Turning Everyday Objects Like Bananas into Touchpads!

6th grade student, Lucca Huling, has been experimenting with the school’s Makey Makey kit. Lucca made a visit to the library to share his latest creation to 1st and 2nd grade students. Lucca has turned everyday items into touch pads. He has made a drum machine out of toast, a piano out of bananas, and a cardboard book. He also used the Makey Makey kit to operate one of the 2 cardboard arcade machines for a class PBL/Engineering event. The students in Ms. Oliver’s and Ms. Kate’s class really enjoyed Lucca’s presentation and were inspired by his enthusiasm for technology and his willingness to share his knowledge with other students.

More information about Makey Makey kits and how to purchase them can be found at the following link:

https://makeymakey.com/products/makey-makey-kit

This year’s “Grow Your Own Library” was a big success! The goal of this project was to allow every student in the school to select one free book from a selection of diverse titles. We talked about the benefits of having diverse books of our own and how collecting, reading, and sharing books with friends and family is such a wonderful step in creating a life-long reading habit.

Each student presented the book they chose to their class. They proudly introduced their chosen book’s title, author, and the reason for their selection. It was wonderful to see their smiles. Each child then wrote a thank you letter that expressed their gratitude.

In library class, we learned about another children’s book award:

The Schneider Family Book Award. The award is given by the American Library Association and recognizes authors and illustrators and their excellence in the portrayal of the disability experience in literature for youth.

Students read All the Way to the Top: How One Girl’s Fight for Americans with Disabilities Changed Everything, written by Annette Bay. Schneider Family Book Honor 2021

An inspiring true story of Jennifer Keelan, the activist whose participation in the Capitol Crawl at just eight years old encouraged Congress to pass the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Students have been reading and discussing, Minh Le’s book Drawn Together

“Lê was born in the U.S. and grew up in Connecticut. His grandparents were from Vietnam. His picture book, illustrations by Dan Santat, explores how a young boy and his Thai grandfather learn to bridge barriers of language, culture and age. Drawn Together uses relatively few words to tell a story about struggling to find them. After an evening of uncomfortable silence, the boy and his grandfather finally figure out how to communicate. It’s only when they discover a mutual love of art that they’re able to connect.”

-NPR Author Interviews: Struggling For Words, A Boy And His Grandfather Are ‘Drawn Together’ At Last June 15, 2018 with Audie Cornish

Read more about Minh Lê at his website: http://minhlebooks.com

Students will be returning to the library on Monday, March 14th. This week we are reviewing Library expectations:

1. Voice Choice (Levels: 0. Silent, 1. Whisper, 2. Talking)
2. Circulation Desk procedures (patron numbers and table assignments)
3. Book care, book return policy, and lost book(s) procedures

All students (1st-6th graders) are required to bring a silent reading book to their library class. Approximately 10 minutes of library class will be set aside for silent reading and book exploration.

Excited to have students reading and exploring books in the TES Library:)

Online research for students can be tricky……

Here are four Kid-Friendly Search Engines to help children get started with their research:

Kiddle https://www.kiddle.co

Kidrex https://www.alarms.org/kidrex/

KidzSearch https://www.kidzsearch.com/

DinoSearch  https://www.dinosearch.com/

Both Kiddle and Kidrex have been around for a few years, neither Kiddle or Kidrex  are owned by Google – they just use heavily customized versions of Google’s search engine with the goal of making internet research as safe as possible for little ones.

Child-friendly search engines are designed to help kids and should not be a substitute for adult supervision.

Read more about Kid-Friendly Search Engines in the article below:

Child-friendly search engines: How safe is Kiddle?

Varmazis, Maria. “Child-Friendly Search Engines: How Safe Is Kiddle?” Naked Security, Sophos, Mar. 2019, https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2019/03/19/child-friendly-search-engines-how-safe-is-kiddle/.

Virtual author visit with S.S. Taylor. Several students have read all 3 books in S.S. Taylor’s Expeditioners series.

S.S. Taylor, local Vermont author, will join our book discussion group by Zoom on Wed. Feb 6th. We are looking forward to her visit and discussing her 3 books: The Expeditioners and the Treasure of Drowned Man’s Canyon, The Expeditioners and the Secret of King Triton’s Lair, and The Expeditioners and the Lost City of Maps.

Image: Goodreads author profile

A generous volunteer who loves children and books has matched our Grow a Home Library book giveaway grant request!! We are very grateful to have the opportunity to offer twice as many inspirational titles to our Book Give Away event! Thank you!

Students have been reading Wishtree by Katherine Applegate. Wishtree has an important message: We should accept people even if they’re different and get to know them before we judge them.

“Wishtrees have a long and honorable history, going back centuries. There are many in Ireland, where they are usually hawthorns or the occasional ash tree. But you can find wish trees all over the world.It’s a tradition to wish on the first of May, but people can wish throughout the year.”

-Katherine Appplegate, Wishtree

Students have been hanging their wishes and dreams for 2022 from various trees of their choice; in forest classrooms and around the school yard.