Time to Get Ready to Come Back to School!

Are you ready? I am trying to be! I haven't finished reading all the books I want to read!

The library is having some work done on it so that when we return, you will see some improvements. There is new carpet, new paint, and... I am sorry to say... they scared the ghost in the library away!! The tile that lets him out is now gone!! I wonder where he went??

I have been reading this whole summer and look forward to telling you about a few of them.

For example:

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

It is a very spooky book about a kid that grows up in a

graveyard while being raised by ghosts!! Want to read it?

We have 2 copies in our library! Who will be the first ones???

I look forward to seeing you at our meet and greet night!

Keep Reading!

Mrs. Duckworth

Happy 4th Reading

I hope you had a great Fourth of July and celebrated by eating lots of food and watching beautiful fireworks!!
I have been busy reading LOTS of books! I can't wait to start sharing all that I have read!! I hope you have been spending some of your time off inside a good book! I can tell you that there a bunch of really good Bluebonnets for this year. One in particular, is going to be a hit at Longfellow Elementary!! I can't wait for you to read it!

Enjoy they rest of your summer and I look forward to seeing you in August!!
Keep Reading!
Mrs. Duckworth

WoW!

I cannot believe the year is already finished!! And I apologize for not keeping this up to date! I know I promise you the link to the Dewey Decimal Rap on YouTube and I will try and get it on the blog so that you do not have to search.

Remember to come to the library this summer and get a head start on next year's Bluebonnet Books!! Bluebonnet Camp is June 15 - 18 and June June 22 - 25 at 10:00 am. I will be reading one of the shorter stories and then we will do an activity to help you remember the story! Come every day or come on only the days you can! We will do a different book each day. The more you participate, the more books you will have done for next year!

I look forward to seeing you this summer!
Keep Reading :)
Mrs. Duckworth

National Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month. Two weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to attend the Texas Library Association Conference and see a lot of new books and meet a few authors! While I was there, I bought the new poetry book by Jeff Foxworthy. While I was gone, you watched the fairy tale "Thumbelina" by Hans Christian Andersen (which is poetry!). You learned the elements contained in most Fairy Tales! (royalty, talking animals, problem/solution, good guy/bad guy, and a little magic)
We have also been studying two of my favorite poets. Last week, we listened to Shel Silverstein read and sing some of his funny poems on his website (link on the left side of this page)!! Some of my favorites were "Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me, Too" and "Boa Constrictor"!
This week, we have watched a tape of the great Jack Prelutsky talk about how he gets his ideas for his poems and how many times he has to go back and try to make it perfect. I like his poem about Willie and the worm he eats! Not great to hear right before lunch, though!
Our school is celebrating Poetry in Your Pocket Day on April 24th (actual date is April 30th but some of our students are taking their TAKS test that day!). Make sure you hang on to the poem you copied on your paper. Someone may ask you to read it to them on April 24th!!
My other favorite poet, that we have already talked about, is Dr. Seuss. I could read any of his rhyming stories - anytime!!

Make a poem your SPOT this month!!
Keep Reading :)
Mrs. Duckworth

Dog - Man's Best Friend

What a great topic we had this week! We read part of the informational text, How to Talk to Your Dog. Then we read the book of poems called Good Dog. We learned how to communicate with a dog and how to read their "talk" to us. Remember, to show a dog who is the boss - you do not have to use your mouth on their muzzzle!! You can use your hand!! Also, dogs LOVE the baby talk! They understand that tone of your voice. The poetry book gave us a glimpse of what some dogs' personalities are like. Our favorites were the chihuahua, the bulldog and the boston terrier.

There are so many great stories about dogs that you want to share! I BEG you to write them for me so that I can read about your favorite dog story.

