encouraging students to become competent 21st Century learners
Another Mock Caldecott has come and gone. As each year goes by our students get better and better at using the ALA criteria to read, examine and analyze the illustrations from the Mock Caldecott books. None of the student choices won the actual award but we are happy with both the actual winner and the... Continue Reading →
Right after we announced the Mock Caldecott results things got busy in the Learning Commons. It's almost my lunch break but I need to get our results posted and it seems now is the time to do it! Just like every other year we've had some hits and misses in the books the school picked... Continue Reading →
The students are having fun reading and voting on this year's round of books. Their opinions are polarizing. As soon as I hear one say they loved a certain book another student doesn't enjoy it. Yet, as always, there are some books that the kids take to right away as is evident by the shouts... Continue Reading →
The results are in! St. Philip's students have spent the past month voting for the Mock Caldecott. You can read about the books they read and critiqued here. All in all I'd say we had a lot of fun. This is the second year we have held a Mock Caldecott and I am starting to... Continue Reading →
It is time for our now Annual Mock Caldecott! We had so much fun last year that we are doing it again. I'm still a teeny bit sad Mr. Tiger Goes Wild didn't win last year but have started to appreciate Locomotive's merits and can see why the Caldecott committee chose it. This year we have... Continue Reading →
Today I received a fun surprise in the mail; a tan package with something hard inside. Upon opening it I saw it was a foam board print of cute little Hank from Hank Finds An Egg by Rebecca Dudley. The letter, from Peter Pauper Press, explained that they wanted to send a token of their... Continue Reading →
The choosing of the Caldecott Medal recipient is just around the corner. Like libraries all over the country, we are holding a Mock Caldecott to see which picture book St. Philip students would choose to win the Caldecott Medal. This week all library classes are looking at the criteria for receiving the award. The next... Continue Reading →
Ame Dyckman's story of a boy and a robot who meet in the woods is timeless and familiar. Perhaps it isn't that different from other stories that deal with friendship, misunderstandings and discovery but the sweet concern each character feels for the other combined with Dan Yaccarino's illustrations make the book tug at your heartstrings... Continue Reading →
WE HAVE A WINNER! As the rules stated, you had to be a St. Philip's student and a subscriber to win. I looked at my list of subscribers and only counted the comments from them. I assigned a number to each comment that counted in order from first to last. Then used random.org to... Continue Reading →
Stop by and check out what books our birds are tweeting about. How many can you guess?
First Grade designs bats after reading Bats at the Library by Brian Lies. Students imagined what it would be like to be a bat in the library. Would they read or would they play? First Graders designed bats with books (including call numbers!) that they themselves would enjoy reading if they sneaked into a library... Continue Reading →
There are many times when I am thankful for the fact that I have started using Twitter. When I first started tweeting it was with my personal account. It was just...ok! It wasn't until I started using it for the Falcon's Fables as a way to connect with my fellow teacher librarians that I starting... Continue Reading →
The Falcon's Fables 