Boardgames have arrived in the Butte des Morts Library

The boardgames have arrived.  Students in grades 4-5 had a chance last week to preview and play some of the new games that will be available in the Butte des Morts library.  Right now the games are available for teachers to check out, but eventually I would like to make them available to parents also. 
Here is the list of games we have received:
Scrabble Junior
Ticket to Ride
Number Chase
Froggy Boogie
M is for Mouse
Squint Junior
Snorta
My Word
Quiddler
Apples to Apples Junior
Apples to Apples kid 7+
Backseat Drawing Junior
10 Days in the USA
Galloping Pigs
Chicken Cha Cha Cha
Dancing Eggs
Hear N' Seak
Secret Door
Blokus
Max
Skallywaggs

Tech Tuesday - Using Playaways in the Classroom

Mrs. Plachetka's Makeover

The Stylist for our Hair Rasing makeover tells how she got involved!

Deb Gehrke, a hair stylist at Grassroots salon, has graciosuly agreed to donate a complete hair makeover to one of our staff members.  She recently blogged about how we met and how she became involved in our Hair Raiser.

Hair Raising Fundraiser Tuesday 11-24 update

How LMS can choose education games

1. Buy one copy of a bunch of educational games you have read reviews about.
2. Play the games-as you need to understand them and see how/if they align to standards.
3. Test the games in a classroom with students, to see if they work or not. Some games may seem great, but students are still the real judges.
4. Buy multiple copies of ones that worked well with students.

21st Standards for learning -AASL 2009

Foundation of Inquiry

Think-Make connections to topic (what do they already know), ask questions then have students wonder and ask questions of their own, and then students investigate based on what they want to know.

Create-Compare information, draw their own conclusions, and then create something with their knowledge.

Share- express what they learned

Grow-Add this knowledge to their own background

A camera and a projector in one?

I was amazed today to read about the new Nikon Coolpix S1000pj. It is a digital camera with a projector built right in. So now when you take pictures you can instantly share them with friends and family by projecting them on to nearest wall. It also has the ability to show slide shows. I can still remember the old slide projectors, so this is pretty cool.

Tech Tuesday

Edmodo
Edmodo is a twitterlike application that is for schools. It allows teachers to create private groups (ex. their class) for micro-blogging. The great part is that you can have the whole class participate without interuption from the outside world (other than parents who you mights also want to invite into the group). I LOVE Twitter, some might even say I am addicted to it. However in school with it being so open to the outside world you are leaving the door open to spammers and all sorts of unsavory followers. So this is a great option for schools, who want the ability fo Twitter without the option of everyone in the free world being able to send them tweets.

School start Tuesday, Sept 1st

School officially starts for students on Tuesday, September 1st. The library will be used by the Kindergarten staff on the first day of school, but classes should begin visiting the library on Wednesday, September 2nd.

Thursday Trivia - Daddy Longlegs

Congratulations to Hayley F in Mrs Fugars class. She answered the trivia questions last week about giant panda bears. Giant panda bears eat bamboo.

This week's trivia question: How many legs does a Daddy Longlegs have? Use the book that is on display in the library.

Answers must be turned in by Wednesday, June 3rd.

Thursday Trivia - Pandas

Congratulations to Taylor in Mrs. Fugar's class. He answered that giant squid's eyeballs could be the size of a human head, dinner plate, or basketball.

This weeks trivia question: What does a giant panda eat 20 to 40 pounds of everyday? use askkids to find the answer.

Answers must be turned in by Thursday, May 21 in the morning before annoucements. Since the K-4 students will be at Bay Beach on Wednesday next week.

Tech Tuesday - a Day Late - Voki

Voki is a site that let's you create animated characters. This would be a great way to have students create short book reviews.

Library Helpers

At Butte des Morts school 5th graders often help out in the library. They can check-out books put fiction books away. I would be lost without them!

New Book in Library: Daddy Longlegs by Catherine Anderson

We just received a new book in our library this week called Daddy Longlegs by Catherine Anderson. It is a non-fiction book and has a lot of interesting facts about daddy longleg spiders. Did you know daddy longlegs have no venom, but some make a smelly liquid that keeps their predators away. Want to learn more interesting facts about daddy longlegs? Then you should check-out this book for our library!

Thursday Trivia: Giant Squids

Last week's trivia winner was Alex S in Mrs. Tegge's room. She answered that pigs are teh only mammal besides humans that can get a sunburn.

This week's Trivia: What is the size of a giant squid's eye? Use askkids.com to find the answer.
All answers are due by Wednesday, May 13th.

