Toomer Cougars

Roaring, Reading, Rising

September, 2024 Edition

Let's be Global Minded

President Lyndon B. Johnson started observing Hispanic Heritage Week in 1968 as a way to celebrate the contributions of Americans whose ancestors came from Spanish-speaking countries, including Spain, the Caribbean, and South America. In 1988, Ronald Reagan expanded the week to a 30-day month. Today, Hispanic Heritage Month is a celebration of Hispanic culture and contributions across the United States. Each year, it has a theme. In 2023, the theme is Latinos: Driving Prosperity, Power, and Progress in America.

Mango Abuela and Me

A story about how the deep love of family endures even when there’s a language barrier. When Mia’s abuela (grandmother) moves in with her family, Mia tries to understand Abuela’s stories told in Spanish as she helps Abuela learn some English. The language barrier makes it hard until Mia finds a creative way to connect more deeply with her abuela.

Freddie Ramos Takes Off

When young Freddie gets an unexpected gift of shoes with super speed, he must figure out how to use his new super powers to help his fellow elementary school classmates. This adventure and humor-filled chapter book series is perfect for newly independent readers.

The First Rule of Punk

Navigating a new school is hard for anyone, especially 12-year-old Malú who wants to please her parents and fit in at school, all while staying true to herself. Told through a mix of text and highly creative Zine illustrations, this book is funny, poignant, and very relatable.

SEL Book of the Month and HRRB Information

SEL Book of the Month: Like Lava in My Brains By Derrick Barnes

All it takes is a loving teacher to help a boy get control of his sizzling superpowers, in this vibrant picture book by bestselling author Derrick Barnes (Amazon, 2024).

All students will hear this story as part of their SEL (Social and Emotional Learning) lessons in their classrooms. We also have several copies of the book in the media center for checkout!

Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl

Fourth and Fifth Grade, Toomer Cougars, you need to join a winning team. Information will be given out to 4th and 5th grade teachers soon.

Students selected to compete in the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl will meet in the Media Center on specific dates and times given to their teachers. The reading bowl competition is scheduled to be held on Saturday, January 25, 2025.

International Dot Day

International Dot Day is celebrated on September 15th (celebration at Heritage is Friday, September 13th) and is a global celebration of creativity, courage, and collaboration based on the book, The Dot, by Peter H. Reynolds. The Dot is the story of a caring teacher who dares a doubting student to trust in her own abilities by being brave enough to “make her mark.” What begins with a small dot on a piece of paper becomes a breakthrough in confidence and courage, igniting a journey of self-discovery and sharing, which has gone on to inspire countless children and adults around the globe.

Novel Effect

zoom_out_map

Watching the faces of students as they read and realize there is a soundtrack accompanying their reading is so very heartwarming! If you have not tried Novel Effect for yourself or demonstrated it for your students, please do! It brings so much joy and pleasure to any story time.

Username: email@atlanta.k12.ga.us

Password: apsreads

Click here to the download the September calendar.

FREE Atlanta Hawks Tickets for Reading!

The Atlanta Hawks Check It Out Reading Challenge has officially started and runs until September 1. When students K-12 check out and read five books, they earn one (1) FREE youth ticket to a select Hawks game during the 2024-2025 season. When students complete the Challenge, they need to visit https://www.nba.com/hawks/community/checkitout and have a parent or guardian fill out the registration form. An adult ticket must be purchased along with the youth ticket. Participants will begin receiving their tickets after October 31.

Class Pass

Did you know Atlanta Public Schools staff and students have a digital library card? Thanks to our partnership with the Atlanta Fulton County Public Library, APS students and staff have access to dozens of resources, including online databases, eBooks, eAudiobooks, streaming videos, as well as hundreds of thousands of books available at public libraries.

APS STAFF

Username: lawson number

PIN: CHANGEME

APS STUDENTS

Username: Network ID

PIN: lunch number

Georgia Tech Buzzer Readers

Students who participate in the program will receive an opportunity to attend Georgia Tech Women’s Basketball home opener on Monday, November 6th in a field trip format. Participants who read the most minutes will be rewarded with this field trip opportunity. Each school will designate who gets to fill their bus(es), but this should be based off of minutes read. Any classroom winners from your school will automatically get to go to the game, as well as individual winners. Plaques will be presented during the game on November 6th. Please click on the picture for more details.

Galileo Password: Nomad

Click to see a video on how to use each one

Check out Sora

Sora is an award-winning digital reading app that empowers K-12 students to discover age-appropriate ebooks, audiobooks and more from their school library. (Mybackpack)