OPALS - HES
OPALS - WDB
Week 31
Grades K-4 finish reading Red Clover Award nominees this week, reading the "fractured fairy tale", Little Good Wolf, by sisters, Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel. Next week we will have time to review all ten nominees and then vote for our favorite!
Grades 5-6 will continue with Attack of the Black Rectangles, by Amy Sarig King.
Week 30 - Earth Day!
Grades K-4* will take a short break from our Red Clover books to celebrate one of our country's most influential environmentalists. In the book Spring After Spring: How Rachel Carson Inspired the Environmental Movement, by Stephanie Roth Sisson, we learn about the power of science and how one person standing up for what is right can make such a difference in our world.
*Hall & McDevitt's classes will read Berry Song (Week 27), and Moffatt's class will read The Pet Potato (Week 20)
Grades 5-6 will continue with Attack of the Black Rectangles, by Amy Sarig King.
Earth Day is celebrated every year on April 22nd.
Vermont's Green Up Day is always the first Saturday in May. It's on May 4th this year.
Week 29
Grades K-4 continue reading Red Clover Award nominees. This week is #9 - Marshmallow Clouds: Two Poets at Play among Figures of Speach, written by Ted Kooser and Connie Wanek, and illustrated by Richard Jones. The poems are arranged around the theme of the Four Elements - Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. Each one plays with different figures of speech, such as metaphor, simile, and personification, to explore the natural world around us - a perfect fit to celebrate both Earth Day (Monday, April 22) and National Poetry Month!
Grades 5-6 will continue with Attack of the Black Rectangles, by Amy Sarig King.
Week 28 - Eclipse Excitement
There's so much information about next week's total solar eclipse, it can be overwhelming. Ms. Baranyay has picked out a few quality items for you to explore.
Lesson plans for teachers: https://www.ideamapper.com/exploring-the-solar-eclipse-2024/
Week 27
Grades K-4 will read the 8th of our Red Clover Award nominees, Berry Song, a 2023 Caldecott Honor book, written and illustrated by Caldecott Medalist, Michaela Goade. She won the Caldecott Award in 2021 for her illustrations in We Are Water Protectors.
Grades 5-6 will continue with Attack of the Black Rectangles, by Amy Sarig King.
Week 26 - Women's History Month
Grades K-4 will read the 7th of the Red Clover Award nominees, another biography of a fascinating woman, Scottish-born Grammy Award-winning musician, Evelyn Glennie. Listen: How Evelyn Glennie, a Deaf Girl, Changed Percussion was written by Shannon Stocker and illustrated by Devon Holzwarth. This inspirational story of overcoming challenges is sure to have us rockin'! Enjoy the read aloud here.
Author read-aloud @ 9:00-21:21
Week 25 - Women's History Month
Grades K-4 students will read the 6th of our Red Clover Award nominees - Dragon Bones: The Fantastic Fossil Discoveries of Mary Anning, written by Sarah Glenn Marsh, and illustrated by Maris Wicks. This biography celebrates the contributions of the world's first and most renowned female palientologist. Enjoy the read aloud here.
Week 24 B - Welcome back!
Grades K-4 This week is a little funky since only some classes will have Library Class, so we're pausing our Red Clover reads and opting for a wintery book in celebration of Winter Carnival. Jean E. Pendsiwol's Skating on a Wild Inland Sea, illustrated by printmaker Todd Stewart, is a beautiful story of a magical skating adventure in the north woods of Lake Superior.
Grades 5-6 will continue with Attack of the Black Rectangles, by Amy Sarig King.
Week 24 A
Grades K-4 will read the 5th of our 10 Red Clover Award nominees, Abdul's Story, by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow and illustrated by Tiffany Rose. Before the reading, we'll take a quick tour of New York City, and afterward, we'll explore Vermont to help generate some ideas for your own stories. Enjoy the read-aloud here.
Everyone - Keep reading Bobcats! Add a scale to the dragon every time you finish reading a book! And earn a sticker every time you complete a bookshelf on the library reading challenge - color in one book for every 10 minutes of reading you do! See Ms. Baranyay for details. Remember, ebooks and audiobooks on Sora count, too!
Remember to check out the Red Clover Listening Library if you happen to miss one of our read alouds in class!
Grades 5-6 will continue with Attack of the Black Rectangles, by Amy Sarig King. In our book, Mac's grandfather used "meditation beads" to help himself calm down during a stressful situation. This week and next, we will learn a bit more about ways to use meditation beads and students will have an opportunity to make their own beaded mala bracelet while listening to the book.
