something you think your child would enjoy!

Dec
20
2011

Fourth Grade Wordle Recommendations

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Wordle: recommendationsIn 4th grade library classes we have been examining book reviews and recommendations.  We looked at reviews from The New York Times, Kirkus Reviews as well as online book blogs.  Students were asked to figure out the difference between reviews and recommendations, as well as the main parts of book reviews.  They were then asked to write their own book recommendation featuring a book they had read and enjoyed lately.

After this was completed, fourth graders copied their text into the online wordle tool ( http://www.wordle.net ).  This free tool takes text and blows it up into word clouds.  The more times a word appears, the bigger it is in the cloud.  Students manipulated their word clouds, and then printed a copy out.  Kate and Steve’s class has their reviews up on the library bulletin board, and Dina and Hilary’s class has their reviews in the classroom.  Many students were quite excited about this tool.  Why not ask your 4th grader how to create a wordle and play around a bit at home?

Dec
07
2011

Book Week Wednesday!

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Our fabulous author/illustrators today were:

Marthe Jocelyn – author/illustrator of Hannah’s Seven Dresses to Luise and Mary’s  classroom.

Monica Wellington – author/illustrator of Mr. Cookie Baker to Galen and Alexia’s classroom.

                  

Dec
06
2011

Tuesday of Book Week!

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Today’s fabulous Book Week visitors are:

Julie Appel – author of Touch The Art: Count Monet’s Lilies to Diane and Fleur’s 4K class.

Isabel Hill –  author of Building Stories to Tasha and Jessica’s 2nd grade class.

Julia Sarcone-Roach –  author of Subway Story to Deborah and Farrah’s 2nd grade class.

 

Dec
05
2011

It’s Book Week!

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Book Week is probably the librarians’ favorite week of the school year.  Authors and illustrators visit every classroom.  Watch this blog for announcements of who is appearing each day!

Monday December 5

Lisa Graff – author of Umbrella Summer is visiting Kate and Steve’s 4th grade classroom.

P.D. Eastman – author of Go Dog Go! is visiting Beth and Clare’s 4’s classroom.

Gina Goldmann – contributor to Hands Off Harry is visiting Vonick’s 3rd grade classroom.

Judith Inglese and Dedie King – author and illustrator of I See the Sun in Afghanistan is coming to Rebecca and Nicole’s 1st grade classroom.