Summer is here!

During the summer months many children get bored; their usual routines of the school year are disrupted, and they find themselves with hours of unstructured time. This is the perfect time to introduce a new and challenging classic to your student. As a parent, think back on the books that you read during this time in your own life, and pick up some books at the public library for your child.

Maybe you weren't a reader, either, during this time, or maybe you just need some suggestions. May I help? For starters, the fourth and fifth graders will be challenged to read the following list of books in the upcoming school year's Classics Bowl 2007. Your student may begin reading these anytime.

1. Black Beauty, by Anna Sewell

2. Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson

3. Cheaper by the dozen, by Frank Gilbreth

4. Voyage of the Dawn Treader, by C. S. Lewis

5. Little Pilgrim's Progress, by Helen Taylor

These books have adventure,laughs, and lessons for all ages, and your student will likely be drawn into the plot and character development with a little encouragement at the beginning.

I have also discovered some new books this summer, and I highly recommend a new one by Kate diCamillo. This two-time Newbery award winning author has written her best yet, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. I have already purchased three copies for our school library, so your student will have the opportunity to check out this book about a ceramic toy bunny who thinks only of himself, until life changes for him many times. I recommend this for third grade readers and up.
For those just beginning to read chapter books, Lucy Nolan has written a very funny dog book called, Down Girl and Sit. Its subtitle, "Smarter than squirrels," hints at its humor, and I recommend this cute book to all readers who enjoy a good laugh with dogs.

Congratulations Classics Bowl winners!

Bling Bling wins!

On Friday, May 12, our First Annual Classics Bowl Competition 2006 was held in the cafeteria of SACS. More than 250 students, teachers, and family members watched as our 66 contestants answered questions about the five books read for the competiton. The group of fifth grade girls known as "Bling Bling" won the final round of competition; the girls' names are Madelyn Carter, Paige Farrimond, Alexandra Hutcheson, and Savannah Patrick. Congratulations to these winners, and congratulations to all who read and participated in this contest. Readers are winners!

All participants will receive medals for their hard work during the reading awards assembly on Friday, May 19th. Our four winners will also receive $25 gift certificates to Academy Store and their names on a plaque commemorating the event.

The Latest Info on Classics Bowl Contest 5/1/06

First of all, a big thank you goes out to Mrs. Ann Ross for the great review of Hans Brinker that she did for us last Thursday. The authentic treats and memorabilia from the Netherlands provided a truly unique, multi-sensory learning experience for all of us.

Next, our practice tournament is Thursday, from 2:45 - 3:45 pm, in the cafeteria. We will all get to practice hitting the buzzers and answering questions. We will also randomly select our team positions for Friday's BIG TOURNAMENT.

Then, on Monday, at the end of our chapel time, we will introduce all of our teams. During the final week, be sure you have read all five books and can answer questions about each one.

Finally, on Friday, May 12, at 1:00 pm, we will start with all of our 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders in the audience (except for those in the contest), and we'll watch the game show with 17 teams of 3 or 4 players each competing. Our principal Mr. Paden will be our host for the event. In the likely event that the game has not concluded with a winner by 2:45 pm, Mr. Paden will dismiss the audience for carpool, and the remaining teams will stay until a winner is declared. Team players, be sure to let your parents know that you may be late leaving school that day. Parents, for more information, you may contact Mrs. Frame at the library.

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

Our 4th grade students are getting a special change during library time for the rest of the school year: they are going to write their own newspapers! Each class was challenged to think about what they would want to see in a newspaper, and then to begin to prepare at least one item for publication. Over the next 2 - 3 weeks, we will interview, compose, draw, and outline a newspaper for each class, and each student will receive a copy of the class newspaper. We may even be able to post it here on the blog! I am encouraging each student to contribute something so that all can have a "byline" in their class's edition. All work can be done during our library time, so there will be no extra assigned homework, but . . . (whispering) they've already asked me if it's okay if they work on this at home. I said okay!

We completed our 4th book discussion out of our 5 for Classics Bowl. Thank you, Mrs. Smith, for helping us with Call of the Wild. Next week, April 27, will be our last book discussion, and it will cover Hans Brinker, by Mary Mapes Dodge. Come prepared to listen, learn, and win!