Tech Tuesday: Flip Video Cameras

If you are looking for an inexpensive, easy to use video camera, you might want to consider a Flip Video Camcorder. They are very easy to use, and the best part is they plug right into the usb port of your computer. No need to have firewire ports or cords. Plus I just saw a preview of the new Flip cameras, and they now come with rechargeable battery packs instead of having to use AA batteries. We have two of them at school, and if you haven't used one, stop in and I would be happy to show you how they work. If you watch the website Woot, they are often on sale there for $69.99. Here is the website for Flip Video.

Thursday Trivia: Sunburns

Last week's winner was Mrs. Tegge, who won a copy of the book Swindle by Gordon Korman. The answer was that male misquitoes lives on plant nectar.

This week's question: Besides humans, what is the only other mammal that can get a sunburn? Use http://www.askkids.com

Answers are due the night of Wednesday, May 6th.

Tech Tuesday: Google Docs

Have you ever wanted to share your Word, Excel, or Powerpoint documents with friends? How about collaborating with others on one document? Isn't it such a pain emailing the document back and forth and then never knowing which is the latest version? Or what if you don't own Word, Excel, or Powerpoint? But you still want to work at home on one of these documents? Well Google Docs to the rescue.

Here is a video which explains Google Docs.

The direct link to google docs is http://docs.google.com

Thursday Triva - A Day Late

I was at writing assessment yesterday, so I didn't have a chance to post Thursday Triva.

Last week's answer was Mexico City is the capital of Mexico. Ethan D. in Mrs. Fugar's class won the prize.

This week's question is: What does the male mosquito eat (live on)? Use this askkids.com site to find the answer.

Answers are due to the library by Wednesday, April 29th. Only one answer per person.

Tech Tuesday - It's time to Twitter!

Twitter has been all over the news and Tv lately. Celebrities such as Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore, Ryan Seacrest and more are using Twitter as a way to stay in touch with the fans. But what is Twitter? Here is a video that gives a short explaination of it. Twitter is much safer for children to use than Facebook and MySpace. Plus it's a great way to learn new things and meet people with the same interests from around the world.

Here are some great tips to get your started to having a successful Twitter page.

1. When you sign up for Twitter remember to fill out the one line bio in settings. People will not follow you, if they do not know what your interests are. Plus this is a great way to find people who love something, such as gardening, as much as you.

2. One you've completed your bio, then follow MrTweet. He will give you a list of people to follow who share common interests as you.

3. Follow people! Don't be afraid to follow people. People want people to follow them on Twitter. Here is a list of celebrities that use Twitter. Use can also follow me: mrsptrson

4. Post tweets. Update your status. You may not think people are reading it, but eventually you will have people respond to some of your tweets!

5. Reply to other people's tweets that interest you. This is a great way to make new friends and gain more followers.

6. Search Twitter to find people who are interested in the same things you are.

7. Have fun with it! Here are some additional links that will help you use Twitter.

Trivia Thursday - Mexico

Mrs. Karrels won Skippyjon Jones and the Doghouse this week for answering the trivia question how long do cows chew their cud. The answer was 6-8 hours.

This week is the start of our spring break. Since I will be enjoying sunny Mexico for part of our break I thought I would ask a question about Mexico.

This week the trivia question is: What is the capital of Mexico? Use the site askkids.com to find the answer.

Write your answer on a sheet of paper along with your name and teacher's name (or for teacher's just their name) and bring it to school. Or you can comment on the blog (don't worry it won't show up) or email the answers to petersonj@mjsd.k12.wi.us (remember to include student's name and teacher name in your email or comment). Answers are due to the library by Wednesday, April 22nd. I will draw one winner on the Thursday before our spring break.

April is Poetry Month

The whole month of April is poetry month, and we just received a new poetry book that everyone will love. It is called Orangutan Tongs:Poems to Tangle Your Tongue by Jon Agee. It is chocked full of fun poems that are not only fun to say but are fun to hear. Here are some lines from Purple-Paper People:

"They are in the Purple-Paper Peoples Club, If you want to join these people, First you buy a piece of paper."

Try to say those lines 10 times really fast!

Thursday Trivia - Cows

Last week our trivia question was about how far you could hear a tiger roar, and the answer was 2 miles. Our winner was Emily B. in Mrs Bayer's class.

This week the trivia question is: How many hours a day does a cow chew her cud? Use the site askkids.com to find the answer.

Write your answer on a sheet of paper along with your name and teacher's name (or for teacher's just their name) and bring it to school. Or you can comment on the blog (don't worry it won't show up) or email the answers to petersonj@mjsd.k12.wi.us (remember to include student's name and teacher name in your email or comment). Answers are due to the library by Wednesday, April 8th. I will draw one winner on the Thursday before our spring break.

