This week second grade is visiting the library for forest animal research. They are using books to conduct their research in the library, and will continue with research in the computer labs as well. Each student has chosen an animal to research and will become an expert on their animal. It is so fun to see them get excited about all of the interesting facts they are discovering about their animals! 
Today was our annual Bluebonnet voting day! Students who read five or more Bluebonnet books and turned in their Bluebonnet form to me were eligible to vote. Voting was held during students' lunchtimes, and students cast their votes using the Macbooks. When all of the votes were tallied Taylor's winner was... Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper!! 
This week in second grade we read Lissy's Friends by Grace Lin. This is an adorable story about a girl named Lissy who "makes" friends by creating them with origami. After we read the story we moved to the tables and each student had the opportunity to create an origami project. This is such a fun story time that I repeat it with second grade every year!
The Six Flags Read to Succeed reading program is back again! You have the opportunity to track your reading to earn a free Six Flags ticket! Forms have been sent home in Thursday folders. All you need to do is read for six hours in between now and February 24, record your reading minutes on the form, and return it to your teacher. Then you will earn a free Six Flags ticket! Extra forms are available in the library if you need one. This is such a fun and easy way to earn a free Six Flags ticket for reading you would be doing anyway!!
Author: Jane Kelley
This week in library third grade has been conducting Arctic animal research. They visited for four days and completed a different station each day. At Station One they used books to research where different types of penguins live. They then used this information to complete a penguin map. At Station Two groups worked together to create a life sized penguin. Students chose a type of penguin and then researched to find out how tall that type of penguin is. They then worked together to sketch, color, and cut out their penguin. Their life sized penguins are adorable and will be displayed around their classrooms. While at Station Three, students again used books to research how tall different types of penguins are, and then used this information to make penguin graphs. They also labeled a penguin diagram with the correct penguin body parts. At Station Four, students worked on the Macbooks and used GoogleDocs to create slides of an Arctic food chain. These also turned out really well. What a fun week I've had with third grade learning all about Arctic animals!
Congratulations to Austin our spelling bee winner! Our bee was a record breaker this year going 34 rounds! Austin will be representing Taylor at the Collin County Spelling Bee in February. Good luck Austin!!
Last week when the kindergarten classes arrived at the library, I invited them to take off their shoes. Then we read two books about ducks and socks: Ducks Don't Wear Socks by Nedwidek and Sally and the Purple Socks by Bechtold. These books were a huge hit! The students really enjoyed sock day in the library.
This week in library fourth grade conducted research on famous scientists. Each student had a scientist that they were researching. They used books as well as online databases to conduct their research. They will use the information that they have gathered to create a timeline of their scientist's life on the computer, complete a writing assignment, and make a presentation to their class. 
