Doss Library

Congratulations to everyone who participated in the RADical Winter Reading Program and/or BookSpring!!! The Read Across Doss co-chairs served hot chocolate during recess last week for all participants. I hope that next year we'll be serving even more marshmallow and whipped cream topped cups of sprinkled happiness.

We are especially proud of our top readers:

Kindergarten
First Place with 301 minutes- Kaitlyn in Ms. Collin's class
Second Place with 180 minutes- Leo in Ms. Vrba's class
Third Place with 130 minutes- Brighten in Ms. Sprague's class

First Grade
First Place with 610 minutes- Aydin in Mrs. Singerman's class
Second Place with 562 minutes- Jiarui in Mrs. Mowry's class
Third Place with 296 minutes- Charlie in Ms. Sprague's class

Second Grade
First Place with 1101 minutes- Emmy in Mrs. Smith's class
Second Place with 878 minutes- Celeste in Mrs. Smith's class
Third Place with 730 minutes- Asseah in Mrs. Hello's class

Third Grade
First Place with 1152 minutes- Dominic in Mrs. Stover's class
Second Place with 993 minutes- Lorelei in Mrs. Stover's class
Third Place with 908 minutes- Amelie in Mrs. Bone's class

Fourth Grade
First Place with 3479 minutes- Aima in Sweeney/Wiley
Second Place with 3012 minutes- Ella in Cormack
Third Place with 2445 minutes- Zach in Sweeney/Wiley

Fifth Grade
First Place with 1795 minutes- Claire in Mrs. Key's class
Second Place with 1720 minutes- Connor in Mrs. Hawkin's class
Third Place with 1715 minutes- Addison in Mrs. Daly's class

Keep Reading!!!

Thanks to Mrs. Means and her amazing second graders for taking an interest in my blog. It doesn't get as much traffic as I'd like and I was flattered that Mrs. Means wanted to check out the library Samsung Galaxy Nook tablets to use as a vehicle to explore my blog! I have some great links and it's a fantastic platform for sharing, but haven't posted in a while and was energized by the enthusiasm shown today.

I know that my community is busy and there isn't a lot of time to explore all that's available on the internet and in social media, but am glad that you're here and ask that you check out the new books on our FollettShelf. Take some time to look at the first 29 titles. They are the newest additions and were purchased with funds awarded through our People's Choice Award in the FollettChallenge last spring. These electronic books have built in videos, slideshows, internet links, and more! I've ordered a variety of content and levels and hope to add more soon. You can gain access with a generic username and password. It's the same one we use for mycapstonelibrary.com. I will post this on Living Tree as I cannot share this information here, or ask your owl... most of the kids know it! You can also login to the FollettShelf with a student id # as the user and the transitive verb meaning "to receive or take in the sense of (as letters or symbols) especially by sight or touch" as the password.

Also, I'd love for you to follow dosslibrary on Twitter and Instagram!!!

Please leave a comment-- I'd love to hear from you!

Guess where Jenna and I were over the break... This was only one of the amazing places we visited!

Did you know that Doss Elementary School has access to many electronic books (e-books) and databases? I want to be sure that you know how to access these from school as well as home. I cannot post passwords here, but will send that information through Living Tree so that students can read e-books and explore databases at home. Since there is a lot of information that I want to share, I am going to start with the two newest and will add a few at a time in subsequent posts. I think that this will make exploration of these sites fun and interesting, without being overwhelming. Most importantly, I want you to use them! So here goes.... 

I have found that the kids love the Capstone Interactive e-books that can be found at mycapstonelibrary.com There is a username and password required and many of the kids know it, but I will post them on Living Tree for those who don't. Many of the little ones ask for a DC Super-Pets book and while I do have print copies in the library, electronic versions can be found online in the Capstone library. Here's a sneak peek of what the kids like so much! There are eleven DC Super-Pets titles and I have purchased 262 other Capstone e-books that include fiction and non-fiction on a variety of reading levels. Check them out and let me know what you think!

I hope that everyone is having a great summer! I wanted to post some summer reading ideas for your kiddos. I hope that they are helpful and informative. I believe strongly in free choice, voluntary reading and encourage you to let your child pick books that are of interest to him/her. Allowing children to choose their own books is important to the process of becoming a reader. Of course, guiding your child can be a fun as well.



Judy Blume shared at BookPeople on Saturday that you can make suggestions and even give your child your old copies of titles that you loved, but a new cover sometimes go a long way. I had my personal copy of Are You there God, It's Me Margaret? in my bag that day and I must admit, it seemed absolutely perfect to me, but I know that the appeal isn't the same as the updated cover and I appreciate the new book and contemporary cover and can see the value is offering that to a student. In fact, I have gone through and purchased several new copies of old favorites and have seen the circulation increase immediately. I hope that the following links provide you with some ideas and inspiration for summer reading. If you have additional suggestions, please leave a comment. Enjoy!!!

You can't go wrong with these lists from the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association.

No need to reinvent the wheel... The Houston Area Independent Schools Library Network has a thorough list of books organized by grade level from prekindergarten through twelfth grade. They've even archived lists from 1994-2014. Check them out here.

Scholastic wants to keep kids reading all summer long. Their challenge and booklists are located here. There's also a fun link to 65 Book Videos to Build Excitement for Summer Reading. I think that book trailers are a fun way to get kids excited about reading!

The National Science Teachers Association recommends these outstanding science trade books for grades K-12. This site has links to this year's list as well as lists dating back ten years.

The National Council of Teachers of English Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children can be found here.

NPR has some great suggestions and Reading Rockets lists the current award-winning books for kids.

Happy Reading!!!

Jenna and I had the pleasure of hearing Judy Blume speak at BookPeople yesterday. She signed her new adult book for us. Make sure to go the BookPeople's webpage to look for fun summer events and to participate in their summer reading program!

I hope that everyone is enjoying their summer. I am almost done reading my second book and am getting ready to pack for vacation. I wanted to let you know that if you're using an e-reader and want to know about e-book deals, you should sign up for BookBub.com. You will receive notifications of books that are on sale or discounted for the day and can select from a variety of genres and types of books to be notified about. Today, Mr. Cooper is Super! by Dan Gutman and Jim Paillot is on sale for $1.99 and Take the Dog Out! by Lynne Dempsey and Mandy Newham-Cobb is free! I hope to share some links to book lists and other fun soon.

If you're looking for a weekend activity- click her for information about Second Saturdays at The Contemporary Austin at Laguna Gloria. This is a great summer connection to our amazing end of year Gallery Greats collaboration. The link is a bit old, but I have it on good authority that the activity for tomorrow involves making wire monsters. Enjoy your summer and check back here as I plan to post book suggestions and more.

If you don't already follow me on twitter and Instagram, please do! Look for dosslibrary- that's me!