Texas Bluebonnet Award 2017 Resources

Here is the link for the Texas Bluebonnet Award 2017 resources:

https://texasbluebonnetaward2017.wordpress.com/

On this page, you will find Readers Theaters, Book Trailers, Author Interviews, Book Reviews, Discussion Questions, and other fun activities for the newly nominated books.  Here is a picture of all 20 nominated books:

Happy Reading!

What Does the Tooth Fairy Do With Our Teeth?

Third grade and I had the best time reading the book What Does the Tooth Fairy Do With Our Teeth? by Denise Barry!  The book suggests different ideas on what the tooth fairy possibly does with our teeth once they are collected.  Many of the ideas were really gross to us.  You should have heard all the "Eeeewwwww!" and "Groooosssss!" comments after each idea was presented.  We sure got some good giggles out of this creative book.  I'm not sure if any of us will ever want to play in the snow again!  We also might not want to wear pearls for a while.  Just ask two of the girls who were wearing a pearl bracelet and pearl earrings. :)  We also had a good laugh over the very last page which threw out an idea that we hadn't considered!  If this sounds like a book that you'd like, come to the library to check it out.  Here are the third graders posing with their most disgusted look:

2nd Grade Explores the Library Webpage

After learning how to access the new library webpage last week and seeing all the links and things they can do on there, the second graders were very excited to come to library today.  They each got to bring their school iPads and explore on their own or with their friends.  Some of them chose a quiet place so they could hear an author read to them while others sat with friends and played games such as hangman using library words.  Many of them decided to login to their own individual Destiny Quest account to set up their background, look up books, and see what books they had already checked out.  (Destiny Quest is our online library catalog.)  They did a fantastic job of maneuvering around the webpage and were even able to troubleshoot some small issues on their own or for another classmate.  I'm really proud of our little techie kids!  Check out how involved they were in their learning today! 

And the Winner of the 2016 Texas Bluebonnet Award Is...

When the Beat was Born: DJ Kool Herc and the Creation of Hip Hop written by Laban Carrick Hill and illustrated by Theodore Taylor III!  Congratulations to the winning author and illustrator!  Watch the video announcement to hear from the winners and to find out which books came close to winning.



If you'd like to be part of the voting for next year's winner, stay tuned for more information coming soon! (Remember, voting is for kids in grades 3-6.)

Book Character New Year's Resolutions

When we returned to school in January, students in grades 3-5 learned a little bit more about New Year's traditions throughout the world and came up with New Year's resolutions during their library time.  They then worked on a project for a couple of weeks.  The students were paired up and had to choose a picture book with a really strong main character.  After reading the book together, they had to fill out a Book Character Map and come up with some New Year's resolutions that their character might need to work on.  Then, they used the ChatterKids iPad app to record a video of their book character telling about their New Year's resolutions.  They came out really cute!  Take a look.

Texas Bluebonnet Awards

Each year, the Texas Library Association nominates 20 books to be considered for the Texas Bluebonnet Award. Kids (no adults!) in grades 3-6 are allowed the opportunity to vote for the winner. In order to be eligible to vote, students must read (or have read to them) at least 5 of the nominated books. I have the kids fill out a short review sheet to prove that they read the books. This year, we had 7 girls earn the right to vote: one 4th grader and six 5th graders. On Wednesday, January 27, we enjoyed Jimmy John’s for lunch, talked about the books, and then voted online. We will be anxiously awaiting the winner for this year and will find out on Friday, February 12! The Bluebonnet Award is a huge deal in the Texas reading/library world, and it is such an honor for the author and illustrator to be chosen as the winner. Here are some pictures from our Bluebonnet voting party.

Jimmy John's for Lunch

We had to take a silly picture!