Mrs. Jablonski's Library Notes

Library Log

2010-10-28T15:57:56-07:00

Guy walks into a library and yells, “I’D LIKE A CHEESEBURGER, FRIES AND A COKE!”

The librarian says, “Sir, this is a library.”

“Oh, OK,” guy whispers, “I’d like a cheeseburger, fries and a Coke.”

A bit of library humor, borrowed from Nancy Rawley. Maybe I have been working here too long… but I was sort of laughing.

Oh dear. I waited and waited to find the perfect opening remarks to kick off this year’s library blog, and now I have so many things to write about that I don’t know where to begin. How can we possibly be about to turn the calendar to November? The time has flown by. The year is in full swing, the students are completely up-to-speed and on-task, and sure enough the leaves and rain are falling from above.

The students here at Forest Park love, love to read. I feel pretty fortunate to be working with so many book fans. The students have amazing taste in children’s literature- and are extremely particular. During class time in the library we read, discuss, illustrate, investigate, learn how our library is organized, learn how to locate books, and learn how to use the library as a research tool. We have a focus on some of our favorite authors and illustrators and share great books. It is my goal that each student gets a strong introduction to the library and develops a love of reading.

We have also been discussing how to care for our books and keep them in circulation for a long time. The kids really understand the care needed- please reinforce this at home.

This week we have been looking at the work of one of my all-time favorite author/illustrators, Chris Van Allsburg. The Widow’s Broom, The Stranger, The Z was Zapped, The Mysteries of Harris Burdick. Check them out. The slightly eerie tales are the perfect stories to lead up to Halloween. http://www.chrisvanallsburg.com

Speaking of Halloween…(and here’s what I mean when I say I have so many things to write about)… Calef Brown’s new book is out. Hallowilloween : Nefarious Silliness from Calef Brown. It is amazing. And even more amazing is that he told us that this would be his next project when he visited us in 2008. He shared a couple of works in progress with the students. Here’s a small sample – and remember his illustrations are insanely great.

Jack

Jack is a rare wolf,

A covered with hair wolf.

A crouch in the doorway

to give you a scare wolf.

A big as a bear wolf.

A devil may care wolf.

A constantly burping

and fouling the air wolf.

A give you a glare wolf.

A likely to swear wolf.

A jump up and down

on your favorite chair wolf.

A look over there wolf.

A try not to scare wolf.

A surely by now

you are fully aware wolf

that Jack is a werewolf.

Okay. More soon. I will write about Oregon Battle of the Books, this year’s incredible library guest, our fantastic parent volunteers, etc.

I need to go now… the kids are on their way into the library.

2010-04-13T18:10:08-07:00

WRITE HERE

WRITE NOW

THERE IS NO OTHER PLACE I'D RATHER BE

SAVE THE DATE

FOREST PARK ELEMENTARY FAMILY WRITING NIGHT 2010

TUESDAY, APRIL 20TH

6:30-7:30 PM

Library Log

2010-04-13T14:24:16-07:00

Hello All...

I know that there are 10,000,000 things going on right now, but April is Poetry Month and I found this really excellent passage. I am sharing it with your students...and thought I would pass it along to you...

Poems arrive. They hide in feelings and images, in weeds and delivery vans, daring us to notice and give them form with our words. They take us to an invisible world where light and dark, inside and outside meet.

I've been playing with words and shaping poems in the pages of my journal since I was fourteen. Often it seems I just catch my heart and mind's dictation and take notes. Other times I let a tree, a pearl ring, a sign along the highway speak to me. I've learned that in a safe, free setting anyone of any age can gather words, play with language and write poems.

It's impossible to teach anyone to write a poem. But we can set up circumstances in which poems are likely to happen. We can create a field in and around us that's fertile territory for poems. Playing with words, we can get to the place where poems come from. We can write and make discoveries about who we are and who we might become whether or not we truly commit ourselves to becoming poets.

Buy yourself a notebook/journal that suits your personality and keep it with you. In a journal you can be self-centered and feel safe enough to write poems. It's never too late to start. Don't try to catch up by going back in your life. Start with now. Begin now, even if you don't have a notebook yet. Scribble. Go for a walk and as you wander, take notes. Jot words anywhere.

The opening entry in my diary at fifteen reads, "Dedicated to me."

From poemcrazy by Susan Goldsmith Woolridge

Library Log

2009-11-18T21:01:23-08:00

Hello Families,

When students return from the Thanksgiving break, we will begin a big project in the library. The project will start by using the below listed items as tools to learn how the library is organized...making spine labels and organizing in alphabetical order. The next step will be a huge Pop Art piece that the students will create using the packaging.

