Last week’s contest was another estimation competition. Students and staff were invited to estimate the number of mini candy canes in an extra large jar. There were 512 candy canes. The closest estimate, 501 candy canes, was made by fourth grader Seth. Seth wins a stuffed animal and he gets to deliver candy canes to all students on Tuesday. Congratulations, Seth!
The Three Bears
Mrs. McCall’s class explored the story of The Three Bears during their last two library visits. During their first visit, the children listened to Paul Galdone’s version of the familiar folktale and learned the song “Three Brown Bears.” Then they retold the story using props. During their second visit, the children watched a video of James Marshall’s Goldilocks and the Three Bears. They also listened to another version with a holiday twist. In The Three Bears’ Christmas by Kathy Duval, the Bears’ visitor is Santa, not Goldilocks!
“Cal-Cal-Caldecott…”
…Medal on a book means it’s won the picture prize so take another look!” Those are the lyrics to song (sung to the tune of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”) that the kindergartners have been singing during library visits for the past two weeks. The children now recognize the Caldecott seal on books and realize the award was given for outstanding illustrations. The children drew illustrations on white circles of paper and attached them to blue ribbons to create their own Caldecott Medals. Gold glitter was added make the award extra special.
Storytime during the week of December 6thfeatured two Caldecott Honor books by author/illustrator Mo Willems. The children thoroughly enjoyed both Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus and Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale. The former is illustrated with cartoon-like drawings while the latter combines cartoon drawings with photographs to illustrate setting. The children imitated Willems’ cartoon drawing and photograph illustrations. They colored a sketch of Knuffle Bunny and glued it onto a photo of a space inside or outside Carl J. Lamb School! Some children chose to put Knuffle Bunny on the playground while others placed him in their classroom, the cafeteria, the library, the office, or the gym.
Last week’s storytime featured two nonfiction Caldecott Honor books. The first read was First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger which features transformations (such as egg to chicken and tadpole to frog). Each change is revealed through clever cut-out illustrations. The second book was What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page. Each two-page spread shows the ears, eyes, mouths, noses, or feet of several animals. The children tried to guess the animals before turning the page. The following pages revealed the identity of the animals and the amazing things they do with the featured body part. The two informational books were used to introduce the library’s easy nonfiction collection. How to use a shelf marker (a long painted stick) when browsing was introduced in hopes of getting the books back on the shelf in the right spot!
Jingle bells, jingle bells…
Last week’s competition was an estimation contest. Students were invited to estimate the number of red, green, gold, and silver jingle bells in a jar. There were 143 bells and fourth grader Jennifer guessed the exact amount. Now she can jingle all the way to Christmas! Congratulations, Jen!
Caldecott Award
The Caldecott Medal was introduced to all the kindergartners last week. It is awarded annually to the artist of the most outstanding picture book for children published in the United States during the preceding year. A gold seal bearing the words “Caldecott Medal” appears on the front cover of each winning book. “Runner up” books, called Caldecott Honor books, bear a silver seal on their covers. The children were shown a large version of the Caldecott Medal and learned a little song to help them remember the medal and its purpose. Then they listened to Caldecott Medal winner Kitten’s First Full Moon by 
Kevin Henkes and Caldecott Honor book The Stray Dog by Marc Simont. After the lesson, the children used crayons to illustrate their own Caldecott Medals.