Elizabeth Eulberg

3rd-5th grades were honored to hear the hilariously engaging Elizabeth Eulberg speak today. She made us laugh but also spoke to us about the writing process, deductive reasoning, and her personal story of overcoming dyslexia to become a Texas Bluebonnet Award nominated author. We love The Great Shelby Holmes and are excited to read the sequel now, too. Thanks for sharing your gifts with us, Elizabeth Eulberg, and thanks to the Forest North PTA for sponsoring this event. 

Nathan Hale Visiting March 6th

Our deadline to order books has passed, but I will have a few extra copies on hand- first come, first served. Bring cash/check with this order form. We can't wait to see Nathan Hale on March 6th!

4th & 5th grade "Lowriders in Space" Author & Illustrator Visit

4th & 5th graders at Forest North got to attend an amazing presentation by "Lowriders in Space" author Cathy Camper & illustrator Raul the Third today. We even got to ride a bus all the way to CD Fulkes Middle School for the presentation. We had so much fun, learned a lot, and felt so proud to share with other campuses how much we have been reading and participating in the Texas Bluebonnet Award program. Thanks so much for the opportunity, Round Rock ISD & Chronicle Books!

Bridget Heos Visits Forest North

Forest North students in PreK-2, FCC & PPCD had a blast learning about how to write a book from Bridget Heos today.  Did you know that Bridget Heos has published about 100 books?  Mustache Baby was her first fiction book, where she made up a story.  She got the idea from her son and his friend laughing at a picture of a baby with a mustache.  Bridget Heos told us about how she writes a book, and how many editors will sometimes say no to a book before it gets published.  She picked kids from the audience to play the editors that turned her down or to be the last special one who said YES!  She also taught us about special goats who get a little bit of DNA in them to make their wool stronger.  Some kids bought a discounted book from our partnership with Barnes & Noble to get signed by Bridget Heos and meet our author.  Five lucky K-2 students also won a mustache drawing contest to eat breakfast with the author as well!  What a great day!  Thanks for all the fun, Bridget Heos!

Bridget Heos Visiting Forest North 2/24

Bridget Heos is coming to visit our K-2, FCC, PPCD and PreK students on 2/24.  We're so excited!  Check out our presentation for more information about her visit, and feel free to print out our order form below if you'd like to buy a book and get it signed!  Prices are on the form.

Peggy Eddleman Author Visit 11/12/15 for 3rd-5th graders!

Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List author Peggy Eddleman is coming from Utah to visit 3rd-5th graders on the afternoon of Thursday, November 12th, here in the Forest North Library.  We are so excited to welcome her and learn from her experiences. Peggy's book, Sky Jumpers, has been well known around Forest North this fall because it's on the Bluebonnet list!  The new sequel, The Forbidden Flats, is also out!

We are so lucky to host her here at Forest North, and Peggy has also agreed to sign books- even those that were previously purchased!  If you haven't purchased a book yet, they are available now (& through November 9th) for $6.05 if submitted with the form below.  Paper copies will be sent home as well of this form.  All copies will be paperback. 

Peggy has also agreed to eat lunch with a lucky handful of Forest North readers. Interested students should submit a 1 page persuasive essay about why s/he should be chosen for this lunch by Monday, November 9th. After our lunch, Peggy will be doing two sessions on how to be a writer and to tell us about her editing and revising process. 

This is a special opportunity to learn from a master of her craft, fine tune our writing TEKS, and celebrate reading here at Forest North.  I'll see you then!

Polly Holyoke Visit Wrap Up!

4th and 5th grade were so excited to have Texas Bluebonnet Award nominee The Neptune Project author Polly Holyoke come to visit us!  We had a general assembly where she told us all about her book and had a fascinating interactive Science presentation.  Afterwards, we had a book signing, and she did a special Writing Camp with 4th graders as they prepare for their writing STAAR test.  We also had a special Taco Time- interested students wrote persuasive essays on why they should be chosen to eat tacos with Polly Holyoke.  Congratulations to our essay winners - Destiny, Ariah, Denise, Karina, and Sydney.

The Neptune Project was the winner at Forest North this year with 30 votes at our Texas Bluebonnet Award Voting Party.  We adored Polly's Sci Fi underwater oddsey. We can't wait for the sequel to come out in May - The Neptune Challenge. Check out this video for more about our fun visit!

Liesl Shurtliff Visit Wrap Up

We had a great time last week, Liesl! Thanks for visiting us, sharing Rump (and for the sneak preview of Jack.) Check out this video of the fun we had during our special lunch & presentations.