Week 23
Everyone - Keep reading Bobcats! Add a scale to the dragon every time you finish reading a book! Remember, ebooks and audiobooks on Sora count, too!
Grades K-4 will read the 4th of our 10 Red Clover Award nominees, Me and the Boss: A Story About Mending and Love, by Michelle Edwards and illustrated by April Harrison. You can find the read-aloud here. Students have been sewing in art class, so here is a good video if they want to give it a try at home.
Grades 5-6 will continue with Attack of the Black Rectangles, by Amy Sarig King.
Remember to check out the Red Clover Listening Library if you happen to miss one of our read alouds in class!
Week 22 - Happy Lunar New Year, Saturday, Feb. 10th!
Grades K-4 will continue our Red Clover Awards unit reading Luli and the Language of Tea, written by Andrea Wang and illustrated by Hyewon Yum. Watch the read-aloud here. After rating the book in our Red Clover Journals, students will learn more about the history of tea and different types around the world, then design their own tea cups, using the book's endpaper illustrations as inspiration.
Grades 5-6 will continue with Attack of the Black Rectangles, by Amy Sarig King.
Read-aloud
Tea pronunciations
Explore different teas around the world
TedEd Talk - The History of Tea
Week 21
Grades K-4 will read the 2nd of our 10 Red Clover Award nominees, Bobcat Prowling, written by Maria Gianferrari and illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline, about a yearling bobcat journeying to find his territory. Here’s a site that shows “50 amazing” animal bridges created to help animals travel safely in areas that people have built roads. Where are some places in our town that are dangerous for animals to cross? Can you design a corridor or bridge for animals to cross safely?
Grades 5-6 will continue with Attack of the Black Rectangles, by Amy Sarig King. Which of these BANNED BOOKS have you read? How about these? Learn more about Alex Gino's book, Melissa.
Be sure to check out the Listening Library if you happen to miss one of our read alouds in class!
Week 20
Grades K-4 will begin our Red Clover Awards unit. We will read The Pet Potato, written by Josh Lacey and illustrated by Momoko Abe. View the read-aloud here. After rating the book in our Red Clover Journals, students will create their own Pet Potato to take home! Create your own digital Mr. Potato Head here.
Grades 5-6 will continue with Attack of the Black Rectangles, by Amy Sarig King. (Thursday, Ms. Baranyay will be out, so classes will have an opportunity to do some coding and/or access ebooks and audiobooks in Sora.)
Everyone - Explore MORE new books that have been added to our library collections. Remember to fill out your 2024 Reading Log and turn it in for prizes as you fill the shelves of your bookshelf. Remember ebooks and audiobooks from apps such as Sora and ComicsPlus are also available anytime, from any device, using your school email address. Happy reading, friends!
Week 19 - National Winnie the Pooh Day is January 18
Grades K-4 will read a narrative nonfiction picturebook, Finding Winnie, by Lindsay Matlick and illustrated by Caldecott Medalist, Sophie Blackall. Learn more about Sophie's creative process here.
Grades 5-6 will continue with Attack of the Black Rectangles, by Amy Sarig King. (Thursday classes will be doing a TBD activity.)
2024 Reading Log.pdfWeek 18
Grades K-4 In preparation for our upcoming Red Clover Awards unit, Kindergarten through 4th grade students will explore what makes a book "award worthy" and look at example Caldecott winners, as well as some previous years Red Clover books.
Grades 5-6 will continue with Attack of the Black Rectangles, by Amy Sarig King.
Everyone - Explore new books that have been added to our library collections. Remember to fill out your 2024 Reading Log and turn it in for prizes as you fill the shelves of your bookshelf. Remember ebooks and audiobooks from apps such as Sora and ComicsPlus are also available anytime, from any device, using your school email address. Happy reading, friends!
BINGO! - LAST CALL! Bring your completed Winter Reading Challenge to the Library by Monday, Jan. 14 Tuesday, Jan. 15 for a prize!
Week 17 - Happy New Year!
Did you remember to complete your Holiday Reading Challenge? Bring it to Ms. Baranyay in the Library for a prize! Make sure to grab the 2024 Reading Challenge, too! Color in one book for every 10 minutes of reading you do (on your own or with a buddy/adult). Once you've filled a whole shelf of books, bring the page to the library to pick a prize, then bring the page back home and work on reading your way throuh your next shelf of books.
Grades K-4 will read How Does Santa Go Down the Chimney? by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Jon Klassen. It's one of the many new books that arrived in the HES Library just before we left for vacation.
Grades 5-6 will continue with Attack of the Black Rectangles, by Amy Sarig King. (Thursday classes will be doing a TBD activity.)
