At the beginning of May, we continued our poetry sharing, reading, and writing.  Then we turned our focus to counting down our library checkouts.  It is so sad to stop checking out books but the students have done an excellent job returning their library books and making summer reading plans.  I hope to see many familiar and new faces at the Hickory Point Summer Reading Library Nights!

Kindergarten learned more about Mo Willems exploring his art and books other than Elephant & Piggie.  In computers, kindergartners finished their stories in Pixie and enjoyed sharing reading them with the class.  They have also been playing keyboard, math, and letter games.

An author study of Leo Lionni captured the imaginations of first graders.

Second graders studied the informational nonfiction books by author and illustrator Gail Gibbons.  They also learned about and explored the Caldecott Award and books.

Throughout the month students have continued to share wonderful ideas.  We dreamed a bit about summer reading, hopes for next year, and the Hickory Point Summer Reading program.

The students were encouraged to Dream Big.  Hopefully, you saw the student dreams come home with the summer reading information on the back.

Thank you for helping get all the student library books back or taken care of.  I hope to see you and your family at Hickory Point during the summer reading library nights!  Wednesdays 7-8pm from June 14-July 19.

Please enjoy the photos and student work posted for this month.  There are many dreams to enjoy!

Happy reading,

Mrs. Heaser

As the end of the year approaches, we need to ask for all student books to be returned or accounted for by Friday, May 26th.  We appreciate your help paying for lost books before then.

The last student library checkouts will be next week.  It is always a sad moment to stop letting students check out library books.  But it is with a happy heart that we can offer the Hickory Point Library summer reading program.

Hopefully, you will see bookmarks going home this week.  The full information is available below.  We hope to see you and your family this summer!

Happy reading,

Mrs. Heaser

Did you know that April is National Poetry month?  We celebrated by reading, writing, listening, and speaking about poems this month.  Our genre of the month was poetry so we encouraged students to take poetry books home.  Hopefully, our poet students have shared their poems or their poetry books with you. It’s wonderful to see the excitement of creativity on their faces and hear the joyful sparks of imagination in the students’ voices and as they compose poetry and are eager to share it with me and the class.

Kindergarten

Kindergarteners started the month by hearing poems and studying the art of Eric Carle in his book Animals, Animals.  We continued our author study by reading, discussing, and writing about the books The Mixed-Up Chameleon, A House for Hermit Crab, and My Apron.  We visited his website and will watch a little video segment of how he creates his art.  Eric Carle books and poetry books were a special third book to check out this month in addition to Monarch Award-nominated books and books by our author who visited Suzanne Slade.

In computers, kindergarteners drew and wrote about spring.  Upon completion of that project, they practiced math at abcya.com.  We started a new project to combine writing, imagination, and learning how to use backgrounds in Pixie and add a new page.  Students are typing a sentence per page and reinforcing writing skills such as capitalizing the first letter of a sentence and ending punctuation: a period, a question mark, and an exclamation point.  We are continuing to gain familiarity with the keyboard at the same time.

First Grade

First graders studied Douglas Florian who is a poet and artist.  We have been listening to his poems while enjoying his illustrations.  He combines real facts with a great sense of humor.  We have been laughing and learning our way through his books.  We have also been inspired to write our own poems and share them.

Second Grade

Second graders read Mary Ann Doberman’s You Read to Me and I’ll Read to You.  These poems in two voices have sparked many student created poems in a similar style.  The creativity and humor of students’ unique writing, reading, and speaking styles has been a highlight of library this month.

Hopefully, you have already seen the photos of the Wood Oaks Library Leaders visit to their second grade book buddies. That was a fun-filled end to the year-long letter exchange about reading and connecting our oldest and younger students in the district.  This program is yet another way that we encourage reading for our students.  Many second graders aspire to become library leaders when they are eighth graders at Wood Oaks!

A recent addition to the library collection is a new kind of audiobook called VOX.  We are giving the second graders first turns with these books.  The hardcover book has a slim unit attached inside that combines an earphone jack, speaker, and buttons for playing the audiobook.  We are sending them home in a bag to remind students to be extra gentle with these audiobooks. We are also mindful of the expense of these VOX books so students may not check out a Pop-up book or PlayAway at the same time.

