Stations in Kindergarten

Last Friday I was invited to host a 'station' in Mrs. Saggese and Mrs. Ganio's integrated Kindergarten classroom. At my station, I taught students how to use the Leap Tag reading system from Leap Frog. Students use the camera reader 'pen' to read a single page, the whole story or anything the student wants to click on and learn more about. This interactive book system from Leap Frog is a great way to introduce beginner readers to the wonderful world of books. Every student was very excited to try a new way of 'reading'...even the students that already have the Leap Tag system at home!

The Gingerbread Baby

Students listened to The Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett this week during Library time. Afterwards, they were given a special treat - their very own Gingerbread Baby cookie to eat! Yum! Many students had never tasted gingerbread before and decided to give it a try. Everyone decided that the Gingerbread Baby was pretty tasty. Here is the printable recipe for making your own Gingerbread Baby which can be found on Jan Brett's website. Just remember...no peeking!

Story Telling in 1st Grade

1st Grade students listened to the book The Mitten by Jan Brett, who is author of the month for December. The story is about a white mitten that gets lost in the snow and when several woodland animals find warmth in the mitten, it stretches to many times its size. Students colored and cut their own mitten as well as woodland animals to be able to retell the story to their classmates. We had a great time, and found that retelling a story is harder than it may seem! Check out the pictures and short clip of Sarah retelling her version of The Mitten.

 

2nd Grade Mammal Research

Mrs. Ouimet's 2nd Grade students have been researching mammals in the library. After talking about mammals in the classroom and library, each student chose to research a mammal they found particularly interesting. They used reference books, Pebble Go (online research database just for K-2 students) and the Internet. Students learned many computer and technology skills as well as how to use books for research. Now that all of their research is complete, students are learning how to make informative power point presentations with images.

McKenzie Wins RIF Contest

Riverside students were offered the chance to enter a drawing contest to illustrate what RIF (Reading Is Fundamental) means to them or what RIF represents. There were many great entries submitted! However, there was only one winner; McKenzie in Mrs. Shephard's fourth grade class secured first prize! McKenzie's drawing will be placed on a magnet for every Riverside student to take home on RIF day which is this Thursday November 8th. Four other runners-up also received a coupon for a second free book on RIF day. Congratulations to all the contest winners and to all the students who entered the contest and did a super job!



McKenzie K. - 1st Place



Carly E. - Runner-up



Mary B. - Runner - up





Edison L. - Runner-up

Andrew L. - Runner-up

6th Grade Takes On Pine Lake!

I spent the day with 6th Grade students at Hartwick College's Pine Lake campus today. We studied stream quality and collected data from Charlotte Creek with the help of SUNY Oneonta Biology students and Tami LaPilusa (TAP US coordinator). We had an amazing day identifying critters from the stream and learning about local watershed conservation. A big thanks to Hartwick College and SUNY Oneonta!

Fall into the Library!

Lots of great things happening in the library this Fall...there are over 200 new books and students are having a blast learning to find books on the online book catalog system. We have been  brushing up on our library skills, reading about pumpkins and learning how to use databases! Fall in the Library is always my favorite time of year!