ums library loves books

Teacher Appreciation week was wonderful. Thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make us all feel appreciated. The luncheon on Friday from Juniors was the best! UMS is lucky to have such supportive families. Enjoy the rest of the school year and THANKS AGAIN!!

1. Visit the library regularly. A weekly trip to the library is a great way to establish a reading habit.

2.Read aloud. This will help instill the love of a good story.

3. Read with animation. Use different voices and body motions to bring the story to life.

4. Find books with humor. Books that make children laugh are very engaging.

5. Beautiful illustrations. Select books with beautiful pictures to bring the stories to life.

6.Set a reading routine.Find one that works for your family and stick with it.

7. Limit media. TV, video games and  computer time should be limited.

What a great event!  Here are some photos for you to enjoy…

Born Yesterday The Diary of a Young Journalist

by James Solheim, Illustrated by Simon James has won this years Red Clover Award. It is a terrific picture book, well written and hilarious. The students LOVE this book. It is so exciting to have kids asking and talking about characters, setting and themes in picture books. You have to read it!!!

We have been reading and sharing many poems in the library this month. I have really enjoyed it and I hope the students have too!  Our second graders have written haikus this week. (If you can’t remember, a haiku is a Japanese verse form with three lines. The first has 5 syllables, the second has 7 and the third has 5). Here are a few of these great Haikus…

CATS

Cats are cute and soft.

Cats do not like slimy things.

Cats can scratch people.

DRAGONS

Dragons blow fire.

Dragons live near big castles.

Dragons are awesome.

We will be celebrating poetry in April. I will be sharing many fabulous poems for students to listen to and read on their own. We have some wonderful poetry books in the collection so please ask your child about the poems and the books  that are being shared during library time. Here are some of the books that we will be discussing in April.

Extra Innings : Baseball Poems selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins 

Emma’s Dilemma : Big Sister Poems  by Kristine O’Connell George

Meow Ruff : A Story in Concrete Poetry by Joyce Sidman

Color Me  a Rhyme : Nature Poems for Young People by Jane Yolen

Reading is the most important skill you can teach your child. It is the door opener to the digital world of the 21st century and sits at the heart of a good education and a better life. As with any acquired skill, reading gets better with practice. Children grow more skillful, more confident, and more in love with reading by reading more often. But knowing how to read is just the beginning. Motivating children to keep reading so they strengthen their ability to think creatively is the end goal. Children need access to great books and the opportunity to choose what they read. They also need the time for reading. Where can this happen? AT YOUR LIBRARY!! School libraries matter… our kids futures depend on them.