As the end of the school year races toward us, we need to think about getting the library ready for summer.  We need to get all the student books back or accounted for.  In order to do this, we need all student library books back before Friday, May 26th, which means that the last student checkout is Friday, May 19th.

We are very happy to offer the summer reading library program this summer in the Hickory Point Library.  We hope to see you there. 

Happy Reading,

Mrs. Heaser

2017 Official Monarch Voting Results

Across the state of Illinois, 96,676 students in grades K-3 voted for their favorite Monarch Award nominated book.

In fourth place with 7,625 votes is Waiting is not Easy by Mo Willems.

In third place with 7,835 votes is The Princess in Black.

In second place with 9,529 votes is This Book Just Ate my Dog.

In first place with 11,919 votes is Gaston.

Upon hearing Gaston won the 2017 Monarch Award, the author said, "Ooh-la-la! That's fantastic news! What a tremendous honor for our favorite Frenchie."--Kelly Dipucchio, author of Gaston.

We started our month celebrating reading with Read Across America week in honor of Dr. Seuss’s birthday.  We continued studying Dr. Seuss and reading and sharing his books all month.  Our genre of the month of biography provided us with facts for our author study and how many of his famous stories came to be.  Discussing the beginning of his career in children’s books through the end, we enjoyed the fun, silly, and creative stories and illustrations as well as awards and books that he continues to inspire to this day.

Second Grade

The second graders did a fabulous job earning their licenses to drive the online library catalog. Second graders have been putting it all together by searching the online library catalog and then following the call number to the library section and then to the book on the shelf.  I have been cheering many library success stories.  We have also started field trips to the different library neighborhoods to practice with call numbers and discover so new books to enjoy reading and check out.

First Grade

In addition to reading Dr. Seuss books and sharing facts about his life, we have been reviewing and highlighting the variety of books and different formats of reading material available for checkout.  We have encouraged variety and finding a “just right” book.

 The Mo Willems author study videos show student excitement and knowledge of the books featured in  “We are in a Play!”

Kindergarten

Mixed with stories and facts about Dr. Seuss, kindergarten students have been writing, drawing, and imagining in literature responses.  As students choose books to check out, we have encouraged a wide selection and good habits such as looking inside the book rather than just the cover.  As time permits, we review checked out books that are fact and fiction through a sharing game.  Students have been showing such kind manners caring each other and the books each week as they share their books with each and report tears that need tape when accidents occur or have been noticed.

During computers, students have focused on math games after finishing the Pixie I love… project. We introduced subtraction, addition, number charts 1-100, and counting by 1s or 10s on abcya.com.  We will start a new writing and drawing project after spring break.

I hope that you have a wonderful spring break.  Please enjoy the photos that highlight library and computer activities this month.

Happy reading,

Mrs. Heaser

Here is a link to photos that show some of the ways we celebrated reading last week during Read Across America week.  This link is a new tool that may have temporary access.

We celebrated Dr. Seuss books each day with second graders reading during morning announcements and students and staff dressing to match!

• Monday we wore hats for The Cat in the Hat.
• Tuesday we wore green for Green Eggs and Ham.
• Wednesday we wore wacky clothes for Wacky Wednesday.
• Thursday we wore silly socks for The Fox in Socks.
• Friday we wore vacation clothes for Oh, the Places You'll Go.

All week in the library we were excited about lucky readers.  The prize books brought joy and wonderful moments of students congratulating each other's luck.

Enjoy the photos and know that we had a lot of fun as a school celebrating reading!

Mrs. Heaser

February was a month filled with many kinds of books.  Our genre of the month inspired many grinning students eagerly sharing their joy in checking out informational nonfiction books.  Students enjoyed checking out books from displays for Chinese New Year, Groundhog’s Day, Valentine’s Day, and Presidents.  We enjoyed many new books as well.  Each week we encourage students to try out new kinds of books and select a variety while also supporting individual interests and needs.

The first graders studied author and illustrator Mo Willems in preparation for their field trip to We are in a Play!.  Please enjoy the photos, student work, and videos created during this author study before and after the play.  Hopefully you will see how wrapped up our students are while sharing the reading and talking about books by Mo Willems.  The drama and musical style of the live performance added magic that is captured in the students writing.  Students added imagination to their knowledge of the Elephant & Piggie books in creative writing and drawings as well.

