For the past few weeks, students K-3 have been working very hard in a new unit involving the democratic process of elections, inspired by the recent presidential election. During the first week, students read Grace for President by Kelly DiPucchio and illustrated by Leuyen Pham. In the book, students are introduced to the concept of what makes a good leader, how to campaign and a simplified version of the electoral college.
After this book, students raised their hands and nominated potential candidates (“the Library Lion would be a good president, but David from No David! would be a bad president!”) and librarians Maria Paz Alegre and Lynn Frielinghaus narrowed it down to 5 potential candidates:
Piggie & Gerald, Library Lion, Amelia Bedelia, Ling & Ting, Paper Bag Princess!
Students were broken into groups and asked to campaign for different candidates by listing reasons that they would make good presidents (“Amelia Bedelia tries her best no matter what! The Library Lion loves kids! The Paper Bag Princess is very smart!”) After campaigning with their classmates, students were checked off one by one and allowed to vote! Their names were checked off of lists, votes were done in private voting booths on iPads, and each student received a “I Voted Today!” sticker!
Congratulations to all of our young voters! And the winner of the Little Dalton Library Presidential Election is…
PIGGIE & GERALD!!!
It has been a VERY exciting month in the library. During April and into May, library classes were regaled with children’s poetry from around the world. Favorite poets included Neruda, Prelutsky, Katz and everyone’s favorite children’s poet, Shel Silverstein! In celebration of this delightful month, we created our first “Poet-Tree” filled with poem leaves created by students. It was such a success that librarians continued to add student work to the poet-tree during international lessons with kindergarten students including piñata leaves and butterfly wishes. These two elements correspond to two of the books read during their book plane journey around the world, Pancho’s Piñata (Mexico) and The Faerie’s Wish (Ireland) as they continue their journey across the continents for new and fascinating folk tales.
Many of our youngest students have questions about the election and in keeping with their interests, we devised a “Battle of the Books” election for K-1. Each week, the students would vote on their favorite book choices until each “primary” was narrowed down to two champions in the big “general election.” The winner of BOTH grades for the best beloved library book of the year is:
This means that Finding Winnie has the enviable position of brandishing not 1, but 3 gold medals! The 2016 Caldecott Medal, and the Dalton FP Library Kindergarten and First Grade 2016 Medals.
In classes, grades 1-3 are continuing their study of the dewey decimal system, examining books from every non-fiction subject including animals, technology, true-life adventures and history. Our goal is for our students to discover how to organize information into different subjects and use a cataloging system to locate them in a library. Up next, we will be sharing and celebrating stories for Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage month. Stay tuned!
April is a big month in the library! During the month of April, classes are delighted with read-alouds from favorite children’s poets including Shel Silverstein, Jack Prelutsky, Alan Katz, Doug Florian and Robert Frost. We also celebrate National Library Week which takes place during April 10-16.
In honor of this week, K-1 students have begun a “book bracket challenge” with Ms. Maria Alegre! Similar to the sports brackets during March Madness, children are asked to close their eyes and vote on their favorite books in the library. The winner of the favorite Kindergarten book and the favorite First Grade book will be announced in May.
Second and Third grade students celebrated the 100th (!) birthday of beloved children’s book author, Beverly Cleary. Ms. Cleary is the author of famed novels including Ramona, Mouse and the Motorcycle, Henry Huggins and many more. She is also the creator of DEAR time, a time used in schools across the world where students (D)rop (E)verything (A)nd (R)ead! Students in grades 2-3 are also learning about the origins and history of libraries including how membership was limited to elite citizens only. Students are also learning information about illuminated texts created by the clergy, complimenting a project the third students will be working on in the following weeks.
While first graders learn to identify different call numbers (Picture Books, Biography, Non-Fiction), the third graders are using their iPads to explore the online library catalog with searches for specific authors, titles and keywords.
Third graders have been reading, reading, reading this year, and would like to share their recommendations with you.
Click on the title of this post to read their reviews in the comments’ section!
