Edison Night at Books Inc. - Save the Date!

As a fun and engaging way to kick off this year’s Read-a-thon, the committee would like to invite you to a shopping night at Books Inc. Not only is this a great way to support our local book store, but 20% of the profits sold during our three hour window comes back to the Edison community. Here are some important details about the night and great reasons to come:

• This event happens on Wednesday, October 5th, from 5:30-8:30pm.
• Wine, cheese, and cookies will be provided!
• Teachers will be there!
• The shopping event is open to the public, so you can invite your neighbors and friends!
• All special orders taken and paid for during the shopping event will count toward our donations. This means you or your friends or family members can call into the store to place an order. (Make sure they state that they are part of our event.)

Have questions? Please contact me at zboese@alameda.k12.ca.us . We hope to see many of you there!

Many thanks,

Ms. Boese

Teacher Librarian

Author Event for 3-5 Students!

A note from the library:

I am excited to announce that on Tuesday, October 4th, Books Inc. is sending over the author of the HiLo graphic novel series Judd Winick! The visit is free, though we are asking families who are interested to purchase a book through this event. Purchased books will most likely get autographed.

Link to order form: Judd Winick order form

There are two books in the HiLo series so far, with a third coming out in January. The books are filled with colorful images and share the funny stories of three friends, HiLo, D.J., and Gina as they try to figure out where HiLo came from, which is obviously isn’t from Earth!. Here is a synopsis from Amazon.com:

D.J. and his friend Gina are totally normal kids. But that was before a mysterious boy came crashing down from the sky! Hilo doesn’t know where he came from, or what he’s doing on Earth. (Or why going to school in only your underwear is a bad idea!) . . . But what if Hilo wasn’t the only thing to fall to our planet? Can the trio unlock the secrets of his past? Can Hilo survive a day at school? And are D.J. and Gina ready to save the world?

HILO is Calvin and Hobbes meets Big Nate and is just right for fans of Bone and comic books as well as laugh-out-loud school adventures like Jedi Academy and Wimpy Kid!

Please consider buying a copy of this book for your child through this event. The more books we buy, the more likely we are to get another author visit!

Please fill out and return the form as soon as possible. I will be providing a book number to the publisher on Friday, September 30th.

Thanks for supporting this author’s visit!

Ms. Zoe Boese

Teacher Librarian

Edison Elementary School

Alameda Unified School District

510-748-4002 x115

Spring Book Fair

Spring Book Fair

May 23 - May 26

Save the date! The spring book fair is around the corner and I am thrilled to announce that this year it will be hosted by our very own Books Inc.! I am excited to be able to help select the types of books that will be included  this year for your children’s summer reading. This will include next year’s CYRM nominees! We will have a large table with next year’s selection and we hope you will be able to purchase titles for our classroom teachers as well as for your children. It should be a lot of fun!

I can barely wait!

Ms. Boese

Teacher Librarian

CYRM Voting Week!

California Young Reader Medal (CYRM) Program

It is voting week at Edison! Students will be voting for their favorite picture book from the CYRM program this week when they visit me in the library. I will tally the votes Thursday afternoon and submit them to the CYRM committee. Winners in all categories will be announced on May 1st. I will, however, let students know which books won in each class and at Edison when we get back from spring break.

If you are unfamiliar with the CYRM program, check out this great website I made for our community!

Ms. Boese’s CYRM Site

I am already planning out next year’s program which I will launch during the fall Readathon. I think I have figured out a way to get next year’s nominated books into the classroom quickly, but will need your help. More on that when I announce this year’s spring book fair!

Please make sure to ask which book your child voted for!

Thanks,

Ms. Boese

Teacher Librarian

California Young Reader Medal (CYRM) Program

California Young Reader Medal (CYRM) Program

Better late than never seems to be my motto of the moment! I hinted about the CYRM program way back in September and thought I would have rolled out the program sooner. But here we are in March and it is just getting done. (I blame it on the never ending demands of Graduate school! 😊) Although we have to vote for our favorite book in each category by the end of the month, I still wanted to roll out the program at Edison as this is something I hope we participate in each year.

Although the CYRM program has been around since 1974, this is the first time Edison will participate. And I am so excited! With this program, students are encouraged to recreationally read some of the best popular literature titles out there today. Not only do they get to read great titles, they also get to vote for their favorite title in each category AND they get to nominate their favorite titles for the following year.

I have created a website that gives information about the program and each of the books. I found author and illustrator interviews and read aloud videos for all of the picture books. I introduced the site to students two weeks ago and they love it. I hope you do too!

Students will vote for their favorite books in the school library that last week of March.

I am already coming up with a plan on how to get next year’s books into classrooms for September, but you will have to watch out for an upcoming email on the spring book fair for the details.

For now, please check out my Google site!

Ms. Boese’s CYRM Site

Thanks,

Ms. Boese

Teacher Librarian

TumbleBook Library!!!

Dear Edison Families,

I am excited to announce the Edison Library now has a paid subscription to TumbleBookLibrary! TumbleBookLibrary is an online collection of nearly 1,000 titles for students in grades K-6. It includes animated talking picture books, chapter books, national geographic videos, nonfiction titles, books in other languages, graphic novels, and math stories.

I have worked with students in grades 1-5 on the ins and outs of navigating the site and they are all now independent users of the program (1st graders might need a little support logging in the first time). Please utilize this service as much as you would like with your families. There are some great authors on the site!

The link for TumbleBookLibrary can be found on my website in the Great Websites for Kids section under Language Arts. You will need to use the links provided on my website to access our account the first time. You can then bookmark the site for your convenience. There is a separate link for mobile devices so choose your link accordingly. Username and Password information can also be found on my site.

Library’s Website

Shortcut to TumbleBooks link

Enjoy!

Ms. Boese

Teacher Librarian

zboese@alameda.k12.ca.us

Epic! - Online Books for Kids

Parents and Teachers,

  

I have recently discovered an incredible resource for ebooks called Epic! Epic! is a website and also can be downloaded as an app. The site calls itself the "Netflix for children's books" and is filled with thousands of primary and intermediate books in all genres.  The ebooks are current and of high interest to children. I have already seen available many of the new books I have recently purchased for our library!

What's even more incredible, though, is that the site is free for educators to use. Because of this, starting next week I will be showing students how to use the site when they visit me in the library media center. I have created a school account to make the sign-in process easy for everyone. I will also be modeling the site for our teachers at the next staff meeting. 

While the service is free for educators, Epic! asks parents to subscribe to the service for $4.99 a month - still an excellent value. 

Encouraging reading for pleasure is one of the most important things we can do for our children's long-term success in school. I believe the use of this tool will make the job a lot easier for us all. Find out for yourself though. After your child's visit to the library next week, please maker sure to ask them about their experience with Epic!. I can barely wait to show them all the fun!