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manhattan beach unified school district
Heidi snively - library RESOURCE specialist
310/546-8022 x5404
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Read-Alouds and Presentations Week to Week by Grade Level

4/29/2024

 

Week of April 29, 2024 | All Grades
CYRM Winners | Screen Time Awareness | Children's Book Week

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California Young Reader Medal
Winners announced on May 1. Compare the state results with our local voting results.
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Screen Time Awareness Week
Jimmy Jet and His TV Set, by Shel Silverstein
 Poem
Though a child could never actually turn into a TV, or have brains turn to mush from excessive screen time, children who spend too much time with electronic entertainment might not enjoy an imagination such as is gained through exploratory play, pleasure reading, and quiet reflection. Unplug from screen-based entertainment and let your imagination run wild. Find out more at screenfree.org. ​

Children's Book Week
Celebrate with books that engage readers of all ages - pictures that invite second and third closer looks - stories that are fun and meaningful - books that beg for repeat readings! Find out more.

Week of April 29, 2024 | TK and Kindergarten
CYRM Winners | Screen Time Awareness | Children's Book Week

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Screen Time Awareness Week
If..., by Sarah Perry 
Illustrations present such imaginative possibilities as worms with wheels, caterpillar toothpaste, and whales in outer space.​
​Connections 101 Screen Free Activities

Children's Book Week
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The world of Mo Willems is exactly what Children's Book Week is about: books that engage readers of all ages - pictures that invite second and third closer looks - stories that are fun and meaningful - books that beg for repeat readings!
Crafty Connection Children's Book Week coloring page

That Is NOT a Good Idea! by Mo Willems
A plump mama goose is invited to dinner by a hungry fox while her babies warn that it is a bad idea.

Week of April 29, 2024 | First Grade
CYRM Winners | Screen Time Awareness | Children's Book Week

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Screen Time Awareness Week
The Dragon in the Clock Box, by M. Jean Craig
When Joshua says he has a dragon's egg his family plays along. Note: no electronic entertainment is visible and readers can see how family members spend their leisure time.
Connections 101 Screen Free Activities

Children's Book Week
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This book about imagination is exactly what Children's Book Week is about: books that engage readers of all ages - pictures that invite second and third closer looks - stories that are fun and meaningful - books that beg for repeat readings!
Crafty Connection Children's Book Week coloring page
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What Is Inside This Box? by Drew Daywalt
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Monkey has a box, which he tells Cake has a cat inside, but only when the box is closed; Cake suggests that maybe there is a dinosaur instead.
Crafty Connection Take and make foldable box

Week of April 29, 2024 | Second Grade
CYRM Winners | Screen Time Awareness | Children's Book Week

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Screen Time Awareness Week
Open this Little Book, by Jesse Klausmeier
An imaginative exploration of the art of book making and a charming tale of friendship and the power of books. The special invitation at the end is the perfect lead-in for...
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​Emma Kate, by Patricia Polacco
The best thing to play with is a huge imagination.
Connections 101 Screen Free Activities

Children's Book Week
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This book about honesty is exactly what Children's Book Week is about: books that engage readers of all ages - pictures that invite second and third closer looks - stories that are fun and meaningful - books that beg for repeat readings!
Crafty Connection Children's Book Week coloring page

Betty Bunny Didn't Do It, by Michael B. Kaplan
When Betty Bunny breaks a lamp, she blames it on the Tooth Fairy. “Is that the honest truth?” her mom asks. “It's an honest lie,” Betty Bunny replies proudly. Honest lies, white lies, crying wolf – how can a little bunny keep track of the right thing to do?

Week of April 29, 2024 | Third Grade
CYRM Winners | Screen Time Awareness | Children's Book Week

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Screen Time Awareness Week
Goodnight iPad, by Ann Droyd
In this parody for the next generation, a family bids goodnight to their electronic gadgets before going to bed. 

