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More Great Little Free Library News

Labels, bumper stickers, ideas, and more were in our package from Little Free Libraries.

Labels, bumper stickers, ideas, and more were in our package from Little Free Libraries.

I love that I get to continue to share great news from our Little Free Library Project.  Here are some more great things that have happened:

  • We were approved to put our library at Lay Park.  This was in response to a student letter and a great phone call with Randy Haygood, facility supervisor
  • Camilla Bracewell, amazing superhero library volunteer & Barrow grandparent, became a supporter of our project through a donation and conversations with people in the community.
  • Our Little Free Libraries are now registered.  We received our signs in the mail!
  • Our libraries are now in art waiting to be painted once we have a design decided.
Our official signs will be mounted on our libraries once they are painted.

Our official signs will be mounted on our libraries once they are painted.

I love that the signs are made from reclaimed wood from Wisconsin's Amish Country.

I love that the signs are made from reclaimed wood from Wisconsin’s Amish Country.

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Exciting Little Free Library News

Kenny Sims, Operations Manager with Athens Home Depot, donates the 2 Little Free Libraries to Barrow

Kenny Sims, Operations Manager with Athens Home Depot, donates the 2 Little Free Libraries to Barrow

Two major things happened today with our Little Free Libraries.  I began talks with a possible location for our 2nd library and our 2 libraries were delivered by Home Depot!

I have to say again that we went into this project with a lot of faith in our community and amazing things are happening.  Here are a few recent things:

  • Several students from other grades have come to tell me that they are cleaning out their home libraries to bring us books that they no longer need.
  • Several people have brought in books to fill the libraries already.
  • People donated money during the book fair which was almost enough to register both of our libraries.  The 5th graders are about to each bring in $1, which will help us reach that goal.  Our library numbers will be 5559 and 5560
  • A student who wrote a persuasive letter was beaming when he found out that his letter had been received by the recipient.
  • Home Depot #0129 continues to be a very generous donor to this project.  They have built and donated both libraries and are now working with our art teacher to get supplies for painting the 2 libraries.  They will also help us with the final supplies for installing both libraries.  I can’t thank them enough for their generosity.  They definitely have my future home improvement business!
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5th graders immediately came to see the 2 libraries

IMG_0366 IMG_0365

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Skyping with Anne Marie Pace

IMG_0350Back on March 6th, we celebrated World Read Aloud Day with Skype sessions with authors and schools around the country.  On that very same day, a major winter storm was making its way across the country creating chaos, power outages, and librarians frantically rescheduling connections.  Anne Marie Pace was scheduled to Skype with Ms. Wright’s and Ms. Yawn’s 2nd grade classes.  We had read Vamperina Ballerina and written several questions to ask her about writing and the book.  However, the snowstorm knocked out Anne Marie’s power.  Fortunately, we were able to find a time to reconnect and the students were so excited to finally meet her on Skype today.IMG_0361

IMG_0351We did a brief “hello” and then Anne Marie read us Never Ever Talk to Strangers.  She had the book on a presentation so that the kids could easily see the pages as she read.  After that, the students begged to hear Vamperina again.  Because our schedule wasn’t so rushed today, we had time, and Anne Marie graciously gave the kids a 2nd reading of Vamperina Ballerina.

We printed all of the students’ questions from a Google Doc so that they were prepared to quickly ask their questions.  Here’s a look at our questions:IMG_0358

  • Natalie:  Who is your publisher?

  • George:  Why did you make Vamperina Ballerina?

  • Tykeria:  Why did she turn into a bat in the story?

  • Lucy:  Is it a long process to make a book or does it depend on the book?

  • Nikolas:  Do you only write picture books?

  • Olonix:  Do vampires change into anything else?

  • Grace:  How did you come up with the details?

  • Myles:  Why did you put the vampire into the spotlight?

  • Sam B:  What are your other books?

  • Sam G:  Why did you put a vampire in a ballerina class?

  • Miles:  Do you make chapter books or comic books?

