Dewey Decimal System 500-700

Melvin Dewey was born on December 10, 1851. At the age of 21 he invented the Dewey Decimal Classification System. He also started the first school for librarians. The Dewey decimal system is a system used by libraries to classify nonfictional or informational publications into subject categories; the subject is indicated by a three-digit numeral and further specification is given by numerals following a decimal point; publications are shelved by number.

Luckily for us and our sanity this classifications system was created. Here at Bella Vista we have 12,000 books in our library, and the number grows every year. It is our goal in the Media Center to get the students familiarized with the Dewey Decimal Classification System so they may find and return books in their proper place.

Here is a kids guide (and it's helpful for parents too) to the three groups of the Dewey Decimal Classification System we learned about this week:

500 Science and Math
500 Science Experiments
510 Mathematics
520 Stars, Planets, Astronomy
530 Physical Science - force & motion, electricity, magnetism
540 Chemistry, Atoms & Molecules
550 Volcanoes, Earthquakes, Weather
560 Dinosaurs, Prehistoric Animals
570 Forests, Deserts, Mountains, Oceans, Evolution
580 Plants & Trees
590 Animals & Insects (not pets)

600 Applied Science
600 Inventions
610 Human body, Disease
620 Space ships, Trains, Cars
630 Pets
640 Cookbooks, Organizing, sewing
650 Careers, Secret Codes
670 Paper making
680 Woodworking
690 Building

700 Art
710 Art appreciation, History of art
720 Architecture
730 Origami
740 Drawing, Crafts, Sewing, Knitting
750 Painting
760 Print Making
770 Photography
780 Music
790 Sports, Games, Magic, Camping, Fishing

Happy Reading!

Snow!

The time for wearing winter gear is upon us! This short week (Nov. 21 - Nov. 22) in the Media Center we read books about that icy cold, white stuff that brings out our inner child and deep down we really love... SNOW!

Kindergarten - 2nd Grade
Froggy Gets Dressed, by Jonathon London

Rambunctious Froggy hops out into the snow for a winter frolic but is called back by his mother to put on some necessary articles of clothing.

If you want to see your child LAUGH, read this and other Froggy books at bedtime or anytime! After all, Mrs. Allison and I hope you are reading to your children no matter what time or book it is! Read, Read, Read!


3rd - 6th Grade
Snowflake Bentley, by Jacqueline Briggs Martin


From the time he was a small boy, Wilson Bentley thought of the icy crystals as small miracles. And he determined that one day his camera would capture for others the wonder of the tiny crystals.

Bentley's enthusiasm for photographing snowflakes was often misunderstood in his time, but his patience and determination revealed two important truths about snowflakes: first, that no two are alike and second, that each one is startlingly beautiful. His story, gracefully told by Jacqueline Briggs Martin and brought to life in Mary Azarian's lovely woodcuts, gives children insight into a soul who had not only a scientist's vision and perseverance but a clear passion for the wonders of nature.

If you have a dream, go for it! The sky's the limit!

Happy Reading!

Happy Thanksgiving

A Thanksgiving Wish

By Michael Rosen

K-6 interest level

This book rates very high for me because of how well it depicts the traditional Thanksgiving celebration of family getting together, the warmth of a cozy home, a feast of delicious food and love of family and friends. This book adds a realistic experience that is common to many families: the first Thanksgiving without Grandma. Also, a power outage causes the family to lean on friends to help cook their Thanksgiving meal. This is a sweet book that I would recommend adding to a personal library collection to enjoy reading time and again.

Beehive Book Club Kick Off

Race to Read

Beehive Books

Utah's most prestigious children's literature competition is in full swing with books nominated in four categories: Picture, Poetry, Informational and Children's Fiction. For a list of all the Beehive Nominees for 2011-12 visit the Children's Literature Association of Utah (CLAU) at http://www.clau.org

How to Become a Member of the Bella Vista Beehive Book Club:

Every student becomes a member of the Beehive Book Club by writing their name on a car and coloring it. Look for the students' vehicles on the "road" wrapping the walls around the library.

"Race to Read" as many Beehive Nominated books for 2011-12 as possible from now until March.

Students visit the library and vote on each Beehive book they read.

Students' votes will be tallied for Bella Vista's winners and turned in to CLAU to be included in the votes for the official Utah competition in the Spring.

Parties, Books and More!

In the Beehive Book Binder in the library, students write their names, teacher's name and grade under the books they have read to become eligible for two potential rewards:

1. Win a Beehive Book! Reading, voting and recording name in the Beehive Book Binder for reading Beehive books makes students eligible for the end of year drawings in each class for the Beehive Winning Book Give Away that will be announced at the Beehive Book Club Party (all students are invited) in the Spring.

2. Help your class win a pizza party. The class that reads the most Beehive books will win a pizza party.

A big THANK YOU goes out to the school administration and PTA for their generous support of our Beehive Book Club!

Parents Get Involved.

Read books with your child or read books before your child does. Discuss the books with your child as they read them to help improve comprehension. There are amazing books nominated this year in every category, but not all Beehive books may be suitable for all ages.

Visit Whitmore Library Often With Your Child.

Bella Vista's Library has one to two copies of each Beehive Nominated book for 2011-12. Whitmore Library has several more copies of each book in the Children's section. Mrs. Wilson and I encourage parents to visit Whitmore Library through the school year with your child to check out the Beehives and other children's books.

