Another book fair is on the books!

Thank you all for a wonderful book fair!!! We got nearly 700 books into the hands of eager DBS readers and were able to fill all of the teacher wish lists, get some new books for the library, and donate a handful of books to The Haven. There's still time to order online if you missed the fun in person or want one of those popular books that sold out! The online fair is open until November 9th. (http://scholastic.com/bf/dbs)


Book fair was taking about 100% of my brain power this week. As fun as it was (and as much as I love the hugs and thanks and excited faces of the kiddos), it will be nice to get back to the regular routine next week.

Scholastic eWallet

Hi parents! The book fair arrived today! Boxes and boxes of goodies we can't wait to unpack.

This year Scholastic is offering eWallet, an easier way for kids to buy books. Set up your account today so your kiddo will be ready when their class comes to the book fair. (all standard forms of payment still work as well)

The Book Fair is Coming

Hi family and friends -- once again the Scholastic Book Fair will be at DBS the last week of October.  Just in time for parent conferences!  This year they have a new feature called eWallet that should make shopping easier for all.

Learn more and set up your account on our book fair web page: www.scholastic.com/bf/dbs

Mystery Skype!

Fifth grade had a GREAT Mystery Skype today with The Bement School, a private boarding school in Deerfield, MA.  Our 5th graders knew they were talking to a 6th grade class in the US, but had no idea where they were.  Through a series of Yes/No questions, both schools tried to figure out where the other school is located.  The kids had to narrow down the location based on longitude and latitude, major land features, states, and more.  They also had to be able to answer those same kind of questions about DBS so the other class could try to find us.  

The kids were each given a role, such as questioner, answerer, researcher, greeter, photographer, etc., and within 45 minutes they were able to figure out what school they were talking to!

]I loved the excitement and cheering when they got a yes, and the focus when they got a no.  They had to go back to the research and figure out another logical question to ask.  They also had to pay attention to the other school's questions and answer them accurately.   

Afterwards we did a quick survey and the kids reported that they had fun and want to do it again!  Yay!  Maybe next time we'll find a school a little further away. :)

A message from Alan Gratz

Author Alan Gratz wrote the book that won the Dorothy Canfield Fisher book award last year. He has TWO books on this year's list! He wasn't able to attend the award ceremony, but he did send this video for Vermont students!

Watch the video now!

This year he has two books on the list: Ban This Book and Refugee. They are very different books, but both excellent in their own way.

Things that are important to kindergartners

I was talking with two kindergartners at recess today.

K1: "I have a very wiggly tooth!", he said, excitedly wiggling it for me.
K2: "And your head is an oval!", she said.  Like those two things are equally interesting and important.

I laughed.  K1 wasn't sure if it was an insult or not and paused to think.  I said, "All heads are sort of oval shaped." Yes, I know, a brilliant addition to this conversation.  K2 carried on, "Except...," she pauses to think, "except someone in my class.  He has a circle head.  I can't remember his name."  Tapping lips, thinking.  I laughed again.  She continued to think, but could not come up with the name of the circle-headed boy in her class.  I guess that will remain a mystery to us all.  :)

First day of school

Wow! We are back at school already. Summer flew by! It was wonderful to see all the smiling faces again and get to read to the kiddos again.  Yay!  I was so busy that I didn't take any pictures.  The day felt like summer (heat wave!) and flew by just as fast.

Here is the library schedule for this year.

Monday
Mrs. Burris 1st grade
Afternoon PreK
Mrs. Raney's 3rd grade

Tuesday
Mrs. Atwater's 1st grade
Mrs. Underwood's 3rd grade

Wednesday
Ms. MacCallum's 2nd grade
Ms. Jenkyn's 2nd grade

Thursday
4th grade - blue group
Mrs. Rydjeski's kindergarten

Friday
Morning PreK
Mrs. McKenney's 5th grade
Mr. Burns' 5th grade
Mrs. Schultz's kindergarten
4th grade - red group

I'll try to update this blog often.  You can also find out what's going on by following me on Twitter (@dbslibrary) and Instagram (@dbslibrary). 

I'm looking forward to a great year with stories and robots and fun in the library.