We had so much fun celebrating The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger. We began the party by watching a video message from the author. Then it was time for making Origami Yodas, enjoying blue donuts and Yoda soda (lime sherbet and Sprite), and face painting. We ended with a game: Escape the Death Star. On their way out every student was able to choose a paperback book, bookmark, and a pencil to keep. What a great day it was!
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!! 
The Bluebonnet Book Club is having a lot of fun meeting on Monday mornings. Here is a photo from our most recent meeting. The Bluebonnet Book Club is made up of kids in third through fifth grades who wanted to listen to me read some great Bluebonnet books. 
Author: Jennifer L. Holm
Author: Keith McGowan
Author: Jacqueline West Call Number: F WES When eleven-year-old Olive and her distracted parents move into an old Victorian mansion, Olive finds herself ensnared in a dark plan involving some mysterious paintings, a trapped and angry nine-year-old boy, and three talking cats.
Author: Joan Carris Call Number: F CAR Ernest the mini-pig does his best to help the other animals at Grandpa Bender's boarding house get along and have fun, but the arrival of a hyper Scottish terrier puppy who wants to be a fox disrupts life.
Author: Sharon Draper
Call Number: F DRA
Considered by many to be mentally retarded, a brilliant, impatient fifth-grader with cerebral palsy discovers a technological device that will allow her to speak for the first time.
Author: Tom Angleberger Call Number: F ANG Sixth-grader Tommy and his friends describe their interactions with a paper finger puppet of Yoda, worn by their weird classmate Dwight, as they try to figure out whether or not the puppet can really predict the future. Includes instructions for making Origami Yoda.
Taylor has voted and our favorite bluebonnet book this year was 11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass. The Uglified Ducky by Willy Claflin was in second place, and Squirrel's World by Lisa Moser was in third place. Now we can't wait to find out which book will win for the state of Texas once all the votes across the state have been counted.
Don't forget to return your Bluebonnet forms by Thursday, January 13. We have a lot of Bluebonnet books available for check out in the library if you still need to read a few. Extra forms are available in the library if you need one. You only need to read five Bluebonnet books to participate in the Bluebonnet reading program and vote for your favorite!
Our Bluebonnet Book Club had our last meeting today. We read five bluebonnet books together and now every student who attended all of our meetings will be a bluebonnet reader! Congratulations!! I had a lot of fun meeting with you over the past five weeks.
Fourth grade headed out to the Storytelling Festival on Friday, October 8. I tried to take pictures of the storytellers but we were too far away from them for the pictures to turn out. We had a great time listening to all of the wonderful storytellers. The highlight for me (and many of the students that I asked) was hearing Willy Claflin. He is the author of The Uglified Ducky and he brought Maynard Moose with him. He was hilarious! I am so glad that we got to hear him in person. I am ordering more Maynard Moose books for the library for sure!
Our Bluebonnet Book Club met for the first time this morning. If you signed up to join the club, don't forget to be here early on October 21 and 28, and November 4 and 18. Today we listened to The Uglified Ducky by Willy Claflin. Which one will we read next week? You'll have to come to find out!
