Mrs. Funk's Blog

Reading wrap up!
Our library has been a busy one this school year. Your children have checked out 16, 955 books. We passed last year by 1,000 books. Hooray for reading!!
13, 002 accelerated reading quizzes have been taken and passed this year also.
What an accomplishement. Together our school accumulated 25, 009 ar points.
WOW!

Accelerated Reading Lists for the school will be going home - by date taken.

STAR reading will also we coming home. Remember it is one test on one particular day.
Use the zpd (zone of proximinal development) to guide you with your child's summer reading. If you read in that zone your child will be comfortable yet challenged.

2011 Rebecca Caudill Reading List - Grades 4-8
Chains by Laurie Anderson
The Boy Who Dared by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Scarlett by Cathy Cassidy
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Waiting for Normal by Leslie Connor
Diamond Willow by Helen Frost
Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix
The Great Wide Sea by M.H. Herlong
Scat by Carl Hiaasen
Schooled by Gordon Korman
Savvy by Ingrid Law
11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass
A Friendship for Today by Patricia C. McKissack
Fablehaven by Brandon Mull
All Shook Up by Shelley Pearsall
Yellow Star by Jennifer Rey
Trouble by Gary D. Schmidt
The Alchemyst by Michael Scott
The Mailbox by Audrey Shafer
Notes from a Midnight Driver by Jordan Sonnenblick

Get a jump on these Rebecca Caudill nominees for the fall reading.

Summer Reading - Ice Cream for BOOKS!
Grades 3-7th - Read 5 chapter books in your reading zone.
Grades K-2 - Read and fill in the sheet that Mrs. Funk gave you.
Hand in those sheets to your teacher's the first day of school for the 2010 -2011 school year.

Have a safe, fun and happy summer.
Mrs. Funk

Book Fair Thank you
Thank you to Mrs. Quintero and Mrs. Truesdale for a very successful book fair.
Thanks also to all of you who volunteered at the book fair either for set up, break down or working during the fair itself. Our library is now stocked with new books and new accelerated reading quizzes to go along with those books. The new list will be updated on our website soon.
Thanks also to anyone who bought a book for a teacher or an accelerated reading quiz.
It is so much appreciated.

Bookmark Winners
The winning bookmarks will be scanned and their classmates will be able to choose one for themselves.

Rebecca Caudill 2011 Reading List
The 2011 reading list is available at the library. Why not start now to read one of the three that you need to read to be able to vote next February. Our library will have all of those books available and the test to go with them.
Ask Mrs. Funk for the list.

What we are reading:
The Boy of the 3 Year Nap
Stinky Socks
Sequel to Casey at the Bat
The Best Place to Read
Muncha, Muncha, Muncha
Fables by Aesop
Emma- Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree
Library Mouse "A Friends Tale"
Jellybeans and the Big Book Banaza

April is also Poetry Month - Why not pick up a poetry book - we have many to choose from in our library.

Happy Spring! Happy Reading!

Book Fair Diner - All You Can Read!
Our book fair is in Kane Hall this week until Thursday morning at 8:00.
Stop by and find a good book to read. Our winning bookmarks are also displayed.

Rebecca Caudill Winner for the State of Illinois
The children's choice for the best book of the twenty is "All the Lovely Bad Ones" by Mary Downing Hahn.
That book received 4,555 votes.
"Someone Named Eva" came in second place.
Next year's list of 20 books is already available in the library.
Start reading those books now and you will have your 3 to be in the vote next February.
I can't wait to start reading those books myself.
I will have the books available and the test to go along with each one.

Book Fair
Our book fair opens on Sunday, March 21, after the 10:00 Grandparent's Mass
The theme this year is "BOOK FAIR DINER - ALL YOU CAN READ"

All of the classes have been watching the book fair preview and 2nd - 8th are making bookmarks that go with our theme. The winning bookmarks will be displayed at our book fair. The Kdg. and 1st are coloring theme sheets.

Each year the children get so excited to go to the book fair. There is nothing better than a new book to read. Each class will visit the book fair Monday - Thursday.

On Wednesday night at 6:00 the former host of "Miss Lori's Campus" will entertain the children. She is supposed to be awesome.

Can't wait for the fun to begin!
See you at the Book fair!

Olympic Reading Competition
The results are in - the books have been read and the pages tallied.

The BRONZE MEDAL goes to
The 4 year old preschool and the 7th graders
They read 86,540 pages.

The SILVER MEDAL goes to
The Kdg. and 6th graders
They read 97,943 pages.

The GOLD MEDAL goes to
The 2nd and 4th graders
They read 106,897 pages

All together the whole school read 443,532 pages
Congratulations to all who read.
Keep on reading all those pages!

Book Fair
Book Fair Diner - All You Can Read
Our Book fair begins on Sunday, March 21st. The book fair will be open after the 10:00 Grandparents Mass. Come down to Kane Hall after Mass.

Each class will visit the book fair during the week. It will wrap up on Thursday morning.

Book fair video and Bookmarks
Each library class will get a peek at what will be at the book fair when they watch the video. They always look forward to seeing what is new.
2nd grade - 8th grade will design their own bookmarks to go along with the book fair theme. The winners will be displayed at the book fair.

