Book Fair time!

The Book Fair is arriving this week!  Everyone should have received a notice home explaining the Fair, the schedule, and how much an average book costs.  Looking forward to seeing you there!!

Almost Thanksgiving!

It's amazing how quickly the school year flies by. Next week is a two day week, with a 5 day weekend for the Thanksgiving holiday.  There has been much discussion of fall holidays in the library with grade one and Kindergarten.  Grade two has begun their first research project this week on ocean animals.  They are excited to learn more about some of the creatures they saw at the New England Aquarium this week!  The library has indeed been a very busy place.

It's hard to imagine that December is less than 2 weeks away.  I'm looking forward to our semi-annual Book Fair, which will be held in the library from December 16-22.  It's going to be a crazy week, with 2 early release days plus our school winter concert on Monday, Dec. 21, all falling during the Book Fair.  I plan to keep the fair open from 1-3pm on Dec. 16 and 18 (early release days) and while parents are in the building for the concert.  I hope families will use the fair as an opportunity to get some holiday shopping done!  I'll be sending out more specific information in the coming weeks, and will also be asking for parent volunteers.

Many thanks to my weekly volunteers, without whom I could not survive!  Thanks to your help, I am able to teach classes and assist teachers and students.  Thanks to:  Cathy McWhinnie, Jeanne McDonald, Bernie McDonald, Rob Crowley, Pamela Okemo, Robin Jackson, Julie Baggio, Jeff Campbell, Daniella DiMatteo, Tricia Tierney, Amy Kelley, Kerry Mastroianni, Jenn Silverman, Robert Peppler, Alma Rotolo, Maria Matayabas, and Jennifer Butler!  I hope I have not forgotten anyone.

Halloween at Fitzgerald School

The teachers had a blast on Friday, October 30.  Many of us dressed up like girls from the 1980's and we were inspired to perform for all three lunch periods.  We think the students had as much fun as we did!

check out the video:

http://www.schooltube.com/video/52090/Performance-3

Visit to the Eric Carle Museum!

I just returned from a trip to Amherst, MA, to visit the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art.  (http://www.picturebookart.org/) This is a great place to take kids - artwork on the walls, the books in a bin on the floor, very kid friendly.  They have a Tomie dePaola exhibit now through Nov. 1 to celebrate Tomie's 75th birthday.

I was thrilled to meet Tomie tonight!  He was a great speaker and made us laugh.  He is probably most famous for his Strega Nona stories.  I was happy to get my picture taken with him.   I can't wait to show it to my students and tell them all about him!

Annual Conference!

I just returned from 2 days in Sturbridge, MA, where I attended the MSLA (Mass. School Library Association) annual conference. It was a great opportunity to meet with other school library teachers from across the state and learn what they are doing in their programs.

I also had an opportunity to meet several authors and illustrators, including Gregory Maguire (author of the Wicked books, the first of which has been made into a Tony Award winning Broadway play!), Stephen Krensky, Ralph Masiello and Kathleen Duble. I am happy to announce that I was able to purchase some of their books for our library, and had them personally autographed for the students of the Fitzgerald School!

The focus of the conference was 21st century skills, which are directly related to what I teach in our library each day. I learned alot about Web 2.0 skills and am anxious to begin using them with my students. This conference was a great way to network and get some good ideas about preparing our students for our increasingly changing world!

save the date!

I know it's awfully early to be thinking about the holidays, but I have just booked our Fall BookFair. It will be held from Wed., Dec. 16 to Tues., Dec. 22. Just in time for all your holiday shopping needs! Stay tuned for more info as we move into December...

check out my new blog!

Hello!

I am entering the world of blogging. I hope to use this blog to keep you informed of all of exciting events taking place in the Fitzgerald School Library this year!