Behind the Scene Superheroes

In this time of the COVID-19 pandemic, each day is a challenge for numerous reasons. As a retired educator and grandparent to three active girls, I worry about the education of our young children.

How often have we heard that too much screen time is not healthy for our children? Quality versus quantity does make a difference, but how much should a five-year-old be exposed to the screen in a remote school versus an in-school learning situation? What about socialization?

Parents have a huge job – working, cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, laundry, and creating a healthy family environment. With the arrival of the pandemic, a new job has been added to the family dynamics – teaching. Along came the need for remote learning workspaces, guidance to keep young children on task, and help with completing assigned work. Because of social distancing on buses, some parents now have to get their kids to and from school on in-school days.

At-home Projects

Workspaces

Lunches

Backpacks and Masks

Drop Off/Pick Up

I’ve seen my daughter and son-in-law stressed not only with work but also by the new rules for my twin granddaughters’ kindergarten in the hybrid learning situation. I’ve seen my youngest granddaughter thrilled to go back to preschool only to have it closed until further notice because a teacher was exposed to COVID-19. I’ve seen the endless emails that pop up daily that parents must read and follow.

My twin granddaughters are in two different kindergarten classrooms. That means double emails Other parents with children in different schools have different rules and different starting times. The list is endless. It takes a superhero to handle it all!

Our superheroes are parents, extended family, and teachers who have families of their own to deal with. I want to applaud all those who strive to help children to be the best they can be – especially during this pandemic. All is not well with the world right now, but with hope, our superheroes will make the world a better place for our children!

Postscript:

Please don’t ask me how my granddaughters and I fared on the first day of remote learning. I think I flunked kindergarten!

Be gone COVID-19! Let the school doors open and stay open – full time.

Best “Frints” Are At It Again!

If you enjoyed reading Best Frints in the Whole Universe by Antoinette Portis, you are certain to enjoy reading Best Frints at Skrool.

Once again, award-winning author/illustrator, Antoinette Portis has created a hilarious book, using the same characters and creative wordplay from her first book. This time the best “frints” are off to “skrool.” Omek and Yelfred have the same rules at school as on Earth. Listen to the teacher. Keep your hands to yourself. Make new friends. Share. But when Yelfred meets Q-B, he forgets to share with his friend, Omek. At lunch, when other friends are sharing their food, Omek decides to help Yelfred and Q-B share back which leads to a “spewd flight.” Oh, oh! Now they have to spend time on the Quiet Wall to think about what they did. All ends well when Omek, Yelfred, and Q-B share an after-school game of eyeball in the peedle pit, and Omek and Yelfred realize there are best friends and best, best friends. Antoinette Portis’ vibrant illustrations and playful text will tickle readers’ funny bones. Don’t forget to look at the end pages for some first and last laughs.

The End

The end is here. It really isn’t the end because the end always leads back to the beginning.

Take the school year. It has ended. The school library is on hiatus for the summer. Pleasant memories passed through my mind as I wished each of my students a happily ever after vacation.

Preparing for the end of the school year takes time. I plan for the upcoming year, order supplies, inventory books, and weed out books that are tired and worn. When I’m finished with all my tasks, I turn out the lights, give a sigh of relief, and go off into the summer sunset with books in hand to read until the new year begins. So you see the end always leads to a beginning.

This experience reminds me of the picture book, The End, written by David La Rochelle and illustrated by Richard Egielski. It’s a cause and effect story – or if you’re doing it backwards maybe it an effect and cause story. Does that make any sense? Maybe not, but that is my school library story. It begins at the end of the year and ends at the beginning of the new school year and continues on a never-ending and beginning reel.

The End

Written by Cathy Ogren and not illustrated by Cathy Ogren

The children went off to enjoy the warm summer days, but wherever they went they carried their favorite book and read happily ever after.

They read happily ever after because …

The librarian stepped forward and gave the students books of humor, adventure, mystery, and fantasy because …

No matter what magic the teachers did, the children were bored because …

By the end of the year, the teachers were tired because …

Each morning the students dashed through the school doors with high energy and exhausted the teachers because …

Parents told their children to “Go forth and challenge your teacher, and your teacher will challenge you!” because …

Everyone knows the job of a teacher is to keep students motivated and stimulated, which is not always easy because …

Students learn in a variety of ways because …

Variety is the spice of life because …

The librarian knew what would spice up a child’s life, and she knew by the end of the school year, the teachers would need a well-deserved rest because …

Once upon a time a resourceful school librarian endeavored to teach her students to love reading and books.