When Charlie McButton Lost Power, by Suzanne Collins
A boy who likes nothing but playing computer games is in trouble when the power goes out and his little sister has all of the batteries in the house.
​Connections 101 Screen Free Activities

Children's Book Week
These fairy tales are exactly what Children's Book Week is about: books that engage readers of all ages - pictures that invite second and third closer looks - stories that are fun and meaningful - books that beg for repeat readings!
Crafty Connection Children's Book Week coloring page

Elements of Fairy Tales Readwritethink.org
Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dude, by Kevin O'Malley
Videos Before reading the story, set the mood with We Are Princesses and The Biker.
Cooperatively writing a fairy tale for school, a girl imagines a beautiful princess whose beloved ponies are being stolen by a giant, and a boy conjures up a muscular biker who will guard the last pony in exchange for gold.

Waking Beauty, by Leah Wilcox
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Prince Charming tries all sorts of silly ways to wake Sleeping Beauty before he learns how he is really supposed to wake her up.

Week of April 29, 2024 | Fourth Grade
CYRM Winners | Screen Time Awareness | Children's Book Week

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Screen Time Awareness Week
If You Give a Mouse an iPhone, by Ann Droyd
In this parody of the Laura Numeroff storiies if you give a bored little mouse an iPhone he's likely to miss out on all the real fun going on around him.
​Connections 101 Screen Free Activities
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Children's Book Week
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The following two stories are exactly what Children's Book Week is about: books that engage readers of all ages - pictures that invite second and third closer looks - stories that are fun and meaningful - books that beg for repeat readings!
Crafty Connection Children's Book Week coloring page

The Taking Tree, by Shrill Travesty
In this parody of The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein, a selfish little boy takes advantage of a long-suffering tree who finally gives him just what he deserves.

Video Click here for The Tree's Revenge, a brief animated parody
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Video Eat It Weird Al Yankovic's music video parody of Michael Jackson's Beat It.

Week of April 29, 2024 | Fifth Grade
CYRM Winners | Screen Time Awareness | Children's Book Week |
Curriculum Connection: Fairy Tale Novel Study

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Screen Time Awareness Week
Jimmy Jet and His TV Set, by Shel Silverstein
 Poem
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Though a child could never actually turn into a TV, or have brains turn to mush from excessive screen time, children who spend too much time with electronic entertainment might not enjoy an imagination such as is gained through exploratory play, pleasure reading, and quiet reflection. Unplug from screen-based entertainment and let your imagination run wild. Find out more at screenfree.org. 
Connections 101 Screen Free Activities
​

Children's Book Week
This picture book biography is exactly what Children's Book Week is about: books that engage readers of all ages - pictures that invite second and third closer looks - stories that are fun and eye-opening - books that beg for repeat readings!

Girl Running : Bobbi Gibb and the Boston Marathon, by Annette Bay Pimentel
An uplifting account of the achievements of the first woman to run the Boston Marathon describes how as a girl, Bobbi Gibb was not allowed to participate in sports at school and was subsequently barred from the 1966 Boston Marathon, compelling her to prove that women are just as capable as men.

27th Annual Exer Urgent Care Gator Run
Now let's get signed up for the Gator Run!

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Video A Tale Dark and Grimm book trailer

A Tale Dark and Grimm, by Adam Gidwitz
Hansel and Gretel walk out of their own story and into eight other classic Grimm-inspired tales as the siblings learn to take charge of their destinies and become the clever architects of their own happily ever after. We begin this novel today with the introduction and then up to page 5.

Read-Alouds and Presentations Week to Week by Grade Level

4/23/2024

 

Week of April 22, 2024 | All Grades | Celebrating Earth Week

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Earth Day is an annual observance, held on April 22, to increase awareness of environmental issues. Millions of people worldwide gather to clean up litter, to protest threats to the environment, and to celebrate progress in reducing pollution. In 1969, U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson suggested that a day of environmental education be held on college campuses. The following year, the lawyer and environmentalist Denis Hayes (then a recent graduate of Stanford University) led hundreds of students in organizing the observance of Earth Day on April 22, 1970. About 20 million people participated in this celebration. The event helped to alert people to the dangers of pollution and fostered a new environmental movement. Also in 1970, Congress created the Environmental Protection Agency to set and enforce pollution standards, and passed the Clean Air Act which limits the amount of air pollution that cars, utilities, and industries could release. Other environmental laws soon followed. (Hayes, Denis. "Earth Day." World Book Student. World Book, 2016. Web. 18 Apr. 2016.)
The effort continues with Grades of Green, a grassroots organization that teaches kids about environmental stewardship that got its start at Grand View Elementary School in 2009. 

