Fun Times with Poetry

Did you know that April is National Poetry Month? At Taylor we are celebrating by having students recite poetry at GMT. We are also exploring wonderful poetry in the library this week with fun activities that combine technology and poetry. Mrs. Sonkin and I have worked together to create these fun lessons:
Kindergarten and first grade are listening to a poem called "What I Love About Spring" by Douglas Florian using the iPod Nanos. The students listen to the poem three times, and let the words create pictures in their minds. Then they illustrate the poem.

Second and third grade are browsing through poetry books to find a poem that they like. Then they practice reading the poem aloud several times, with expression. Next, they record themselves using Voice Memo on an iPod Touch. After they have all finished recording themselves, they can enjoy listening to their classmates' poems.

Fourth and fifth grade are using the MacBooks and library PC's to view a fun haiku website, and compose haiku of their very own. They then copy down their poem, and illustrate it. We are using some of these to make a beautiful display in the library. Here is the link to the website if you would like to write your own haiku: www.pbs.org/parents/creativity/ideas//haiku.html

Fifth Grade Book Commercials

Mrs. Howeth, Mrs. Sonkin and I have been working on a fun project with fifth grade for the past month. Students are working in groups to produce book commercials. Filming has finished, and here students are working on editing their videos. We can't wait to share these amazing book commercials with you when they're finished!

Bluebonnet Parties

On Tuesday we held our Bluebonnet parties to celebrate the book that was the overall winner for the state of Texas. One hundred students who had read at least five Bluebonnet books were invited to attend. Students entering the party were able to tell which book was the winner (it was top secret until that morning): 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!

Book Reviews

This week in library fourth grade students are learning how to do quick book reviews. They come and sit at the tables where there are book review forms along with a stack of fiction books. They are practicing looking at a book's front cover, and quickly reading the book's back cover or inside flap to see if the book interests them. Then they jot down the book's title, author, and call number, along with a couple of notes on their form and give the book a 1-5 rating. Each student has the chance to review five or six books. At the end of the lesson the students are able to check out any of the books that they would like to. There are many books that multiple students wish to check out, and all dilemmas are solved with a rock-paper-scissors war. Students take their forms with them so that they can refer to them at a later date to help them find the books that they liked.

Taylor Spelling Bee Coming in January

Mrs. Tarpley's Classroom Bee

Our third annual Taylor Spelling Bee will be held on Tuesday, January 10 at 8:00 a.m. in the cafeteria. This week class spelling bees are being held in each fourth and fifth grade class. Interested students received lists of word to study last month. Each class will determine the top two spellers from their classroom bee, and these spellers will advance to the Taylor Spelling Bee. The winner of this Bee will advance to the Collin County Bee which takes place in February. Good luck to all of our class winners as you begin to study for the Taylor Spelling Bee!

Library Learning With Technology

Taylor will be hosting author Kate Klise this year on October 6. She will speak to all grade levels. Students are using technology in the library to learn about Kate Klise. Using iPod Touches, students scan QR codes that take them directly to Ms. Klise's website. They then explore her website and find an interesting fact about her. Next they go into Notes and record their interesting fact. It is a fun way for them to learn about the amazing author who we are privileged to have coming soon to our school.

Mornings in the Library

Wow! Every morning as soon as I open the library I have 3rd - 5th graders pouring in to check out new books. This is the sort of sight that truly makes a librarian's day! Remember, the library is open before school (almost) every day. 3rd - 5th graders may obtain a library pass in the gym to come down to the library and get new books. I can't wait to see you!!

Book Club

Our fifth grade book club met for the last time today. We discussed The Old Willis Place by Mary Downing Hahn. Some students were doubtful that they would like a ghost story, but all were won over by the book once they read it. This group of students has been a joy to work with, and I will truly miss them next year. Their love of reading inspires me!

Bluebonnet Voting

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.

Taylor Spelling Bee

Our second annual Taylor Spelling Bee was held on January 11, 1022. I am so proud of all of the spellers who worked so hard studying for the bee. Here are just a few of the words that were spelled correctly by students at the bee: thespian, versatile, exoskeleton, enzyme, liberation.

A special thanks to our pronouncer and judges!

Congratulations to our winner Jake! He will advance to the Collin County Bee in February.

Bluebonnet Book Club

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.

Vocabulary Parade Coming Soon!

Taylor's fifth annual Vocabulary Parade will be taking place on Thursday, November 11. Parents are welcome to join us in the cafeteria to view the parade. Every Taylor student and staff member will be dressed as a word for the parade. Look for information that will begin coming home in this week's Thursday folders. When you decide on the word you want to portray, don't forget to turn in your word form to your teacher.

Fifth Grade Book Club

Our fifth grade book club met for the first time yesterday. It was a lot of fun! We have seven student members, plus Mrs. Howeth and me. The students were excited to find out what our first book to read together would be. The answer: The Homework Machine by Dan Gutman!

Bluebonnet Book Club

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!

Bluebonnet Reading Program

Our Bluebonnet Reading Program has begun for the year. This program is open to all third through fifth grade students. All you have to do is read five of the Bluebonnet books from this year's list, and fill out your Bluebonnet form. We have extra forms in the library if you misplace yours. Return your form to me in the library and I will ask you a few simple questions to be sure you read the books. Then you will be one of our Bluebonnet readers! We will have voting in the cafeteria in January where you will cast your vote for your favorite Bluebonnet book. Then in February you will be invited to our Bluebonnet party. I hope you will all be one of our Bluebonnet readers this year! Here is a link to the current Bluebonnet list: http://www.txla.org/TBA-nominees

Genres

Fifth grade came to the library this week for some genre practice. Groups of students were given a box of books, and they had to work together to sort the books into the correct genre categories. The genres they learned about included non fiction, realistic fiction, mystery, science fiction, fantasy, biography, autobiography, poetry, folktale, and historical fiction. They did a great job and learned a lot. Which is your favorite genre?

Fifth Grade Booktalks

I had four brave fifth grade boys volunteer to be the first to try something new. They chose a book that they would like to recommend to other students, and practiced speaking about the book. Then we used our new IPOD's with video to record them doing their book talks. I think this will be a lot of fun to use in the future. Thank you to Tre', Hakeem, Isaiah, and Raj from the fifth grade book club that were our first to give video book talks to share.

Book Club Fun

We have fun in Book Club! Check out the cheese in Julianne's calzone!

Bluebonnet Parties

We held our Bluebonnet parties in the library this week. All students who read a t least five Bluebonnet books were invited to join us. The winning Bluebonnet book for the state of Texas this year was Help Me, Mr. Mutt! by Susan Stevens Crummell, so our party had a dog theme.

Students had bluebonnets painted on their faces.

We had a "How many dog bones in the bowl?" estimation contest. The winners from each grade level won a free book. If you're curious, there were 134 bones in the bowl.

Fourth grade Bluebonnet readers

Third grade Bluebonnet readers

Fifth grade Bluebonnet readers

Each student was able to choose a free book.

Blue donuts and punch were enjoyed by everyone!

We played "Throw the dog bone in the bowl" with the winners choosing another free book.

We also played "Hot dog" where students passed a stuffed dog and tried not to be the one holding it when the music stopped. The winners of this game also received another free book.

Bluebonnet Voting

We held our Bluebonnet voting today. All 119 students who read at least five Bluebonnet books were able to vote for their favorite in the cafeteria during lunch. And Taylor's favorite Bluebonnet book was... SAVVY by Ingrid Law. It earned 28 votes, and the runner-up was Help Me, Mr. Mutt! with fifteen votes.