Family Night at the Book Fair
Wednesday, March 24th at 6:00
The former host of Miss Lori's Campus will be in Kane Hall to entertain the kids.
She should be great fun. Plan to stop by.

Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Choice Award
The 4th - 8th graders who read three of the twenty nominated books have voted for their favorite one.
Emma Jean Lazarus Fell Out of A Tree" by Lauren Tarshis came in 1st.
"The Thing About Georgie" was 2nd
We should hear which author won the award by the beginning of April
I wonder if it will be our choice?

AR Point Club
The new point club will be up this week. Check it out outside of the library.

Our Olympic Reading Competition has begun!
The winners for the 1st week of competition are:
The BRONZE Medal:
3rd & 5th graders with 13,225 pages read!

The SILVER Medal:
4 year old preschoolers & 7th graders with 16, 589 pages read!

The GOLD Medal:
2nd & 4th graders with 20,111 pages read!

Way to read!
The READING competition continues this week.

OLYMPIC READING COMPETITION
During the month of February our whole school will be competing in an OLYMPIC READING COMPETITION. Each grade level is paired with another grade level. (see below) Keep track of the pages you read on the sheet that has been sent home. Every Friday send your tally sheet back to school with the pages read that week. I will keep the running tally outside of the library. Which team will win the GOLD, SILVER AND BRONZE MEDAL?
LET THE READING COMPETITION BEGIN!

Great Americal Reading
Great America sheets are due by Friday, February 19th.
K-6th graders can read for both Great America and the Olympic Reading Competition.

Bookfair is coming to St. John Fisher the week of March 21st.

We are still reading the Rebecca Caudill Nominee Books. The vote for your favorite one will be in the middle of February. They are all really good novels. It will be hard to choose.

Happy Reading!

Happy 2010!

January Library Happenings:
2009-2010 Six Flags Six Hour Reading Club - Great America Reading
Grades K-6 will receive their Six Flags Reading Log on Monday, January 11th.
The children need to read for a total of 6 hours or 360 minutes to be eligible for a ticket to Great America. The sheets needs to be handed in by Friday, February 19th.
What a fun way to earn a ticket to Six Flags.

Catholic Schools Week
Partner Reading on Monday, January 25th
Grades 4th - 8th are paired with 3rd - preschool. The older children will pick out their favorite stories to read to the younger children. They will have time in library class to choose their books or they may bring their favorites from home.

Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Childrens Choice Awards
Our students in grades 4-8th are having lots of fun reading the nominee books for the Rebecca Caudill Book Award. The students who read 3 of those 20 books will be able to vote for their favorite one. So far "A Crooked Kind of Perfect" and "Emma Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree" are in the lead.
The vote will take place in the middle of February so there is still time to pick up one of those books and read it.

The Mozart Question
What is the Mozart Question? That is what the 6th - 8th graders are asking.
I am reading "The Mozart Question" in library class. That book is also one of the Rebecca Caudill Nominee books. So, if you just read 2 more of those nominated books you can vote for your favorite.

Emma Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree
Who is Emma Jean? The 7th graders are finding that out. Mrs. G. is reading that book during the last moments in Religion class. That book is also a Rebecca Caudill Nominee book.

7th and 8th Accelerated Deadline is February 5th
All 5 books must be in by that Friday.

6th graders are reading any fiction book and doing a book report using a Cereal Box.

5th graders are reading biographies this month and making their person into a biography bottle.

The 4th graders are reading biographies and doing their book report on a paper bag.

The 3rd graders are learning about the Dewey Decimal System and Melvil Dewey.

The 2nd graders heard from the author Marc Brown. They wrote to him in the fall.
He sent back a letter, a bookmark and lots of other fun Arthur crafts. They are really reading and taking so many accelerated reading quizzes. They need to have 4 a month but try to have them take more than that. The more they take the better readers they will become.

The 1st graders are listening to "A Really Good Snowman" and writing their own snow stories and illustrating them. I will make it into a booklet.

The Kindergarten had lots of fun listening to "The Little Snowman". Inside the snowman they illustrated their favorite part.

January is a great time to snuggle up and read to someone or just pick up your favorite book. Happy reading!

Deck the Halls with Books and Readers!
The December Accelerated Reading Point Club is up in the library hallway.
Check out all of our readers!

Stop, Drop and Read!
Our "Stop, Drop and Read" was a success. Not a sound was heard as you walked through the halls - there were readers everywhere.

December Happenings in the Library
Our Kdg., 1st and 2nd graders are busy reading at home with the December Holiday Reading Sheets. Have fun and make sure you bring the sheet back to the library for your prize.

Stories we are listening to:
Apple Tree Christmas
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey
Christmas Tapestry
An Orange for Frankie
Jingle Bells, Homework Smells
Gingerbread Baby
Gingerbread Friends
Night Tree
Librarian's Night Before Christmas
The Polar Express

We have over 100 Christmas fiction stories for the children to read.
As Christmas music plays the chldren are browsing the shelves for their favorite book to take home to read.

Read your favorite Christmas story this year!
Enjoy the season.
Happy Reading!

Children's Book Week is November 15th - 21st.
Our students will Stop, Drop and Read sometime on Thursday, November 19th.
Family Reading Night is also on November 19th. So, on that night turn off the TV and the computer and read together or alone as a family.
November is a great month to cozy up with a good book.
Happy November Reading!