We are having our Barnes and Noble Book Fair from October 31st - November 5.  This is how it works.  Purchase anything (even a coffee or lunch from the Cafe) and give our school  code 11202397 to the cashier before you pay and Elder Grove Library will get a percentage of the total sales in a gift card.  Mrs. Gunderson has added over $3.500 worth of books  to the Elder Grove Library through this program over the last two years.  The best thing about this fundraiser is that you can share these dates and our book fair number with anyone and they can go to ANY Barnes and Noble ANYWHERE.  They just have to remember to give our number to the cashier.  Wow!  All of those aunts, uncles, grandparents, friends that would buy something at Barnes and Noble anyway, can support our fantastic readers at Elder Grove.  Remember our number is 11202397 and it works from October 31 - November 5.  Of course, we hope to see everyone at the K-4th Fall Concert at the Billings Barnes and Noble Saturday November 2.  Music starts at 11:00.  It is sure to be a great time for all!

I have a trial for Bookflix until June 15th.  I would love for students and parents to try their mobile devices to see if they like to read and listen to books online.  The link to sign in is http://auth.grolier.com/login/bookflix/login.php and the username is bookflix and the password is hop.  Unfortunately it does not work on and Ipad or an Iphone as it needs Adobe Flash.  I would still like to know what devices (besides computers) work with it so please leave a comment!

We have learned and experimented with so many internet tools in library that I made another symbaloo with links to all of the sites.  Bookmark this site on your computer so you will always have these tools at your fingertips (or keyboard). (The login for Worldbook is research and the password is student.)

Harmful Effects of Landfills

The best answer to "When is Earth Day" was from a kindergardener - EVERY DAY! We have been brainstormng actions and activities that we can individually and collectively do to help protect the earth and preserve our resources. Check out the symbaloo that we are creating to get more ideas. Leave a comment on what you plan to do!

Reading Carnival Evaluation

5th and 6th graders: You did a fantastic job yesterday and I am so proud of you!  As our last step in any project is to evaluate our work, please fill out this google form which you can find here. evalution

Do you want to be a good typist?  Check out this Symbaloo webmix that has lots of ways to learn and to practice your speed and accuracy.  But remember, proper finger placement is SUPER important or you will not learn touch typing and you will create bad habits that will be very difficult to change.
 

All Kindergarden through 2nd grade classes are learning about snowflakes in the library.  We read a biography on the Snowflake Man, also known as Snowflake Bentley.  We are now going to find the answers to our questions about snowflakes.  We will be adding to this symbaloo webmix that I have created.

Check out this web mix for information about snowflakes

No habit forming for Mrs. Gunderson!

OK, I can use the excuse that my internet was dropping off frequently this past week, or I can be truthful and admit that I just did not get my blog done each day.  The good news is that I think my service is fixed AND I got a new remote for the cable TV so all should be good at the Gunderson House.  I blew it and I forgot to wear my crazy socks today too! ARGH! Nevertheless, I am excited about next Friday.  Many students want to participate in the Book Swap and I know that we will take A TON of AR tests March 2 to help set the new World Record for AR tests taken in on day.  Both of the Neo Carts will be in the lunchroom during Pastries for Parents and that means that 60 students can be taking an AR test throughout the breakfast.  Remember, if you look up the quiz number in AR bookfinder the day before, it will go faster. However, I will have laptops in the lunchroom to look up the numbers for any student too.

Book Swap set for March 2

It's that time of year.  Look through your bookshelves and gather up the books that you would like to swap for some new ones.  On March 2, we will have the 3rd Annual Elder Grove Book Swap during the Pastries for Parents breakfast.  We will have three different tables: Primary, Intermediate and Parents.  You may bring as many books as you would like to swap and we will let you swap AT LEAST five.  Then, as long as we have plenty of books, you can swap as many as you would like!  This is a great way to get some new books!  You may start bringing them any time to the library and Mrs. Gunderson will give you a ticket for each book.  Hope to see you all with books on March 2nd!

Snow at Red Lodge

The snow was beautiful at Red Lodge today.  The 7th and 8th graders did The Grove proud. They were well-behaved and were (relatively) quiet on the bus ride too.  We all arrived back in one piece. What a fantastic day!

Winners for the challenge

I do have some winners who found that I have not been able to post every day of February!  Jayden Allen, Ashley Earnst, and Grace Wyman have all earn a ticket for a book in the 3rd Annual Book Swap which will be held on March 2, Dr. Seuss's Birthday.  We will have both a student book swap and a parent book swap during the Pastries for Parents that morning.  So look through your books and choose some to bring in to swap for some new!

Thank you Mrs. Schmitz, Mrs. McLane and Mrs. Phillips

When you come to the library this week, make sure to thank Mrs. Phillips, Mrs. McLane and Mrs. Schmitz for all of their volunteer work. Together they volunteer more than 50 hours a week.  Mrs. McLane shelves and repair books.  Mrs. Schmitz catalogs and repairs books and makes sure that all the books are labeled with AR stickers.  Mrs. Phillips has added all of the new computers to the network and is deploying the computers that were in the labs and setting them up in the classrooms.  Without their help we would not have the selection of books available to checkout nor the number of computers accessible. These women are an active example of the saying "It takes a community to raise a child". Three cheers for three women!

