Posted by lslibrary

It is never too early to think about summer reading. The librarians are busily updating our summer reading lists, adding some new and exciting titles that your children are sure to love. Here at LREI we are so lucky to have 4 librarians who are constantly reading. We love talking books with our students, and love the fact that book recommending is a two way street around here.

Here are some suggestions to help your summer reader stay excited about reading this summer.

Book clubs! – Many children love dishing about books together. If you know you will be close to another family, why not set up a weekly book club with your children. Bring some snacks and guiding questions, and your children may just be reading more deeply than if they were on their own. Even if you are not close together, you can facetime a book club! Sometimes a little bit of technology is just what a reader needs to get interested!

Get outside! – Reading need not be an indoor activity. When you are going to the park, or out on the boat, or headed to the beach make sure to pack a bunch of books for your children to choose from.

Read together! – Nobody is too old for reading aloud. Whether it’s a picture book or a chapter book, schedule some daily family time for a read aloud. Be it 5 minutes or an hour, it will be a fun activity that your children will look forward to.

Don’t forget to stop by our Book Swap Thursday May 17 and Friday May 18 to find some new-to-you books to get excited about!

Happy Reading!

Apr

2012

April is National Poetry Month

Posted by lslibrary

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

2012

Living in New York City

Posted by lslibrary

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!

Feb

2012

C’mon over to the 500s!

Posted by lslibrary

Our fourth graders topped off their Dewey Decimal System study by creating commercials advertising their sections. Please stop by the Lower School Library connect page to view the commercials!

Jan

2012

Book Recommendations

Posted by lslibrary

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

2011

Fourth Grade Wordle Recommendations

Posted by lslibrary

In 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?