  • Mr. Plemmons:  Do you feel like the illustrator drew what you were thinking when you wrote your words?

  • Ms. Wright:  Did you have to write multiple drafts of the book?

  • Harper:  How do you know so much about vampires?

  • Danny:  Do you ever have writer’s block?

  • Repp:  Have you ever messed up on a published piece?

  • Eddie:  Do you have more books than 3?

  • Jeremiah:  Why do you like books so much?

  • Diana:  Who inspired you to write books?

  • Ty’Najia:  How long does it take to make a book?

  • Tom:  How did you come up with these book ideas?

  • Xander:  If you do have chapter books, how many do you have?

  • Mrs. Yawn:  How young were you when you first started writing?

IMG_0359This year we have been so fortunate to make so many connections through Skype.  I can’t wait to incorporate it even more next year.  The students left this session energized about reading and writing.  I just know this will translate into what they do in the classroom.  Thank you, Anne Marie Pace, for making our day so special!  We can’t wait to read the Vamperina sequel!

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March 2013 Monthly Report

Take a look at the great things that happened in our library during the month of March.

 

http://midd.me/r4fB

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Poem In Your Pocket Day 2013 is Coming!

We are so excited that National Poetry Month is already here!  In just 2 weeks, we will be celebrating Poem In Your Pocket Days.  On April 11th & 12th, students in every class will come to the library to our open microphone poetry cafe.  The tables will be setup with tablecloths, lanterns, and poetry books.  A stool and microphone will be available for students to come up and read their original and favorite poetry for their class to hear.  Once again, we will be broadcasting all of this live online via Adobe Connect.  This has become a very special event for students because they are able to get their writing and favorite poems out to a much larger audience.  When people type comments in the chat feature of Adobe Connect, I always share those with students in the moment.  It creates a big pulse of energy in the group.  We’ve had family, friends, and other schools tune in from as far away as Afghanistan and England and as close by as the classroom next to us!  We hope you will join us to listen to our poems and leave some comments.  Here is the schedule:

  Thursday April 11, 2013                                               

Time Class
 8:30 3rd Shealey
9:00 1st Wyatt
9:30 1st Watson
10:00 1st Hart
10:30 4th Selleck
11:00 2nd Wright
11:30 4th Freeman
12:00 1st Stuckey
12:30 1st Em
1:00 2nd Brink
1:30 K Hocking
2:00 2nd Yawn

 

Friday April 12, 2013

Time Class
8:00 5th Cross
8:30 K Carney
9:00 K Boyle
9:30 K Li
10:00 PreK Doneda
10:30 3rd Spurgeon
11:00 4th Olin
11:30 K Vertus
12:00 5th Slongo
12:30 PreK Clarke
1:00 2nd Ramseyer
1:30 3rd Griffith

 

To login to Adobe Connect, follow these instructions:

Leading up to the event, we are having an original poetry contest.  All entries are due by this Friday and prizes/certificates will be awarded in multiple categories in PreK-1st, 2nd-3rd, and 4th-5th grades.

Students and teachers are also contributing to a crowd sources poem that I will carry in my pocket on Poem In Your Pocket Day called “Our Library is Not a Quiet Place”.  They are submitting lines through a Google Form.  You are welcome to submit lines, too.  Just go to this link.

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Little Free Library Progress Update

Athens Home Depot is building and donating 2 Little Free Libraries for us to decorate

Athens Home Depot is building and donating 2 Little Free Libraries for us to decorate

Very exciting news! We just heard from Home Depot in Athens that our 2 Little Free Libraries are almost ready for delivery to the school. Kenneth Simms, Operations Manager, sent us a photo of the progress late last night. We can’t wait to get these libraries to our school to begin decorating them in art!  We can’t thank Home Depot enough for all they are doing!

