Your Shot Jigsaw Puzzle

February Units

February 4-25, 2009

Busy, busy, busy can best describe us in the library. Currently 4th & 5th Graders are beginning a unit on research using some of our data bases that the school has access to through Prince William County as well as the State Department of Education. Checkout out the Alvey Elementary site and click on the any of the links in the Research Box for great and safe places for you and your child to do research.

• 4th Graders are studying about US President's and are encouraged to use either the World Book On-line Encyclopedia or Biography Resource Center. We will be completing this research during our library classes.
  
• 5th Graders are doing an Author Study. The students are using our Library Portaportal website and the links that are listed in the 3-5 Favorite Authors to learn about their favorite authors and to find out things such as if they are working on anything new, upcoming book/movie release dates and how they became authors.
  
• Kindergartners are being introduced to Research by using non-fiction books and a SmartBoard Alpha chart to learn and record new information about penguins.

• 1st, 2nd, & 3rd Graders are currently not having Library this rotation. However they do have the opportunity to come down during center time with their teacher's permission for book return and checkout.

ALA Announces Winners

The ALA announced the winners of the Caldecott and Newbery Medals on Jan. 21, 2008. Take a look at these books to see if you liked their choices:

2009 Caldecott Medal Winner:

• The House in the Night, illustrated by Beth Krommes, written by Susan Marie Swanson

2009 Caldecott Honors:

• A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever, written and illustrated by Marla Frazee
• How I Learned Geography, written and illustrated by Uri Shulevitz
• A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams, illustrated by Melissa Sweet, written by Jen Bryant

2009 Newbery Medal Winner

• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Dave McKean

2009 Newbery Honors:

• The Underneath by Kathi Appelt, illustrated by David Small
• The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom by Margarita Engle
• Savvy by Ingrid Law
• After Tupac & D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson