Archive for the ‘educational’ Category
You Can Be an Author Too!
Posted on: March 30, 2011
Have you ever wanted to write your own story?
Are you a kid between 5 and 14 years of age?
Well, we have just the contest for you!
The people who created Children’s Book Week (this year it’s celebrated May 2-8th) want you to submit a book for a chance to win super cool prizes like $350 to print your book or a poster signed by a bunch of famous and amazing authors!
Here’s the info, so get creating, ok!? You need to email them your book no later than 5:00 p.m. on Friday, April 22, 2011.
Happy Writing,
Ms Kathy
Super Moon!
Posted on: March 18, 2011
This Saturday, March 19 will be a night to look to the sky. The full moon will be closer to the earth than it has for almost 20 years!
The moon will rise in the East, over the ocean around 7:30 PM.
This is a great chance to discuss astronomy with your kids. You can learn the phases of the moon, the moon landings, and why it shines! If you have the time, head to the beach to check out the moon and then learn more about it at your library!
To learn more about the moon, check out these books!
March is Women’s History Month and a great chance to celebrate the freedoms and accomplishments women have earned throughout our history!
Women have been doing great things throughout history. In ancient Egypt, women could own property and inherit wealth. To find out more about women in history, check out our WorldBook Online database. Search for the keywords: WOMEN and HISTORY and get hundreds of great articles that you can use for reports or just read for fun! Don’t miss the Primary Sources section. You can read letters written by women hundreds of years ago!
On top of that, today ( March 8 ) is International Women’s Day. In fact, 2011 is the 100th anniversary of this special occasion!
Click here for a list of books that we carry all about women in history!
Have you heard about Flat Stanley?
He’s the boy who was flattened by a bulletin board! You’d think that being flattened by a bulletin board would have put an end to all his adventures, but Stanley went on even more amazing adventures after becoming flat. He’s traveled by mail to and from all sorts of exotic locations, like Africa, Egypt, Japan, Mexico and Mount Rushmore. Once he even went into space!
Last week we, the Saturday Kids’ Club, celebrated Flat Stanley and his journeys to far off places! After reading The Mount Rushmore Calamity we got together, talked about out the story and then each of us made a Flat Stanley of our own.
Next we had to decide where to mail Flat Stanley. We wrote letters to our friends and family asking them to take a picture with Flat Stanley and then mail him back to us (with a picture of his adventure too)!
Click HERE for more Flat Stanley books!
Also, if you have a child in second or third grade, check out the Saturday Kids’ Club! We’re reading Dinosaurs BeforeDark before we come together again on March 12th @ 2!
Stay tuned! We’ll write more about Flat Stanley’s future fun!
Ms. Kathy
Nature’s Playground
Posted on: February 3, 2011
- In: authors | books | educational | events | family_fun | kids events | organic | parenting | reading | tv_turnoff | Uncategorized | west palm beach | west palm beach public library
- Leave a Comment
Since I moved into a house with a yard, on the weekends I find myself puttering about outdoors. When we first moved in May, we pulled out about 150 non-native plants. After a bit of research and multiple visits to the Mounts Botanical Gardens, we put in a few native vines and trees.
I have taken an interest in hydroponic gardening, too. To date, we have built two hydroponic systems that hold about 50 plants total! I am growing various red and green leaf lettuces, tomatoes and of course collard greens and kale.
“Hydroponics.” World Book Online Reference Center. World Book, 2011. Web. 3 Feb. 2011.
Needless to say, I love being outside. In South Florida we can spend almost 365 days outside, how wonderful is that? We are surrounded by a wondrous expanse of land filled with adventures. Here are some places on my outside adventure list:
1.) Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge
On Saturday, February 12 from 8am-4pm, the Refuge will be celebrating their 12th Annual Everglades Day with Foreverglades: A day celebrating and promoting awareness, appreciation, and
an understanding of the Everglades.
2.) Girls u Pick Strawberry Fields
I have soft spot for others trying hydroponics and I love strawberries. Pay attention to the plants at the top of the hydroponic systems, they plant various herbs. Grab a basket and scissors and you are ready to go.
3.) Vizcaya Museum and Gardens in Miami-Dade
Years ago, when I lived in Tampa, I drove to the Ringling Museum once of month. Vizcaya reminds me of the Ringling and I enjoy walking around the gardens of both.
The Mounts Botanical Gardens is beautiful to stroll through. I just love checking out their vegetable garden. The vegetable garden would be great places to have the kids’ guess the plant and what vegetable will it produce. If you are interested in starting a garden with kids, check out the library’s books on gardening with children.
If you are having a hard time getting the kids away from their video games, check out the book by Fiona Banks, Nature’s playground : activities, crafts, and games to encourage children to get outdoors
What are some of your favorite outdoor places? Comment on our blog!
Learn about Groundhog Day!
Posted on: February 1, 2011
Please enjoy this article from of our Kids InfoBits online database. Click here for access to the database!
Groundhog Day
 The groundhog handler holds the groundhog in front of the crowd after the animal made his yearly weather prediction. |
Some people think a groundhog can tell how long winter will last. Groundhog Day is a holiday all about this animal and this belief.
A groundhog is a rodent. Rodents have big front teeth. They eat leaves, bark, and berries. Groundhogs live in a hole in the ground.
Groundhog Day is February 2. A story says the groundhog comes out of his hole on that day. He looks around. If he sees his shadow, he is scared and jumps back into his hole. This means there will be six more weeks of winter.