*******

To all the wonderful teachers in the world:  Enjoy your quiet moments and look forward to exciting years filled with new challenges!

Ready, Set, Read!

School starts Tuesday morning at 8:05. I’m ready. The library is ready. I hope the kids are ready!

Here’s what they’re thinking.

When teachers get old, like over fifty-five, they’re always in a bad mood. ~Lindsey, age 8

If you do badly on a report card or test that you take home on a Friday, you should wait until Sunday night to ask your parents to sign it. ~Hannah, age 14

When teachers are mad, they don’t blink. ~William, age 12

You should not mess with the principal. ~Nicholas, age 9

For more funny quotes, check this out.  www.generationterrorists.com/quotes/kids.html

Color Me Shocked

I am a librarian in a very unique school. It’s old. Through the years, there have been many add-ons and changes. The library used to be the girls bathroom, the kindergarten room is the old library, and the art room and pre-k room share space with the cafeteria. A patchwork of floor coverings can be found throughout the school – hardwoods, carpet, tile, and epoxy floor covering. (You can drive your truck on it!)

The hallways and classrooms are a rainbow of colors:

Halloween Orange

In-your-Face Yellow

Boring Baby Blue

Shocking Pink

Pond Scum Green

Putrid Purple

For those of you who are charmed by colorful areas, this could be called a Fun House of Learning, but for an interior decorator, it’s a House of Horrors.

I reside in the In-Your-Face-Yellow room. The color can bring out your sunny personality, or it can give you a killer headache. No matter what, I find our school is a perfect teaching tool for preschoolers to learn their colors.

Get ready, little ones. Your first library experience will be a walking field trip around the school and then it’s time for books – books about colors.

Here are some classic books mixed in with some new ones that are perfect color choices.

Baby Bear Sees Blue by Ashley Wolff

Red Sings from the Treetops:  A Year in Colors written by Joyce Sidman and illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski

In a Blue Room written by Jim Averbeck and illustrated by Tricia Tusa

Dog’s Colorful Day by Emma Dodd

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? written by Bill Martin, Jr. and illustrated by Eric Carle

Little Blue and Little Yellow by Leo Lionni

A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni

Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh

Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert

For Fun:

I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More! written by Karen Beaumont and illustrated by David Catrow

For Art Lovers:

Vincent’s Colors  by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Vincent van Gogh

Color me read!

More Books about Books and Reading and Libraries

Tuesday’s post included books I use in the library with preschool through second grade at the beginning of the school year. Today I have listed some of my favorite books I use with third through fifth graders to get them hyped about reading and books.  

Aunt Chip and the Great Triple Creek Dam Affair is a “dam” good book, if I do say so myself. Kids love quirky Aunt Chip who took to her bed fifty years ago when a TV tower was built where the town library used to stand. There’s lots of fun and adventure as she sets out to right a wrong and get everyone reading again.

Curiosity may have killed a cat, but for The Boy who was Raised by Librarians, curiosity leads him on a journey filled with books, answers, and a rewarding career path. It’s fun to compare the illustrations at the beginning, middle, and end of the book as students see how the boy and three librarians age.

The Library Dragon is some hot book! The librarian is a dragon that guards the books in the library – look, but don’t touch. The book is filled with fiery puns and entertaining illustrations that include the use of clever language. This book is a great way to show how authors use different types of language in their stories. On a “scale” of one to ten, this book gets a ten for fire-breathing fun.

Richard Wright and the Library Card takes students back to a time when blacks in the South were not allowed to borrow books from the library. This book shows the determination of a young African American who wants to read and make a better life for himself. It provides a stepping-off point to discuss segregation, prejudice, and equal rights.

To put this post to rest, Please Bury Me in the Library. This book is filled with entertaining poems about books, libraries, and reading. “What if Books Had Different Names?” is one poem. Furious George instead of Curious George? Put your students to the task of creating new titles for old books. Do you have any ideas?  

Books. Libraries. Reading. Wonderful words.