Where has the Spring gone?  We have been so busy, in the library, that we can’t believe how fast time seems to have flown since my last post!

Our 6th Annual Fit & Lit incentive program was a huge success!  We exceeded our goal and read/exercised more than 1.6 million minutes for the equivalent of traveling around the world 64 times.  (where 1 minute=1 mile).  We were reading and dancing in the gym to celebrate.  Plus the students were awarded another Read Your Heart Out Day, Friday, April 15th plus an extra recess.  The students were very excited.  To celebrate all our efforts, each student and staff member received a ‘globe’ charm in honor of our success.

Kindergarten students have been learning about Eric Carle and how he creates his art work.  Their favorite book is From Head to Toe.  We just can’t seem to sit still for this story; we must get up do what the book says.  We have read it several times while we created our own versions of the story.  I’m trying to find the time to scan in the books to share them ….

First graders have been exploring Trickster tales.  The fell in love with Ananzi the spider.  They especially love Eric Kimmel‘s retelling of these stories. We also read a fun story called the Toll Bridge Troll.  The students had fun asking their parents if they could answer the riddles used to trick the troll.

Second grade has been busy ‘traveling’ around the world with Cinderella stories.  They especially love the few we found where the Cinderella character is male.  Each story setting is located on a world map where we note the country and continent. We do this as they begin their research in a country of origin.  They have been using an online encyclopedia and videos to help gather information.  They are now applying this new understanding and writing letters ‘home’ while they are ‘traveling’ in their country.

What a surprise!  Our lovely parent library volunteer coordinator, Mrs. Gordon, planned a wonderful breakfast to honor the library, librarian and library assistant in honor of School Library Day!  A wonderful bulletin board was created with expressions by the children about the library and its staff.  Booklets were also created, to share students’ thoughts about the library.  Our technology facilitator, Mr. Harte, created an Animoto video of the breakfast and students’ thoughts. Hope you enjoy it!  Mrs. Greene and myself are very touched by all the outpouring of affections. Thank you to everyone for our surprise!

Tomorrow, our fifth graders begin their research on an American Revolution Hero and/or Heroine.  They are learning that ordinary individuals do extraordinary things.  They will be finding out what their hero/heroine did to make a difference in our fight for independence.  We will them create our ‘Wax Museum’, where the students ‘become’ their hero/heroine and upon ‘activation’ relate the hero/heroine’s experience and impact on independence.

Our Chickering Reporters have been very busy and several new posts about all the “happenings” at school have been added to their Blog.  Please check out their Blog at http://chickeringreports.edublogs.org.

Thanks for checking in …

Happy Reading,

Mrs. Chase