Merry Christmas to all and to all a good book!

A hearty thank you to First Interstate Bank for buying this Santa tree at the Festival of Trees and donating it to Rose Park School.  We are enjoying it, especially after discovering it has musical talent!

The weather outside is frightful, but the books are so delightful!

100 Cupboards by Nathan D. Wilson is the latest good book I have read. In 100 Cupboards, Henry and his cousin travel through cupboards and the inside of every cupboard is a different world and time. If you like mystery and action type of books you will probably like this book.

Dandelion Fire is a good book by N.D. Wilson. The book is a mysterious, and terrifying book. In the book a kid named Henry touches a dandelion and it burns his hand, then something else hits him and he becomes blind. My favorite part is when he becomes blind. If you like mysteries this is the book for you. This book is awesome.                                                                     

Montana rocks!

Play the Memory Game with Montana rocks and minerals!
Build a map of Montana cities, mountains, rivers, and other features!
Find out what geologists know about Montana earthquakes!
Get instructions for building your own volcano!

Exploring Earth Sciences is a website designed by the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology for kids at:

http://www.mbmg.mtech.edu/kids/kidsmain.htm

Readers' choice

The Titanic; An Interactive History Adventure by Bob Temple.

Listen up girls! I recommend Allie Finkle’s Rules for Girls: Blast from the Past. The newest one!

Allie is excited to go on her first field trip! She has never gotten to go on one! But does she still want to go when her old school is going too?

When of my favorite parts is when Allie stands up for Joey Fields.

If you like stories of friendship and loads of drama this is a book for you.

If you read this book I hope that you enjoy it!

One of my favorite books is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling, the ending to the epic tale of Harry Potter.

In the book Harry and his friends have to destroy the last three horcrucses that keep lord Voldemort ‘s soul from collapsing. They go on a very long journey, that nearly gets the three of them killed!

My favorite part is when Voldemort and Harry duel to the death!

I recommend this book to anyone who liked the first 6 Harry Potter books!

I hope you enjoy!

I recommend the book The Lost  Hero by Rick Riordan. In the book three teenagers go on a field trip but there’s one problem,Jason can’t remember anything.And Piper must save her father before it’s too late.  And Leo,well let’s just say he has a secret of his own. I would recommend  this book to someone who likes Greek mythology, hair raising events and a suprise around every corner .  This book may be thick but it’s great for anyone.                                                          

Anne Frank Beyond the Diary by Ruud van der Rol.

This book tells about Anne Frank’s life before and after World War 2.  It tells about  her amazing stories from while she was hiding from the Nazis and about what it was like in the good old days (that’s  before they had to go into hiding from the Nazis). My favorite picture is of Anne and her family at the beach in their old fashion swimsuits. I recamend this book to anyone who’s interested in World War 2.

The book I choose is the Wide Window by Lemony Snicket. The book is about three kids whose parents get in a fire. The kids have to live with their dreaded uncle Count Olaf in the first book. Now the kids live with their Aunt Josephine. My favorite part is when the kids have to set sail in a hurricane to find the lost Aunt Josephine.

Can you tell the good from the bad?

Some of these websites have good information.  Some will misinform you.  Can you tell the difference?
Sixth Graders will investigate...

1.  All About Explorers    http://www.allaboutexplorers.com/

2.  Burmese Mountain Dog     http://www.burmesemountaindog.org/

3.  Buy Dehydrated Water     http://www.buydehydratedwater.com/

4.  Dog Island     http://www.thedogisland.com/working.html

5.  Fainting Goats     http://www.bsbarnfaintingfarm.com/

6.  Peruvian Hairless Dogs   http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16751971/ns/world_news-world_environment/

7.  Tree Kangaroo    http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/matschies-tree-kangaroo/

8.  Tree Octopus     http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/

More good reads

The Thief Lord written by Cornelia Funke.   It is a wonderful story of runaway’s thieves in an almost magical city. One of my favorite parts is where they take a special from a man named the count, and it leads them on an incredible adventure. I would recommend this to anyone who likes books of adventure and action.

I suggest the book The School Story, by Andrew Clements.

Natalie Nelson, a twelve year-old sixth grader writes a book!  Her friend Zoe thinks it’s good enough to be published, now it is their journey to go out and publish he book. 

My favorite part is when they ask their language teacher to help them publish it.

If you like books that are suspenseful, and people who like to go out and like to accomplish things you’ll like this book! 

It's Hanukkah time...

...a good time for Hanukkah stories.

Our favorites include two by Eric Kimmel:
Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblens                                       and
The Chanukkah Guest. 
 







 These two stories both include characters who play the dreidel game:

 In The Chanukkah Guest, old Bubba Brayna plays with a bear whom she has mistaken for the rabbi.

In Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins, Hershel must defeat the goblins who have overtaken the synagogue, and he outwits one greedy goblin in a game of dreidels. 

              

The Rose Park Library also has The Christmas Menorahs: How a Town Fought Hate by Janice Cohn, which takes place in Billings and is based on a true story.  

Link to the Billings Gazette article about the hate crimes of 1993 and how the community took a stand.

“Transformed by hate;  How events shaped a community” includes a photo of Tammie Schnitzer and her son Isaac next to the hole made by a rock thrown through Isaac's window, December 1993:

http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/article_125c617b-83ba-544a-a2da-8b457ffe48d1.html

         

Fourth graders recommend...

Good books for a cold day

   I recommend Cracker by Cynthia Kadohata. This book is about a man who goes into the military, and handles a dog named Firecracker or Cracker for short. You will go on ups and downs all through this book. My favorite part is when Cracker (the dog) saves his handler. It is heart wrenching! If you like animals and suspense you will love this book. I loved this book. I hope you do too.

