LIBRARY

If you haven't discovered Hugo Cabret, you are missing out!

The Invention of Hugo Cabret is a fantastic adventure about a boy, an automaton and a mystery. Author Brian Selznick is a gifted a storyteller and artist. If you have read some of his books, or not, you can find out more about the man and his inspiration at this site:

http://www.scholastic.com/teacher/videos/teacher-videos.htm#3193874253001/1688353936

You can learn more about automatons here:

https://www.fi.edu/history-resources/automaton

https://www.history.com/news/7-early-robots-and-automatons

And you can play robotic games here:

https://www.kiloo.com/en/robot-games/

I'll bet you are better at them than I am!

Have you read 39 Clues?

39 Clues is a series that will take you on an adventure around the world. The original series is 11 books, but there are seven related series. One unusual thing about this series is that the books are written by different, popular authors, like Rick Riordan and Gordon Korman. Here are some videos with Riordan talking about the series: http://www.scholastic.com/teacher/videos/teacher-videos.htm#3190980580001/1709866593

Try this site for a game called Home Base. You can intereact with books and characters you like. You do have to create an account.

https://kids.scholastic.com/kids/books/the-39-clues/

Amulet--Where did Kazu Kibuishi Get That Idea?

Amulet is one of our most popular series at Manning. Mr. Kibuishi is obviously creative and interesting, but where did he get his ideas? Here are some interviews about just that:

http://www.scholastic.com/teacher/videos/teacher-videos.htm#3190980590001/4688349001

And--for fun--you can make your own graphic stories. Try this free site: https://www.makebeliefscomix.com/Comix/

Everybody loves Dav Pilkey

Captain Underpants? Dog Man?

If these are your superheroes of choice--besides your favorite librarian, of course--here is a site you have to check out:

https://kids.scholastic.com/kids/books/dav-pilkey-at-home/

It has videos, games, things to do for fun. And Dav puts up new stuff every week. Enjoy!

If you'd like to know more about the man behind your favorite books, here you go: https://pilkey.com/author

He's one of my favorites!

April is National Poetry Month

Here are some things you can do to celebrate:

Find great kids poems at https://poets.org/poems-kids . Make an anthology (collection) of poems you like. Write them down. Illustrate them. Keep them in a binder or notebook.

Memorize a poem you love and act it out for or with your family.

Here is an online poetry maker. Looks fun! http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/poetry/poetry_engine.htm#

And, finally, Shel Silverstein, one of my favorites, has a fun website: http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/poetry/poetry_engine.htm#

Earth Day and COVID19

Studies all over the world have shown that since people have been staying at home air and water pollution have been dramatically reduced. I have heard reports of 25 to 50 percent reductions. That's amazing. But temporary. When we get back to work and school, the levels will rise again.

Wednesday, April 22, 2020 is Earth Day. As we celebrate, we can think about how we can keep our world clean today and in the future.

This week, look around your house. What can you do to reduce~reuse~recycle? Our city has recycling, and all you have to do is collect glass, plastic and paper/cardboard and dump them in the bins at the Aquatic Center. You can use a reusable water bottle instead of buying cases of disposable bottles. Compost your eggshells and apple cores by burying them under mulch in a flower garden. Maybe make a project out of some of the things you were going to throw away!

Interested in Earth Day? Try these sites:

https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/collections/teaching-content/celebrate-earth-day/

https://www.readingrockets.org/article/five-literacy-based-ways-celebrate-earth-day-your-child

https://www.earthday.org/campaign/environmental-education/

Here's Something NEW to Try:

Dolly Parton has been a reading advocate for a long time. Here are some of her ways to share good books.

She has a free library for 0-5 year olds. Find out more, and sign up at https://imaginationlibrary.com/

She has started reading a bedtime story via Facebook on Thursdays at 7 p.m. Check out these, and then you can look up future episodes on youtube.com if you can't tune in to the live reading.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT9fv_ELbnE&t=228s Episode 1, The Little Engine that Could

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jADgHWYT9r8 Episode 2, A Coat of Many Colors

Here's Something to Try:

Taylor Swift talks about reading in this video:

http://www.scholastic.com/teacher/videos/teacher-videos.htm#3183923083001/1924653283001

Watch the video and talk to someone you know about a book you love. What does it mean to you? How does it change you? Ask them about a book that mean a lot to them.