Scholastic Book Fair

The Scholastic Book Fair is coming soon! However, due to Covid-19 restrictions our fall Book Fair is online this year! Please support our school and help your child discover new books, favorite characters, complete series, and more! 

The Book Fair will open on Monday, October 26th, and run through Sunday, November 8th.  You can shop the online book fair here: http://scholastic.com/bf/dothanbrookschool 

Check out the new Virtual 3D experience to get an (almost) live feeling! :) 

Vermont Middle Grade Book Award*

As many of you know, the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award program is being renamed.  The Vermont Department of Libraries formed a committee last spring, consisting of teachers, students, and Dept. of Libraries staff.  Students from around the state submitted name ideas and I was hoping the committee would have a new name before school starts, but instead they have picked their top 10 and will let students vote on the final name.  I'll be sure to share the voting information when it becomes available.  

For now, regardless of the name, there are new award books to read this year!  As usual, read them and enjoy them. When you read five or more books you get to vote on your favorite one.  The book that gets the most votes from students around the state gets an award. 

(Click on any book to view the book trailer.)

Check out some of the winners from past years:

2020 - Small Spaces, by Katherine Arden 

2019 - Refugee, by Alan Gratz 

2018 - Projekt 1065: A Novel of World War II, by Alan Gratz 

2017 - The Terrible Two, by Jory John & Mac Barnett 

2016 - El Deafo, by Cece Bell 

2015 - Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library, by Chris Grabenstein 

2014 - Wonder, by R. J. Palacio 

2013 - The Running Dream, by Wendelin Van Draanen 

2012 - Smile, by Raina Telgemeier 

2011 - 11 Birthdays, by Wendy Mass 

2010 - Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins 

 See the complete list of winners from 1957-2020.

* Formerly the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award

Keep on reading! #dbsreads

I will miss reading to all of my DBS friends during this Home Learning adventure, but I hope the kiddos don't miss hearing stories!  Please continue reading with your children and feel free to share some of the many great online resources available.  As coronvirus sweeps across the nation, authors everywhere have begun offering story times online, via social media or just posting on their websites.  Check out some of these great ones:

• The Big List of Children’s Authors Doing Online Read Alouds & Activities
  This is a curated list of authors who are reading their own books and offering literacy activities.  Some authors have done one-time readings,while others are offering daily stories on Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube.
• Storyline Online
  Well-known celebrities read popular picture books. This is a project from the Screen Actor's Guild Foundation. 
• Story Time from Space
  This is one of my favorites! Astronauts read popular children's books FROM SPACE! You can see them floating in the International Space Station. You can see the Space Station behind them. It's very cool! 
• Audible
  Audible is one of the most popular audio book services. My family uses it all the time! We listen to classics, and new books, YA novels and self-help books, picture books and best sellers.  They have everything (mostly) and they are offering it free to students whose schools have been closed due to coronavirus.  
• Scholastic Learn at Home
  Scholastic has created day-by-day literacy projects to keep kids learning at home home. These are great supplemental activities to your child's literacy education -- and fun too!
• Epic!
  Epic! provides thousands of digital books for students to read free online.  Check with your classroom teacher for a class code. 

I will record myself reading some stories as well and post them as activities in Google Classroom or Seesaw.  Remember, reading and being read to are equally valuable. Read to your kids and explore these online resources together.  Take advantage of this time when your children are home. Enjoy!

   

Multicultural Children's Book Day

Dear families,

January 31, 2020 is Multicultural Children’s Book Day. At Dothan Brook School we are preparing for MCCBD 2020 and hope you will join our celebration of diversity through children's books. As you may know, it is critical to expose children to books where they can see and learn about people like themselves (mirrors), as well as see and learn about people who are different from them (windows).

Multicultural Children’s Book Day‘s mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in home and school bookshelves while also working diligently to get more of these types of books into the hands of young readers, parents, and educators. According to their website, this non-profit has donated over 7,000 books to kids and that number continues to climb.

We will be celebrating Multicultural Children’s Book Day for a whole week at DBS! Starting on January 27th, class council lessons and library activities will focus on diversity in literature. We will also be introducing the concept of books as windows and mirrors. Lodge circles that week will focus on diversity in literature as well.

We would love for you to take this opportunity to discuss the importance of diversity in the books with your children as well. We understand that talking about diversity can be challenging and uncomfortable, even for parents and teachers! For many, there is a fear of saying the wrong thing, or opening up a conversation you aren’t able to fully address, and often it feels easier to just not even begin the discussion. We would encourage you to take this opportunity to give it a try. Remember, we are all learning together!