The second graders are close to earning those driver’s licenses for the online library catalog.  They are practicing their searches and finding books each week during library lessons and check out.  It is a joy to hear that some students are also searching the online library catalog at the public library.  Way to apply your knowledge!

Kindergarteners have added a new responsibility to their library time.  They are nicely walking around the library independently to choose and check out their books.  We are proud to see the great choices they are making by choosing books that are facing them and peeking inside the book before checking it out.

In computers, the kindergarteners, drew and wrote about things they love.  Their skills and creativity continue to impress.  Enjoy reading their writing and beautiful drawings.  We practiced beginning and ending sentence punctuation as well as sounding out words.

We are already having a very fun week celebrating reading in Dr. Seuss style.

Happy reading!

Mrs. Heaser

After months of checking out, reading, listening, discussing, writing, and drawing about the 2017 Monarch award nominated books, the students of Hickory Point have voted for their favorite book.  The Monarch Award is a Reader’s Choice award for kindergarten through third graders sponsored by the Illinois School Library Media Assocation.  As a sign of how much students liked these books, every book got at least two votes.  366 students voted last week and these are the results.  

In fourth place with 34 votes is This Book Just ate my Dog!.

In third place with 36 votes is Gaston.

In second place with 41 votes is The Princess in Black.

The 2017 Monarch award nominated book with the most votes at Hickory Point school with 54 votes is Waiting Is Not Easy! by Mo Willems.

The students are all winners for having read these wonderful books. In about a month, the final results for the state will be announced.  The complete voting results are also posted in the library.

We started January with sharing about our winter break reading and other memories.  We have been busy reading, writing, discussing, and checking out Monarch books.  We are getting close to being ready to vote.  Each student is asked to think about which of the twenty books is a favorite to be able to vote in February.

Second graders began learning the online library catalog with title searches.  They are earning their license to drive the online catalog.  We started by reviewing the library map connection to call numbers and introducing the genres of the month fantasy and science fiction.  We are practicing each week during check out making the connection between the online catalog and how to find the physical book. 

Kindergarteners and first graders had a wealth of folklore to sample.  Suzanne Slade books are still being enjoyed and checked out by students as well.  First graders have been reviewing library neighborhoods before check out to help remind them to try new kinds of books.

In computers, kindergarteners typed words they know to practice finding letters on the keyboard and text boxes in Pixie.  They practiced sounding out words and trackpad skills by selecting stickers in Pixie and adding a text box to label the sticker.  As time allowed after that, they visited math and letter games that they know at abcya.com.

Please enjoy the student work that is included with the photos from library and computers this month.

Happy reading,

Mrs. Heaser

We celebrated folklore this month as the genre of the month.  Students were encouraged to check out fairy tales, fables, legends, mythology, tall tales, nursery rhymes, and folklore from around the world.  We talked about folklore being told from one generation to the next before computers, movies, tvs, radios, and even books were available.  We also talked about the story changes a little depending on who is telling the story, which gives us many variations of folklore stories from around the world.

We returned our focus to the Monarch Award nominated books by reading the folklore inspired Goldy Luck and the Three Pandas.  This wonderful story was enjoyed by all and taught us a little bit about the Chinese New Year.  We enjoyed many read alouds of Monarch books.  We are trying to read as many as possible to prepare the students to vote for their favorite.

Kindergarteners joined in the read aloud fun when they knew the nursery rhymes and folklore that we shared along with Monarch books this month. We talked about how some are silly, some are songs, and some story meanings change with a different picture. 

First graders also heard the story Goldie Socks and the Three Libearians.  It teaches the five finger rule for finding a “just right” book.  As students work so hard on their reading skills, it is worthwhile to find just right books in the library during checkout.  Self-selecting books is a life skill that we encourage each week during library checkout.  First graders are able to select two books each week plus an extra book that is the genre of the month, Monarch, or by Suzanne Slade.  Second graders had a great reminder as well about “just right” books and are encouraged to checkout at least one just right book out of their three plus an extra.

