Live Oak Elementary Library

Lucas Miller, “The Singing Zoologist,” came to visit Live Oak on October 28th.  He is the author of Fifi the Ferocious and Dr. DNA and the Anaconda Invasion.  He also sings songs about Science related topics.  The students and teachers LOVED the visit.  His performance is very interactive and gives the students an opportunity to sing and do actions to the songs.  My favorite part was when he showed how a caterpillar turns into a butterfly.  He had videos that showed the caterpillar curling up and then building the chrysallis and then it showed the butterfly coming out of its chrysallis and spreading its wings.  It was so cool!

   The day after he visited I was reading a book about snakes to the students and one of the students started singing, “And a snake’s not slimy, no a snake’s not slimy” which is the lyrics in Lucas Miller’s song “Slimy.”  It was cracking me up.

  If you’re looking for a good author visit, I strongly suggest having Lucas Miller visit.  It was educational and a ton of fun!

This week Live Oak has celebrated “Education Go-Get-It Week.”  The students have been learning about going to college and about various careers they could have when they grow up.

In the Library, K, 1st, and 2nd graders learned about various careers through reading fiction and non-fiction books with our database, Bookflix.  The database allows students to follow along as books are read to them.  Parents, teachers, and students can access this awesome database from home with a username and password from the librarian.  Please stop by to get the username and password for Bookflix and our other electronic resources!

Live Oak Elementary was the recipient of Target’s Day of Giving. Target donated $1500 in books to the Live Oak Library. To celebrate, employees from Target came in and read some of the new books to the students. They also brought snacks to share with the students! The students really enjoyed hearing, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems! Some of the books were given to the teachers for their classroom libraries. We are so grateful for the awesome books! Stop in some time to check out one of the new books for yourself!

We have now scheduled two author visits for this year. Our first visit is going to be from Lucas Miller, the “Singing Zoologist.” When I worked at the Pflugerville Library we had him visit during the Summer Reading Program. I remember that the children really loved it. We had almost 600 people show up to see him perform. He will be coming on Tuesday, October 28th, and will be here all day.
Our other author visit will be on November 5th.
The author, Matthew McElligott, is coming to visit in the afternoon. He is the author of Bean Thirteen which is one of our Armadillo Reader’s Choice Nominees. He has also written a series about a pirate named, Backbeard. I am not as familiar with that series but it looks like it is designed for the upper grade students. You can visit his website at http://matthewmcelligott.com/wordpress/!

Today is the first day the students are back! It is so exciting seeing all the students walking around the halls with their new teachers. This morning the PTA had “Cheers and Tears” in the library where parents got to come in to chat, eat donuts, and celebrate having their children back in school. Tomorrow the 5th grade will come in for library orientation followed by 4th grade and then 3rd grade.
I have some good news about books. The Live Oak PTA gave us a large donation for books. Also Target gave us a donation for books. The two donations almost double my book budget! That’s great because there are so many good books I want to add to the collection!

It is my first day back to the library today.  There are chairs, overheads, and tables everywhere!  I’m very excited to be getting things ready to begin school.  Only a couple more weeks!

This summer I have been reading the 2008-2009 Bluebonnet books.  Right now I am reading “One Handed Catch” by MJ Auch.  In the beginning of the story, the main character, Norm, loses his hand in a meat grinder.  Then he has to learn how to do everything with only one hand!  He is big in to sports, especially baseball and is trying to figure out if he will still be able to play baseball.  I totally have related to Norm because I love sports and have dealt with injuries during sports where I was told I wouldn’t be able to play anymore.  Like Norm the best way to get me to do something is to tell me I can’t do it.  I’m only halfway through it, so I don’t know how it’s going to end, but I have really enjoyed it.  Norm has a pretty funny sense of humor.  If you’re looking for a good read, try “One Handed Catch.”

Welcome guests!  This is my first try at a blog.  Hopefully there will be a sharp learning curve, because it is taking me a long time to figure this out.  Check back often to get the latest news on what is happening in the library at Live Oak!