This book is called Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and it is by Jeff Kinney.

This is a hilarious tale about a boy named Greg Heffley going through the challenges of a kid. There are 5 books in the series.  My favorite book is Dog Days, the fourth book in the series.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes cartoons and funny things.

Also recommended by this student…

ANNE FRANK HER LIFE IN WORDS AND PICTURES

FROM.THE ARCHIVES OF THE ANNE FRANK HOUSE

This book is about a young girl and her family who go into hiding after the German soldiers take over. The photographs in this book are wonderful!

My favorite part of the book is a photograph of Anne and her friends playing tennis.

If you like learning about World War ll and history you will very much enjoy this book!

4th graders "meet" the author Louis Sachar

Fourth Graders have been researching Louis Sachar, author of There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom, Holes, the Marvin Redpost series, the Wayside School series, etc. 

They began by "meeting" the author.  You can, too.  Louis Sachar interviews himself at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3y-hfPPPl9E

Did you know that Louis Sachar has a small part in the movie Holes (a movie based on his book)?  He says two words in the movie:  "My head?"

For more information about Louis Sachar's life and his books, the students have used Sachar's website:

http://www.louissachar.com

From whale vertebrae to sad irons

Each week there is a featured object in the Library and I pose a question about it.  Students practice research skills by trying to find the answer.  

What makes this a sad iron?

Ask a 4th, 5th or 6th grader, or

try out your own research skills. 

Warm up with a good book!

The weather is turning colder.

A few days ago,  a 4th grader brought Mrs. Helus something beautiful he found on the way to school....a piece of ice from a puddle, frozen in this unique pattern.




The Library is here to supply books for grey, windy, wet, snowy, or cold days!

 Thinking over the choices...

Our skilled staff is here to help you check them out!

Honor veterans by reading their stories.

Write your name in Chinese characters

Rose Park sixth graders wrote their names in Chinese characters that are pronounced similar to their English names.
What names are these in English?

1.

2.

3.

4.

ANSWERS:
1.  Sean       2.  Stephanie    3.  Pearce   4.  Rylie

You can try writing your name in Chinese characters with help from this website:

http://chineseculture.about.com/library/name/blname.htm

Did you know that almost 10% of the Montana population was Chinese in 1870?  The Chinese population was almost entirely men.   There were 500-1,000 Chinese miners in Virginia City alone.

Read about the Chinese in Montana, especially Virginia City, at:

http://www.montanakids.com/cool_stories/ghost_towns/chinese.htm

University of Montana archaeologists have discovered Chinese artifacts in German Gulch, a 19th century mining area near Butte.   German Gulch was named for the German miners who discovered gold there in 1864.  By the 1870s, the population was predominately Chinese.  

See the archaeological finds in 3-D!

http://www.cas.umt.edu/germangulch

The British Museum has an excellent website about Ancient China:

http://www.ancientchina.co.uk

What is it?

A student brought this interesting object into the Library recently.  He is one of our best naturalists and had figured out it was a badger's lower jawbone.  

I asked the students to find out what badgers most commonly eat.   I knew Montana badgers eat small mammals, but I learned from the students' research that European badgers mostly dine on earthworms!   For information on badgers, American and European, there is a good website for kids:

http://www.badgers.org.uk/brocks-world/index.html

View a badger skull at:

http://www.badgers.org.uk/brocks-world/07trail03.html

The Montana Field Guide is a good site about animals and plants that live in our state:

http://www.fieldguide.mt.gov/

Another student brought in this surveyor's benchmark from 1914.

Can you name three U. S. Presidents who were surveyors before they were presidents?

Book Fair: The final hours

The Book Fair ends at 6:00 p.m. today (Thursday).


Thank you to all the volunteers and customers who made it a success!  And a special thanks to Joan Holbrook who recruited and scheduled the volunteer crew.


Remember, if you could not buy all the books you wanted, visit your library and borrow books!  Libraries are FREE TO ALL.

Our 3-day Book Fair started today.

Two more shopping days left...

Wednesday, Nov.3rd   7:30-8:15 a.m. & 12:00-4:00 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 4th      7:30-8:15 a.m. & 12:00-6:00 p.m.

Turkey lurking & Book Fair here

The third graders observed a wild turkey right outside the library this morning, on the Rose Park School lawn.

Parent volunteers Tina Smith, Gwen Felton, and Zelda Boogman transformed the Library into a Scholastic Book Fair this afternoon.   Books will available for purchase before and after school on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of Parent-Teacher Conference Week.  Profits will benefit the library colletion.   See my previous blog entry for schedule details.

The Book Fair is coming!

Next week the boxes will be unpacked and a wide selection of books will be available for purchase.  Profits will go to the Rose Park Library collection.  Rose Park families are welcome to visit the Book Fair on Nov. 2nd-4th, before and after school.  We will be open until 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, Nov.4th during parent-teacher conferences.

Got books? We do!

Those empty shelves in my previous blog entry had books on them in time for the first day of school.  And it got even better!   This fall, the Rose Park PTA designated $3,000 for new library books.  You won't find many of the new books sitting on the shelves, though.  The kids are checking them out.

We have new books about bats, owls, dinosaurs, WWII, the Colorado Rockies team, the "Biscuit the dog" easy-reader series by Capucilli, the newest in the Magic Tree House series, and more.

The New, Improved, Remodeled Rose Park Library!

The Rose Park PTA's fundraising efforts have transformed the library!  School district carpenters  installed new shelving in August, right after the new carpeting was laid.

We are enjoying the open space and the attractive, functional shelving.  No one misses the duct tape holding together the old carpeting.

In addition to Library & Information Use classes taught by the librarian, the Library is used for Extended Studies, art classes, band & orchestra instruction, meetings, and teacher training.