Bluebonnet Program Starting Soon!

Thanks to Mrs. Houston at Union Hill Elementary for making this amazing page to check out this year's Bluebonnet nominees!

Texas Bluebonnet Award update

Check out the latest Texas Bluebonnet Award qualified voter! We've already read 1,159 books so far, and have 124 kids coming to the voting party on 1/26!

RRISD Battle of the Bluebonnets at Dell Diamond

The Forest North Eagles had a great showing at the RRISD Battle of the Bluebonnets. We got 34 of 40 questions right, which earned us a tie for 8th place. Congratulations & thanks to Gabriel, Owen, Dylan, and Sean for all their hard work, and to our alternate, Kanishk, who tirelessly prepared just in case, and helped us study! Thanks to the Dell Diamond for sponsoring this event, giving us ticket to a game in April, and to Bryan Mays of KVUE to emceeing the event again! Check out this video KVUE did covering the event.
Congratulations to Caraway for winning for the 3rd straight year, and to Blackland Prairie who got all 40 questions and a handful of tiebreakers correct. I can't believe the memories of these kids! They are truly astounding. 

After spring break, Gabriel & some other 4th graders and I will start a weekly book club to get a head start on next year's titles. Here we go again! Can't wait to start fresh with this amazing program! Thank you to the Texas Library Association & Texas Bluebonnet Award for all of their tireless efforts.

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!

Texas Bluebonnet Award 2017 Voting Party

It is a unique privilege in my life to observe our students as they discover their love of reading. Our amazing students read 1,716 Texas Bluebonnet Award nominated books - that's an average of 11 books per student! 

Thank you so much to everyone who helped support our students in this endeavor, from spending your lunch reading a book to student/s, braving the chocolate fountain and/or the party in general, touching base with students, celebrating their successes, and bottom-line, making sure every student who wants to succeed does! For many students, this is one of their first experiences setting and meeting long-term goals, and modeling this process is so helpful to them! The students were so excited and proud to be there Friday. 

Our marvelous 5th grade classes were wonderful role models for the younger grades, and they were truly safe, respectful and responsible. Props also to 3rd & 4th grade teams for making sure every single one of their students qualified for the party- even ones who started after winter break!

I'm so proud to be a Forest North Eagle, and so lucky to have all of you support our students.

Hiawatha Peace Day

Forest North is excited to celebrate HIAWATHA PEACE DAY tomorrow. All students will hear this incredible book, do a drum circle with Ms. Billitteri, and a peace run with Mrs. Chadney. All 3rd-5th graders will also be guided through the Bluebonnet quiz to get credit for the book. Happy reading, Eagles!

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!

Summer = Reading @ FNE!

Presenting "Bluebonnet 101" at TLA Conference

Another highlight of the Texas Library Association conference was presenting with the coordinator of the Texas Bluebonnet Award, Mary Jo Humphreys. We led a session on getting the Bluebonnet award to be a successful program at your school, how to do that, and how to make it part of the reading culture to increase reading in general at your school. We had so much fun and gave away 10 of next year's Bluebonnet books to our audience members!

Sat Next to Nathan Hale @Texas Bluebonnet Award Luncheon

I also attended the Texas Bluebonnet Award luncheon and was so excited to find out that I was seated next to Nathan Hale, author of Hazardous Tales series.  It was super fun to sit next to him and listen to Laban Carrick Hill & Theodore Taylor, the award winning author and illustrator, respectively, of When the Beat Was Born, Texas Bluebonnet award winner.  Nathan and I talked about how we can get him to visit Forest North next year and talk to our 3rd-5th graders!

Camp Bluebonnet Scholarships

Mrs. Fournier is excited to announce that we will have our 6th Camp Bluebonnet on June 13-16 at Great Oaks Elementary.  You can register online through RRISD's Community Education department!  We've already filled up 15 of the 30 available spots, so register quickly if you're interested and going to be a 3rd-5th grader next year!

Mrs. Fournier, with the generous assistance of Ms. Jacobs, our principal, is offering 2 scholarships worth $99 to attend Camp Bluebonnet this summer!

To apply for the scholarship, please submit a persuasive essay on why you should be one of the two people chosen to attend camp on scholarships. Eligible students must be in 3rd-5th grades next year. Essays may be handwritten or typed but can only be on the front side of one page. Essays are due 4/1 in the library by 3:00.  Students that win scholarships must be able to provide transportation to and from Great Oaks Elementary at 9:00 AM and 12 PM on 6/13-6/16. 

Forest North Places 5th at Battle of the Bluebonnets

Way to go, Elizabeth, Zachary, Ceil, Michael & Neeharika!  You got 35 out of 40 questions right.  That earned us 5th place among 31 schools- wow!  You guys did great.  Thanks for all your hard work.

Special thanks to the Round Rock Express for so graciously hosting us at their amazing facility, for their cool t-shirts that match the logo they made us (top left of the top photo!) and special thanks also to Bryan Mays at KVUE for emceeing the competition again and doing such a great job. He gave us a shout out on the morning news too, which is always exciting. Congratulations to the Caraway Owls for being the first team to ever win two years in a row. I'm so impressed!

4th graders will be starting a Head Start Bluebonnet Book Club this week during lunch so we can get started on next year.

