The school year is winding down, but the Stonehedge Library has been as busy as ever…

On April 25^th, we held our 4^th Poetrypalooza in the Gold cafeteria. We had over 30 readers share their poems. The audience was fabulous and a great time was had by all.

Spring also brings the “Read Like a Rock Star” challenge! Our 2^nd graders have been trying out chapter books (some for the first time) to test and build their constantly developing reading skills. When they finish a book, they fill out a “Golden Ticket” with a short summary of what they’ve read.  We are keeping track of the number of books read on a graph in the 2nd-grade hallway. At last count, our Rock Stars have read over 275 books since Spring Break!

It’s also the time of year where we are looking to get all our library books back to the library. Please check with your child to see if they have all of their library books returned. 

We do have some exciting new news to share…this summer, the library will be open for book check out on Tuesdays from 10am-noon. Open Library Hours will begin on Tuesday, July 9^th and go until August 20^th. Details will be sent home with your student. We hope to see many of you over the summer.

As always, I want to remind everyone of all the awesome things happening at the public libraries over the summer. I will be sending home a flyer with lots of information, so be on the lookout.

Don’t forget to

READ4FUN

Mrs. Abbott

Happy Spring Stonehedge!

April is National Poetry month and at Stonehedge the means three things: fun with poems in the library, Poem in Your Pocket Day and Poetrypalooza. Poem in Your Pocket Day falls during the break this year, so Stonehedge will celebrate it on Thursday, April 25^th. All students and staff are encouraged to carry a poem in their pocket and share it with as many people as possible during the day.

Later on the 25^th, the Gold cafeteria will be transformed into a funky poetry café with a stage, sound system and real, live audience as we bring back Poetrypalooza after a one-year absence. We’ll start reading poems at 6:30 and go until everyone who wants to, has a chance to share. Staff, students,

and family members are welcome to participate. If you do not want to read, you can be part of the audience, but I’ll have poem books on hand if you change your mind and decide to “dare to share”!

I’m sure to have lots of pictures to share for the next blog. Until then, take a look at what we’ve been doing in library…

Third graders had a chance to get to know a poem and share it with the class.

The following week, they got to use the titles of some of our picture books to create “Book Spine Poetry”. It was so fun and we got some really awesome results!

Have a great Spring Break and don't forget to...
Read4Fun!!!

Mrs. Abbott

Hi All,

January was "Research Month" at Stonehedge. (And boy, did it go fast!)  All of our kids were involved in finding answers to things they wonder. 5^th graders broke into groups to investigate different aspects of Puerto Rico in order to examine the question “Should Puerto Rico Become a State?”.

4th  graders also have been working in groups, but they are investigating New York State.

 3^rd graders enjoyed folktales and fables in January and are now doing internet research on the Iditarod dog sled race. Our youngest students in K-2 worked in class on their Winter Wonderland research projects, so in library we reviewed great sources of information and research techniques to make their exploration easy and fun.  In February, K-1 have been enjoying Caldecott Award-winning picture books and 2nd graders have been exploring encyclopedias and dictionaries.

You know that feeling when you’ve read a great book and you can’t wait to tell someone (anyone) about it? That’s how the kids in our 4th-grade book club feel. We started last month and had 22 students at our first meeting. We had a blast! Our book club is really a “Book Talk” club; 4^th graders read whatever they want and meet to tell the group about their book. This format gives kids a chance to promote their favorite reads and hear about great new books they may want to try out. It’s never too late to join. You must be in 4^th grade. We meet every other Friday from 8-9 am in the library. Our next meeting is on March 1 from 8-9am in the library.

Winter Break is one of my favorite "hunker down with lots of good books" vacations and I was able to read quite a bit.  I'd like to share a great article from "Real Simple" magazine.

8 science-based benefits of reading real books

That's all for now,

Don't forget to Read4Fun!

Mrs. Abbott