Great Books for 5th graders

I found a great site that will help the 5th and 6th grade students to find good reads, both fiction and non-fiction.  We will let you know this week if we agree with the reviews and how many copies we have in the library.  If you want any of the titles that we do not have in the library, I will get them for the library with the Barnes and Noble giftcard.  Make sure that you comment.  I moderate the comments, but I will post all appropriate ones.

Wow!  Did you know we had a fabulously fun day at Barnes and Noble?  The singing was wonderful and I loved seeing you all dressed up.  Congratulations to Erica Clark and Susan Havener who each won a Nook Simple Touch.  A huge thank you goes to Frank Pelkey for donating the money for the Nook.  (We sold so many tickets that we raffled a second one.) I shopped with the proceeds from the raffle today and purchased lots of new books for the library.  Thank you also for all of the donations from the wish list table. All of the new books will have a sticker inside so readers will know how supportive our parents and grandparents are at Elder Grove. Now that the raffle is over, I will have a new prize for the first student who tells me what I forgot on Feb. 1st.  Another winner today was Lila Rambur who won the prize for the Scavenger Hunt - Beauty by Bill Wallace.  Five prizes were drawn for the games: winners were Palmer Coleman, Claire Frolich, Colter Dykeman, Ben Duncan, and Ava Sawicki. Come see me in the library Monday for your prize.

Did you know that google has a question every day?  This means that you can practice your research skills and find out if you found the answer.  You will find the daily question at http://agoogleaday.com Hope to see you at the Barnes and Noble Book Fair tomorrow from 1-4pm.  Shopping for books for my family will mean that I can then shop for books for the library with the proceeds. Don't tell her, but I'm buying my daughter a Nook Color for Valentine's Day!

I Love to Read Month 2012

I LOVE TO READ MONTH is here!  Did you know that it takes 30 days of doing the same thing to make a behavior a habit?  Well I want to form a habit of blogging more. So here is the deal.  If I don't put up a new post every day of February, the first student who tells me that I missed a post gets a prize!  Yes, that means that the first person who tells me that I missed February 1st gets a ticket for the Nook Simple Touch Raffle that is being drawn at Barnes and Noble on Saturday Feb. 4th.  That is a chance at the $99 Nook Simple Touch!  You can stop in the library Friday or email me at gunderson@eldergrove.k12.mt.us to tell me. I hope to see you at the Book Fair at Barnes and Noble on Saturday.  But if you can't make it, you can always shop at the store until Feb. 9th or shop online from Feb. 4th -9th.  I am hoping to be able to purchase lots of new books for the library :)

First Quarter 100 Point Club

The scores are in and we have ten members in the 100 Point club already.  Congratulations to 3rd Grader Daniel Hutton, 5th graders Paige Lund, Avery McLane, Jayden Tucker, and Abbigail Sparks, 7th grader Jessica Moler and 8th graders Brianna Kanta, Jessie Keller, Tanner Lund, and Bailey Tucker. They have all made the 100 point club! They have received a $10 Subway gift card and will receive a $5 gift certificate for the Spring Bookfair. Jayden Tucker and Tanner Lund have also made the 500 Point Club!  In addition,there are  2 second graders that are "on their way" to the 100 Point Club.  They both have over 25 points for the first quarter. Lexie Taylor and Makenzie Sparks have both received a pack of M&M's. Way to Go Elder Grove Readers!

Let's share some opinions!  Send in a post for a suggestion of a great read.  We are always having discussions in the library as to what books we have read that we recommend to others, but if you aren't present (and that would be a lot of Elder Grove readers) then you miss out on our suggestions.  So I'll start first. One of my favorite books from my primary days is There's Always Room for One More.  My dad would read it in his Scottish accent and I just loved it!. Another favorite that I read on my own was Charlotte's Web by E.B. White.  The one and only pig on our small farm we, of course, named Wilbur.  He was the coolest pig.  I remember him as a little piglet, sniffing out the window like a dog his snout over my dad's shoulder, arriving up our driveway in our Volkswagon bug,.  The book that made me cry the most when I was a kid, was Where the Red Fern Grows.  I was shaking with great sobs in my bed.  The young reader's book that made me cry like that when I was an adult is Hattie Big Sky. (Incidentally, my friend Kirby Larson wrote that one and the story is modeled after her great-grandmother who homesteaded in Vida, Montana.)  I hope this gives you some ideas of good reads.  Yes, we do have all of these titles in the Elder Grove Library and you can take and AR test too :)  Now let's hear from all of you!

Welcome Back

I hope you all read some great books over the summer. Some students are already in the 100 point club! (Don't forget you get rewards each quarter for being a member in the 100 point club.)

Wow- that is summer reading at it's finest!

My book club choice was Cutting for Stone. I learned a great deal about other cultures and communication – or lack thereof... I am excited to talk about it at my book club Tuesday night.

I also read the first Fablehaven book by Bruce Mull. I agree with the Elder Grove readers that is a very entertaining series. Reminded me a bit of Harry Potter, but much easier to read. I am looking forward to the sequel. I have started Book One of the Gideon Trilogy, The time travelers by Linda Buckley-Archer . It reminds me even more of Harry Potter, but so far without the magic element – just science fiction. It is a 6.3 level worth 17 points!

I am happy to say that a student, Jessica M. requested that I add a new post. I am glad that at least one person is reading them :) And it was on my To-do list I just hadn't given it high enough priority. The challenge to myself is to update it at least once a week. Nudge me if I get behind.