Neptune Project author Polly Holyoke visiting

Thursday, January 22nd is going to be an awesome day for 4th and 5th graders as Polly Holyoke, Texas Bluebonnet Award nominated author of The Neptune Project, will be visiting us here at Forest North Elementary.  I'm so excited!  

Check out more information on Polly at her website.  I was just there and discovered the sequel to this awesome book is coming out on May 15th, 2015, and will be titled The Neptune Conspiracy. 

Polly will be doing a general assembly session with 4th and 5th grades, to talk about the book and her process, and then will be doing a more intense workshop with 4th graders to help prepare them for their writing STAAR test. Polly was, until very recently, a 4th grade teacher in Texas herself, after all, so she knows the ropes.

She will be available to sign books during her visit.  You can preorder them through school with a special discount until the day before her visit for $13.59 hardback and $5.59 paperback.  You can buy them for retail price plus tax on the day of her visit as well.  Feel free to print the order form at left.

Polly has also agreed to eat lunch with a handful of students. Students who are interested in being chosen for lunch must pass the Neptune Project bluebonnet quiz by Monday, 1/19, and write Mrs. Fournier a one page, persuasive letter about why they should be chosen.

It is a special opportunity for us to have the author of one of the Bluebonnet nominees visit our school, and especially one who is familiar with our curriculum and TEKS.  This is sure to be an event where we'll learn a lot and have tons of fun.  I can't wait!

Leisl Shurtliff Visiting January 13th!

It's going to be a great spring semester, and we're starting off with a bang!  We are thrilled to host Leisl Shurtliff for an author visit on January 13th!

Leisl will be here for two performances where she will talk about her Texas Bluebonnet Award nominated title, Rump, and her new book, coming out in April, called Jack. Learn more information about these books on Leisl's website.

Our schedule for the 13th will be as follows:
11:30-12:15 lunch with students (more on that later)
12:15-12:30 set up for presentations
12:30-1:15 5th grade & Ms. Velasquez' classes
1:15-1:30 sign books
1:30-2:15 3rd grade, Mrs. Talley & Ms. Neely's classes
2:15-2:30 sign books

As you can see, Leisl will be available to sign books.  Preorders will be accepted at a discount rate, so plan ahead to get a book, and Leisl will be on hand to sign it here at school on the 13th.  If you do not submit a preorder, you are still welcome to purchase a book on 1/13 but will not receive the discounted rate Barnes & Noble has so graciously offered us.

Leisl has also agreed to eat lunch with a handful of lucky readers. 3rd-5th grade students who are interested in eating lunch with this author will need to have passed the Rump Bluebonnet quiz in the library by 1/9, and submit a one page persuasive letter giving the reasons why they should be chosen. 

Please welcome me in joining this celebrated author to our school.  This is sure to be a fascinating experience that will enrich the reading & writing lives of our students.  

Divya Srinivasan Author Visit Wrap Up

First Grade Students watch and Divya Srinivasan demonstrates how she writes and illustrates her picture books.

Special art made for us by Divya Srinivasan during her visit

We had a great visit with Divya Srinivasan yesterday. She spoke to us about the importance of revision, research, author's purpose, and having ideas ready to write. 

She showed us some photos of creatures from her books that showed up on her aunt's Critter Cam in NM.  I never knew owls took baths in ponds!  

She shared her writer's notebook with us, showed us the special software she uses for making her amazing books (and designed some special turtles for us!), and was kind enough to meet and sign books for many students!  Mrs. San Miguel, 1st grade teacher, said, "Thank you for bringing in the author today for the kids. What a great experience for them and us as well! I really appreciate all the hard work you put into the extra things you do!"

We have 6 of her books to share in our library, and she signed all of those too, so be sure to put a hold on one so you can take it home too.  

Mrs. Albin, Kindergarten teacher said of the visit, "Our students were enthralled to see an author and illustrator in action!  They were able to take what she said and make applications to their own writing in the classroom."

Kindergarten students watch and learn. 

Jasmyn gets her book signed by Divya Srinivasan.

Thanks so much for visiting us, Divya.  We learned a lot and had so much fun.

Divya Srinivasan Author Visit

It's almost here- our 12/10 author visit with Divya Srinivasan.  We're so excited to hear her talk about her amazing 3 books!  The period of pre-ordered books has lapsed, but you can still purchase a book at retail price for her visit, and she'll autograph it for you! Check out this presentation for more information, or click on the order form below to print a copy.

Divya Srinivasan Visiting 12/10!

