Day 165 - Kindergarten Spring Poetry - Mrs. Ardizzoni and Ms. Carney - Pine Glen Library Technology Center

Our kindergarten students have been discovering their five senses through stories, discussions, writing, and illustrating.  Our project began with reading the story My Five Senses by Aliki with our librarian, Miss Carney.

After reading the story, Miss Carney and Mrs. Ardizzoni helped students brainstorm and discuss their ideas of things they could see, hear, taste, touch, and smell during the season of spring.

During the next meeting, students wrote one sentence for each of the senses, beginning with the phrase, "In the spring, I" see / hear / taste / touch / smell ________________________________.

Then students used the app, Drawing Pad on their classroom ipads, to illustrate one of the sense sentences they had written.  After illustrating, Miss Carney and Mrs. Ardizzoni helped type the sentence on their drawings and students then concluded by typing their name.

Next, Mrs. Ardizzoni used the app, Book Creator to compile all of the students' illustrations and writing into one classroom poetry book.  Here we are, back in the classroom where students got to see their final product as both an ebook and hardcopy classroom version.  Students were called up to the board when their page was displayed and they read their sentence aloud.  Congratulations kindergartners!

Day 69 - Great Holiday Reads - Megan Carney - Pine Glen Library/Media Specialist

This post originally appeared on the Pine Glen Library/Technology Center Blog

The holiday season is upon us, and during this sometimes hectic time, there is nothing like taking a few minutes away from all the hustle and bustle to sit together and enjoy a great story.

Here are some great ideas for holiday reading:

1.  The Night Before Christmas by Clement Moore- the poem we all know and love so much comes alive with Jan Brett's amazing illustrations!

2. Dream Snow by Eric Carle

3. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson- you may have read this when you were a kid! 
This classic story shows us what happens when the six not so well behaved Herdman kids take over the church pageant and reinterpret the story of Christmas, with some crazy, funny, and sometimes profound surprises.

4.  Lil Rabbit's Kwanzaa- Brer Rabbit meets African tradition as a little rabbit tries to find a gift to bring his grandfather for Karamu, the Kwanzaa feast.

5. How the Grinch Stole Christmas- Who would ever steal Christmas? The Grinch, that's who! Your heart may grow three sizes too when you share this Dr. Seuss classic with your family.

6. Olivia Helps with Christmas by Ian Falconer- Olivia, our favorite piglet, helps out with Christmas as only she can.  The great black and white illustrations- with pops of holiday green and red- really help tell the story!

7. Happy Hanukkah, Corduroy! The sweet bear in overalls introduces young readers to the sacred traditions of the Festival of Lights.

8.  Olive, The Other Reindeer by Vivian Walsh- When Olive the Dog hears the song about the "other reindeer," she thinks she is the other reindeer and heads to the North Pole to try to join Santa's team.  As you might imagine, hilarity ensues.

9. The Kvetch Who Stole Hanukkah by Bill Bertle- A Grinch-like grump who tries to steal Hanukkah learns the true meaning of the holiday.

10. The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg- Hop on the night train to go visit Santa in this magical holiday classic.


Happy Holidays, and Happy Reading!