Welcome Back!

Welcome back to the Greenwood Elementary Library for another great year!  As 5th graders, you are now the student leaders in our school and will have many new privileges and responsibilities.  The library offers you many of both to help make your year exciting and rewarding.  This blog site was created exclusively for you,  so be sure to visit regularly and share your thoughts and ideas.  Remember, the more you put into it, the more you get out of it!

If this is your first experience blogging, there are a few rules that you should know.  First, you must follow all school rules as stated in the Code of Conduct (no inappropriate language, show respect for others, etc.).  Second, there will be no cyberbullying on this site, so you are safe to give open and honest opinions and ideas.  Finally, be creative.  We want your work and opinions, so do not plagiarize.  If you do quote someone, be sure to cite your source.

Summer Reading

Hopefully, you each had time this summer to read some great books, short stories and/or articles.  Please share with your classmates some of the titles that you think they might enjoy too.  Be sure to include the title, author, name of the magazine or newspaper and date (if it was an article), and tell why you liked it.  If it was a fictional piece, make sure that you don't give away any spoiler information!

September Book Genre - Adventure!

Each month this year, we are inviting all 5th graders to try out a different genre of books.  If you choose to participate, you will pick a book in the given genre, read it, and then post the title, author, and your thoughts about the book and genre with your classmates here on this blog.  This is a great opportunity to try a type of book that you might not have otherwise.  Many of the books will not fit into just one genre.  It is fine to choose a book that belongs to multiple genres, like scary/adventure or historical fiction/adventure or mystery/adventure - just as long as it is adventure!  If you need help getting started, here is a sample of some authors in this library that write adventure books:

Avi
Marion Dane Bauer
Sharon Creech
Christopher Paul Curtis
Jean Craighead George
Margaret Peterson Haddix
Peg Kehret
Gordon Korman
Edward Myers
Mary Pope Osborne
Gary Paulsen
Richard Peck
Rick Riordan
Theodore Taylor
Mark Twain
Patricia Willis

Adopt-a-Shelf Program

Each of the 5th grade classes will get to "adopt" a section of library shelves this year.  We will go over your responsibilities to care for your section during your September library classes.  Your class will get an additional 10 minutes after your scheduled library time each week to check and maintain your section.  You may also do this individually or in small groups when your teacher allows for it.  A sign will be posted at your location designating it as your class's adopted section.  The assignments are as follows:

Mr. Brown's class: Nonfiction & Reference
Miss Carpenter's class: Easy Fiction & Sound Books
Miss Clark's class: Biography & Videos/DVDs
Mrs. Johnson's class: Fiction & Magazines

Book Buddies

Next month, each fifth grade student will be paired with a Kindergarten Book Buddy.  You will have 20 minutes every week to read with your buddy in the library.  If you already have experience reading with younger children, please share some ideas with your classmates in how to make this a great experience.