Dear CLX Families and Students,

I miss you all dearly! I wanted to share some reading resources with you so that you can be sure you still get to enjoy the magic of fabulous books even during summer. See this Reading-Specific Resources page so that you can keep reading from home. Also, be sure to check out the ACS district librarians' YouTube channel for read-alouds by your ACS elementary school librarians!

 I have linked up as many of my SeeSaw activities as possible here on this page for students to access and work from over summer. I hope you have fun with the activities and that they help you celebrate a love of reading (and bees!) 

Keep reading, friends! And know that your librarian loves you!

The following Library Media activities had been posted on SeeSaw and are available for summer use here!

Library Media Choice Board: Summertime

Instructions for Reader Self-Portrait:

Color the picture frame: Red if you read at home with someone, Blue if you read on your own at home, Yellow if you do not read at home

Color the background: Striped if you read more than 5 times a week, Blue if you read 3-4 times a week, Red if you read 1-2 times a week

Color the book cover: Striped if you like funny books, Orange if your favorite books are mysteries, With stars if your favorite books are adventures

Color the collar of your shirt: Purple if you like to read fiction best,  Green if you like non-fiction best

On the spine: Write the title of your favorite book!

Instructions for Interview Time:

Ask a family member if you can interview them. Be ready to ask these questions: Who is your favorite author or storyteller? Why? What do you think makes them a great author or storyteller? What kind of books would you say you like most? Fiction, non-fiction, funny, scary, animal stories etc.

Link to Reading Fort activity read-aloud HERE!

Library Media: KWAME ALEXANDER 

Meet author and poet Kwame Alexander link.

At-Home with Kwame Link

Kwame Alexander's book trailer The Undefeated link

Library Media Graduation Board

Reading Makes You Feel Good link

We Are Growing link

Library Media - Happiness is...

*I do not have permission to share this read-aloud outside of SeeSaw but I ADORE this book and hope you can find it in your public library this summer!

Listen to the new book Layla's Happiness by Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie. Notice how Layla talks about all of the things that make her happy: climbing a tree, wearing purple, eating spaghetti without a fork, and more! We want YOU to be Sharpening Your Saw and doing things that make you happy in these days of at-home learning. What is happiness to YOU? You can: 

1. Draw a picture of the thing that makes you most happy! OR 

2. Take a short video of you doing the thing that makes you most happy! OR 

3. Do something for a family member that will make them happy and tell me about it! We need to spread as much happiness as we can at this time of distance, so this is a great opportunity to do just that!

Library Media: Pollination and Bees!

Watch the bee video. Choose one of the following ways to respond: 

1. Go into your kitchen and see what foods you can find that we have thanks to the process of pollination. Take a picture and tell me how the bees helped produce the food items! -OR- 

2. Go out into your yard and take a picture or video to show me any flowering plants right now that bees visit. This includes dandelions, which are a very important food source for bees! -OR-

 3. Make a bee waterer! Bees need water to survive. You can make a bee waterer by using a shallow container (like a saucer or even an old frisbee!), filling it with rocks or marbles for the bees to stand on, and then filling it in with water.

Library Media: The Good of the Hive

WATCH: Watch this short video to learn about Asheville resident, Matt Willey, and The Good of the Hive. 

THINK: Matthew uses mural art to advocate for the honeybee. This is Bee Week at Claxton and we are an Arts school. We have been learning about bees for the past five years and it's time for us to be proactive and share what we know with others! 

DO: Create something that will help spread the word about what we can do to help the honeybee! It can be a digital flyer on Canva (or another digital platform), a poster to put in your yard, a painting, an upcycled sculpture, or anything else. 

Get creative and GET THE WORD OUT! Show me what you end up creating and tell me how you share it with others. 

Need a reminder of things we can do to help the bees? Visit The Honeybee Conservancy's 10 Ways to Save the Bees at https://thehoneybeeconservancy.org/how-to-save-the-bees/

Library Media: Thank You, Omu! By Oge Mora

Find this BEAUTIFUL book in your public library this summer and complete one of the three follow-up activities: 

1. Omu's kindness and generosity helps her community come together. Think of something you can safely do for a family member, friend, or neighbor in this time of social distance. Ideas include mailing a kind note or picture to a friend, chalk a friendly message in front of a neighbor's house, pick a bouquet of flowers for a family member, or anything else you can think of to help safely create community and connection! 

2. Word play! Come up with as many synonyms for "delicious" that you can think of! If you listened carefully, you heard many in the story. 

3. Create a picture of your own neighborhood in the cut-paper collage illustration style of Oge Mora! Don't forget to include yourself in the picture.

Library Media: The Most Magnificent Thing- Read Aloud! Build! Create!

Find this book in the public library or on SORA this summer. Then use your imagination this week to create and build! Look around your home and yard to find materials to build with: Legos, Duplos, Play-Doh, blocks, boxes, wood, paper, blankets, sticks, string, etc. Design and build with your materials. It can be anything!

Library Media: Meet Jerry Craft - Graphic Novel Author

Watch the video interview of Jerry Craft, Newbery Award winner for New Kid.  

Books can be MIRRORS! Mr. Craft talks about how important it is to see yourself in a book. 

What book do you see yourself in? Tell us about your mirror book and how you relate to it. If you have the book, take a picture of it. If you don't, just tell us about it! 

Books can be WINDOWS! Books are also important ways to experience and understand other people's lives! What book has been a window into someone else's experience? Tell us about your window book and what you learned from it. If you have the book, take a picture of it. If you don't, just tell us about it!