Lab Reports

I sincerely cannot remember where I found this lab report template, but it’s what we use each month for Science Saturday (except when the experiment includes a lot of water).  It’s a great way for kids to practice writing down their experiments, and it’s fun to see how predictions do (and don’t) match the results.

Science Notes

If you’re at home and looking at a scientific question, feel free to use it!  An important part of science is being able to repeat experiments with the same results, so keep good notes as you investigate the world around you.

Toys Sleep Over

Last night, we had a few brave souls who endured the weather for the library’s Stuffed Animal Sleepover. We read some great stories, we made each animal a small nightlight to keep them company in the dark, and then we said goodnight to our friends.

As it turns out, our stuffed animals had some other ideas about the night’s activities …

After hopping out of their snuggly beds, the wide-awake toys made their way to the craft table to draw pictures for their people.

It seems that crafts were only the start of the fun:

The next stop was a computer, just right for playing games or watching a video.

I would have thought that crafts and games were enough for three sleepy toys, but no!  They were at the library, and they wanted to read a book, too.

First, they went looking for a good book to share.

They were tired after climbing up to the books, so they rested on a shelf for just a few minutes.

At last! A book to share with each other. It was a good story. They read it three times.

Fuzzy and Teddy thought it would be fun to try a hand-clapping game (I believe this looks like Peas Porridge Hot).

After all the excitement, the animals were finally quieting down for the night.  Along the way back to bed, they found a friend who wanted to be in the picture, too.

Snoopy was very very tired, and the animals were nearly as sleepy.

At last, tucked back into bed for a quiet night at the library. Goodnight, sleep tight, sweet toys!

A great holiday craft

During today’s After-School Crafts, we made some great gift boxes out of recycled materials.  It was a lot of fun, and it’s really easy!

That’s a toilet paper tube, painted and wrapped with a bit of ribbon.  Inside, you can hide a little gift: some candy, a small toy, or even a note.

To turn your tube into a box, simply bend the ends of the tube, making two flaps on each end.  No cutting, no taping, no staples.  Add a bit of ribbon to make sure the flaps don’t pop open.

If painting is messier than you like, you could glue some paper (wrapping paper, maybe!) around the tube before folding the ends over.  Stickers are a nice touch, too.

Ta da!  You have a beautiful gift box that you can use and reuse.

Reader Reviews

The Exquisite Corpse Adventure (2011).

What would you do if you received a birthday card saying, “Happy. HELP. NOW. FOLLOW CLUES. RESCUE US BY PIECING TOGETHER THE EXQUISITE CORPSE. Birthday. Love, Mom & Dad.”  Nancy and Joe, orphan siblings, decide to listen to this letter and rescue their parents. There are a few minor problems. First, they don’t know if their parents actually wrote the letter, and second, Nancy and Joe don’t know if they are going to the right place. Finally, they don’t know what  the Exquisite Corpse is, exactly.

Luckily, Nancy and Joe have grown up in a circus where they have learned many different tricks. They will need to use every trick up their sleeves to piece together the very Top-Secret Robot, also known as the Exquisite Corpse, to  rescue their parents.

            Oops. I wasn’t supposed to say that. Oh well. Will Nancy and Joe be able to piece together the Exquisite Corpse? Will they save their parents? You’ll have to read The Exquisite Corpse Adventure if you want to find out.

If you like books full of adventure and mystery, this is the book for you. The Exquisite Corpse Adventure is made up of 27 “episodes”, each one written by a different author and ending in a cliff hanger. There are also four illustrators who take turns creating the imagery of each “episode”. Due to the concept of multiple authors, the plot is a little choppy, but the story is very compelling. Readers will enjoy sampling their favorite authors, such as Natalie Babbitt, Steven Kellogg, and Susan Cooper, while discovering new authors. I recommend this book to ages 10-13 and give it an “A-”.

Review written by:
Amariah
Age 12

Harris Burdick … the mysteries continue

More than 25 years ago, Chris Van Allsburg wrote a book that captured imaginations and got kids writing stories.

Van Allsburg, Chris (1984). The Mysteries of Harris Burdick (Ages 5+).

Mr. Harris Burdick brought 14 pictures (complete with titles and captions) to a publisher, promising to bring the accompanying stories and some more pictures the next day.  He never returned.  Chris Van Allsburg, a friend of the publisher, saw the pictures and decided to put them all together in a book.  (That’s the story, at least, and Chris is sticking to it.)  This book has inspired creative writing assignments ever since.