Classics Bowl update

Our next Classics Bowl discussion time will be this Thursday, April 20, in the library. We will talk about Jack London's book, The Call of the Wild, and those who are prepared to answer questions are those who most likely will receive goodies. We will also have snacks and door prizes, (at least 10 books will be given away). Mrs. Brenda Smith (Katie and Sarah's mom) will be our hostess for the afternoon, so come prepared!

Achievement Test time is a good time to Read!

While our Stanford Achievement Testing is going on this upcoming week, I highly recommend having a fun book with you, in case you finish a test early. Look for a book that is easy to remember where you were in the story. Some of my favorites include Gooney Bird Greene by Lowry, any of the funny animal stories by Mr. King-Smith, or a mystery like the Boxcar Children series by Warner. These books are in the juvenile fiction section, which can be found on the long and high bookcases to your right when you enter the library. Enjoy your reading time!

Read!Read!Read! Contest Ends Tuesday!

Remember to turn in your book list, with a total of all the pages that you've read, to your teacher on Tuesday, April 4, 2006. Late lists will not be accepted. This date is an extension from the original ending date of March 31, so you have several extra days to meet your goal. Work hard, and Read!Read!Read!

Photos from March 23rd's Classics Bowl

Our students were eager to show their knowledge of the book, Prince Caspian, by C. S. Lewis.

This group photo was for those who had won a prize---candy bars, pens, notebooks, even BOOKS!

1st meeting of Classics Bowl a success

Thursday, March 23, was the first after-school review session for our first annual Classics Bowl. One of our dads, Mr. Scott Ross, reviewed the book, Prince Caspian, by C.S. Lewis for us---and wow, these students really know their stuff! We had more than 60 students and about 15 - 20 adults meeting in the library. Our 17 door prizes included pencils, gel pens, notebooks, and brand-new books (some provided by our local Barnes and Noble store at 1604 and 281---thanks!), and CHOCOLATE! Mr. and Mrs. Ross made dozens of candy bar wrappers that had book review questions and answers on them, and handed them out to those that answered the questions---they were really cool! Along with popcorn, bottled waters, and good friends, everyone considered the afternoon a big hit.

Our next after-school review session will be on the book, Little Women, by Louisa Mae Alcott, next Thursday, March 30th, in the library again. Mrs. Leslie Carter (Madelyn and Claire's mom) will be our guest book reviewer. Come prepared for quizzing, eating, and having a good time.

TEAM MEMBERS: Remember to give Mrs. Frame a written list of your team members' names and the name of the team as soon as possible.

New End Date for Read!Read!Read!

We have changed the date that our Read!Read!Read! contest will end. Our original date of March 31st now coincides with our SACS Elementary Texas Day extravaganza, and we've decided that makes the day too full. Our new end date, Tuesday, April 4, 2006, also gives our students an extra weekend to read, and it increases their chances of meeting or exceeding their reading goals for the contest.

All book forms, completed with titles of books read and their page counts, are due on this new date. Please, help ensure that your 1st through 5th grader returns his book form by Tuesday, April 4th. Please total the number of pages on this form berfore turning it in. Your child's teacher will confirm the page count. Any questions? Call Mrs. Frame at ext. 114 in the elementary school.

Week 8 RRR Winners

Our newest weekly winners for our Read!Read!Read! contest are
1st grade: Mrs. Dillon's class
2nd grade: Mrs. Schweigert's class
3rd grade: Mrs. Fischer's class
4th grade: Mrs. Tidwell's class
5th grade: Mrs. Grossman's class
Congratulations to this week's winners!

...and

those that remember to turn in their RRR slips, with the names of books read and number of pages total, will get to play our game of Library Darts. Winners who hit a bullseye earn a trip to Mrs. Frame's treasure box, filled with toys, seashells, and even BOOKS!

Mrs. Frame out for eye surgery

Mrs. Frame is scheduled to be out following eye surgery ("the better to see you with, my dear"), from March 2 - 6. Please keep her in your prayers.