Tech Tuesday - askkids.com

Want a way for students to search the web that is safe and delivers kids friendly information? Well look no farther than askkids.com. This site also helps narrow information down for students. So if they searched tigers, the picture is an example of the search results they would receive. Notice how on the side it narrows the search down for students. Examples: Where do tigers live? What do tigers eat?

Second Place Winner for Golden Archer

The book that took second place in our Golden Archer competition was Bad Dog, Marley by John Grogan. Who can resist a story about a naughty dog who redeems himself by saving the baby at the end of the story. The book is a kids version of the adult book Marley and Me by the same author.

And the BDM Golden Archer goes to.......

The votes are in! All students in grades K-2 voted this week on their favorite Golden Archer book. The winner was Chester by Melanie Watt. Now we are waiting to find out who wins the Golden Archer award for the whole state of Wisconsin! Will the entire state's favorite be our school's favorite?

Trivia Thursday - Tigers

Last week our winner was Josh S who guessed that if you listened to the crickets chirps it would tell you the temperature outside.


This week's Thursday Trivia question is:
A tiger's roar can be heard for a distance of?

You may want to use the site askkids.com to find the answer.

Write your answer on a sheet of paper along with your name and teacher's name (or for teacher's their room number) and bring it to school. Or you can comment on the blog (don't worry it won't show up) or email the answers to petersonj@mjsd.k12.wi.us (remember to include student's name and teacher name in your email or comment). Answers are due to the library by Tuesday, March 31st. I will draw one winner on Wednesday, April 1st (no fooling).

Our winner last week choose a different book so the winner for this week will receive their own copy of Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney.

Web Safety - Facebook and MySpace

Many students have been talking about their MySpace or Facebook accounts. It is important for parents to realize in order to register for Facebook you must be 13 years old or older, and MySpace is 14 years old or older. There are many dangers that children face using social media sites, such as Facebook or MySpace. The biggest one is that anyone who uses these sites are giving away information to the general public. Anyone who has access to a computer can access this information. There has been a recent rash of identity theft where people are collecting names and birthdates of children who are online. Then when the child turns 18, people are using their information to secure credit cards, acquire lines of credit, and other identity crimes. So it is very important for both adults and children using these type of sites to never reveal their birthdate. You usually have to enter your birthdate when registerting for the sites, so they can verify age. However there are settings where you do not have to reveal that information to the public.

Tech Tuesday: Wordle

Wordle is a fun website in which you can make word clouds. The picture to the left of this text is a wordle made from information about Menasha, WI. Type in members of your family, your favorite foods, or whatever and create you own wordle today!

www.wordle.net

Guys (and boys) Read

Here are some series titles of books that the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade boys love to read at Butte des Morts school:

1. Diary of a Wimpy Kid (half comic book, half fiction)
2. Jake Maddox (sports)
3. Tiki and Ronde Barber books (sports)
4. Eragon (Fantasy-dragons higher level)
5. Percy Jackson series (Fantasy - Greek Mythology)
6. Flight Explorer (graphic novel - comic book)
7. Alex Rider series (Action/adventure)
8. Harry Potter (Fantasy -wizards)
9. Series of Unfortunate Events (Fantasy)
10. Bone (graphic novel -comic book)



There is a website dedicated to books boys will love to read: Guys Read

To search the Butte des Morts Library for these books click here.

Thursday Trivia is here!! Winner receives a copy of Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Our first Thursday Trivia question is:
What insect can tell you the temperature?

Write your answer on a sheet of paper along with your name and teacher's name (or for teacher's their room number) and bring it to school. Or email the answers to petersonj@mjsd.k12.wi.us (remember to include student's name and teacher name in your email). Answers are due to the library by Tuesday, March 24th. Do not post your answers on the blog, or others will see your answer.

The winner for this week will receive their own copy of Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney.

Dog-gone good poetry: Loose Leashes

New to our library this week is the poetry book Loose Leashes with poems by Amy Schmidt and photographs by Ron Schmidt.

"There once was a dog that could read
with amazing page-turning speed."

starts the poem Monte and the Demise of his Eyes. A great poetry book for all of our dog lovers.

Tech Tuesday! Delicious

Do you ever wish you could take your internet favorites with your everywhere you go? Well you can! Now you can take your favorites and bookmarks with you everywhere you go that has access to the internet. It's a site called Delicious. This is a great video, which gives a simple directions on how to use delicious.

