Rainbow Reading Challenge 2018

Teegan was the first finisher of the Reading Rainbow Challenge! We use this to help expose kids to various series and genres in the library to show them all we have to offer them! They get this list of cool series, and by choice, can choose some off the list that seem interesting to check out. They have 4 weeks to try some of these new series, and then can attend our Rainbow Reading Challenge party!

Rainbow Reading Challenge

Fifty-four awesome first graders met this year's Rainbow Reading Challenge! We celebrated their accomplishment with rainbow sherbet and goldfish, bookmarks, free books, music and dancing. Way to go, readers!

LIBRARY LAB: Cooking Club - One Minute Mug Brownie

We whipped up some brownies in a cup yesterday. We had a mock restaurant to see if students remembered some of the etiquette rules we taught them before, and we were amazed at how much they retained over spring break! What well-mannered cooks we have. Check out this video of our cooking experience. We have one more week to learn a new recipe!

LIBRARY LAB: Cooking Club Deliciously Fun!

Our cooks had a delicious time making microwave mug pizza yesterday! We learned a lot about cooking & table manners. Mrs. Peyton & I were so excited to have our wonderful grown up helpers, Mrs. MacMillan, Mrs. Stevenson, Ms. Erben & Mrs. San Miguel (with baby Charlie!) 

Great job, Eagles! Can't wait to see what we cook up next! 

Testing Recipes for Cooking Club

The applications are pouring in for cooking club! Get one in the library today or online here. They're due 2/17 - Mrs. Fournier & Mrs. Peyton will choose the 20 best candidates to become cooks in our first Cooking Club! Check out these videos for more information.

Enrichment Book Clubs Are Underway

Enrichment Book Clubs have started at Forest North! One of the first things librarians like to do when they start book clubs is take a reading inventory. Check out what Forest North Eagles like to read about! 

These Enrichment Book Clubs meet during grade levels' intervention time so that students can work in smaller groups across a grade level. Librarians meet with one group of students per grade level each week and work through books together throughout the year. It's a fun and bonding way to learn. Mrs. Fournier & Mrs. Young love it!                     

LIBRARY LAB: Emoji Pillows

Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd graders- it's your turn! Join us after school 10/31 & 11/7 for this month's LIBRARY LAB- Emoji Pillows! 3rd -5th graders are having a blast learning to sew, design and stuff their own Emoji Pillows, and we can't wait to share the same experience with our younger Eagles. Get your permission slips from and to the library as soon as possible, because we only have materials for 28 participants! Check out this video to see our club in action.

Unusual Reading Spot Photo Contest Winners 2016!

We decorate the library walls each year with 10 blown up photos of our students reading in unusual or special spots. I'm excited to announce our winners who will be displayed for the 2016-2017 school year!  Check them out & congratulations to our winners.

2016-2017 Armadillo Readers Choice List Revealed

Mrs. Young & I presented two of next year's books on the Armadillo Readers' Choice Award list at our librarians' meeting yesterday. We are both on the Armadillo Readers' Choice Award committee and read over 80 books to decide on 10 final nominees. Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade students are read the 10 books throughout the year when the content of the book aligns with their curriculum. We think next year's list is full of fun books with lots of great learning activities and opportunities!

First Grade Book Club Finishes Frecklejuice

First grade finished reading Freckle Juice yesterday, a classic that totally stands the test of time!

To celebrate finishing the book, and because we're silly (just being honest!), the club decided to make our own freckles.  We made them blue just like Andrew does, but instead of a marker, we made them from paper and taped them on our faces so we could remove them after photos!

We loved the silly premise of this book, how the teacher turned out to be nicer than she seemed in the beginning, and how gross the recipe for making Freckle Juice was- no wonder it gave Andrew a stomachache!

Freckle Juice is the 6th book we've read so far this year!  Way to go, Book Club!

First Grade Book Club Reads "Frecklejuice"

First Grade book club has been my most well-read group this year.  We have zoomed through so many texts! They also are very diverse readers.  We rank our books 1-5 after each book, and they love realistic fiction, scary books (Bunnicula is Clara's jam!), graphic novels, and historical stories. 

Our most recent book is "Frecklejuice" by Judy Bloom (an oldie but a goodie!)  We did the math yesterday when we noticed that our character paid 5 dimes for a recipe for freckle juice.  Turns out it's $0.50!

Last Meeting of K-2 Comic Book Club

Our students were super excited for our last meeting of Comic Book Club because we promised them a special guest who now worked at Forest North, but was previously employed in the comic book industry. It was our Office Specialist, Mrs. Rape!

She talked to them about her experiences in the comics industry as an inker, right when comics were going digital. We asked her tons of questions. She can look at a color and tell you what percentage of basic colors are its components. Ask her about it- it's fascinating!

We ended our session by watching an awesome motion comic, and students got to take home a free comic donated by our sponsor, Titan Moon Comics. A few lucky students also got to take home a poster, also from Titan Moon. Please support them with all of your comic needs- they have been so generous with our students!

Armadillo Readers' Choice Award Selects Books for 16-17 List

The Armadillo Readers' Choice Award Selection Committee met today at Deep Wood Elementary to read 85 recently published picture books. Mrs. Young and I both serve on this committee for next year. It was so fun to make time to read - something we actually don't ever get time to do in our busy library. We narrowed these books by our purpose (TEKS-based lessons for K-2 students) and eventually whittled the list down to 10 amazing books.  We can't wait to share them with you and our students soon.

Thanks to the committee for a wonderful day of reading and lesson planning.  I can't wait to see what we come up with next!

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.

Comic Book Club... now for K-2 students!

Learning about Hannukah in K & 1st

by guest blogger Mrs. Young

Kinder and first grade learned about holidays and different family traditions this month.  Mrs. Watercott, Forest North parent and amazing library volunteer, taught the classes about Hanukkah and shared things that her family uses in their celebration.  It was fun to learn about a different holiday tradition and they especially liked getting to spin and dance like dreidels!

Hour of Code on Library iPads!

Mrs. Young & I were so excited to work this week with Mr. Brewton, Forest North Instructional Technology Specialist, to celebrate Hour of Code!  I worked with our Kindergarten & 1st grade classes, and Mrs. Young helped out with PreKindergarten.  Hour of Code is a global celebration happening this week to teach kids about computer programming and how fun it can be!  I was astounded at how quickly our kids picked it up- these digital natives will be great engineers one day!  Thank you so much for including us in your celebration & teaching, Mr. Brewton!  We love collaborating with you!