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Second Little Free Library

Joel typed his letter, conference with me and his teachers, addressed his envelope, and dropped it in the mail

Joel typed his letter, conference with me and his teachers, addressed his envelope, and dropped it in the mail

We are currently looking for a home for our 2nd Little Free Library that is being built by Home Depot.  Our school attendance zone stretches from Five Points into downtown Athens, so the students wanted a library to go in each end of our zone.  Many of our students live near Lay Park, Lyndon House, and the downtown fire department so they really want our 2nd library to go near that area.  Today, a letter was mailed out to Lay Park by a student who goes to Lay Park a lot.  Many of our students use this space during the summer and after school, so it really would be a perfect spot for our 2nd library.  Students who live in that area could take books from our school donation site and make sure the library stays full.  It would be a great source of community service and responsibility for our students.  I’m sure that there will be many steps to get approval to put a library in a spot like this.  Now, we will wait and see what the response is from the county and Lay Park, but we are going o think positive thoughts for now.

Joel's letter explains LFL and makes a personal connection

Joel’s letter explains LFL and makes a personal connection

 

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More Kindergarten Storybirds (Li’s Class)

Many Kindergarten classes have been using Storybird to create digital stories using artwork.  Here are Ms. Li’s Storybirds:

 

Creepy Emily

The Boy’s Huge Adventure

Super Hubert to the Rescue

Natalie the Little Chick

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February 2013 Monthly Report

Yes….I know it’s almost the end of March, but here is our February Monthly Report.  Our library has been such a busy place that it has been very hard to find time to pull all this together.  Enjoy!

 

http://midd.me/gnUX

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Little Free Library Update

A display is ready to inform shoppers at our book fair about our Little Free Library project

A display is ready to inform shoppers at our book fair about our Little Free Library project

We have very exciting news in our 5th grade Little Free Library project.  Before spring break about 14 kids mailed letters to Home Depot in Athens to ask if they could support our project with some materials.  Kenneth Sims, operation manager, emailed me back to ask for a specific list of what we needed.  After some more research on the Little Free Library site and consulting with my talented Dad, I sent him a list of what we would need.  I knew the list was a lot to ask for, so I told him that we would appreciate anything that they could do.

He emailed me back with great news.  Home Depot is donating all of the materials we need to build the libraries, building both libraries for us, delivering them to our school for the kids to decorate, and helping us install them when the time comes.  I was absolutely floored.  I even got a call from the builder before he started the project to just make sure that all of the plans that they were doing fit with what we needed.  I can’t wait to share pictures with you of our project.

We went into this project with a lot of faith that our community would come through for us to make this project happen.  It is so great to know that a major business in the community is so giving of their resources in the name of children, community, and literacy.

Now, we have a lot of work to do, but one major weight is lifted off our shoulders.  The kids were beaming when I went to their classes to share the news with them.  One student in particular was very excited because we realized that she included my email address in her letter in order for the manager to contact us.  She was the only student to do this.

Our next steps include:

  • Painting the designs on our libraries
  • Nailing down our second location with some more persuasive letters
  • Raising money for the registration of the libraries
  • Doing a book drive to fill the libraries and have a stock pile of books to replenish the libraries
  • Writing speeches to present the libraries at the Moving On Ceremony.
  • Installing the downtown library in its location
  • Probably some things we haven’t thought of!

If you would love to help us with our project, we are wide open for help.  One way you could help us is by purchasing a book at our book fair next week or shopping our wishlist at our online book fair through April 5th.  Here’s info on our online fair:

It’s Book Fair time at our school! I’ve created a classroom wish list to add new books to our classroom library. You can view my classroom wish list and purchase books from our school Book Fair website. These books will be treasured by students for years to come.

You can visit our online Book Fair anytime until 04/05/2013. All books purchased will be shipped directly to me at school with no shipping charge. Thanks for getting our class excited about reading.

Your support is appreciated,

Andy Plemmons

Scholastic Book Fairs inspire a lifetime love of reading. A percentage of the total proceeds raised during the Book Fair will stay with the school and help get more kids reading, kids reading more! Visit the Book Fair Web site for detailed information.