2024 Reading Log.pdfWeek 16 - Winter Break is upon us!
Grades K-4 will read Snow Horses: A First Night Story, a beautiful picture book written by Newbery Medal-winning author, Patricia MacLachlan, and illustrated by Caldecott Honor-winning artist, Micha Archer. View the read-aloud here.
Grades 5-6 will continue with Attack of the Black Rectangles, by Amy Sarig King.
Everyone - Enjoy our December Choice Board during Library Class, in your classroom, or over Winter Break. And remember, Podcasts, and ebooks and audiobooks from apps such as Sora and ComicsPlus are available anytime, from any device, using your school email address. Happy reading, friends!
BINGO! - Complete the Winter Reading Challenge and return your initialed board to the Library by Monday, Jan. 14 for a prize!
Snowman dot-to-dot.pdf
Week 15 - Happy Hanukkah!
This year Hanukkah began at sundown on Thursday, 12/7 and will last through the evening of Friday, 12/15. It is the Jewish wintertime “festival of lights” holiday, celebrated with a nightly menorah lighting, special prayers and fried foods.
Grades K-4 will enjoy Moishe's Miracle: A Hanukkah Story, written by Laura Krauss Melmed and illustrated by David Slonim. Watch the read-aloud with Bob Saget here.) Students can color and play word games after book exchange, and they can explore our Haukkah Choice Board in their classroom. Learn how to play Dreidel and make Latkes on your own.
Grades 5-6 will continue with Attack of the Black Rectangles, by Amy Sarig King. (Thursday classes will be doing a TBD activity.)
Week 14 - Computer Science Education Week
Celebrate the importance of computer science education with an HOUR OF CODE! Started in 2009, CS Education Week is celebrated each year during the week of Grace Hopper’s birthday. She was the woman who invented the first compiler and coined the term “bug” (an error in a program) after removing an actual moth from a computer in 1947.
Grades K-4 will read How to Code a Sandcastle, by Josh Funk. K-1 students will then practice following sequences to solve Gingerbread and Snowmen puzzles on paper. Grades 2-4 will practice writing code using Kodable.
Grades 5-6 will dive right into coding using one of the 5 Hour of Code activities below.
HOUR OF CODE
Read More About It!
These books can be used during large/small groups, or shared during independent time.
PebbleGo - Computer Collection (K-3rd)
PebbleGo Next - Computer Science & Technology (3rd-6th)
Vermont PBS (Filterable K-12)
Fun in pairs - QuickDraw with Google!
Use code to create a solar system that really rocks!
Have a blast learning about music, astronomy, and coding all at once! In these activities you'll program planets to make music that is out of this world.
Week 13
Grades K-4 will explore the difference between fiction and nonfiction. Check out this quick video.
Grades 5-6 will continue with Attack of the Black Rectangles, by Amy Sarig King.
Week 12
Thanksgiving is right around the corner, so it's the perfect time of year to reflect on the people and things in our lives for which we are grateful.
Grades K-4 will read Thank You, Omu, a beautiful debut picture book written and illustrated by Oge Mora. Already recognized for it's outstanding contribution to children's literature, it is a 2019 Caldecott Honor book and winner of the 2019 Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Illustrator Award. View the read-aloud here. Each class will then participate in an activity focused on GRATITUDE. View the read-aloud here.
Grades 5-6 will continue with Attack of the Black Rectangles, by Amy Sarig King.
Week 11
Grades K-3 will read Binny's Diwali by Thrity Umrigar. Watch the read-aloud here. Diwali is the biggest and most important holiday in southeast Asia and India, marking the Hindu New Year. Also called the Festival of Lights, it falls on a new moon in October or November, and this year it takes place next week on Nov. 12. Learn more about Diwali at National Geographic Kids and on PebbleGo.
Grades 4-6 will be introduced to this year's Golden Dome Book Award program and the 25 nominated books. Explore this year's books using the slideshow on our Vermont Book Awards page or clicking the picture on the right.
Week 10
Grades K-4 will read some fun unicorn stories.
Grades 5-6 will begin exploring Attack of the Black Rectangles, by Amy Sarig King.
Week 9 - Book Fair!
HES Students will visit the Book Fair during Library classes.
Families are welcome to visit during the HES Harvest Dinner on Thursday evening, 10/27, starting at 5:00pm.
Week 8
Grades K-6
The Book Fair is coming to HES next week! Review Book Fair page of our Library website, the flyer that was sent home to families, and look at some of the book trailers on the Scholastic page.
Check out books.
Read some Halloween stories!
Fall 2023 Book Fair Notice.pdfWeek 7
Grades K-6 This week is all about NEW BOOKS! We will start by reading one of our new picture books, then sample all sorts of new books and have the opportunity to check out our favorites.