Great news, Eagles! Divya Srinivasan, author of Little Owl's Night, Little Owl's Day, & Octopus Alone, is coming to visit Forest North on Wednesday, December 10th.  She will be giving presentations for FCC, PPCD, PreKindergarten, Kindergarten, 1st grade and 2nd grade classes.  If you want to get her to sign a book and meet her personally, you're welcome to!  Just submit this order form to Mrs. Fournier with your preferred method of payment.  Remember that checks must have a valid state ID number and phone number.

We are so excited to have this talented author visit and give us insight into her creative process!  Check out this cool interview of her for more information.

The Forest North Library was thrilled to present Lucas Miller, the Singing Zoologist, on Wednesday, 2/19, for all students, with financial assistance from the PTA & a grant from the Texas Commission of the Arts.

Lucas did two shows, for our younger and older students, that tied to our Science TEKs and entertained us all.  The show for the older students featured an amusing quiz show with questions about wetlands, endangered turtles, and the Texas Bluebonnet, our state flower.

After the performances, Mrs. Albin brought to me her students' Science writings, where they wrote about their favorite part of the Singing Zoologist's performance, and what they learned.  Mrs. Albin said there was much discussion on the spelling of the word "metamorphosis" among the students as it appeared in many of their essays.  What bravery!

Check out the video for general information on Lucas Miller, and give his YouTube channel a try for some songs we heard at our performances, but also some new material as well!  Thanks for a great day, Lucas Miller!

Phil Bildner's Writing Camp

Forest North was thrilled to receive Texas Bluebonnet Award winning author Phil Bildner direct from Brooklyn, New York, in the library. Phil led an intensive writing camp for 4th and 5th graders in two separate sessions. These smaller sessions allowed for a lot more individual attention from our honored guest. Phil encouraged the students to read to become better writers, and suggested some of his favorite recent books. He showed his progression as a writer from his childhood.

He showed how important it is to focus on getting things right, and how editing can make a huge difference. He then gave detailed examples on how students should visualize the scenes they're writing, focusing on tiny details and exploding the moment. His characteristic energy and charisma absolutely engrossed the students, as always. Phil was a school teacher in New York before he was a writer, and it shows. He has amazing technique in working with 21st century kids. Some students chose to buy a Phil Bildner book, and got it autographed by Phil and got a photo print from Mrs. Fournier.

All 4th and 5th graders were encouraged to submit a persuasive essay outlining why they should be chosen to receive a free signed book and eat lunch with Phil himself. It took many hours of careful study to find the top 4 winners of the essay contest. These well-written persuasive essays were read by 4 judges, and the winners were Rishi from 4th grade, and Cameron, Malikai & Mackenzie, all from 5th grade.

Since his visits, 4th grade teachers have employed his techniques and exercises and have continued them with their students. They've noticed a marked increased use of vivid, sensory imagery since his visit. Thanks so much for sharing your skills with us, Phil! We learned a lot, and had a lot of fun. Phil- if you keep writing, we'll keep reading. Deal?

Julie Sternberg's Author Visit

2nd graders and 3rd graders were in for a special treat on Monday, October 15th! Texas Bluebonnet Award-nominated author Julie Sternberg was here from Brooklyn, New York to visit us and talk about her amazing debut novel Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie. Students from 4th and 5th grade who had already passed the quiz on her book were also invited.  Julie was engaging, and our students were so well-behaved.  They sat still, asked great questions, and prepared for the visit ahead of time by reading her book (thanks, teacher!) Thanks for helping me make the most of our visit.

Author visits like Julie Sternberg are wonderful experiences for our children, but require a lot of financial help. Since Julie lives so far away, multiple schools pitch in and share her airfare and hotel costs. At Forest North, the PTA generously donates money to the library, and that paid for about 25% of our visit costs this year. The other 75% comes from fundraisers like the Barnes & Noble Book Fair (12/1/2012) and the Scholastic Book Fair (4/30/13-5/4/13).  Please support the library fundraisers so we can continue to have authors visit our school!















 Some students chose to purchase books and get them signed by Julie in person. I took a photo of each student who purchased a book and printed a wallet sized copy so they could have a souvenir of our special day. Pictured below is Julie Sternberg with Ruby, a third grader. Our books were purchased through local Round Rock bookseller The Book Spot, who were nice enough to let us buy books ahead of time, and took back any extras we didn't sell without financially penalizing us. How nice is that? They also covered the tax for us. Please patronize The Book Spot to thank them for donating their time and services to us! 

Thanks for a wonderful visit, Julie! The kids and teachers adored you, and we loved getting an inside perspective on your wonderful book. Can't wait for the sequel, coming out in April!