Sometimes the groundhog does not see his shadow. He does not jump back down his hole. This means spring will come soon.
The first Groundhog Day was in 1886. A newspaper reporter wrote an article about it. The article was in a newspaper in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Today, Punxsutawney still celebrates Groundhog Day.
Punxsutawney’s groundhog is named Phil. Every February 2, lots of people come to see Phil. They want to know if he will see his shadow. Groundhogs in other cities predict how much longer winter will last. The groundhogs are not always right. But it is fun to see them guess!
Many towns and schools celebrate Groundhog Day. People make paper groundhogs. They listen to stories and play nature games.
Source Citation: “Groundhog Day.” Kids InfoBits Presents: Holidays of the World. Thomson Gale, 2007. Reproduced in Kids InfoBits. Detroit: Gale, 2011. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/KidsInfoBits
- In: authors | books | early literacy | educational | elementary | Literacy | poems | Poetry | Poetry for children | read alouds | reading | Uncategorized | west palm beach | west palm beach public library
- Leave a Comment
Poetry can be read for beauty, emotion, action, and to learn! The rhythm and rhyme transform the words from vocabulary and fact to meaningful pieces that stick in your mind. Music too has a great effect on memory.
The following poem is from the book Count me a rhyme: Animal poems by the numbers by Jane Yolen. As children go through the pages, new animals are featured for them to count along with reading or listening to the poem.
To count the rest of your way through the book, check it out today! See below for more poetry that include a lesson.
Six Spiders Spinning
by Jane Yolen
Six spiders spinning
A long and glittering strand;
Six spiders shinnying
Hand over hand over hand over hand,
Hand over hand over hand over hand.
Six spiders throwing
Out a glistering strand;
Six spiders going
Hand over hand over hand over hand,
Hand over hand over hand over hand.
Six spiders hurrying
Down a glistening strand;
Six spiders scurrying
Hand over hand over hand over hand,
Hand over hand over hand over hand.
Six spiders creeping
Upon a glimmering strand;
Six spiders sleeping
Hand over hand over hand over hand,
Hand over hand over hand over hand.
From the book: Count me a rhyme: Animal poems by the numbers. By Jane Yolen. Photographs by Jason Stemple.
Black History Month begins in a few days. There is so much wonderful poetry out there celebrating African American culture. I have listed a number of our books full of poetry.
Check one out today!
Here is one of my favorite children’s poems by Nikki Giovanni.
The Reason I Like Chocolate
By Nikki Giovanni
The reason I like chocolate
is I can lick my fingers
and nobody tells me I’m not polite
I especially like scary movies
’cause I can snuggle with Mommy
or my big sister and they don’t laugh
I like to cry sometimes ’cause
everybody says “what’s the matter
don’t cry”
and I like books
for all those reasons
but mostly ’cause they just make me
happy
and I really like
to be happy
From the book:
The Block. Poems by Langston Hughes. The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Viking. 1995.
(includes 1 audio cd. *hear Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks, Queen Latifa, and more…)
Have you met Sam yet?
Posted on: January 12, 2011
Hey…have you met Sam yet? I was introduced to Sam quite a few years ago, but my grandson is just getting to know him and his friends, Mat and Cat. My 4 year old grandson was so excited last week when we met for dinner at a restaurant that his mother had to write words on a paper dinner napkin so he could read them to me. These are the first words he has learned to sound out all by himself and he is ecstatic about reading them! He read his first book last week about Sam all by himself.
In case you haven’t met up with Sam yet, you can find whole sets of Bob Books in our library. You will not only meet Sam, but other characters like Jig the Pig, and Dot and Mit. They all have a story to tell. I have to warn you if you haven’t read any of these books before, some of them are pretty silly.
If you’re just learning to sound out words and need some practice, bring your mom or dad down to the library and check out a Play Pak. There’s one called “Make-A-Word” that is awesome. Look inside for “Flip-It”. I want to challenge you to read the whole book, nonsense words and all. I can’t wait to show that one to my grandson. Be sure to ask a librarian to help you find the Bob Books and the Play Paks next time you come to visit!
- In: authors | books | child development | early literacy | educational | elementary | emergent literacy | holidays | language skills | Literacy | poems | Poetry | Poetry for children | preschool | read alouds | reading | Uncategorized | west palm beach | west palm beach public library
- 1 Comment
Whether you prefer to celebrate the holiday in a goofy way, traditional way, or a little bit of both, enjoy these poems!
Happy Turkey Day!
November
*
Thanksgiving and
the Pigs rejoice-
so many pies!
And so much choice!
Peach and apple,
cherry, ample
mincemeat, pumpkin-
just a sample,
Peach and apple,
cherry, ample
mincemeat, pumpkin-
just a sample,
crumb or nibble
of each kind,
our gracious hostess
will not mind
in November.
~From Alligators and Others All Year Long: A Book of Months by Crescent Dragonwagon
Happy Thanksgiving!
November
The stripped and shapely
Maple grieves
The loss of her
Departed leaves.
of each kind,
our gracious hostess
will not mind
in November.
The ground is hard,
As hard as stone.
The year is old,
The birds are flown.
And yet the world,
Nevertheless,
Displays a certain
Loveliness-
The beauty of
The bone. Tall God
Must see our soulds
This way, and nod.
Give thanks: we do,
Each in his place
Around the table
During grace.
