Summer Reading Talk Tuesday

A group of parents joined us in the ES Library for a great discussion about motivating students to read over the summer. We want kids to be excited about reading and to experience a variety of materials.

We encourage students to mix up their reading with a selection of print books, eBooks, magazines, audiobooks, comic books and graphic novels, online reading and book apps. The ES Library website offers a selection of book lists and electronic resources to help support students. As previously posted, the READO Summer Reading Challenge allows students to keep track of their varied reading over the summer.

According to the National Summer Learning Association, it is important to remember the ABC's of summer reading:

• A - Access to a wide variety of books and reading materials
• B - Books that match readers' ability levels and interests
• C - Comprehension: Adult guidance to help kids better understand what they are reading

One of our popular resources, Big Universe, offers some wonderful suggestions to avoid a slip in reading skills over the summer months:

For more information, here is the presentation that was shared at the Talk Tuesday:

READO: Join the Summer Reading Challenge

The Elementary Library invites our students to participate in READO, a summer reading challenge! 

READO is a book bingo game that challenges students to engage in a variety of different reading experiences with all kinds of books. We want families to have fun with reading this summer! 

Click here to get a copy of the READO board or stop by the ES Library to pick one up.

Students are asked to keep track of the books they read either across a row, down a column, diagonal, or a total blackout. Turn in your READO board to the ES Library by Aug. 28th. Students will receive a certificate and special recognition by Mr. Advento at the first ES Assembly of the new school year.

• Bronze Winner: Read two rows (10 books)
• Silver Winner: Read three rows (15 books)
• Gold Winner: Total Black-Out (25 books)

Explore the following links for a collection of recommended reading lists and book apps for all ages.

• Summer Reading Lists
• Recommended Reading
• Recommended Book Apps
• Summer Reading K1-2
• Summer Reading Grades 3-5

Don't forget, you can access the ES Library and all our Electronic Resources over the holidays. Which means you could read books from Big Universe, BookFlix, TrueFlix, TumbleBooks, TumbleBook Cloud Jr., StarWalk Kids and Capstone Interactive Library. You can also explore PebbleGo, Culture Grams, PowerKnowledge Science and World Book.

New Magazine: National Geographic Explorers for iPad

Our Elementary students are buzzing about a fantastic new magazine available in the ES Library! National Geographic Explorer is an engaging, interactive and informative magazine for the iPad.

Each month, the issues contain three fascinating articles which include amazing images, videos and interactive learning games. The best part is that there are three different reading levels each month; Young Explorer is for K1-Grade 1, Explorer Pioneer is for Grades 2-3, and Explorer Pathfinder is for Grades 4-5.

To give you an example, this month's Pioneer and Pathfinder editions include articles about an orphaned sloth sanctuary, wild weather and storms, and growing food around the world. The Young Explorer includes articles about how animals smell, growing a garden, and baby cranes.

Students are welcome to read the issues in the library during class time, at recess, after school. Just visit the main desk to check out an iPad! Of course, we also subscribe to National Geographic Kids

print edition which is available for check out.

Students, teachers and parents can visit the Young Explorers and Explorers websites for more information and even for issues that you can read for free online.

Here are some direct links for online issues and support activities for various grade levels:

Young Explorers Magazine Issues (K1-Grade 1)

Explorers Pioneer Magazine (Grades 2-3)

Explorers Pathfinder Magazine (Grades 4-5)

April is Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month in the United States, a time for celebrating the beauty, sound and rhythm of words. Poetry is the art of using words to express an emotion, capture an experience or create an image. Some say that poetry is a way of saying something in a way that has never been said before.

We like to read and celebrate poetry all year in our library. We have a wonderful collection of hundreds of poetry books. Some of our newest titles include:

• Beast Friends Forever by Robert L. Forbes is a collection of children's poetry about animals and friendship.
• Dare to Dream by Jill Corcoran pairs biographical and inspirational poems about people who changed their own lives and the lives of people all over the world. 
• Follow Follow: A Book of Reverso Poems by Marlyn Singer is a collection of poems in which characters from famous fairy tales relate their side of the story.
• Leave Your Sleep: A Collection of Classic Children's Poetry Adapted to Music is a beautifully illustrated collection accompanied by an audio CD featuring musical adaptations by Natalie Merchant.
• Poem Runs: Baseball Poems and Paintings by Douglas Florian describes a mean-armed pitcher, a daisy-picking right fielder, and a lightning-swift base stealer, in a celebration of the magic of baseball.
• Out of This World: Poems and Facts About Space by Amy E. Sklansky includes poems about planets, stars, rockets, moon landings and satellites. Each poem is supported by additional facts and explanations in the margins as well as gorgeous paintings.

Here is a slideshow of some of our newest additions to the poetry collection. Stop by to check some out!

If you are looking for poetry, don't forget about our ebooks available on the eResources page! Take a look at these cool book trailers to learn more about some of the poetry available on StarWalk Kids:

• Sea Watch by Jane Yolen and Ted Lewin
• Brats by X.J. Kennedy

TumbleBooks also has some fun poetry titles including Animals in Camouflage and Chicken Scratches.

Destiny Quest: Our Library Catalog App

Our Elementary students use Destiny Quest in the ES Library to access our online library catalog. Using either iPads or laptops, they log in to their personal library accounts and have the ability to perform a variety of helpful tasks

Destiny Quest allows students to do the following:

• Search for resources in our library collection 
• Submit and read ratings and reviews 
• Place holds and create lists 
• Discover the Top 10 Most Popular titles and New Books 
• Maintain lists of books they are "Now Reading," "Want to Read" and "Have Read" 
• View your Account information including checkouts and holds 
• Use the Resource Lists posted by teachers and librarians to find resources on a variety of topics

Our Grade 2 students have spent the last few months becoming experts at searching for books using Destiny Quest. They can search by subject, author or title and find the books using their knowledge of fiction and nonfiction call numbers. 

Students in Grades 3, 4 and 5 regularly use Destiny Quest to check on their personal accounts, search for books and also submit reviews on their favorite titles. Reviews posted by fellow students are a great way to find the next great book to read.

The best part is that Destiny Quest is a free app that families can easy set up on their devices at home. For instructions on how to set up your Destiny Quest app for first time users click here. 

Alternatively, you can access Destiny Quest through any browser from the ES Library website using your family computer.

As always, we are happy to help! Please stop by the library to see us for a quick overview or for help setting up Destiny Quest on your personal device.