RRR Week 7 Class Winners

Our weekly classroom winners for Read!Read!Read! have been announced. They are students in the classes of:
1st grade: Mrs. Adams
2nd grade: Mrs. Schweigert
3rd grade: Mrs. McCoy
4th grade: Mrs. Baker
5th grade: Miss Grossman
Congratulations to everyone that read this week. You are all winners!

Mrs. Frame, elementary school librarian at SACS

Classics Bowl update

As a reminder---and maybe a reliever---our Classic Bowl participants will be required to read only Part 1 of Little Women, which ends on page 358. The edition of the book that we selected (Aladdin Classics) includes Part 2 as well; some of our motivated readers may want to continue reading the rest of the book. If you choose to do that, you may count those extra pages also for Read!Read!Read! contest.

Classics Bowl currently has 19 teams of fourth and fifth graders, with most teams having four members. !

Below are the dates of the book discussions. Parents, please allow your student to attend these times of review and revelry (and rivalry!), from 2:45 - 3:30 pm. You are also welcome to come by and enjoy the fun!

March 23 - Discussion of Prince Caspian in library
March 30 - Discussion of Little Women - Part 1, in library
April 6 - Discussion of The Prince and the Pauper, in library
April 20 - Discussion of The Call of the Wild, in library
April 27 - Discussion of Hans Brinker, or The Silver Skates, in library
May 4 - Classics Bowl practice, in library
May 12 - Classics Bowl! starts at 1:00 pm, in cafetorium

WEEK 6 Read! Read! Read! Winners!

This week's classroom winners are the following:
1st grade winner: Mrs. Dillon's class, who read 1,640 pages;
2nd grade winner Mrs. Schweigert's class, who read 4,447 pages;
3rd grade winner Ms. Carper's class, who read 2,286 pages;
4th grade winner Mrs. Baker, who read 3,633 pages;
and
5th grade winner Miss Grossman's class, who read a whopping 9,006 pages!

Way to Go!!!!

Read!Read!Read! contest is halfway through!

SACS Elementary School is in the sixth week of twelve weeks through our Read!Read!Read! contest for 1st through 5th grade students. Each week we announce the grade level classes that turn in the greatest number of pages read. Here is a list of our weekly winners so far:

Grade Level--Week 1---Week 2 --Week 3-- Week 4---Week 5
1st gr--- Aramouni --Adams --Dillon--Dillon---Adams
2nd gr --Schweigert--Schweigert--Castaneda -Schweigert -Schweigert
3rd gr-- Carper--- Fischer-- Ross --Fischer---Ross
4th gr-- Baker---- Baker-- Baker --Baker --Baker
5th gr-- Carroll-- Grossman --Grossman --Carroll --Grossman

I will be posting the Week 6 results later this afternoon.

Remember, the class that reads the most pages by the end of the contest wins an extra hour recess, a free dress day, and an ice cream party. Yippie!! So turn in those pages and read, read, READ!

San Antonio Christian Elementary School starts blogging!

As the librarian of the elementary school for San Antonio Christian Schools, I have decided to start sharing what's going on in the library through our brand-new blog. Today is Presidents' Day, and we have the day off, so now is a good time to jump into the pool.

A new program, called the Classics Bowl, is in its beginining stages. This is a reading contest for our fourth and fifth graders, divided into teams of 3-4 students. Two of our moms, Leslie Carter and Ann Ross, have brainstormed this idea and are working on the details of the contest.

We have chosen five books for our students to read and then to be quizzed: Prince Caspian, by C.S. Lewis; Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott; The Prince and the Pauper, by Mark Twain (Samuel L. Clemens); The Call of the Wild, by Jack London; and Hans Brinker, or The Silver Skates, by Mary Mapes Dodge. We are providing each team with a copy of each title, so that members can pass the books around to each other once they have finished reading one.

We currently have about 19 teams of students. Each team has at least one "coach," or parent/adult that encourages the team in reading the books and in selecting a team theme. To make this as much fun for the students as possible, we are suggesting that they come up with a team t-shirt or outfit to wear on the day of the contest, which will be May 12. The format we will follow for that game day will be similar to a "Family Feud" game show, with students being asked a question on the five books, and points given for correct answers.