Message that went home in backpacks with Kindergarten, First and Second Grade Students:

Families

We are doing a special project in the Library that requires

Cereal Boxes

We don’t need the cereal, just the empty box. Get creative; we are going for the box, not nutritional value! Things to think about: an interesting name, an interesting character, an unusual selection so we have a wide variety, and the graphic design of the package.

We will be collecting until November 30th.

(For example, think about Sugar Bear, Count Chocula, The Trix Rabbit, Toucan Sam, Captain Crunch, Snap, Crackle and Pop…)

Thanks for your help!

Message that went home in backpacks with Third, Fourth and Fifth Grade Students:

Families

We are doing a special project in the Library that requires

Candy Bars

Or Candy Boxes

Please send a candy bar in to school unopened. Our project involves the packaging and we will send the contents back home in Ziploc bags when the project is complete. Get creative…there are some awesome candy wrappers out there- Things to think about: an interesting name, an unusual selection so we have a wide variety, and the graphic design of the package.

(Regular size please, as opposed to Halloween mini size)

We will be collecting until November 30th!

Thanks for your help!

Thank you so much,
Mirka

Library Log

2009-11-09T19:20:40-08:00

An interesting story from OPB, All Things Considered

Digital School Library Leaves Book Stacks Behind

by TINA ANTOLINI

November 9, 2009 from WFCR

An elite boarding school in Ashburnham, Mass., just spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on renovating its library. But Cushing Academy wasn't just redoing its walls and carpets. The school is getting rid of the actual, physical books in favor of going digital.

And the move — thought to be the first of its kind in the country — is worrying some librarians and book lovers.

From Stacks To Flat Screens

A year ago, Cushing Academy's library would have resembled any other, with its hushed atmosphere and tall stacks of books. But that's no longer the case.

There's a new cafe where the circulation desk used to be. Where bookshelves once stood, students now sit in easy chairs, studying or watching one of the three new flat-screen TVs. It's all part of what have been two substantial recent changes at Cushing's library. The first is removing most of the stacks. And the second is transforming the place into a hub of activity, to give what's now a largely virtual library a physical home and gathering space.

Sophomore Elsie Eastman says she's here all the time now. "I remember last year I barely went to the library," she says. "I loved the library — I just barely ever went."

Dean of Academics Suzie Carlisle says school officials had noticed the trend. She says surveys they conducted showed students weren't turning to printed materials for research. Instead, they were immediately going online.

"Part of our desire to move in this direction is to meet the students where they are most comfortable," Carlisle says. "And it's our responsibility as well to help students understand the emerging technologies that they are going to be faced with."

Carlisle says the library is trading its 20,000-volume collection for a database of millions of digital books. All students can read any of the books, either through the 68 Amazon Kindles cycling around campus or on the laptop that each of the school's 450 students is provided.

If I look outside my window, and I see my student reading Chaucer under a tree, it is utterly immaterial to me whether they're doing so by way of a Kindle or by way of a paperback.

- James Tracy, headmaster

Headmaster James Tracy says Cushing's change has already upped the library's circulation numbers. He says having access to the content of books is what's important for students, and the format doesn't matter.

"If I look outside my window," Tracy says, "and I see my student reading Chaucer under a tree, it is utterly immaterial to me whether they're doing so by way of a Kindle or by way of a paperback."

Did The School Go Too Far?

The library's scrapping of printed books brought a surge of online indignation when it was announced last summer. Tracy says that's no surprise. He shares a love of books and what he calls a nostalgic attachment to flipping the pages.

But some bibliophiles say it's not just nostalgia. Camila Alire is president of the American Library Association. While she's all for libraries riding the wave of technological changes, she says the issue here is how far Cushing went.

"Students learn differently, and some students will take to digital resources and information technology like a duck takes to water," Alire says. "And then there are other students who learn by turning the pages, by handling the materials."

Plus, Alire says, most schools couldn't afford Cushing's move. Tom Corbett, the executive director of Cushing's library, doesn't dispute that, though he says the price is coming down every day. In fact, he says resources are why Cushing decided to go whole hog for digital.

"In order for librarians to do a good job, an exceptional job of focusing on online resources, they really need to move away from some of the other priorities they've had in the past," Corbett says. "And managing a large print collection is a lot of work."

'Without Books, You Lose The Feel Of A Library'

But how the library manages its new digital collection is still largely a work in progress, as is how the students receive it. Five literature students — who were clustered around a library table with their digital readers before them — were a little ambivalent.

