RES Library Media Center News

RES fourth graders have been reading and listening to books on this year's Dorothy Canfield Fisher (DCF) reading list . After months of reading and listening to hundreds of books, they voted for their favorites.  The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen received the most votes at RES. The RES votes will be added to votes from fourth through eighth graders all over Vermont to choose a statewide winner, which will be announced after April vacation. cover image from www.barnesandnoble.com

  A traditional haiku and also a metaphor What is this poem describing? Does the illustration help explain? RES third graders have been writing haiku poetry in their library classes. Haiku is a form of poetry from Japan where each poem has: Three lines The first line has five syllables The second line has seven syllables The third line has five syllables There is usually a reference to nature For inspiration the scholars shared the book Guyku by Bob Raczka. They agreed that the title isn't correct...the haikus in this book aren't really just for boys!   Then they wrote their own haikus:  A traditional haiku Haiku as a text feature! (caption) You can find some great haiku activities on the Guyku website . Guyku cover image from www.barnesandnoble.com

RES second graders shared the book Mirror, Mirror by Marilyn Singer during their library class today. All the poems in Mirror, Mirror are reversos: poems that make sense if you read them top to bottom or bottom to top. Here's an example from the book: First the scholars had to figure out the rules of these poems: does every word change place from top to bottom? Or does every line change place? How does punctuation work in these poems? How does the meaning change when you read the poems bottom to top instead of top to bottom? Then the second graders tried writing their own reversos. Some of them got very long...we asked, is it harder to make the lines match up when there are this many? And a few finished examples:

"How are netbooks made?" Fourth graders visited the library today to do research and take notes for their upcoming Capstone Projects. The scholars were looking for information to help them answer their research questions. Mrs. Finnegan, our CESU Technology Integration Specialist, joined the scholars to assist with technology topics. She also helped one scholar connect via email with an expert who could help answer her research question, "How do you decide what dog food to give your dog?" "Why do beagles make good pets?" "Why is France a popular place to visit? "How was Minecraft made and what are some of its mobs?" and "What is the history of sign language?" "How do you decide what dog food to give your dog?" and "How do computer games get made?" 

"Choppy Waters Make it Hard to Sail" A class of third grade scholars wrote concrete poems during their library class yesterday. First they shared ideas from the book A Poke in the I , edited b y Paul B. Janeczko. Mr. Janeczko says that in a concrete poem, “The arrangement of letters or words on the page, the typefaces chosen, and the way space is used, add meaning to the poem beyond that contained in the actual words.”

April is national Poetry Month! RES scholars will be sharing poetry in the library and their classrooms. We encourage you to enjoy poetry with your families as well. Here are some resources to get you started: RES library web page of poetry activities Poetry activities from Scholastic Activities from Poets.org Stay tuned for updates from Poetry Month at RES! Clip art licensed from the Clip Art Gallery on DiscoverySchool.com