MBUSD Website Green District information page

Video ABC7 Eyewitness News Manhattan Beach Students are Pros at Saving the Planet 
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Week of April 22, 2024 | TK and Kindergarten | Earth Week
​Natural Resources

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Video Define the environment as what is all around us. Talk about trees, water, fuel, and electricity. Define and discuss natural resources: paper, metal, glass, oil. The animated Think Earth shows the impact humans have on the environment and how to minimize impact for a healthier planet.

The Earth Book, by Todd Parr
Students learn simple ways to take care of the planet in this board book version of the original. 

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Coloring sheets
Composting... Life in the Slow Lane! 
Clean Storm Drains = Healthy Oceans!

Week of April 22, 2024 | First Grade | Earth Week
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rot, Repurpose, and Refuse

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Video Recycle Rex Rex and friends learn about recycling firsthand when the field where they play is in jeopardy of being turned into a landfill. Define and discuss the Six Rs and how excessive packaging contributes to waste. 
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Coloring sheets
Composting... Life in the Slow Lane! 
Clean Storm Drains = Healthy Oceans!

Week of April 22, 2024 | Second Grade | Earth Week
Out of Sight, Out of Mind. Where Does Trash Go?

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Clean Your Room, Harvey Moon! by Pat Cummings When Harvey cleans his room by stuffing everything under the rug he learns that though out of sight may be out of mind, it is not good enough when it comes to finding a place for his things. Discuss over-consumption and how landfills are filling to capacity. Talk about the importance of a clean beach.

Video clip Toys All Gone 
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Coloring sheets
Composting... Life in the Slow Lane! 
Clean Storm Drains = Healthy Oceans

Week of April 22, 2024 | Third Grade | Earth Week
Wetlands | Making Land Use Decisions for the Seventh Generation

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Curriculum Connection Ballona Wetlands field trip.

Video Common Ground, the Water, Earth, and Air We Share Curriculum connection Opening with a visit to a wetlands preserve, the video imparts the message of conservation and responsibility for our shared natural resources and respect for the environment. The narrator references "The Seventh Generation" principle, an Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) philosophy: decisions we make today should result in a sustainable world seven generations into the future. ​

Coloring sheets
Composting... Life in the Slow Lane! 
Clean Storm Drains = Healthy Oceans!

Week of April 22, 2024 | Fourth Grade | Earth Week
Hazardous Waste Disposal

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Someday a Tree, by Eve Bunting
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A young girl, her parents, and their neighbors try to save an oak tree that has been poisoned by illegal hazardous waste dumping.


Video Big Yellow Taxi sung by Joni Mitchell

Coloring sheets
Composting... Life in the Slow Lane! 
Clean Storm Drains = Healthy Oceans!

Week of April 22, 2024 | Fifth Grade | Earth Week | Taking Action

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Video Five Facts About the Santa Barbara Oil Spill of 1969 
In 1969, Santa Barbara woke up to its coast coated in sticky, pungent oil. What came next changed environmental policy for the nation. Ventura County Star video 

Black Beach: A Community, an Oil Spill, and the Origin of Earth Day, by Shaunna and John Stith

In 1969, Union Oil caused a hazardous oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara that flooded the Pacific Ocean, harmed wildlife, and devastated habitats. But from this ecological disaster sprang a new wave of environmental activism that would change the world.

Coloring sheets
Composting... Life in the Slow Lane! 
Clean Storm Drains = Healthy Oceans!

Read-Alouds and Presentations Week to Week by Grade Level

4/15/2024

 

Week of April 15, 2024 | TK | "Ugly Ducklings" Beloved Old Books

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Manhattan Beach Pier c1950
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Manhattan Avenue c1950 looking north from about 9th Street
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Else Holmelund Minarek (1920-2012)
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Published 1957
Little Bear (1957), by Else Holmelund Minarek (1920-2012) 
Else Holmelund Minarek worked as reporter before becoming a first grade teacher and recognizing the need for children's books with simple words. She wrote over 40 children's books during her lifetime. Little Bear was her first, and was also the very first book in the I Can Read! series.
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Crafty Connection Embellish and color a teddy bear "chapter book"