They like their Kindles, but they don't love them. They say annotating is slow and annoying. And sophomores Cameron Akers and Thomas Pacheco are not totally convinced this change is the way the school should be going.

"Without the books, you kind of lose the feel of a library," Akers says. "It's a great study place, but I don't feel like I could read here anymore."

"And also, it's not really quiet anymore like a usual library is, anyway," Pacheco says.

"Yeah, a lot more distractions," Akers chimes in.

Whether their school is the vanguard of the 21st century or not, some Cushing students are still eager for the 'shush' of a librarian and immersion in a good, old-fashioned book.

_______________

Balance. I just love the books...however, I can't seem to create the quiet "like a usual library is." shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Library Log

2009-10-19T16:00:59-07:00

An interesting article below taken from The New York Times Book Review. The newest Wimpy Kid book sold like hot cakes at the Forest Park Elementary Book Fair and students have been requesting these titles in the library. Thought I would share...

Behind the "Wimpy Kid" Phenomenon from The New York Times Book Review

By TARA PARKER-POPE

Published: October 12, 2009

This is a big week for the grade-school set. Greg Heffley, the crude and clueless protagonist of Jeff Kinney’s wildly popular book series, “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” is back.

Like the first three books in the series, “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days,” chronicles the misadventures of Greg and his best friend, Rowley, two middle-school students who try to navigate adolescence, home life and the social pecking order at school, all by putting forth as little effort as possible.

Like the others, it is filled with Mr. Kinney’s easygoing first-person narrative and his artfully artless drawings. Its plot revolves around the slapstick, laziness and ethical lapses that have engaged millions of 8-to-12-year-old readers and left parents scratching their heads.

“Dog Days,” which was released Monday, is already the best-selling book on Amazon.com, ahead of the likes of Dan Brown and Glenn Beck. Early interest has been so strong that the publisher, Abrams, increased its initial print run to four million copies, from three million.

The Internet is filled with testimonials about children who were frustrated readers until they got their hands on a Wimpy Kid book. But some parents have been less enthusiastic.

“The words ‘moron,’ ‘jerk,’ ‘dork’ and ‘hot girls’ are used in the first five pages,” complains a reviewer on Amazon of the first book. “This is a poor choice for good character building in your children.”

But given the books’ powerful appeal among both girls and boys, child development experts say parents have a lot to learn from Greg and company. While books like the Harry Potter series create an imaginative fantasy world, the Wimpy Kid books give us a rare glimpse into a child’s ethical mind.

“It really captures the struggle of a child that age trying to figure out what it means to be a person,” said Dr. Joshua Sparrow, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Sparrow read the first Wimpy Kid book after a young patient told him about it.

“I think it can help parents tune into what kids know and how they think,” he went on. “It captures what a child is able to get and what’s beyond their reach, and how you have to adjust your expectations because they are still a work in progress.”

Dr. Lawrence Rosen, a pediatrician who founded the Whole Child Center in Oradell, N.J., says he has talked about the series with his third-grade daughter, who says she likes that the main character is “not perfect.”

“The power of the book is about the wimpy kid, a regular kid with regular problems, just dealing with what life brings him,” Dr. Rosen said. “For parents, I suppose reading the books or at least discussing them with our kids will give us a more realistic idea of what their lives are like, the struggles they face every day.”

Mr. Kinney says he originally wrote the stories for adults, aiming for funny and nostalgic recollections of childhood, and “never imagined” them as children’s literature. Rather than offering moralistic lessons, he focused on the humor inherent in the misguided decisions that children often make.

In one much-talked-about scene from the first book, Greg, who is in middle school, benefits from a case of mistaken identity: because he happens to be wearing Rowley’s jacket when he terrifies a group of kindergarteners with worms on a stick, his best friend is the one who faces punishment.

Greg’s mother senses he is struggling with a moral dilemma and advises him to “do the right thing.”

After tossing and turning, Greg concludes, “I decided that the right thing to do was to just let Rowley take one for the team this time around.”

In the end Rowley is punished, and Greg’s mother, who mistakenly believes he’s made the right choice, rewards him with ice cream.

“Greg really does think he’s done the right thing, and thinks he’s learned his lesson,” Mr. Kinney, who is 38 and has sons 6 and 4, told me. “You’re expecting at any moment that an adult is going to set things straight, but none ever does.”

Mr. Kinney says most of his feedback comes from grateful parents who say the books have turned their children into readers. But a few parents do complain that Greg sets a bad example.

