ELLINWOOD — There are so many fabulous things happening at our EGS Library. We are in the middle of March Book Madness, and K-6th students are voting on the book that they think should move to the next round of the bracket. Next week will determine the champion.
Kindergarten teachers borrow theme books every week to share the love of reading with their students. During library time we discuss a variety of themes and skills. Kindergartners also visit us one other time during the week, so they can check out twice a week. Our first graders are getting ready to take their second STAR test to see how much they have improved their reading over the past several weeks. They have been partner reading and taking AR tests and will begin taking tests at their level on their own. Both of these grade levels celebrated their reading with Book Bingo.
Second grade students utilize the library well during their classroom reading rotation. Mrs. Robl knows when it’s that time of the day, because we always have a handful of second graders looking for their next read. Mr. Zook and Mrs. Westrup have been utilizing ILL (Inter-Library Loan) this year to introduce a variety of books on various topics to their third graders.
Miss Feist, Mrs. Cain, and Miss Burton partner with Mrs. Holmes in teaching a genre unit that consisted of sharing a plethora of books relating to each genre.
Fifth graders recently learned about “fake news” and how to find a good internet source. Sixth graders are on the home stretch of completing their library challenges for the year. These students have chosen various topics to research and record their findings which are shared with Mrs. Holmes through Google Classroom.
Second through sixth graders have been celebrating their reading successes throughout the year. Most recently, we have had sucker challenges with students completing a reading page provided by Mrs. Holmes. Once completed, it is checked, and then our students choose a sucker from the sucker tree. If it is a special one, they also win another prize.
Our last AR party consisted of fun Minute-to-Win-It games during library times, thanks to Mrs. Robl, Mrs. Redington, Mrs. Garner, and Mrs. Hammeke. Bryce Baker, our library student aide, has done a great job of keeping the Pizza Hut Certificates going to all of our students who have made their AR goals. Students are continuing their reading to earn a free recess for their end of the year reward.
Sheri Holmes is the director of library and media services for the Ellinwood School and Community Libraries. She can be reached by email at sholmes@usd355.org.