Hate that Cat by Sharon Creech

This week a new book arrived in our library: Hate that cat by Sharon Creech. I was reading and started to laugh so much that a student came along and asked if they could check the book out. Well I couldn't say no, even though I had just started reading it. It is a sequel to Love that dog by the same author. Love cats or hate 'em, I think you'll love this book!

Coming Soon! Trivia Thursday

Look for it soon! Trivia Thursday! I will post a trivia questions, and families can work together to find the answer. Students can bring their family's answer into school, and I will draw one winner a week.

Tech Tuesday! Tumblebooks!

Our school has a subscription to Tumblebooks and Tumblereadables. They are interactive online books for students to read and listen to. You can find a link to them on my library catalog page:
Butte des Morts Library Online Catalog

Playaways, playaways, and more playaways....

This week I am going to be placing an order for more playaways. If there are any book titles you would love to see added to this order, please let me know. Not all books have been made into playaways, but I will try my hardest to order any appropriate playaways.

Mrs. Peterson

New Addition to our blog--Tuesday Tech Tips

Tuesdays will now be dedicated to technology. I will showcase some of my favorite websites and offer technology hints.

Here is a website you just have to try: www.scrapblog.com

It's an incredibly easy way to create a family website or showcase family photos or videos. Once you start on this site, you never want to stop adding things.

Dr Seuss Day

Many of the classrooms are celebrating Dr Seuss day today at school. Some even went as far as to make green eggs and ham. So pull your favorite Dr Seuss book off the shelf and read it today!

Scrabble Board

I returned from lunch one day to find this scrabble board on my desk. My are currently in the midst of our scrabble unit in 4th grade.

Children Book Choice Finalists Annouced

This week the finalist for the Children's Book Awards were annouced.

K-2 Finalist are:
The Donut Chef by Bob Staake
Katie Love the Kittens by John Himmelman
The Pigeon Wants a Puppy by Mo Willems
Sort It Out! by Barbara Marinconda
Those Darn Squirrels by Adam Rubin

3-4 Finalists are:
Babymouse: Puppy Love by Jennifer L Holm
One Million Things by Peter Chrisp
Underwear: What we wear under there by Ruth Freeman Swain
Willow by Denise Brennan-Nelson and Rosemarie Brennan
Spooky Cemetaries by Dinah Williams

5-6 Finalists are:
100 Most Dangerous Things On the Planet by Anna Claybourne
Amulet, Book One: The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi
The Big Field by Mike Lupica
Swords An Artist's Devotion by Ben Boos
Thirteen by Lauren Myracle

Voting is open from March 16-May 3. Kids can vote on their favorites through the website: BookWeekOnline.com

Check out the new website I made for the library

Mrs. Peterson's Favorite Author?

Students are always asking me who my favorite author is. I have quite a few favorite authors, but I think at the top of my list is Jack Gantos and his Joey Pigza books. I love the books because they are so funny but at the same time are so realistic. I can see a little Joey Pigza in a lot of students at Butte des Morts School. Joey Pigza is a good kid, he always tries really hard to be good, but somehow he is always finding himself getting into some kind of mess.

Newbery winning author, also author of the current movie, Coraline

Newbery winning author, Neil Gaiman, is also the author of the book and current movie, Coraline. The movie has some really good reviews and is rated PG. I highly recommend you read the book before going to see the movie:)

Are You Greg Heffley?

Have you read Diary of a Wimpy Kid and thought you were just like Greg Heffley? Well if so, it's time to send in your audition tapes to 20th Century Fox. They are looking for someone to play Greg Heffly in the upcoming Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie.



Go to: www.iamthewimpykid.com to find out how to send in your audition tape!

And the Winner is....

The 2009 Caldecott and Newbery awards were announced this week. Winning the Caldecott award was The House at Night by Susan Marie Swanson.
The Newbery award went to Neil Gaiman for The Graveyard Book.

Here is the complete list:
Newbery Medal
"The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Dave McKean, HarperCollins Children's Books

Newbery Honor Books
"The Underneath" by Kathi Appelt, illustrated by David Small, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

"The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom" by Margarita Engle, Henry Holt and Company, LLC

"Savvy" by Ingrid Law, Dial Books for Young Readers, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group in partnership with Walden Media, LLC

"After Tupac and D Foster" by Jacqueline Woodson, G.P. Putnam's Sons, a division of Penguin Books for Young Readers

Caldecott Medal
"The House in the Night," illustrated by Beth Krommes and written by Susan Marie Swanson, Houghton Mifflin Co.
Caldecott Honor Books
"A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever" by Marla Frazee, Harcourt, Inc.

"How I Learned Geography" by Uri Shulevitz, Farrar Straus Giroux

"A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams," illustrated by Melissa Sweet and written by Jen Bryant, Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.