Week of April 15, 2024 | Kindergarten | Beloved Older Books

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Manhattan Beach Pier c1950
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Manhattan Avenue c1950 looking north from about 9th Street
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Published 1950
Petunia (1950) by Roger Duvoisin (1904-1980)
When Petunia finds a book in the barnyard she believes she is wise because she carries it under her wing. But when her advice to the other animals goes all wrong she realizes that to be truly wise she must learn to read.
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Crafty Connection Color and cut out Ida and her chicks math manipulative

Week of April 15, 2024 | First Grade | "Ugly Ducklings"
Compare and Contrast Beloved Older Books with Newer Books

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Manhattan Beach Blvd. at Highland Ave.
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Downtown Manhattan Beach
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Harry the Dirty Dog, by Gene Zion (1956)
Harry is a white dog with black spots who loves everything . . . except baths. One day, before bath time, Harry runs away. By the time he returns home, Harry is so dirty he looks like a black dog with white spots and his family doesn't recognize him.

The Sky Dog, by Brinton Turkle (1969)

A little boy is convinced that the white dog he finds on the beach is the same one he used to see playing among the clouds overhead.

​A Dog Wearing Shoes, by Sangmi Ko (2015)
Mini finds a dog and begs to keep him. Based on a true story. The author's niece once found a lost dog with 
shoes on, and after returning him to his owner, she adopted a dog named Ray. Sangmi lives and works in Seoul, South Korea, with two adopted dogs, White and Malti.

Crafty Connection "Reader of the Pack" dog coloring sheet

Week of April 15, 2024 | Second Grade | Poetry Month
Compare and Contrast Beloved Older Books with Newer Books

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Manhattan Beach Blvd. at Highland Ave.
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Manhattan Beach City Hall
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The Outside Cat, by Jane Thayer (1957)
Samuel wants to get inside. He finally does, only to discover that the family and cat who were living there have moved. Now Samuel wants out, but he’s trapped in an empty house.

Six-Dinner Sid, by Inga Moore (1991)
A clever cat lives with six families.

Won Ton : a Cat Tale Told in Haiku, by Lee Wardlaw (2011)
Prefaced with a clear explanation of the traditional Japanese haiku, a three-line poem with seventeen syllables, written in a 5 | 7 | 5 syllable count. Often focusing on images from nature, haiku emphasizes simplicity, intensity, and directness of expression.
A cat arrives at a shelter, arranges to go home with a good family, and settles in with them, all the while letting them know who is boss and, finally, sharing his real name.

Crafty Connection Haiku worksheet

Week of April 15, 2024 | Mrs. Borah's 2/3 Combo Class

Combo Class Content Delivery Strategy 
  • Send the 2nd graders to the nonfiction side of the library to start searching for their books
  • Present the spine poem activity (below) to the 3rd graders on the picture book side of the library
  • While 3rd graders are creating their spine poems on the picture book side of the library, present the 2nd grade content (above) to the 2nd graders on the nonfiction side of the library.

Week of April 15, 2024 | Third Grade | Poetry Month

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Read title poem on pages 2-3
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Example 1
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Example 2
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Example 3
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Example 4
I'm Just No Good at Rhyming, by Chris Harris
A frolicking romp through the zany world of nonsense verse. Read the title poem on pages 2-3, then click each image above to show the examples of spine poems, simple to elaborate.

Crafty Connection Book Spine Poems
It’s fun! It’s easy! It makes a bit of a library mess! Oh, well! Print worksheet 
  • Select books from the picture book side of the library that inspire your poetic fire
  • Select books without using shelf marker sticks; books will be put away later
  • Select at least 3 books (worksheet can accommodate 6 books)
  • Stack books flat, one on top of the other, so the spines are visible
  • Move the books around until you like the way it reads, top to bottom
  • With a pencil, write the titles on the worksheet in the rectangles the way you want the poem to read, top to bottom
  • Go over the titles with a thin marker
  • Shade in rectangles with a colored pencil or crayon to create appearance of book spines (lightly shade in, so your lines of poetry can be seen)
  • Give your poem a title, write your name as the poem's author, and include your room number
  • Leave the worksheet in the library to complete next week and to be considered for a poetry display. Your poem will be returned to you later (so remember to write your name and room number)

Week of April 15, 2024 | Fourth Grade | Poetry Month
Black Out Poems Created from Weeded Novels

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Black Out Poetry 

Video How to: Black Out Poetry by Ariel Bisset (running time 5:37 stop at 4:13)
Choose a page from a discarded book and rip it out neatly. Find the poem by scanning the page and lightly underlining or boxing interesting words. Black out the rest of the page so only the poem is left. Alternatively, highlight the poem with a doodle. Write your name and room number on the back and leave your poem in the library to be considered for a poetry display. Click images above to view examples. 

