All Library Materials Due Today!

I stayed up at work late last night printing out overdue notices and counting how many books we still had due before tomorrow - as of last night, it was 675!  We made a lot of of headway today though and lots of responsible students & staff members turned in lots of books.  I can't wait to run the report again and see where we stand!

For all classes who turn in all of their books (or pay for any lost ones), there is a popsicle party in your future!

Congratulations to Ms. Velasquez's 4th grade class for ALREADY earning their popsicle party a day early.  I mean, has that even happened before? I don't think so.  I'm so proud of them.  It was fun to tell them the good news on Thursday morning!  So thanks, Ms. Velasquez & her class, for being so responsible- can't wait to eat a popsicle with you outside next week!  I'll put them in the freezer tonight!

Armadillo Readers Choice Award Results for RRISD!

Well the final votes are in across RRISD!  Forest North was highly representative of the district at large because our winners were the same as the RRISD winners!  With over 9,000 votes, children in grade Kindergarten through second have voted their favorite Armadillo Readers Choice Award title!  With over 3,500 votes, Mustache Baby is our winner.  You never know - maybe author Bridget Heos will be visiting our campus next year to celebrate (hint hint!)  The Day the Crayons Quit earned over 1,900 votes and landed in 2nd, and Carnivores got 1,300 votes, which puts it in 3rd place for the year.

Thanks so much to my lovely fellow Armadillo Readers Choice Committee members, especially our chairs, Emily Kupersztoch & Ami Uselman, for helping put together this great list last spring.  Great job, guys!  I can't wait to see how the kids love next year's list!

Our Battle of the Armadillos via Kahoot was so fun.  The top scorer across Forest North Elementary was Jesus in Ms. Johnson's class, who was the only person to break the 1,600 kahoots mark!  He only got 1 question wrong out of 20, and says that one he accidentally clicked the wrong one.  Go Jesus!  I'm expecting big things from you now for the Texas Bluebonnet Award next year!

Armadillo Readers Choice Voting Results for Forest North!

The votes are in for the 2014-2015 Armadillo Readers Choice Award at Forest North Elementary.  We had a great time at our voting iPad parties, voting electronically and playing a fun trivia game called Battle of the Armadillos. Here are the winners, so far.  Ms. Johnson's class is the last to play this week, but submitted their votes last week before the deadline.

So, without further adieu, I give you the winners at Forest North.  They have been submitted, and will be tallied with every other elementary school in RRISD to find our true winner! 

With 27 votes, our 3rd place winner was The Day the Crayons Quit!  With 28 votes (so close!), our 2nd place winner was Carnivores!  And with a whopping 54 votes, the winning Armadillo book at the campus level is Mustache Baby by Bridget Heos!  

3rd Grade Book Club Wrap Up

Our 3rd grade book club read Quinny & Hopper this spring and loved it.  To celebrate this upcoming 2015-2016 Texas Bluebonnet Award nominee about friendship, we had a final fun activity where we made friendship bracelets!  Mrs. Peyton worked with some of our readers to make shoestring necklaces, while Sami & Chasity taught us how to make those popular loom bracelets with little rubber bands just using our fingers, while Kieron and I tried to make sense of the loom version.  Long story short - Sami & Chasity were totally right.  Check out our adventures!  Mrs. Peyton & I had a blast working with this group, who did a great job being responsible and staying up with their reading. 

Mrs. Peyton giving them the news about our bracelet projects!

Kieron & me tried figuring out the loom with Ethan, but we just couldn't do it!

Sami teaches us the hand technique.  Totally easier!

Boys working on the loom.

Chasity's beautiful shoestring necklace

Partners in Education Foundation Board Members Visit Forest North

Last week I posted about our animal research projects in 1st grade.  We practiced doing research on animals with books and digital resources, and also had a lesson on presentation skills.  We invited the RRISD Partners in Education Foundation Board members to come watch us present what we learned on Friday, 5/15/15.  We were thrilled to receive both Vice President Ruth Ann Dickensheets and Board Member Lisa Cauble. They were so generous with their time to stop by and learn about animals with us.  Check out this video of our presentations and our time we spent with the Board members.

Thanks so much to Mrs. James & Mrs. San Miguel and their classes for opening their rooms to the PIE Foundation Board members and to me so that the library could show how the grant money was put to good use!  Our $1000 bought us many new animal books that the students used for their research projects this year, and provided a great springboard for showing how good research can be a blend between print and digital resources.

Finishing 5th Grade Book Club

I caught Madison reading in the edges yesterday while waiting to go home and had to snap a photo.  She's reading The Raft by S.A. Bodeen, which is our very final title for our 5th Grade Book Club.  We call it the Danielle Book Club after our friend who moved away earlier this year.

Madison is one of 13 fifth graders who vote with me on which book we're reading next.  We always have so many on the ballot, it's hard to choose a favorite, but this is our next one!

I realized yesterday that this is probably the last book I'll enjoy with this group of kids, after six years of reading together.  That's a big deal.  I'm going to miss them bunches when they move on to Deerpark Middle School next fall.  Keep reading, you super stars!

Forest North Faculty Book Club

Did you know teachers read too?  It's true!  Every month, I organize a book club for all the grown ups at Forest North.  Everyone is invited.  We each bring a snack to share, meet at someone's house, and talk about the book.  We always keep lists of what books we are interested in reading, and vote for what to read next.  It's so fun!  

This year, which is our 3rd or 4th year doing it, we made a commitment to read more books faster!  We've been meeting once a month.  Check out these books we've read this since 2014 started!

Are you in a book club with a pal?  Are you in a book club with Mrs. Fournier?  What have you read lately that you'd recommend?