Library News

GORDON PARKS LIBRARY

Pat Smith (Miss Pat) Library Media Specialist
psmith2@gpes.org

We want our students to choose to read, to choose what they read and to become life-long learners.
We want our students and staff to become effective users of information and technology.
We want our parents to read every day with their children. You read to them, and they read to you. Even short books can be read and reread over several days. Each time you read the book, you will find something new to talk about.

Students can earn a special library certificate at the end of the year if they return their books on time!

Library Class Schedule:

Monday - Mr. Tillman, Mrs. Tristani, Mrs. Christian, Mrs. Thurston
Tuesday -
Wednesday - Mrs. Williams, Mrs. Fritts, Mrs. Hawkins, Mrs. Groves
Thursday - Mrs. Gann, Mrs. Senne
Friday - Ms. Gitt, Ms. Lefholz

Books are due the day before library class!


March, April, May activities

K - Kindergartners have studied wordless books and how to use the pictures to tell a story. They also enjoyed a variety of alphabet books, concluding with an adventure story about Charley's alphabet. We are now working on Mother Goose rhymes and will be making a booklet for our families. We decided against sending home books earlier. If you requested books to come home, we are just now beginning this process.

1 - Hope you enjoyed the Robert McCloskey booklet which emphasized putting things in order. We enjoyed fresh blueberries when we read his Blueberries for Sal. We are now studying the different kinds of illustration styles you can find in books.

2 - Students are learning about the characteristics of folktales. They know that folktales were told long ago before most people could read or write; they were passed from parent to child. Since most people never traveled back then, they made up stories about their own lives. There is usually an ordinary character and a wicked character. The hero often goes on a journey. Magical things can happen; the magic numbers are 3 and 7. These tales can be funny, scary or explain a phenomenon. We will read folktales from each continent. We will learn that Red Riding Hood and Cinderella tales are common everywhere.


3 - We have been studying atlases, particularly the difference between a physical and a political map. We have learned how to access our database. We have also learned how to type a document and save it to our own folder on the computer. We will soon start keyboarding lessons. All 3rd graders are expected to read two Newbery books this trimester.

4 - Students have learned how to access our database. They have practiced how to type a document and save it to their own folder on the computer. We are now learning how to use an almanac.


5 - All 5th graders are expected to read two historical fiction books each trimester. Students are now learning how to make a power point presentation.

Food for Thought

Where a student is is not so important as where that student is headed.