“I have complete respect for that position, and I’ve been shocked there hasn’t been much more of it,” he said. “If there is a lesson in the book, it’s to do the opposite of what Greg does. Even my kindergarten child understands that Greg is being naughty, and that he shouldn’t act like him.”

In “Dog Days,” Greg starts a lawn business, but cuts the grass haphazardly and complains when his customers won’t pay. His father remows a customer’s lawn free of charge, but Greg insists he’s done nothing wrong. “I’m trying to find a way to earn money without doing any actual work,” he explains.

Dr. Sparrow says part of the book’s appeal is that it doesn’t moralize. “If you had an omniscient voice saying, ‘Do the right thing,’ kids would tune that out,” he said. “It leaves room for the child to be challenged to decide what he or she thinks.”

Questionable behavior aside, there is no question that kids love these books. When my fifth grader learned I had scored an early copy of “Dog Days,” she wrestled it away from me and began to devour it. Upon finishing, she closed the book with great satisfaction. After a moment, she opened it and started reading it again from the beginning.

Library Log

2009-09-29T19:10:19-07:00

So many books...so little time. I wanted to pass along information about some exciting events happening in Portland in the next month or so...

From Annie Bloom's Bookstore (7834 SW Capitol Hwy):
Pamela Smith Hill, Laura Whitcomb & Susan Fletcher present "Dragons, ghosts & grails"

Wednesday, October 28, 7:30 PM at Annie Bloom's Bookstore in Multnomah Village.

Get started on your Halloween fun with three great, local young adult authors in one night! Susan Fletcher, Laura Whitcomb and Pamela Smith Hill will each read the spookiest 13 minutes from their books and then take questions from the audience.

http://annieblooms.indiebound.com/event/dragons-ghosts-grails-young-adult-halloween-reading

_____________________________________

From A Children's Place Bookstore (4807 NE Fremont):

ACP is thrilled to announce our 35th Anniversary! On October 3rd and 4th we are having a huge birthday bash! All weekend (Sat & Sun) we will have a "Choose Your Own Discount" anniversary sale. We are also excited to celebrate our birthday with some of our favorite local authors and illustrators. Below is a list of activities we have planned for the weekend.
Saturday:
10am Sidewalk Chalk Party w/ David Hohn
11am Storyteller Eric Kimmel
1 pm Prankster Bart King
2 pm Birthday Cake!

Sunday
1-3 "Illustrator: A Day in the Life" An illustrator workshop hosted by local illustrators Lee White and David Hohn, for students ages 11+, call the store for your free ticket, space is limited.

_______________________
A Children's Place is delighted to welcome back Michael Buckley (The Sisters Grimm) as he presents the first book in a new series, NERDS - National Espionage, Rescue, and Defense Society. Combining the excitement of international espionage and all the awkwardness of elementary school, NERDS features a group of students who run a spy network from inside their school, Buckley at his comic best. Join us Thursday, October 8 at 4:00 pm for a reading, author Q&A and book signing.
_______________________
Oregon Book Award winner Deborah Hopkinson (Apples to Oregon, A Band of Angels) is joined by illustrator Carson Ellis (The Mysterious Benedict Society) to talk about and sign copies of their new book, Stagecoach Sal, a wild and wooly adventure--based on real-life stagecoach driver Delia Haskell--sure to entice even the most reluctant of readers and celebrate history.

Saturday, October 10 at 11:00 am -- See you there!

_____________________________________________________
From Multnomah County Library:

36th Annual Book Sale on October 9-12, 2009
1625 NE Sandy Blvd.

Members only pre-sale on Friday, October 9, 6-9 PM
General Public Sale:
Saturday, October 10, 9 AM - 6 PM
Sunday, October 11, 11 AM - 5 PM

Monday, October 12 (Discount Day with 50% off), 9 AM - 3 PM

Have fun!

Library Log

2009-09-27T19:06:48-07:00

Hello Library Volunteers...Get-together scheduled

Thank you so much to all of the parents and grandparents who have expressed an interest in volunteering in the Forest Park Elementary Library. I was thrilled to receive the list of volunteers!

For those of you who attended the Volunteer Orientation in the cafeteria on Tuesday, I apologize for not meeting you there. Tuesdays are a busy day in the library, with six classes back-to-back.

So...this Monday morning, September 28th at 8:15-- I would like to invite all of you to join me in the library to meet, show you around, do a short orientation and let you know the different sorts of jobs that library volunteers do. For those of you who worked in the library last year, you know that there is no way that things would run without you. (If you can't make it, no problem. We can talk another time or through email.)

Volunteers often come in during their student's library time, which is a great help. Or, if you prefer a truly quiet library, we have some maintenance and classroom support time built in.