It’s not only children who have found the pictures irresistible fodder for new stories.  Famous authors also think the pictures are intriguing.

Van Allsburg, Chris (2011). The Chronicles of Harris Burdick (Gr. 4-8).

That’s where this book comes in.  Take the 14 pictures from Mysteries, then add short stories from 14 well-known authors.  The stories are sometimes eerie, sometimes funny, and always just as mysterious as the original pictures.  Of course, no one knows what the real stories were, and even famous authors can only take their best guesses.  Would your stories turn out the same way?

The authors included in this compilation:
Lemony Snicket
Tabitha King
Jon Scieszka
Sherman Alexie
Gregory Maguire
Cory Doctorow
Jules Feiffer
Linda Sue Park
Walter Dean Myers
Lois Lowry
Kate DiCamillo
M. T. Anderson
Louis Sachar
Chris Van Allsburg
Stephen King

Wildlife, Typography, and Numbers, oh my!

I love books that make me see new things in the world.  I also love the art of letters, numbers, and the way they look.  Naturally, I also love these two books:

Werner, Sharon (2009). Alphabeasties and Other Amazing Types (Gr. 4-6)

An A can be tall or short, thick or thin, slanted or vertical.  That A can have a lot of personality!  This book makes animals out of letters: an alligator is made from round and nubbly lowercase a’s along with some sharp and pointy uppercase A’s (teeth! eek!).  The design of each animal is fascinating, and there are plenty of factoids at the bottom of each page.

Werner, Sharon (2011).  Bugs by the Numbers.  (Gr. 4-6)

As if animals and letters weren’t enough, there are also bugs and numbers!  That praying mantis on the cover really is made of numbers!  The numbers give interesting facts about the insects, too.  A page-spread about butterflies has eggs made from 1’s, a caterpillar made from 2’s, a chrysalis made from 3’s, and a full butterfly made from 4’s.  Four life stages, clearly numbered.  Other insects are made from numbers that highlight a fun fact: fleas can jump 150 times their own height.  Those fleas are made from (you guessed it!) 150’s.

Books I’m excited about right now …

I love the start of a new school year.  I love the new pencils, new notebooks, new crayons … and new books!  Here are a handful that I’m particularly delighted to share with you.  Stop by to see them for yourself!

Picture Books
Battersby, Katherine (2011). Squish Rabbit (PreS-K)

Squish is a little rabbit who is hard to see and hard to hear (it’s how he got his name, after all).  He sees wonderful things, but no one listens to his stories.  He invents several friends, but none are just quite right.  Will he find a real friend to share his wonderful ideas?

Bardhan-Quallen, Sudipta (2011). Hampire! (Gr. K-3)

There’s a dangerous fiend lurking on the farm, leaving glistening red droplets on the grass each night.  Duck braves the danger to forage for a midnight snack, nervously watching for … THE HAMPIRE!  Much like in James Howe’s Bunnicula, the Hampire is not quite what he seems.  This funny book will keep readers nervously giggling until the silly end.

Readers
Arnold, Ted (2011). Fly Guy vs. the Flyswatter (Gr. K-2)

If you haven’t discovered Fly Guy yet, take a few minutes to start this  series for beginning readers.  It’s all about a fly named Fly Guy.  He’s a perfect pet for our lead boy: Fly Guy can even say his owner’s name! (Buzz.)  In this installment, Buzz’s class is taking a tour of a fly swatter factory, and Fly Guy is predictably upset.  As he rescues a beleaguered fly from a swatting robot, Fly Guy causes plenty of mayhem and plenty of fun for Buzz’s class.

Schoenberg, Jane (2011). The One and Only Stuey Lewis (Gr. 2-3)

Stuey is a worrywart.  He tries to miss the first day of second grade  to avoid spilling a terrible secret (“I’m still wicked slow at reading.”)  He tries not to sign up for soccer because his big brother is better at it.  He tries to skip the last day of second grade so that it won’t end.  The most obnoxious person in his class becomes a surprising friend, and his teacher calmly finds solutions to all of Stuey’s biggest fears.  This is a wonderful option for children who are stepping into longer chapter books.

