It was wild thing central in the library this week! To continue our celebration for Picture Book Month, we read Maurice Sendak’s classic story, Where the Wild Things Are. Then to get ready for our own wild rumpus, we made Wild Thing puppets! The exercise was great practice for following directions, coloring inside the lines, small motor function practice, and working as a team to share materials. Plus, it was a lot of fun!

On Wednesday, we were lucky enough to get a visit from Johnson’s instructional coach, Miss FitzGerald. Miss FitzGerald and I have been collaborating on ways to get more independent reading into kindergarten library time, and her visit centered around showing students three different ways to read their books independently. The lesson was a blast – including a great new story, checking out new books, and even a high five on the way out the door.

Third and fourth graders tested their knowledge of our online public access catalog (OPAC), which is called Destiny Quest. Destiny Quest allows students to search for their favorite books within our specific library collection, and to see helpful details like whether the book is checked out, how many copies we have, and the call number to find it on the shelf. Winners of the scavenger hunt could be hired as professional consultants to help classmates, and also got to enjoy the sunshine in the library’s VIP Seating!

See what all the fuss is about: surf Destiny Quest from home!

Fourth graders are hard at work practicing their storytelling for next week’s Picture Book Celebration! Each fourth grade student will be sharing their picture book of choice with a kindergarten buddy. Students are also invited to come to school dressed as their favorite picture book characters, so I can’t wait to see some of the friendly faces we’ll have reading on Tuesday!

Johnson held its annual Career Fair this morning, and it was bigger and better than ever! Representatives from an array of fields came in and made fascinating presentations to third and fourth grade students about their careers. And when I say an array, I really mean it – from professional dancers to architects to firemen to sports announcers and everything in between! The students were captivated by the hands-on props, activities, and presentations. The career fair allowed them to experience new careers in such an exciting and positive way. I saw every student engaged and inspired, and they all left the room buzzing about all of the great things they could grow up to become. The career fair inspired students to work hard and be their best. Thank you to all of our visitors – you made a difference in the lives of our students today!

Next week will be a short week, but it will be action-packed! Visit the blog to see a new display, some Thanksgiving activities, and a recap of our Picture Book Month Celebration!

Have a great weekend, and stay warm!