I will have the class schedule posted on Monday morning and a sign-up sheet.

One thing you should know is that I love to see you whenever it works. No worries at all if only once a month or once a quarter works for you. On the flip side, if you would like to join me a couple times a week - awesome!!

See you Monday, September 28th at 8:15.

Thanks a million.

Mirka

mjablons@pps.k12.or.us

Library Log

2009-09-23T20:16:19-07:00

Where in the world is Mrs. Jablonski? In the LIBRARY, that's where. I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. I have been hanging out with the kids, and hanging out with the books. (A quick note for all you 3rd-5th graders...the website that I promised you is http://library.pps.k12.or.us) (Check out our new and improved web catalog from the comfort of your own home to find out if we have a book in our collection and whether or not it is available. Make sure you choose Forest Park in the drop down box. We will keep working on this in library!)

Fellow Readers…What a month this has been. I am so thrilled to see the students back at school. It seems as though all of our hard work paid off last year because we were able to jump right in without skipping a beat.

The library grew over the summer by over 150 books. When I returned to work in late August the first thing on my to-do list was unpack a large order that was placed in June. The new books went up on display and I have been happily checking them out to students all week. New fiction, biographies, nonfiction, graphic novels, and everybody books were included in the order. All of the new Caldecott Medal winners, Newberry Medal winners, Young Readers Choice Award books and Oregon Battle of the Books titles have been added to our collection. Yea!! In addition, many titles that our teachers use as resources for their writing curriculum, for example personal narrative, have also been added!

I hope to see many of you at Back-To-School Night. I will be in the library with the doors wide open and the lights on. Please feel free to drop by with your families as you tour the school. The kids can show you around. If things look a bit disheveled, it is only because the students have been so busy in the library this week.

Kindergarten Families…Welcome. What a great group! I have been getting to know all of our new kindergarten students in Mrs. Ford, Mrs. Nelson, Mrs. Huntley and Mrs. Podichetty’s classes. It is such an adventure to discover new things through their eyes. The Kindergarten students will begin checking books out next week and bringing them home or back to their classroom to share.  Each week, your student will visit the library with their class for 35 minutes. During that time we will read, discuss, illustrate, investigate, learn how our library is organized and learn how to locate what we are looking for. We will have a focus on our favorite authors and illustrators and I will share some great books. It is my goal that your child gets a strong introduction to the library- and develops a love of reading and a love of books. We have also been discussing how to care for our books and keep them in circulation for a long time. The kids really understand the care needed- please reinforce this at home. I would also appreciate your help in developing the responsibility to return their book each week- so they are able to check out a new book. Our Kindergarten students check out one book at a time.

New Families to Forest Park with students in grades 1-5:

You all are doing great. All new students have buddied up with a veteran Forest Park student during check out time this week. The veteran guide has stayed with your new student through the check-out process and it has gone very smoothly.

- First through fifth graders checked out their first books this week. Please touch base with your students. Did they leave their books at school for reading time in class, or bring them home to read and share? And please help me make sure they are choosing things appropriate to their reading level until I get to know everyone.

- Students are able to check out two books at a time

- Students keep track of their class’s library day and return their books to school

- Books are overdue after two weeks and a reminder notice will be sent through email. The notices are generated through Portland Public Schools main office and are meant to be a reminder and do not need a reply.

- Please email me or stop in anytime. mjablons@pps.k12.or.us

What are we reading at my house?

The Grown-ups are reading:

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski

Tales From Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan (amazing new children's young adult book)

The kids are reading:

Alvin Ho by Lenore Look

Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume

Ruby Lu, Brave and True by Lenore Look

Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Best wishes.

Library Log

2009-04-03T13:28:14-07:00

I am delighted to announce that one of our favorite authors will be speaking in Portland in the month of April. Jon Scieszka (rhymes with Fresca) is a guest at the 12th Annual Children's Author Lecture hosted by Multnomah County Library...

Monday, April 20th

Doors open at 6:15pm

First Congregational Church

1126 S.W. Park Avenue, Portland

Jon Scieszka will be presenting and autographing books, which will be available for purchase.

Tickets $6 Students $12 Adults

www.multcolib.org/kids/lecture or 503-988-5402 for ticket information

Jon Scieszka is a favorite. His books include,

The Frog Prince, continued

The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs

The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales

Guys Write For Guys Read

The Math Curse

The Science Verse

Baloney

The Good, the Bad and the Goofy

And a great new autobiography called Knuckleheads: Tall Tales and Mostly True Stories of Growing Up Scieszka

Maybe I'll see you there!