Here are a few suggestions for talking about diversity in literature with your children:

• As you’re reading, pause to ask questions, such as:
• What is it like to feel different and not fit in?
• Was there a time you felt like this?
• Don’t skip over foreign words. Make an effort to learn them. Practice saying them together.
• Point out foods and clothing in stories that might be different from typical American food and clothing.
• In your home library, have students find a book with a picture of someone who looks like them and a book with a picture with someone who doesn’t look like them.

If you are interested in exploring further, check out these sites:

• https://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/literacy-empathy-discovery-action-the-mission-of-mcbd2020/
• https://www.weareteachers.com/mirrors-and-windows/
• http://www.aldenhabacon.com/13-tips-how-to-talk-to-children-about-diversity
• https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/teaching-diversity-place-begin-0/ 
• https://www.pbs.org/parents/thrive/how-to-teach-children-about-cultural-awareness-and-diversity

Lindsey Stoddard

We were so lucky to have author Lindsey Stoddard visit DBS yesterday!  She is the author of Just Like Jackie (a Dorothy Canfield Fisher book award nominee) and Right as Rain, both excellent YA novels based (in whole or in part) in Vermont. Lindsey spoke with 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders. She told them how she finds inspiration, how she has fed and watered "seeds" from her past that then grew into novels, and how they should look to their own experiences for inspiration as well.  We even got a sneak peek at her newest book, coming out this summer. The kids were super excited. They had great questions and I now have a long reserve list for her books in the library. :) 

Thank you Lindsey for signing everything they threw at you and inspiring our budding authors!

Little Free Library

Guess what?!  I got a Little Free Library for DBS!  :)  I'm super excited.  I've wanted one for awhile and last spring I asked Mr. D if we could put one in front of school.  He loved the idea.  I was hoping to find a boy scout or someone to do it for free, but ended up asking an awesome DBS family who likes doing family projects.  They had a few kids graduate DBS and were excited to make a lasting project for the school.  I was thrilled!  I gave them free range on design and they ran with it.  The week before school started they were ready to install.

I love this family!  They are such an amazing asset to the community.

They even brought some books to get it started!

It has solar powered lights running along the inside of the roof. A very classy touch.

There is a website called LittleFreeLibrary.org that started the movement (as best I know) and maintains a map of locations. I went to registered our new addition and discovered that it's a trademarked name!  Of course! In order to use the name (which we obviously and clearly did!) and be listed on the map you have to pay a small fee and get a plaque.  Guess what I did ASAP?! :)  The plaque should be arriving in the mail any day now. 

During the first week of school I was talking to each of the classes about it and I was thrilled that so many kids had already found it and started getting books.  I love the expressions when I tell them that although it's called a "library" they can actually KEEP the books if they want to!  And add some of their own that they are done with.  The kids love it!  I'll check on it regularly and keep it stocked with books as well, just in case kiddos take books faster than they leave them. 
 

Three Little Pigs and First Grade

For the past few weeks in library, first graders have been studying different versions of The Three Little Pigs fairy tale.  We talked about when it was first written and how the variety of versions are similar and different.  The story was first written in the late 1800's by  James Halliwell-Phillipps, with a more popular version written several years later by Joseph Jacobs, crediting Halliwell-Phillipps.

After reading several versions of the story and retelling it, we started making our own stop motion version of the fairy tale.

Next week we'll finish the video and students will have a chance to make their own stop motion fairy tales.  I can't wait to see what they come up with!

Vacation time!!

Happy holidays to all.  I hope you enjoy a peaceful vacation.  I came across this on Facebook today and it made me smile.

If you need a good book for your daughter, check out Dear Girl, by  Amy Krouse Rosenthal.  I've had it sitting on my shelf for a month or so, but I finally picked it up and read it and it made my heart melt.  I just ordered a copy for my 11yr old.  Even big kids like picture books!  

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.

The Three Little Pigs

Kindergarten and 1st grade this week watched the story of The Three Little Pigs, then got a chance to try building houses of out straw, sticks, and bricks.  Then the Big Bad Wolf came along and tried to blow them down.  The kids loved it!  We had some great Big Bad Wolves as well.  :)

Some kids knew the story, but others did not. 

After watching the video we retold the story as a group, discussing the various building materials they used and which worked better than the others.  Everyone knew that bricks were strongest and straw was weakest.  Then I challenged them to make their own houses that could not be blown down.