Happy Reading :)

Mrs. Duckworth

Book Fair

Book Fair was a great success!!! A BIG thanks goes to all that helped make it a success! I enjoyed seeing all your smiling faces come through the doors and all the books that went out in your hands!! The daily door prizes were fun and I hope you are enjoying your prizes - for those of you lucky enough to have your name drawn from the bucket with names from everyone in the WHOLE school!!
I hope you had a restful Spring Break and read a lot of books!!!
I finished The Thing About Georgie - A Novel. It is a very interesting book. I don't want to give it all away but, I felt a little sorry for Georgie. Being a dwarf could make it difficult to make friends but he learns a lot about himself and how his friends see him. You will have to read this great story to understand what I am talking about!

Check it out!!!
Mrs. Duckworth

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss

March 2nd was Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel)'s Birthday! This week, we shared a few Dr. Seuss stories. There was one common thread through all of them - Use your brain and Always do your best! This was perfect for the upcoming TAKS tests the next week. The stories we shared were Hooray for Diffendoofer Day, And to Think I Saw It On Mulberry Street, and Bartholomew and the Ooblek. Some of you even got to touch green oobleck!! (How to make Ooblek - 2 parts corn starch, 1 part water, green food dye; mix)
Hooray for Diffendoofer Day says the teachers have taught you the most important thing of all - "How to Think!" On the TAKS test, I know you used your brains to think and Prove It! Prove It!!
Happy Reading!
Mrs. Duckworth

Dream Big and Make It Happen

This week in library, we read the story, The Tin Forest by H. Ward. This story talks about a man that lives among a lot of other people's garbage. He dreams of living in a beautiful forest surrounded by trees, flowers and many animals. He decides to use the garbage to make his forest - out of tin. He makes his dream come true by building the forest which then atracts live animals that bring seeds to start live plants and trees.
We discussed how our futures are bright because we can MAKE it happen!
Dream Big and Make It Happen!!

Picture borrowed from www.titlewave.com.

Happy Reading :)

Mrs. Duckworth

Remember Cowgirl Peg

Back in October, we had an author visit by Cowgirl Peg, a.k.a (also known as) Peggy Sundberg. She showed us all her books about her horses and the lessons they can teach us. We heard about Shortstuff, Oakie and Lonesome. She read many of her stories to us, but I think the one we loved the most was the story about her dog, Jazmine. It is such a touching story of how this rescued pet became such a part of her life. Cowgirl Peg gave us the advice to "Write What You Know!". This is wonderful advice to follow when writing any kind of story. She also talked about editing her stories and how many times she goes back to rewrite a sentence to make it say exactly what she means. She taught us about the publisher and the illustrator and their roles in making a book.
Please visit her site by clicking on the link in the websites sidebar.
AND... you can always check out her books in our library!
Mrs. Duckworth

Happy February

This week in the library, we talked about A LOT of things happening! We have Valentine's Day (and all the sweet - hearts!), President's Day and Black History Month. Make sure you come in and check out the display of books in honor of Black History Month!!

In celebration of President's Day, we read George Washington's Teeth, by D. Chandra and M. Comora. We learned a few facts about George: his teeth were made from hippo tusks, he stuffed cotton in his mouth for the famous portrait we always see and he did not like to smile because he was ashamed of losing his teeth.
We watched a video about Abraham Lincoln and the facts we learned were: he used his hat as a filing cabinet, he was 6ft 4in tall and he freed the slaves.

We look forward to seeing you in the Library next week!

Mrs. Duckworth

Last Week...

Last week in the library, we talked about being a great detective and searching out the clues in a story. Some of you heard a story about a fish. The rest of you heard a story about a whale. Remember how the clues slowly gave the answer as to what my character was in my story?

To Draw a Conclusion: Ask yourself these questions:

• What did the story tell me?


• What do I already know?

Put them all together to figure out what the author is telling you!

Happy Reading!

Mrs.Duckworth

Welcome!

You have now entered the Longfellow Library blogspot! Through this site, I hope to keep in touch with students and parents about the new things going on in our library. You will also find information about your favorite authors, books, and reviews of some of the books available in our library.
Stay tuned to all the new things that will be added as the year progresses!
I look forward to seeing you in the Library!
Mrs. Duckworth