Grades 4-6 will also learn how to discover new books using our online catalog - OPALS. (Woodbury click HERE).
Week 6
Grades K-1 will explore the roles of author and illustrator and read two fun Pete the Cat stories.
Grades 2-3 will finish last week's review of Parts of a Book.
Grades 4-6 will continue working in OPALS, our online catalog.
Week 5
Grades K-3 This week students in grades K through 3 will continue to explore the parts of a book and the roles of authors and illustrators. Our Kindergarten read-aloud is Old Bear, by Kevin Henkes, Grade 1 will read Elephant's Story, by Tracey Campbell Pearson, Grade 2 will read The Best Book to Read, and Grade 3 will read Miss Malarkey Leaves no Reader Behind.
Grades 4-6 will learn how to explore books in our library using OPALS (links in banner at top of page). Complete your Exit Ticket here.
Week 4 (HES: Tues. 9/19/23 - Mon. 9/25/23; WDB: Fri. 10/6)
Grades K-1 will learn about the various parts of a book, including the role of the author and the illustrator. Kindergarten will also enjoy the sweet rhyming book, Posy, by Linda Newbery and Catherine Rayner, and first grade will listen to the story Maybe a Bear Ate It, by Robie H. Harris.
Grade 2-3 will be learning what it means to choose a Just Right Book. To do this we will read Goldie Socks and the Three Libearians by Jackie Mims Hopkins (video here) and explore using the 5-Finger Rule (video here). Lastly, students will practice looking for "Just Right Books" and take home a new bookmark with the key reminders.
Grades 4-6 will practice using some of our online reading options - Sora, Epic!, ComicsPlus (our new graphic novels platform), and PebbleGo (our new online database) - to explore Latinx and Hispanic Heritage Month.
Parts-of-a-Book-Pete-The-Cat.png
LB K Parts of a Book - Part 1.pdfJustRightBooksGoldilocks.jpg
September 15 to October 15 is National Hispanic Heritage Month, an opportunity to celebrate the histories, cultures, and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. It's a chance to recognize their many achievements and contributions that have inspired others to achieve success.
Try one of the great options for online Hispanic Heritage Reads below. Each collection features a variety of titles for every age range across numerous genres. Check them out!
Epic! Reads (The Library Class Code is arn1797 if your teacher has not given you one yet. Ms. Baranyay will give you a student number to use temporarily.)
Week 3 (HES: Tues. 9/12/23 - Mon. 9/18/23; WDB: Fri. 9/29/23)
Grades K will continue to talk about book care. They will learn how to look for a book in the library bins and check it out at the circulation desk, then color a page of book care rules to go home (next week) as a reminder.
Grades 1-4 Skoob The Shelf Elf will review book care and why it's important to use a shelf marker while browsing books in the library. We will also review the Shelf Marker Song to help us remember how to use a shelf marker. We will practice all of this when it's time to check out books, then we'll color a ookmark and a page of Book Care Rules to take home as a reminder.
Grades 5-6 will review using a shelf marker and choosing a Just Right Book.
Week 2 (HES: Tues. 9/5/23 - Mon. 9/11/23; WDB: Fri. 9/15/23)
Grades K-3 will need to spend the next couple of weeks becoming familiar with Book Care and using Shelf Markers before we will be ready to take books home. Today we will listen to What Happened to Marion's Book? written by Brooke Berg and illustrated by Nathan Alberg, and talk about how to take care of library books. Some classes may even have enough time to review using a shelf marker with the Shelf Marker Song.
Grades 4-6 will review how we take care of library books with the 10 Rules of Library Book Care.
Week 1 (HES: Mon. 8/28/23 - Thurs. 8/31/23; WDB: Fri. 9/8/23)
Welcome, or welcome back, to Hardwick and Woodbury Elementary Schools! I'm so excited to start the new school year with you and begin our journey of learning all about the library and all of the great things it has to offer you in your education!
This week we will be talking about Library Procedures and Expectations.
What sorts of routines do we have in the library?
What is the Golden Moment?
What does it look and sound like to be Respectful, Responsible, and Safe in the library?
What do we do in case of an emergency or a drill?
When will we be able to check out books?
We will also be getting to know each other a little bit with a fun Ice-Breaker activity, so be ready to get involved and get moving! It will be a great opportunity for us to practice what being Respectful, Responsible, and Safe looks and sounds like in action!
Younger students will finish class with a fun read aloud - No T. Rex in the Library, by Toni Buzzeo.
Older students will enage in a fun get-to-know-you activity.