"Bricks" were Legos and clearly the strongest building material.

This Big Bad Wolf was very dramatic and had amazing lung strength! 

The kids LOVED calling over the Big Bad Wolf to see if he could blow down their houses.  

We were pretty loose with the concept of "house."  It often ended up more of a pile. :)

That house went right off the table!

You have to try blowing down your own house before you can call over the Big Bad Wolf.

This house survived the first test.

For "straw" we used small plastic coffee stir straws.  The kids definitely had to use their imaginations building houses with these materials.  They did a great job with it.

We kept a tall on the white board to analyze which building material was strongest.

 In the end the brick houses always prevailed!

Can't go wrong with Legos!

Kindergarten Narratives

Kindergartners in my WIN group finished their narratives this week and were thrilled to see that I bound them into books.  They took turns reading their books to the rest of the group.  They felt very special sitting in the reading chair.  :)  Next writing topic - opinion pieces!  I think they'll do very well with that! :) 

Shelter

Shelter, by Celine Claire

I read this sweet book to preschool today.  A big storm is approaching and all of the animals are seeking shelter, but when two strangers come along the other animals are unwilling to share their shelter and supplies.  Amazon describes the book as a "heartwarming picture book story [that] delivers a timeless and timely message about the importance of kindness and generosity. With simple and evocative language, it explores how even small gestures can make a big difference to the strangers or outsiders in a community. "

I was surprised and intrigued by the preschoolers comments and reactions.  The noticed immediately that the strangers are polar bears, and were not at all surprised that the other animals wouldn't let them in.  "Polar bears are PREDATORS!" called out one child.  When the snow started falling hard and fast, the kids weren't worried because, "Polar bears live in the snow. They are happy there."  They saw nothing wrong with the other animals not sharing their shelters.  By the end, when the Fox family needs help (spoiler alert!) and the kids all agreed that of course the polar bears would help them, because "Polar Bears are nice!"

While I looked at this book as a statement on refugees, politics, and global peace, they saw a simple polar bear who may or may not eat the prey, but is perfectly happy living in the snow anyway. 

The preschool teacher told me that later in the day when they were outside for recess, the children dug deep "shelters" in the snowbanks.  <3

Book fair

My brain has been 110% book fair this week!  It's crazy and all encompassing and totally amazing!  I loved seeing how excited the kids got and how eager they were to check it out.  The 5th graders were excited to help bring boxes upstairs so they could get a sneak peek at the books.  Every time the fair was open it was busy and there was energy in the air.  I love it!

5th grade helpers

Quick break to check out the books. 

They wanted to keep going and set up the whole fair, but I made them wait.  There were so many boxes!  I needed to peek through it myself first to figure it all out!

I think several kids wanted to spend the whole week in front of the shelves. 

The book fair was "closed" during library classes, but the didn't stop the kids from observing from afar. 

I tried teacher wish lists this year with some success.  I'll do it again next year with better promotion and visibility. 

The fair was in the library from Friday's Teacher Preview through Thursday morning, then a bunch of amazing teachers and volunteers whisked it down stairs and set it up again in the front lobby.  I am ever so grateful for all the support I got with this effort.  We were up and running again in the lobby by early Thursday afternoon, just in time for parents coming in for conferences.

Thank you all who came, visited, purchased, volunteered, schlepped boxes, supported my efforts, gave me advice, and put up with my exhausted mind this week!  It was amazing and I'm glad it's over.... until next year!

Except, PS, if you missed the fair, or thought of something else you want, you can order online through November 11th. Orders will be shipped, free of charge, to the school. If you're shopping for presents, leave me a note on the check out page and I'll make sure to get them to you discretely without little eyes seeing.

The book fair books have arrived!

I walked in this morning and found this waiting for me!  

I definitely felt heart palpitations.  Not sure if they were from excitement or pure terror at the amount of work ahead!  Let's say excitement. :)  Later this week I'll be setting up the book fair in the library and next week it will be open for business!  

Would you like to come check it out?  Maybe shop with your student?  Maybe help their friends find good books to read?  I'm looking for a few volunteers to just be available during student shopping times to help the kids shop.  There's no training or experience required, just come and experience the thrill with the kids.  Plus, you get an invite to the sneak peek book fair preview!  

Let me know if you're interested in helping out.  More information about the book fair will be coming home with your child on Friday.  