First graders created a library map to start thinking more about library organization and where to find certain kinds of books such as picture books, biographies, beginning chapter books, beginning readers, informational books and other nonfiction books such as folklore, poetry, and jokes.  The magazines, PlayAways, pop-ups, and 3D books are choices as well.  As we revisit this map, it is a great reminder to keep sampling and reading a variety of materials.

Second graders started learning about call numbers in preparation for starting to learn the online catalog next month.  As we drew a map of the library together, we talked about the library neighborhood or section symbol that is the first part of the call number.  We have also been matching a type of book with that call number symbol.  Finding the book on the shelf can be harder that an online catalog search so we want the students thinking about it now.

In computers, we started the month by kindergarteners learning Numbers games at abcya.com.  We returned to Pixie to learn how to use the fill, spray can, and other drawing tools.  Students created a drawing of what they plan to do this winter.  We practiced finding letters on the keyboard and writing by finishing the sentence “This winter I” and students were asked to type their name starting with a capital letter.  I hope that you enjoy the photos and projects completed by the students.  I think that you will see how each unique idea is a wonderful work of art.  They concentrated and had fun as they excitedly shared their plans.  We took time over several weeks to share and complete these projects.

Please enjoy the student work that is included with the photos from library and computers this month.

Happy reading,

Mrs. Heaser

Our long awaited author visit Suzanne Slade was a highpoint this month.  The experience is captured in multiple ways.  The photos of her visit are on this website along with the student thank you notes.  The students' enthusiasm, hugs, and smiling faces made such an impression on Mrs. Slade that she wrote me a thank you note the day after her visit.  The student excitement and work of this author study is contained in two Shutterfly photo books.  These books will become part of our library's circulating collection as soon as they visit each classroom.  If you would like to take a look, please visit http://authorvisit2016.shutterfly.com.

Our students were amazed and inspired by science, art, writing, drawing, editing, and seeing how books are made.  Mrs. Slade shared her writing as a first grader.  She confided that she always loved math and science and became a better writer by practicing.  She also shared that by reading everyone can become a better writer.  She shared her favorite books that she read as a child.  When sharing her love of children's books, she gave us a sneak peek of the cover of her book that is just being printed now. Researching, writing, rereading, rewriting, getting opinions from her writing group, revising, checking facts with experts, rewriting, and rereading are the main part of an author's work writing a book.  Mrs. Slade reminded students that great writing takes a lot of effort.  In describing her research, she pointed out that illustrators have to do research, too.  For The Inventor’s Secret, what did Henry Ford’s tools look like?  Illustrators have to edit, too.  Mrs. Slade shared an experiment from her book Cool Physics Activities for Girls.  Teachers and students alike were amazed.  Mrs. Slade was kind enough to explain her “sneaky thumbs” that made the trick possible. As she shared that dreams come true with persistence, Mrs. Slade asked, "What is you dream?"  Her message to keep practicing what you enjoy is a powerful one.

The book fair and author visit created a reading celebration spirit in the school.  We built upon that idea by offering the students an extra book to check out and we had some lucky readers, who chose a prize book to keep forever.

In addition to enjoying Suzanne Slade's informational books, first and second grade students were encouraged to check out historical fiction as an extra book this month.  We revisited the 2017 Monarch Award nominated books after our author study finished.  New books were added to our usual wonderful biographies, picture books, chapter books, beginning chapter books, and beginning readers.  All in all, we were engaged in a lot of wonderful reading and discussion about books this month.

In computers, kindergarteners created drawings of Suzanne Slade books as they learned how to create a text box and type their name.  They are beginning keyboard awareness as they continue to practice trackpad skills.  They learned some abcya.com Numbers games to practice number sequence and other numbers skills.  Computer skills are strengthening, and they are having fun while learning and being creative!

Happy reading and hope that you enjoy the photos and student work,

Mrs. Heaser

  HAPPENING AT HICKORY POINT

Hot Lunch

Monday, November 14 -- Piero’s

Wednesday, November 16 -- Little Louie’s

Thursday, November 17 -- Jet’s

Friday, November 18 -- Subway

EXCITING MONDAY

We have two very exciting events happening on Monday, November 14. During the day Author Suzanne Slade will be visiting Hickory Point and speaking to the students about the writing process.

From 5:00 - 8:00 that evening we will be continuing our celebration of books with the PTA book fair. Please enter the building through the front door. We hope you are able to join us for a fun evening.

