We've had a bustling first quarter in the library! Students have enjoyed the new cozy seating purchased through donations and book fair fundraisers. They've also enjoyed 2 shipments of new books so far this year.

Three grade levels participated in the read aloud of The Wild Robot by Peter Brown that was sponsored by the library. The library purchased a copy of the book for each classroom that participated. I had a blast attending the premier of the movie with the entire 3rd grade after they finished reading it! If you haven't seen the movie yet, run to the theaters! If your child enjoyed The Wild Robot book, they can find two more books in this series at the library.

We just wrapped up our first quarter Library Book Club with some very avid readers in 4th and 5th grade. We read and discussed the book Swim Team by Johnnie Christmas. We had the wonderful opportunity to meet the author virtually and learn so much about being an author and the writing process. I hope many will join me for our next book club which is launching on November 6th. Tell your 4th and 5th grader to tune into the morning news show for more details!

The library also held a donation fundraiser that has raised over $3,000 to be used to enhance the library program with author visits, materials and resources for lessons and events, and of course to purchase new books to keep our collection relevant and appealing to our readers!

Speaking of our readers, we had 186 students register for the Summer Reading Program at the LCPL this past summer. We had 75 of those students complete the challenge to help us earn 2nd place in the competition between schools for the most participants.

Keep reading to find out what each grade level has focused specifically on in the first quarter. To see more details on each lesson, log in to Schoology and go to your child's Library Course. All lessons are posted in monthly folders.

During the first quarter, kindergarteners were introduced to their fabulous library for the first time! They learned about the routines, rules, and book care. Continue to reinforce our book care guideline to ensure your child's library books stay in good shape for the next reader.

This quarter, students learned about Dr. Ellen Ochoa, the first Latina astronaut in space! We had a blast making rockets of our own and sending them off into "space"!

Students have learned about the different parts of a book. Some classes had fun in our Makespace using different building tools to create a safe enclosure for our creepy carrots after reading the book, Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds. Each class will have the opportunity to do a Makerspace activity before winter break.

This quarter students have learned about library routines, rules and the importance of book care. They also participated in a collaborative project between library and art during Hispanic Heritage Month. Students learned about Rafael Lopez, a muralist and illustrator. They then planned and created their own mural that is up in the hallways outside the gym. Check it out next time you're in the school building!

Students have started a big unit on fiction and nonfiction and how the library is arranged to understand how to find new and exciting books in their library. We'll be reading lots of different genres of books and get to know a variety of authors/illustrators during this unit. Your child will become an expert user of our library and meet some new books to checkout and explore!

Second grade began the school year reviewing rules and procedures in the library. We also reviewed book care with a fun book called, Never Let a Ghost Borrow Your Library Book. After library orientation, we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month by learning about author and illustrator Juana Martinez-Neal and her book, Alma. The story is a beautiful celebration and importance of our names.

Students have started a big unit on fiction and nonfiction and how the library is arranged to understand how to find new and exciting books in their library. We'll be diving into our fiction chapter book section soon to discuss transitional chapter books. I will teach them not to "dive into the deep end" with a HUGE chapter book when learning to "swim". Starting with a transitional chapter book is a smart choice to build stamina! We have lots of early chapter books to choose from.

Our upper grades have been super busy orientating themselves to the library through a virtual tour as well as scavenger hunt. They also did a review of the library PAWS rules and an orientation to the new special areas of the library- "Color Me Calm", "Puzzle Time", and, "Game Time", and "Creativity Station". Students have enjoyed these additional options after checking out books. Since students in these grades bring their Chromebooks to the library each lesson, we focused a good part of the quarter on learning to use online resources available to them through LCPS Go. Your child should be able to navigate our Online Catalog, MackinVIA (for eBooks & Audiobooks), and Comics Plus (virtual library of comic books). Soon we'll be looking at our research databases including: World Book, Britannica, Gale, National Geographic, & Pebble Go.

Students were also introduced to the 10 nominated Virginia Readers Choice books for this year. If they read 4 of the 10 books by the end of April, they will qualify to vote on their favorite. Find the nominated list here, along with book trailers and book talks to learn more about each one.

Fifth grade and some 4th grade classes had their first STEM challenge day in the library! Fifth had a blast with our Epic Domino Challenge. Visit my Instagram to see videos of this epic challenge!

Some fourth grade classes participated in the paper chair challenge. This STEM challenge stretched their creativity and engineering skills!

All Third-Fifth grade classes will all have a chance at a STEM/Makerspace Challenge day before winter break.

Email: Kadie.Jones@lcps.org
Website: https://www.lcps.org/Page/72848
Location: 20700 Marblehead Drive, Ashburn, VA, USA
Phone: 571-252-2360
Instagram: @MrsJLoves2Read