Week of April 15, 2024 | Fifth Grade | Poetry Month

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Dr. William Carlos Williams (1883-1963)
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I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold painted by Charles Demuth, 1928
A River of Words : the Story of William Carlos Williams, by Jen Bryant
This picture book biography of William Carlos Williams (1883-1963) traces childhood events that lead him to become a doctor and a poet. First read two poems from inside cover: This Is Just to Say and The Great Figure. Then show an enlarged example of I Saw the Figure 5 In Gold posted on Wikipedia. Then read the book.

Delving Deeper Video 1 Analysis of the Demuth painting posted by Ladykflo 


Delving Deeper Video 2 Further analysis posted by The Canvas Williams and the artist Charles Demuth knew each other at university. I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold (1928) is one of a series of eight abstract portraits of friends, inspired by Gertrude Stein's word-portraits, that Demuth made between 1924 and 1929. This painting pays homage to a poem by William Carlos Williams and consists not of a physical likeness of Williams, but of an accumulation of images associated with him. Williams' poem The Great Figure describes the experience of seeing a red fire engine with the number 5 painted on it racing through the city streets.
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Crafty Connection Video United Art and Education Project #170 Instructions for drawing a number then precisely segmenting the drawing in the style of I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold.

Read-Alouds and Presentations Week to Week by Grade Level

4/8/2024

 

Week of April 8, 2024 | TK and Kindergarten
Celebrating National School Library Month and
Beverly Cleary's Birthday April 12 with D.E.A.R. Time

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Book! Book! Book! by Deborah Bruss
The animals on the farm go to the library to find something to do, but the librarian doesn't understand what they are trying to say.

Crafty Connection Frog and duck coloring sheet

At-Home Crafty Connection Step-by-step instructions to make cheerful paper frogs (add a paper book)

Celebrating Author Beverly Cleary
April 12, 1916, McMinnville, Oregon - March 25, 2021, Carmel-by-the-Sea, California
From Henry Huggins (1950) to Ramona's World (1999) Beverly Cleary wrote books for children, about children much like themselves. Children of today may find themselves amazed at the freedom to roam that was enjoyed by the children in Beverly's books, not unusual at the time.

National D.E.A.R. Day April 12 Drop Everything And Read
In 2006, to mark Beverly's 90th birthday, the American Library Association, and others set aside her birthday, April 12, as a day to remind and encourage families to make reading together on a daily basis a family priority. When Beverly’s own children were young, they participated in sustained silent reading time at school, known as D.E.A.R. Their enthusiasm for this activity inspired Beverly to give the same experience to Ramona, who gets to enjoy D.E.A.R. time with her class in Ramona Quimby, Age 8 (1981), introduced in Chapter 2.

Week of April 8, 2024 | First through Fifth Grade
Celebrating National School Library Month with Who's On First?

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Who's On First
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Extended Costello family
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Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
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Chris & Paddy Costello (front L to R)
Who's on First? With split second comedic timing Bud Abbott and Lou Costello bring their hilarious baseball routine to a new generation of delighted fans.

Script Who's on First

Video Who's on First (1953)

Bonus Video 7 into 28 Lou Costello invents a new kind of math

Crafty Connection Who's On First coloring sheet 


Local news report Extended Costello family in the Library Beach Reporter article (May 5, 2013) 

Local news report Lou Costello's daughter in the Library Easy Reader article (April 14, 2010) ​

Week of April 8, 2024 | First through Fifth Grade
Celebrating Author Beverly Cleary's Birthday with D.E.A.R. Time

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Celebrating Author Beverly Cleary
April 12, 1916, McMinnville, Oregon - March 25, 2021, Carmel-by-the-Sea, California
From Henry Huggins (1950) to Ramona's World (1999) Beverly Cleary wrote books for children, about children much like themselves. Children of today may find themselves amazed at the freedom to roam that was enjoyed by the children in Beverly's books, not unusual at the time.
Audio Excerpt Listen to actor Neil Patrick Harris read Chapter 1 of Henry Huggins.