Novels
Riordan, Rick; Adapted by Robert Venditti (2011). The Lightning Thief: the Graphic Novel (Gr. 5-9)

Based on the novel of the same name, this graphic adaptation features Percy Jackson as he discovers that he’s a demigod–his mother is human, but his father is the Greek god, Poseidon.  With an evil plot underfoot to let chaos rule the earth, Percy and his newfound friends must travel the country on a quest.  The original series shouldn’t be missed: it has humor, suspense, action, and a rock-solid rendition of Greek mythology.  Grab the graphic novel for a quick introduction to the series or for a refresher before Riordan’s Son of Neptune is released next month!

Carman, Patrick (2011).  Floors (Gr. 4-6)

10-year-old Leo Fillmore has lived in the Whippet Hotel for most of his life and knows many of its secrets–and this hotel has plenty of secrets!  It’s a wacky, zany place with rooms that are giant pinball machines, exact replicas of Central Park, ponds and caves, and more.  There’s also a mystery afoot: the owner has been missing for 100 days, and someone is sabotaging the hotel.  Leo is entrusted with saving this remarkable hotel, but can he manage it in only two days’ time?  This is a great choice for fans of Roald Dahl and Louis Sachar–or for anyone who likes their mysteries flavored with a smidgen of the impossible.

The Chicks Win!

Thank you, thank you to everyone who joined the Summer Reading Program, dove into some good books, and voted for their favorite Heifer International project.

After all of the voting and campaigning (I heard from several people who sneakily rearranged the voting jars to highlight their favorites), we have a clear winner:

Click on the picture to learn more about the flock of chicks that Heifer International will bring to a family in another country.  Those chicks are special animals!

To celebrate our donation, we will soon have a special collection of toy chicks* to live in the library.  Take a look around the library to see if you can find them 🙂

* Sorry.  We can’t have real chicks living in the library.  Adorable toys will have to be good enough!

Crafts Around the World

To wrap up the end of our summer reading program, we  explored crafts and games from around the world.  Each Thursday afternoon in August, a new continent visited our craft room for an hour–and here are some of the results.  (Whenever you see a link, click on it to see instructions for making that craft.)

The first week, we looked at South America.  We made big tissue paper flowers, and then we got wrapped up with Ojo de Dios:

Ojo de Dios ("God's Eye") is a craft that comes from Central and South America.

The next week, we stopped in Asia for a chopsticks challenge (how quickly can you pick up popcorn with chopsticks?), Samurai origami, and kimono dolls.

Two small popsicle sticks, glued side-by-side onto decorative paper. Use large rectangles for the dress, small rectangles for the sleeves, and a skinny rectangle for the sash. Circles for the head and hair ... and voila! Color the bottoms of the popsicle sticks to make shoes. Glue everything together then let it dry.

The third week, we went to Africa to play mancala, make cave paintings, then draw a safari.

Sandpaper is a great way to design cave paintings. Use regular crayons and draw something that's important for your life!

Today, for the last day of our tour around the world, we explored Australia.  We talked about the animals you might find in Australia.  We marveled that it’s winter in Australia when it’s summer in America.  Then, we got down to serious crafting.  First we made didgeridoos.  (Listen to one here!)

We painted paper towel tubes brown to look like wood. Then we used dots, wavy lines, and nature shapes to look like Australian Aboriginal art.

Although Australia is best known for its fabulous marsupials like kangaroos and koalas, there are plenty of farm animals, too.  We made adorable sheep to represent Australia’s agriculture.

Pompom sheep! The legs are made from tiny pieces of pipe cleaners. My poor sheep looks very sad.

Now, our summertime travels are over.  It’s almost time to start school–but I hope that you had a wonderful time exploring the world at the library!

We go together …

Sometimes, things go better together.  Cake is nice, but it tastes even lovelier with a glass of cold milk.  Hot dogs are delicious, but ketchup makes then phenomenal.  Games are fun, but they’re a blast when you’re playing with your best friend.  Books can be like that, too.

Start here, with the fighting legend, Joe Louis:
A Nation’s Hope: the Story of Boxing Legend Joe Louis (Matt de la Pena, 2011.)

 

 

 

 

Then, go here:

Bird in a Box (Andrea Davis Pinkney, 2011).

There’s boxing, an orphanage, kids with big dreams, and (who else?) Joe Louis.

 

 

 

 

Cake and milk … hot dogs and ketchup … games and friends … and these two books.  Have fun!