Battle of the Books

I am very excited to start a Battle of the Books program at Dothan Brook School.  I have seen a lot of ideas kicking around on the Internet and it took me a year to wrap my brain around it, but now I've got it and the kids are getting excited! 

We are going to do four rounds, elimination style.  Fourth and fifth graders will be working in pairs to convince the rest of their class that the book they chose is the best!  They are trying to convince the rest of the kids to read their chosen book. 

Round one, with everyone participating, will be to create a poster in art class that represents their book.  Posters will be displayed in pairs in the library and their classmates will vote on which ones make them want to read the book the most.  Winners will move on to round two.

Round two is to do a dramatic reading in front of their class, round three is to act out a scene from the book, and round four is to create a technology project. 

I have mentioned to the project to the kids a few times in the past few weeks, but gotten lukewarm response.  This week the kids are picking their books and the excitement is definitely building!  Fifth graders have picked their books and fourth will be picking later this week. 

Check out this silly intro I created using PowToons.  I've been showing each class at library time. 

This is a learning experience for all of us, but I hope everyone has fun!  

Scholastic Book Fair

After many student requests last year, the book fair will be coming back to Dothan Brook School!! The fair will be at school from Monday, October 30th through Friday, November 3rd, and open during parent/teacher conferences on November 2nd and 3rd. Students will have a chance to visit the book fair with their classes during that week and notices will be sent home with students closer to the time so you know exactly when they will be going. The book fair will also be open before school on Tuesday, October 31st for parents dropping off kids in the morning. Stop by and see what's new! Check out the Scholastic Book Fair web page for more information! Any questions? Let me know!

Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award Ceremony

I took ten lucky readers to the the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award Ceremony today.  The weather was perfect and we had so much fun!!  The ceremony was held at the beautiful Vermont Technical College in Randolph, Vermont.  We took a bus with the White River School librarian and students.

We arrived early enough to have snack in the sunshine before the ceremony.

Group photo on this beautiful day!

Snack and a book?  Yes, please!

Then we went into Judd Hall where the ceremony was held.  We claimed good seats up front, then headed to the book display to pick up some new books.  While the audience was arriving, the Dorothy Canfield Fisher committee had a display cycling through all of the books that have won the award over the past 60 years.  The kids were excited to see many favorites on the list!

Ten kids reading new books while waiting patiently for the speaker.  Best field trip ever!

The ceremony started with recognition for our own Harper Robinson who won the Dorothy Canfield Fisher 60th Anniversary art contest!  She was presented with two different autographed books and a certificate.  It was so nice that her parents were able to join us for the ceremony as well.

Harper (center) with Cass Mabbot, Youth Services Consultant (left) and Hannah Peacock, chair of the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award Committee (right)

The winner this year is The Terrible Two, by Jory John and Mac Barnett.  Unfortunately they couldn't be at the ceremony in person, but Mac Barnett joined us via Skype all the way from Oakland, California!  He was up early and he "even put on real pants for you guys!" (he said has he stood up to show everyone he was wearing blue jeans).  He spoke for a few minutes about the book, about working with Jory John, and about his last trip to Vermont.  He also read a passage from The Terrible Two.  He is a very funny and engaging person.

Then the kids got to ask questions.  We learned that he is having work done on the house and laughed at the contractors coming and going behind him.  We learned that he has a dog, who ended up hanging out in the car for a little while (windows down, no worries!) because he was too noisy in the house.

The kids had great questions.  They asked why he became a writer, to which he replied that he loves books, he loves reading, and he loves sleeping late!  They asked where he gets his inspiration and he said that it's important to figure out what you care about and then figure out how to make others care too.  He keeps a notebook with him and whenever he sees something inspiring or something that tugs at his heart a little bit, he writes it down.  They also asked what is his favorite thing to write about and the audience had a good laugh when he said that he likes writing about people messing up, failing, or doing the wrong thing.  He was a joker growing up and loved playing jokes on his mom.  Now he has fun writing about them instead.

The Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award Committee presented Mac Barnett with a painting done by a local Vermont artist (I didn't catch the name).

It's an award, homage to his book, and painting all in one!

When the ceremony was over we headed back outside for lunch in the sunshine and shade.  Then it was back on the bus and back to school - just in time for recess!!

The fourth graders

The boys

The girls, who were laughing so hard I couldn't get a good picture!

I think everyone had fun!  Most of them came back with a new book and a few funny moments to remember.  I came back with the same number of kids I left with, all in the same good condition, so I consider this, my first field trip, to be a success!!  I'm already looking forward to next year's ceremony!