Try It Tuesday: Graphic Novels

Stop by our BOGO Scholastic Book Fair and try purchasing a graphic novel for your child today!  Let them have one to start reading today and put one away for Summer reading!  Or, get one graphic novel, one fiction chapter book! 

Graphic novels are a great tool for engaging the reluctant reader or a reader who has lost their drive to read!  They're like the comic books we read as children in a longer format.  Once they learn to love reading they will move on to more difficult chapter books!  

Book fair hours today are 7:45-8:25 am, 11:00 am -1:00 pm, 3:05 - 6:00 pm.

More for Your Money Monday: BOGO Sale on Books!

Today is the first day of our Scholastic BOGO Book Fair!  Buy one item, get one at an equal or lesser price.  Our theme this year is Dinomite Books.  Stop by North Elementary today to buy books for your North Star, your preschooler, your SMS and SHS students too!  

Today's special event is Muffin's with Momosaurus, before school 7:45-8:25 am.  Stop in with Mom to shop the book fair and have a muffin.

Want to pick up an eWallet for your child because you don't have cash?  Just visit our book fair home page and pick one up any day of the fair with your credit card here.  

Set Up Sunday; Dinomite Scholastic Book Fair

It's been a busy weekend setting up for our Spring Scholastic Book Fair.  The theme this year is Dinomite and all things dinosaur.  I got on Pinterest as soon as I had the theme last fall and began pinning all sorts of ideas, but I could not think of an idea to cover my ugly pole. 

At some point I had an idea to make a dinosaur leg coming out of the ceiling, and I got back on Pinterest to find images.  Above is the photo that inspired my leg.  

So, if you want to create your own dinosaur fossil leg, follow the steps below.

Supplies
Carpet Rolls from Carpetland (donation)
Shoe Boxes
10-12 Toilet paper rolls
6 Paper Toll rolls
4 Paper Christmas tree cones (Michaels)
News paper cut into strips for paper mache
Flour
Salt
Water
Paint
Glue Gun
Glue Stick

Instructions

1. Determine the size of your bones.  I took measurements from the photo and the length of my pole.  Using the photos measurements, I determined the portion and applied it to my pole length.
2. Cut the bones to length.
3. Cut any tubes you wish to hide a pole in, along the length to slip them over the pole when finished.
4. Cut toilet paper rolls in half and snip every half inch along the length about a half an inch deep on both sides.
5. Using a glue gun, adhere these to the end of the toe bones.
6. Cut the paper towel rolls in half and snip every half inch along the length about a half an inch deep on both sides.
7. Using a glue gun, adhere these to the end of the smaller leg bones.
8. Cut shoe boxes on an angle from the top of one side to the bottom of the other side.
9. Glue the cut shoe boxes to the largest carpet tube with the glue gun.
10. Apply newspaper strips to the bones, covering the ends with paper so they are not open for the toe bones, and the bone at the top of the toes, and the smallest leg bone.
11. For the bones that will be wrapped around the pole, try to cover most of the ends of the bones.
12. Allow paper mache to dry and make two coats of paper mache over the ends of the bones.  
13. For the claws, cut wedges out of one side of the Christmas tree cones every 1/2".
14. Glue the cone openings together, to create a curve to the claw.
15. Cover the ends of the claws with paper mache as well.
16. Paint.
17. Cut into the tops of the bones that will go around the pole so that there is a round hole and make snips from the hole to the edges.  
18. Begin assembling the leg using the glue gun.

Maker Space Monday

Have you heard of Maker Space?  This a newer trend in libraries, especially school libraries, where children are encouraged to work with tools to learn collaboratively and develop problem solving skills.

Last year, when we had 40 minute library special, every grade has time for maker space.  We were able to create maker space lessons for kindergarten building letters with Duplos and teaching them letters and CVC word reading.  We used Legos to create clock faces and teach telling time skills, and had building challenges for our older students.  We often centered the maker space challenge around the read aloud book.

This year, our 20 minute library special has made checking out a priority for Kindergarten through 3 grade.  For 4th and 5th grade we have limited maker space time and teachers send in students during walk in hours for checking out books.  I do like the walk in hours, as this gives me more time for individual time to help students find books, and make suggestions for new authors and series.

Single Saturday: One Hit Wonder Children's Book

You know those music hits that are one hit wonders?  The song you wish had a been followed up by more hits by the same artist?  Well, today, I am sharing an author whose book writing should continue!  Robert Hoge, please don't make this a single!

"Ugly: My Memoir" by Robert Hoge.  Currently on this years Bluestem award list, all of our Battle of the books students have read this and enjoyed it.  It starts off very sad, but stick with it and you'll find the reward of a wonderful story, well written.

Frugal Friday: Scholastic BOGO SALE is Almost Here

If you're like me, you woke up this morning and realized that it's Good Friday and you have nothing for your children's Easter basket yet. Well, I can help with that!  Get your child an eWallet for a 
Scholastic BOGO book fair!  We all love buy one get one sales, and we want something in the Easter basket that is good for our kids!  

Many of us miss having a local book store, so a Scholastic book fair is perfect for shopping for books!  Because this is a BOGO sale, we'll have books for all ages, so you can get an eWallet for your preschool, middle school, and high school students too!  And it will soon be summer, so you can prepare for their summer reading now at half price!  

You and your child will love the convenience of not having to carry cash or check to school.  Forgot to get cash for your child?  You can purchase an eWallet during the fair too!  And any money NOT spent, is returned to your credit card account.  North Elementary parents can find a link to our eWallets here.  

Thankful Thursday for My Scholastic Field Rep

I am a year and a half into my news job as a grade school librarian paraprofessional.   Along with my paid job, I have taken on the volunteer position of the book fair chairperson.  So, today's post will be about Scholastic book fairs and how thankful I am for my field rep:  Sharon Looby.

I am just under two weeks away from our next book fair and this is my third book fair.  Each fair get's easier, and I enjoy the decorations, planning and event.  I love my Scholastic Field Rep Sharon Looby and hope Scholastic knows what a gem she is!  She has a way of taking problems I view as obstacles and making them opportunities.  For example, we really need 3 registers in the morning before school.  This time is our busiest time for sales, but when the bell rings, I must send the students to class and they often promise to return and don't.  So, when Sharon said, we would only get two registers and I told her of my concern over lost sales, she gave me a solution.

Sharon told me to set up a third check out line for the new Scholastic eWallet students.  They can leave their books with a post it note that has their name, class room teacher and we can check those students out after the bell has rung and they have gone to class.  This will allow us to check out cash, check and credit card purchases before the bell. Now, if I can just get the parents to purchase the eWallet, I will be all set.  

Along, with her great ideas Sharon is my best volunteer on set up day.  Yes, she's paid by Scholastic for the day, but I'm not paying her.  She arrives for set up and is a wiz at merchandising the books and product to their best advantage.

She is a creative director for our décor.  This year's spring theme is dinosaurs.  I told Sharon about a vision I had to make a huge dinosaur leg coming out of the ceiling that was inspired by the photo above and found on Palentogy's Facebook page.  I have a very ugly pole in our library and I think it should be covered with something for our fair.  I then told Sharon, that I didn't know how to make my dinosaur leg on  zero budget.  She directed me to Carpetland USA for some carpet rolls and I began the process of paper mache to create bones.  At the top of the post you can see my dinosaur claws.  The final product has get to be revealed, but I am felling confident I will have a wonderful center piece to hide that ugly pole and create buzz.  Below you can see last book fairs center piece, created by some wonderful parents.  Stop by next Thursday to see how thankful I am for my parent volunteers!