COAT DRIVE

The Kind Kids Club and the PTA Philanthropy are sponsoring a Coat drive at Hickory Point during the week of the Book Fair. Please take a look in your closets and bring any gently used coats the week of November 14. The bins will be out the night of the book fair, so feel free to drop them off that evening. Click here to see more information.

AMERICA RECYCLES DAY

Wednesday, November 15 is America Recycles Day, and Hickory Point is joining in the celebration! We are asking students to think about helping the environment by recycling something extra on November 15. Students are invited to bring in a used plastic water bottle or newspaper for a special 1-DAY COLLECTION. Water bottles will go into the general recycling collection pick-up, and newspapers will be donated to Orphans of the Storm for the dogs and cats to use. Click here to see more about how Hickory Point is celebrating. Please remember that we collect used crayons and markers all year-round. Happy America Recycles Day!

Future Dates:

November 14 Author Visit

November 14 Mini Book Fair

November 23 Thanksgiving Break Begins

PTA NEWS

AHOY all you BOOKANEERS!

The Hickory Point Fall Book Fair - Where Books Are the Treasure - is coming soon.

Grab all your little mateys and come to Hickory Point on Monday, November 14, between 5 and 8 pm for a great selection of books and gifts from Scholastic. Enjoy an ice cream treat too! (Nut and dairy free treats available)

The Book Fair is a great way to support Hickory Point and get a jump on your holiday shopping at the same time.

If you miss it, we know you will be saying "ARGHHH!"

See you at Hickory Point on the 14th!

We are looking for volunteers to help serve ice cream and help families shop for in library during the book fair on November 14. Help is needed most from 5:00 - 7:00. Please email Lisa Buckley at buckley.lisa@gmail.com if you have questions or can help.

PTA Philanthropy with support from the Kind Kids Club are sponsoring a Coat drive at Hickory Point during the week of the Book Fair. Please take a look in your closets and bring any gently used coats the week of November 14. The bins will be out the night of the book fair, so feel free to drop them off that evening.

Looking for Morning Supervisors for November 17, please email dani.mokhtarian@gmail.com.

The next PTA meeting is December 7, at 7:00pm. We will meet in the Hickory Point Library. Please enter through the front doors.

It was a challenge this month to reduce my library photos to the fifty image limit on this website.  October was filled with Suzanne Slade books, mysteries, and writing, reading, drawing, and sharing.  We learned so many interesting facts from our visiting author's books!  We are down to two weeks until her visit.  Excitement is running high.  On November 14th, she will be visiting Hickory Point.  If your family decides to buy one of her books, they are available at the Book Bin bookstore.  If you send the book in to the Hickory Point library on or before November 14th, Suzanne Slade will sign it.

She has written so many informational nonfiction books that we are picking one from each series or kind of book.  In the background, I am compiling student work and photos into a Shutterfly author visit book.

Suzanne Slade books that we have read:

Who’s New at the Zoo? or What’s the Difference?

A Raindrop’s Journey or A Plastic Bottle’s Journey

From Seed to Apple Tree or From Seed to Pine Tree

The House that George Built or Animals are Sleeping

What If There Were No Bees? or What If There Were No Sea Otters?

The students have been checking out “regular” books and have the option for an extra book as a genre of the month or Suzanne Slade book.  Students are taking turns for Monarch Award nominated books.  If a student returns his or her library books on time, that student has a chance of being selected for a Monarch book.  We are taking our second turns as in almost all the classes each student has been offered a first turn.

Kindergarten checks out two books normally.  There have been many classes in which every student has remembered their books, which leads to a third book for every student in the class.  First graders check out two book normally and can add an extra Monarch, Suzanne Slade or genre of the month.  Second graders normally check out three books and can go up to a total of four books.  We continue to encourage students to try new types of books and check out a variety each week.  At the same time, we want them to think realistically about what kind of books are appropriate for them as a reader and in the time span of a week.  If a family member is reading a book aloud to a student, that is also a wonderful plan.

We encourage a variety of books to checkout with seasonal displays and genre of the month.  During October we had Halloween books on display, spooky books just for second graders, and, of course, Cubs, baseball, and presidential books.  Many students have tried a book that contains a mystery this month.  In November, the genre of the month will be historical fiction.  We will be starting that this week.