April is a BIG month for writers, readers and librarians! This month we celebrate National Poetry month and National Library Week. In honor of poetry we have been reading the following poetry books to our classes:
While many families may be familiar with the rhyming styles and whimsical drawings of Shel Silverstein and Jack Prelutsky, they may not have heard of Alan Katz. Alan Katz is a poet who pens wacky silly poetry with traditional children’s songs. One of the students favorites is “I’ve been cleaning up my bedroom” to the tune of “I’ve been working on the railroad.”
The youngest students have also been celebrating National Library Week with Library Lil, a picture book by Suzanne Williams about a very unconventional (and very strong) librarian who brings books back to a town that can’t pry their eyes off of screens. During a terrible storm when the power goes out, Lil saves the day with her bookmobile and the town of Chesterville remembers their love of reading.
For older students, Edgar Allen Poe is a favorite. A collection of his poems and verses has been a popular item for those who like things that go bump in the night.
Other books available at the Dalton library to consider for library week include:
Librarian on the Roof! A True Story by MG King, That Book Woman by Heather Henson, Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen, and What Marion taught Willis by Brook Berg.
Happy reading!
March is Women’s History Month and in celebration we have been reading biographies about strong women in history. Favorite read aloud books include Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph became the World’s Fastest Woman by Kathleen Krull and America’s Champion Swimmer: Gertrude Ederle by David A. Adler
In celebration of St. Patrick’s day, children have been delighted with tales of ‘the fair folk’ from Ireland. Favorite read-alouds include the following:
Fiona’s Luck by Teresa Bateman, The Faerie’s Gift by Tonya Robyn Batt and Traveling Tom and the Leprechaun also by Teresa Bateman.
This cold winter is finally coming to an end. Here’s looking at you, spring!
On Wednesday, January 14th – the First Program library was happy to host the author Peter Ackerman for the second grade. The visit was organized by Joanna Hepworth (H 23) as the second grade prepares their study of New York city architecture and history.
Students were delighted to hear the story of The Lonely Phonebooth, a picture book about the last (and very beloved) phone booth in New York City on the Upper West Side. They also listened to The Lonely Typewriter, a story about an old and forgotten typewriter that saves the day when the computer stops working.
Ackerman also asked their opinion about suggestions for future subject in the Lonely series, and our second graders were happy to oblige with suggestions like The Lonely Camera and The Lonely Old Television.
Before his visit ended, he thrilled the students by reading an excerpt from his next story idea: The Lonely Record Player.
Our October was a WONDERFUL month! We celebrated by reading some terrific Halloween books, as well as books by the Newbery Award winning author Jack Gantos, who visited Dalton on October 30th.
Here are some of our favorite books for October:
The Costume Copycat by Maryann MacDonald is about a younger sister who always copies her older sister’s Halloween costume, although it never works out well. Students related to being copied, copying others, and then finding what was just right for them.
Ghosts in the House by Kazuno Kohara is short whimsical picture-book about a young witch who happily captures the ghosts in her house to serve useful purposes.
Many adults will fondly remember this classic series: Miss Nelson is Missing! by Harry Allard and James Marshall. While not a conventional Halloween story, it is read in the spirit of Halloween as there is a character who dresses in a costume to trick some naughty children..!
Finally, students were blown away by an incredible presentation by Jack Gantos, who not only read aloud a picture book, but showed the picturebook writing process. He even encouraged them with ingenious projects like creating their neighborhood map of secrets spots, and a journal to write their best ideas.
Jack Gantos is the author of Dead End in Norvelt (2011 Newbery Award Winner) and the beloved Rotten Ralph Series.
Rotten Ralph is Sarah’s rotten cat. He’s very selfish and naughty, often making Sarah very upset. Despite all of this, he always manages to save the day in his own rotten way, and the kind Sarah always forgives him. Students adored this rascally cat and it has been one of the highest requested series in our library and students greatly enjoyed listening to these books read aloud.
Please click this link to see the official Dalton news article with more images and video.
On Friday, November 1st
award-winning author/illustrator
visited Little Dalton!
We read many of his books throughout the fall in preparation for his wonderful presentation.
Click here to check out our “Thank You” video postcard to him!
Kathryn Otoshi visited Little Dalton on Friday, March 15th.
Click here to check out the video we made to thank her for her visit!
Visit her website: http://www.kokidsbooks.com/
Visit our Online Catalog: e-Library