RRISD Battle of the Bluebonnets Tomorrow at Dell Diamond

We've been studying nonstop and are almost ready for the RRISD Battle of the Bluebonnets tomorrow at the United Heritage Center at the Dell Diamond. We can't wait for Brian Mays, our KVUE morning news anchor and Battle Emcee, to announce what place we earned! We've been using visualization, re-reading, mnemonic devices, teamwork, divide and conquer strategies, compromise, and old fashioned rote memorization to help us along our journey. I heard a rumor last night that the Round Rock Express team is giving prize packs to the top three teams who finish in 1st, 2nd and 3rd place.  We're hoping to bring the Battle of the Bluebonnets trophy back to Forest North- we won back in 2013. Fingers crossed and best of luck, readers. You are very well-prepared and will represent Forest North well at the Battle tomorrow!

Forest North Battle of the Bluebonnets 2016

Congratulations to our awesome 13 finalists who participated in the Battle of the Bluebonnets on February 18th!  5th of them (Elizabeth, Michael, Ceil, Zachary and Neeha, and Aiden as our alternate) will be representing Forest North at the RRISD Battle of the Bluebonnets on 3/10 at the Dell Diamond.  Way to go, readers!

Texas Bluebonnet Award Winner Announced

3rd-5th grades were invited to the library this morning to witness the announcement of the Texas Bluebonnet Award. At Forest North, our top books were The Misadventures of Salem Hyde (36 votes), Sky Jumpers (26 votes), and Mountain Dog (14 votes). Across the state, we see a very different picture, with When the Beat Was Born taking the top prize!

Congratulations to the winning book, and thanks so much for your participation this year in our program- see you at the Battle on Thursday afternoon!

Battle of the Bluebonnets

Thursday, 2/18, is a super special day at Forest North - it's the campus Battle of the Bluebonnets!  13 amazing readers will be showing their stuff as they answer 40 questions about our 20 nominated titles.  All 3rd-5th grade classes are invited to come watch.  The top 5 competitors will represent Forest North at the RRISD Battle of the Bluebonnets on 3/10 at the Dell Diamond!

Texas Bluebonnet Award Voting Party 2016

Huge kudos to FNE students and teachers for our achievements with the 2015-2016 Texas Bluebonnet Award program! Check out these numbers, and think about the dedication & skill-building they represent. Think about the teamwork with so many staff & volunteers that made it happen! Thanks for helping our kids read in new genres, get exposed to awesome works of high-quality contemporary literature, and most importantly, feel like successful readers!​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ 

1,732 books read (That's 10 quizzes per 3rd-5th FNE student. This number is HUGE compared to other schools around RRISD and the state, even though we're small and Title I!) 

157 students voting for their favorite book at the party last Friday (& taking home a new book to keep, trying the chocolate fountain, getting a manicure, playing video games, and watching the drone - video below!)

45 students qualifying for the VIP Breakfast (that's 10+ books for 3rd, 15+ books for 4th & 5th) - this is a HUGE increase above any other year.

13 students qualifying for the Forest North Battle of the Bluebonnets (reading all 20) - also a new all-time high! 

8 teachers who supported 15+ kids as they qualified to vote, who get a free lunch on me! 

1 grade level who had 100% participation- a new record, even with new students coming in the days leading up to the party. Way to go, 4th grade! 

 Super special thanks to teachers, paraprofessionals, former students, former staff & parent volunteers who were on hand during the party - 157 kids had a blast and they loved spending time with you! Thanks for keeping them safe while they had fun- I literally couldn't do it without you! 

 We'll find out the state winner soon, but here were our top books! 36 votes - Misadventures of Salem Hyde 26 votes - Skyjumpers 17 votes - Mountain Dog 

Check out this drone video Mr. Fournier took during the party:

Texas Bluebonnet Award Update

We are thrilled to announce that the Texas Bluebonnet program is going well at Forest North.  On 11/5, Kieron in 4th grade was the student to read the 1000th Bluebonnet Master List book at Forest North!  The next day, Aiden in 4th grade finished his 20th book.  He's our first participant at the Battle of the Bluebonnets in February!  Our second qualifier for the Battle of the Bluebonnets in Michael, also in 4th grade!  We have many other students who are very close to reading all twenty books.  I'm also excited that we have our first class where every single student has qualified for the voting party- you go, Ms. Velasquez' 4th grade class.  Yesterday, the last student qualified and we all jumped up and down and whooped and hollered in her classroom!  It was a very exciting moment.  I've never had a class have everyone finish so early!  All together, we've already read 1159 Bluebonnet books, and the number keeps going up!

Texas Bluebonnet Award Update

The Texas Bluebonnet Award program goes on at Forest North for about 20 weeks each fall semester.  Right now, we are on week 9.  Many students are working hard on reading books and getting ready for our Bluebonnet party on 1/29/16! We already have 94 voters, and 63 people that have qualified for the Bluebonnet Party!  We also have 13 people who have already qualified for the VIP Bluebonnet Breakfast.  I can't wait to see who will be the first person to qualify for the Battle of the Bluebonnets, and to see which book wins at Forest North!

Need more information about the Texas Bluebonnet Award program at Forest North?  Check out the document below for more information!

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!