Second graders started a new activity this month as they responded to their first letter received from their Wood Oaks Library Leader reading buddies.  Two eighth graders are assigned to each second grade class.  There was a lot of interest in hearing about Wood Oaks and sharing reading interests.  All are looking forward to the next letter and ahead to April when they will visit in person. 

In computers, the kindergarteners have been practicing their trackpad skills with letter games on abaya.com.  They have also been practicing writing in Pixie.  We started with painting and ended the month with typing in text boxes.  The students dragged and dropped and scrolled their way through the sticker library in Pixie to find their favorite things.  Hopefully, you saw their work during conferences.  We are now working on drawing in Pixie with a name in a text box.  Students will be creating a drawing of their favorite Suzanne Slade book to go with their name.

Enjoy the photos from the library and computer lab.

Happy reading,

Mrs. Heaser

We have been very busy in the library and computer lab.  As you can hopefully see from the photos, students are excited about checking out Monarch Award nominated books.  Every week three students are selected from each class to check out an extra library book.  Many students have shared that they checked out these wonderful books from the public library.  We have also started reading books by Suzanne Slade.  She writes informational nonfiction books and will be visiting our school Monday, November 14th.  

First graders have been practicing their new skill of using shelf markers during checkout.  They are excited to check out the pop-up books also.  We talked about the added responsibility of turning the pages gently and slowly.  The second graders have reviewed shelf markers and are excited about checking out our audiobook MP3 players called PlayAways.  Kindergarteners are choosing two books to check out.  We have had a record number of classes in which all students have remembered their library books.  We celebrate this occasion by allowing students to check out an extra book.

As you can see, we celebrate reading in many ways and are encouraging students to be responsible library users.  They are asked to take good care of the library and we all work together to help each other.

Kindergarteners have been soaking up computer skills.  They have learned track pad skills (click, drag, scroll) and how to safely and independently turn on laptops and get to the indoor recess page and abcya.com.  We have been having fun with letters games.  Students have just started learning the drawing tool Pixie and will be building on those skills in the next month.

Photos will continue to appear towards the end of each month on my website.  Words do not adequately show all the fun and excitement we are having while we learn.  

Happy reading, 

Mrs. Heaser

Welcome to the library blog and a new school year.  In our first days, library students reviewed expected behaviors in the library and book care.  The kindergarten computer classes started practicing computer skills with the track pad by solving alphabet puzzles.  Please enjoy the photos and Wordles highlighting our back-to-school activities on the library webpage.  

If you have any questions about the library or kindergarten computer classes, don't hesitate to contact me.

Happy reading,

Mrs. Heaser

Click here to see the library and dramatic play news.

Click here to read about the summer reading postcards that came home with your student(s).  

The four summer reading postcard writing prompts:

K and 1

Write a fact that you learned from this book.

Write which character you liked in this book and why.

Why did you choose this book?

What is the best book that you read this summer?

Grade 2

Write a fact that you learned from this book.

Write which character you liked in this book and why.

Write details that would convince a classmate to read this book.

What is the best book that you read this summer?

Please remember to neatly write your first and last name on the top of the postcard so I know that it is from you!  Please write the title, too.  Include details so I know and I don't have to wonder what you liked.

I am looking forward to reading your postcards this summer as they arrive.

Happy reading,

Mrs. Heaser

As the school year draws to a close, we need all the student library books back.  All student books are due back this week.  Our library inventory process has begun.  Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Please continue to checkout library books at the Northbrook Public Library.

Mrs. Heaser

Please click here for the April news about library and dramatic play.

Enjoy!

Mrs. Heaser

Please click here for the March news about library and dramatic play.

Enjoy!

Mrs. Heaser

Please click here to read about activities in the library and dramatic play this month.

Happy reading,

Mrs. Heaser

Please click here to read about activities in the library and dramatic play this month.

Happy reading,

Mrs. Heaser

For the library and dramatic play newsletter, please click here.

Happy reading,

Mrs. Heaser

For the library and dramatic play newsletter, please click here.

Happy reading,

Mrs. Heaser

For the library and dramatic play newsletter, please click here.

Happy reading,

Mrs. Heaser