"Quite often somebody will say, What year do your books take place? and the only answer I can give is, in childhood."

Learning to read did not come easily for young Beverly, and once she did learn, she found the stories contained in early readers to be boring, simple, and unsurprising. Then, in the third grade, on a rainy afternoon at home, she found herself enjoying reading The Dutch Twins, by Lucy Fitch Perkins about the adventures of ordinary children. The book awoke in her the joys of reading for pleasure and she began spending extra time in the public library.

"Children should learn that reading is a pleasure, not just something that teachers make you do in school."

By the time Beverly was in sixth grade, a teacher suggested she should become a children's author, based on essays she had written for class assignments. Beverly first worked as a children's librarian and in a bookstore before becoming a full-time writer for children. In her work as a librarian, she struggled to find books to recommend to children, books that they would have fun reading, so she decided to write children's books herself, books about characters that young readers could relate to.

"I enjoy writing for third and fourth graders most of all."

During an interview with the Los Angeles Times in 2011 at the age of 95 she stated, "I've had an exceptionally happy career." Beverly Cleary died in a retirement home a few weeks shy of her 105th birthday. No cause of death was given.

National DEAR Day April 12 Drop Everything And Read
In 2006, to mark Beverly's 90th birthday, the American Library Association, and others set aside her birthday, April 12, as a day to remind and encourage families to make reading together on a daily basis a family priority. When Beverly’s own children were young, they participated in sustained silent reading time at school, known as DEAR. Their enthusiasm for this activity inspired Beverly to give the same experience to Ramona, who gets to enjoy DEAR time with her class in Ramona Quimby, Age 8 (1981), introduced in Chapter 2.
Audio Excerpt Listen to Chapter 2 of Ramona Quimby, Age 8, presented by MrsMorrisReads

Week of April 8, 2024 | Monday Classes Only
Partial Solar Eclipse in Our Area Begins Monday Morning

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A Few Beautiful Minutes, by Kate Allen Fox
What happens during a solar eclipse? The sun vanishes. Light becomes dark. Day animals sleep, and night animals wake. The moon takes over the sky. People stop what they're doing and together, they look up. The whole world changes for a few beautiful minutes. Read by Diane Pust 

Note Though this is a lovely, evocative story, throughout the book people looking at the sun are not wearing eye protection, which critical to prevent lasting damage to one's vision.

A Message from Principal Tara Grings
For the first time this millennium, a total solar eclipse will be visible in the contiguous U.S. April 8th.
Here in Manhattan Beach, a partial eclipse will begin at 10:05 a.m., when the moon will appear to touch the sun’s edge. At 11:11 a.m., the sun will reach its maximum eclipse of about 49% covered. The partial eclipse will end at 12:21 p.m. 
 
It is important for everyone to understand that although California is not along the line of totality, looking directly at the sun without proper protection is still dangerous to one’s eyes. Please speak with your student(s) about this event and the precautions they should take during the eclipse.
All elementary schools in MBUSD will be following these safety guidelines:
  • We will have indoor recess and lunch during the eclipse, just like a rainy day schedule.
  • Parents and staff will remind students to not look at the sun ever, but especially not during the eclipse when transitioning from classrooms to other locations on campus.
  • School staff will NOT be providing solar eclipse glasses.
  • Students are NOT permitted to bring solar eclipse glasses.

Read-Alouds and Presentations Week to Week by Grade Level

4/1/2024

 

Week of April 1, 2024 | Spring Break

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    Library Program

    Our students enjoy weekly visits for presentations crafted to instill a love of reading, to enhance
    Common Core classroom lessons, and to inspire life-long learning. Visits include checking out materials, practicing information literacy, and exercising digital citizenship.
    Colleagues are welcome to borrow program ideas.

    California Model School Library Standards ​

    Read Aloud 15 Minutes. 
    Every Child. Every Parent. Every Day See why it matters at readaloud.org
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    Archives

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