Halloween Fun!

Knowing there are students who love to be scared while others get spooked very easily, I decided to choose stories that are mostly fun but a tiny bit scary. Stories that all students can enjoy during this Halloween time.

3-6th Grades.
"The Widow's Broom" By Chris Van Allsburg
The author of "The Polar Express" wrote this Halloween story.
The Widow's Broom is filled with brownish, black illustrations which gives the book a haunting feeling. This is a picture book shelved in the more mature fiction section of the library. This book is about a broom that loses power while a witch is riding it! The witch and her broom fall to the ground landing in a widow's garden. The widow, Minna Shaw, though scared, takes the hurt witch to her home to care for her. The witch disappears after a good night's rest but the broom remains with a life of its own!

During Ms. Alvord's class visit to the library, she let her students know "The Widow's Broom" is one of her favorite Halloween books.

Before reading "The Widow's Broom" a few jokes were shared from "Dracula's De-Composition Book..." by Holly Kowitt. One of my favorite jokes in the book is: "How does a Cyclops listen to music?... On an eye pod."

K-2 Grades.
"Hansel and Gretel" By the Brothers Grimm
Kindergarten classes to second grade were told two stories. The first is the classic Grimm fairytale called "Hansel and Gretel."

I received the second story from Ms. Janelle at Whitmore Library. This story is about a little mouse who finds a house in a pumpkin patch. As the story unfolds, I cut out orange paper in the shape of a pumpkin and by the end of the story the paper cut out becomes a jack-o-lantern to wish everyone a "Happy Halloween!" Ms. Damjanovich's class went back to class after story time and made their own jack-o-lantern cut outs! They shared them with Mrs. Wilson and I. We were absolutely delighted to see every one of them, even the cyclops and four eyed "jacks"!

AUTUMN IS HERE

TWO FABULOUS PUMPKIN BOOKS

WERE SHARED DURING STORY TIME

K-3rd Grade

Too Many Pumpkins

by Linda White; Illustrated by Megan Floyd

3-6th Grade

Me and The Pumpkin Queen

By Marlane Kennedy

Happy Birthday!

For the week of September 12-16 we celebrated BIRTHDAYS in the Media Center.

For kindergarten - 3rd grade we read Birthday at the Panda Palace, by Stephanie Calmenson, illustrated by Doug Cushman .

"For monkeys like us, Bananas will please. But for you, birthday mouse, Here's a big chunk of . . ." Birthday cake? Mud pie? No, it's cheese!

Can you guess what the three pigs bring? Is it made of straw or wood or brick? How about Elephant? What is his present for Mouse? The students loved using the rhymes to figure out what gift they'll find when the page was turned. And the best surprise of all comes at the end when a special visitor arrives—because friendship is what this party is all about!

Complete with cake, candles, goody bags, and games, Stephanie Calmenson and Doug Cushman throw a party you won't want to leave!

For 4th - 6th grade we read 11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass.

It's Amanda's 11th birthday and she is super excited---after all, 11 is so different from 10. But from the start, everything goes wrong. The worst part of it all is that she and her best friend, Leo, with whom she's shared every birthday, are on the outs and this will be the first birthday they haven't shared together. When Amanda turns in for the night, glad to have her birthday behind her, she wakes up happy for a new day. Or is it? Her birthday seems to be repeating iself. What is going on?! And how can she fix it? Only time, friendship, and a little luck will tell. . .

Award Winning Books for 2011

The Caldecott and Newbery awards are the most prestigious awards given annually by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association, to American authors' books in the United States of America. Once the winning books are announced, book stores have a difficult time keeping their shelves stocked with these quality children books.

The Caldecott Medal for 2011 goes to A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip Stead, Illustrated by Erin Stead.

This book is about friends and how they take care of each other. The story is unpredictable and the illustrations are delightful. My favorite picture is when the animals are riding the bus. I highly recommend this book for all elementary students and their parents to enjoy reading. Though in the Media Center, we read it to the students from Kindergarten through Third Grade.

Read to 4th-6th Grade

The Newbery Medal for 2011 goes to Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool.

Abilene Tucker is the 12 year old daughter of Gideon Tucker. She loves to hear his stories of a town he lived in 18 years before called, Manifest. Abilene describes her father's stories about Manifest like "...sucking on butterscotch. Smooth and sweet...." The students savored butterscotch drops while we read this flavorful metaphor in chapter one.

Continuing with an introduction to the story, Gideon gets a job in Iowa with the railroad and sends his Abilene to this town of Manifest. She arrives on a train scheduled to meet Pastor Howard whom Gideon arranged for her to stay with. "Abilene's Manifest" is much different than the smooth and sweet stories Gideon told her about. The pastor she meets is an interim pastor who has been waiting 14 years for the real pastor to show up. His name is Shady and, yes, he is a bit shady. She makes friends when she goes to her first day of school which is the last day of school before summer break.

She comes upon some old Manifest Herald newspapers and reads them in hopes of finding information about Gideon's time in Manifest, She also discovers an old cigar box hidden under a board on her bedroom floor that is filled with trinkets, a map, and letters about suspicions of spies in Manifest during World War I. As Abilene and her friends begin to investigate the past, someone warns them to stop their investigation by inconspicuously posting a note to their treehouse. The adventure of past(1918) and present (1936) becomes too irresistible for the girls to leave alone!