It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas

We have a had a busy, learning and fun-filled, last few weeks at BES!  In the Media Center we have met The Library Gingerbread Man, Moosletoe, and Mr. Willowby and his Christmas Tree.  We have talked about each of the characters and the problems they faced in their books.  We then discussed their solutions and even came up with some of our own!  I love to hear the kids imaginations!!

The conductor from Polar Express even came to visit our kindergartners and give the first gift of Christmas!

Please don't forget that yearbooks are on sale and that 5th grade ads are due January 15, 2015.

Mrs. McElroy

Read-a-thon Time!

BES will be having a Read-a-thon on Friday, November 21.  Each student is asked to pay at lease $1 and they can wear their pj's and read!!  A time has been set aside for each grade level to spread out in the gym with their book boxes and enjoy books!  All proceeds from the Read-a-thon will go to crate a BES scholarship at Adult Literacy Barrow.

Adult Literacy Barrow is an organization that helps adults forward their education by completing their GED or other basic education courses.  The organization also offers free English classes.

BES wants to BOLDly impact our community by helping educate all our members!!

For more information please visit the Adult Literacy Barrow website:  http://www.adultliteracybarrow.org/

Picture Book Month

November is Picture Book Month.  "Picture Book Month is an international literacy initiative that celebrates the print picture book during the month of November." via Picture Book Month website.



Image via http://picturebookmonth.com/

We actually call them everybody books at BES because, well, everybody can read them.  Last week in the MC we read two great picture books in the lower grades.  The Three Little Bears ABC's and Z is for Moose.  We worked on letter recognition with Pre-K and Kindergarten, and talked about how we can read books using pictures!  If you have a reader that isn't confident because they "don't know how to read", using the pictures is a great way to get them hooked and start the reading process.  The Daily 5, which we use at BES, teaches the three ways to read a book are:
Read the Pictures
Read the Words
Retell the Story

I challenge you to read a picture book everyday during the month of November with your BES readers!

Mrs. McElroy

Creepy Times in the MC

With last week being Halloween things got a little creepy in the MC.  We read Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds, which is a Caldecott Honor Award winner.  Creepy Carrots is about Jasper Rabbit who like all rabbits loves carrots.  Until one day...they start to follow him!  Creepy Carrot is a fun read for any age!

Check out this video by the illustrator Peter Brown.

Even Penny our reading dog got into the Halloween spirit last week

Mrs. McElroy
Image from http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007OVCQP0?btkr=1

BOOK FAIR, BOOK FAIR, BOOK FAIR

We had an AMAZING Book Fair this week!!!

Thank you to everyone who supported our book fair and especially to all the wonderful volunteers that helped out!  The book fair would not have been the success it was without everyone's support and help!

I hope all our students enjoy the books they purchased and are developing a deep love of reading!!

THANK YOU!
Mrs. McElroy

Johnny Appleseed

Friday, September 26 was Johnny Appleseed's birthday, and we celebrated all week!  We started each class by reading a poem about Johnny Appleseed and identified site words:

via: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoVUrn4-cvDK9Rlv332DJVPawWcnTVjCbVwbhwROm6bIiYmCNv09qrcJMvtb5k-q-jJCKtkEBayT5S9zn-4j-_m_Jvu-CvuBHsS7C4FxgzMnPkq0XZBXwdbH0mbjgOY4GBRRsjbDZcmphm/s1600/johnny+appleseed+citizenship+poem.png


We also read a nonfiction book about Johnny and filled our "pot" with facts, we read about apples and how they grow, and we even had a couple of "pots" to wear!

International Dot Day

Last Monday, was International Dot Day, but we celebrated all week in the Media Center!  Dot Day is based on the book The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds and began on September 15, 2099 when teacher Terry Shay introduced the book in his classroom.  It has become a global celebration of creativity, courage and collaboration.  Mrs. Reid read the book to each student via YouTube...click here to watch. 


To celebrate in the Media Center, students retold the story and we talked about how we can make our mark in our school, in our families and in the world!  We had some great ideas!!  I got to visit some classrooms so we could decorate dots!

Mrs. McElroy