Between the Lines

Booktalks, Book Fairs, and Printers

Just want to let you know how our Fall is progressing here in the King/Amigos library. The fifth grade girls were anxious to share their thoughts on the MCBA titles and other good reads. You can access their reviews and comment on them at http://www.booktalk.learnerblogs.org.

After a year of no printer in the library, we are now the proud owners of a laser printer which will be a workhorse for the library computers and surrounding classrooms. Jessica, our wonderful CitySprouts teacher, shows off the first printing.

We just wrapped up our Scholastic Book Fair. It was a big success. Scholastic is doing a much better job putting quality books into their fairs. We noticed it and so did parents and teachers. We couldn’t have pulled off a fair without Scholastic sending us a cashier all three days of the fair.

Also, Phyllis and Beena volunteered their time. Phyllis and a group of parents will run the Spring book fair. We will need many more volunteers. . .

What’s Going On?

October is just around the corner and the library business is booming.  The King 5th graders just left the library all a buzz.  Every Thursday we will use an hour block to work on research.  These are the same students who did three very successful projects with Ms. Melissa Brumsted last year.  They are excited to delve into new topics and post their findings on the web, as they did last year with their “Packing lists for Regions of the USA.” We’ll begin with a look at the Mayans – stay posted.

Amigos 1st grade English is beginning their Wednesday in the library with a Responsive Circle morning meeting.  It’s such a treat to be included in this special way to start the day.  So far we’ve learned how to say “friend” and “You’re terrific” in sign language.  After we get rid of our bad feelings and gather up some good ones, we move on to greetings and a good book.

King 1st grade is studying weather.  We read Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco and got very excited about how thunder and lightning are made, so we headed over to non-fiction.

You’re Invited

You’re invited to stop by the King/Amigos library! Those of you who were here last year know that after a Halloween flood, we lived through the process of rebuilding our library. Now, our library is looking great. After a year of living out of Rent-a-Crates, having everything on new shelves is wonderful. Thanks so much to Friends of Amigos for the beautiful new rug in the read aloud area. I’m looking forward to a year of high library usage by staff and students.

I had I thought I’d have time to blog away with my thoughts on great new summer reading, etc., but my two boys kept me busy. They did accompany me to a few libraries over the summer. They also helped me to critique some new picture books and some of the Massachusetts Children’s Book Award books, but there was no time to sit and put down my ideas for our library blog.

Southwest Region Bloggers

• BLOG
  
• Hi our names are Aleysia and Kabir we are fourth graders at the M.L. King School. We are studying the region Southwest. We are studying the states Texas and New Mexico.
• If you are planning to travel to these two states please PACK the following items.
• *Spanish dictionary because many residents speak Spanish and you could take a day trip to Mexico.
• *Remember your sunglasses and sun block because it’s hot down there!!!!
• *Bring Pepto-Bismol because the tacos and barbecue food are hot and spicy!!!
• *Don’t forget your first aid kit because there are vicious animals down there!!!

Remember to bring these things or else you will have an unpleasant trip.
Please comment us, and let us know what you think of our packing guide.

M.L. King
4th Grade
Southwest Region

SouthEast Students

Our Blog for the CPS Library

Hi, We are fourth graders at the King School. We have been studying the Southeast region of the USA.

We learned a lot of history about Georgia, Louisiana, and Florida.
M.L. King, Jr., who our school is named after, was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Ponce de Leon discovered Florida on Easter in 1513. Florida means flower in Spanish, Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. They are still rebuilding.

Do you like peanuts? Well you should live in Georgia. They produce 1-½ billion peanuts a year! Wow that’s a lot of peanut butter. If you’re interested in juicy, fresh squeezed orange juice, travel to the “ Official Orange Beverage Juice State” Florida. But if you love SPICY food, try Louisiana’s gumbo.

Please comment if you have enjoyed our blog.
Southeast Region Group
4th Grade
King School

Young Authors

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. School has many young authors. All year students have been writing and publishing their work. These three authors asked to have their published books placed in the library for others to enjoy. They wrote and published their work with the help of Ms. Elizabeth Mayhew.

From China to Guatemala

On April 25, the Amigos 4th and5th graders had a wonderful author visit with Amelia Lau Carling. Ms. Carling is from a Chinese family which immigrated to Guatemala from China during WW2. During her childhood she was spoken to in Chinese, but she and her siblings responded to their parents in Spanish. Her own children encouraged her to write about her unique childhood experiences in her two books, La Tienda de Mama y Papa (Mama and Papa Have a Store) and Alfombras de Asserin (Sawdust Carpets)

Cambridge: How it came to be our city

The Amigos 3rd graders have been learning about the history of our city. Ms. Kit Rawlins from the Cambridge Historical Commission has been showing them slides and teaching them about the history of Cambridge. She presents three lessons to the students: Settlement of Cambridge, Immigration to Cambridge, and the history of African-Americans in Cambridge. The third graders have had wonderful questions for Kit. Ask them what they’ve learned about Cambridge. Did you know Rindge Towers stands where a clay pit for a brick making factory once stood? Or that Lechmere Station used to be the site of a glass making factory and a meat packing factory? Thank you Kit for giving us a different perspective on Cambridge.

General George Washington lived in this Cambridge house for a winter.

Down on the Farm

The King first graders, junior K and kindergarten students had a visit from Farmer Matt of Drumlin Farm in Lincoln. The first thing the students told him was that he didn’t look like a farmer! Poor Farmer Matt. By the end of the visit he had them convinced. Students tasted carrots and lettuce, played a game about a tomato’s journey from farm to store, and peppered Farmer Matt with questions about farms. We’ve been reading non-fiction books about crops and farm animals along with some fun farm picture books to prepare for this special visit. The visit was a gift from CitySprouts. (Open House for CitySprouts garden at King/Amigos on May 30 at 2 p.m.) We’re realizing that it’s one thing to look at pictures of chickens, but it would be much better to see the chickens scratching in the dirt. We’re planning a fieldtrip to Drumlin Farm or one of the other area farms, Codman Farm or Wilson Farm. We’ll let you know which farm books were hits with the kids and teachers.

Spring Cleaning

We’ve been working out of Rent-a-Crates since November, and were thrilled to hear that our furniture should be arriving and installed next week! We’re keeping our fingers crossed that the first week of April will finally allow us to do justice to the expanding library collection and great materials we’ve got to offer students of both schools.

As a way of marking the March weeks, we’ve kept track of “lion” and “lamb” days this month, and are finding that the lambs seem to have the upper…hoof. This is good news for our Citysprouts friends who will begin work in a new garden very soon. There is newness in the air!