Jarrett Krosoczka visits Steward School

On Tuesday, December 6th, Jarrett J. Krosoczka visited students in grades K-3 in the Steward School Library.  Jarrett is a two-time winner of the Children's Choice Book Award for the Third to Fourth Grade Book of the Year and is the author and/or illustrator of more than twenty-five books for young readers. His work includes several picture books, the Lunch Lady graphic novels and Platypus Police Squad middle-grade novel series.

During his day-long visit to our school, Mr. Krosoczka talked with students about his lifelong love of drawing and writing, gave tips on how to develop characters within a story, and showed students, step by step, how the creative process of illustrating characters begins, develops, and then is completed.  

In the weeks prior to his visit, the children were immersed in “all things Krosoczka”.  During library we read his colorful and funny books, explored his website,www.studiojjk.com, created some comic strips that were inspired by his Lunch Lady series and wrote notes of thanks to our own Steward School lunch ladies. It was our first Lunch Lady Appreciation Day and certainly won't be our last!

Our visiting author and illustrator shows his Steward School audience how it is done (and left original artwork for us to remember him by!)

My new favorite quote:
 from Jarrett Krosoczka's book, It's Tough to Lose Your Balloon 
A reminder to look for the positive in challenging situations...like turning lemons into lemonade.
 A powerful message contained within a sweet and colorful picture book.   

Very true!  So think about it....what is YOUR superpower?  

Grade Two wrote over fifty notes of thanks to our Steward School Lunch staff.

Mrs. Klipfel created this video to go along with our Lunch Lady Appreciation Day activities.  If Mr. Krosoczka ever needs ideas for his next Lunch Lady book, he doesn't need to look any further....Steward School has the BEST!

Birthday Book Club Update

Birthday Book Club Update 



Birthday Book Club Our new on-line Birthday Book Club (BBC) for the Topsfield Elementary Schools is now available via  Amazon.com!! Please type  www.smile.amazon.com  in any URL window and select "Topsfield Elementary Schools PTA Inc" and Amazon will donate .5% of your eligible purchases directly back to our schools!  Same site, same shipping (Prime!) and free dollars to our schools!  The Steward/Proctor School Birthday Book Club (BBC), sponsored by TESPTO, provides a lasting way to celebrate your child's birthday, or any special occasion, by donating a new book to our school library.  When your donate a book through the Birthday Book Club (BBC), you will support our library by adding a book chosen from a carefully curated book list and will provide your child with the opportunity to give the gift of reading to our school in celebration of their big day.  You can also donate a book to the BBC in honor of another child's birthday or for other special occasions in your child's life.  It is the gift that keeps on giving for many years! Proctor School Directions posted on Proctor School website under Parents ~ Helpful Links https://goo.gl/vWm8sk If you have any questions or would like additional information, please contact Kathleen Bligh Yoh, kblighyoh@gmail.com. Thanks for your support and participation!

4th Annual Bookmark Contest Winners!

Each year in the Proctor Library, students are invited to participate in a bookmark contest.  This year's theme was:

"Reading is Dreaming with your Eyes Open"

Other than a few standard rules to follow, Proctor students created a design that was inspired by this theme.  The results were amazing! Students from each grade level voted for their grade-level peer entries.  Each grade's winner receives a book of his/her choice from Amazon.com and each student in the grade receives a copy of the winning bookmark.  Thank you to all students who participated this year!!

Grade 5 entries

Grade 4 entries

Grade 6 entries

Grade Level Winners:

Joelle- Grade 4

Sophie- Grade 5

Ava- Grade 6

The DC bald eagles have landed in the hearts of Topsfield students

  

 © 2016 American Eagle Foundation, EAGLES.ORG

This week in the library both at Steward and Proctor 

schools, students have been introduced to Washington D.C.'s  First Family Well...maybe not the 
one you are thinking of but we have begun observing a pair of mated Bald Eagles at the U.S. 
National Arboretum in Washington, DC.  The two Eagles names are “Mr. President” and 
“The First Lady.”  The eaglets are named "DC2" and "DC3".  Their sibling "DC1" was raised there 
last year and has now fledged.  DC2  hatched at 8:27 a.m. March 18, 2016 and DC3 followed 2 days 
later, hatching March 20 at about 3:00 a.m. While the American Eagle Foundations's website provides
 a wealth of information about these specific bald eagles as well as general information about the 
birds, it is amazing how much can be learned by just observing them on the live streaming cam at 
different times of the day.  

                         But don't take our word for it.......

Click here to take a look at the DC eagles and their eaglets!

There are naming contests going on for the little eaglets. Post a comment here (below) to 

suggest creative names for these two fluffy balls of fuzz!

Also, the American Eagle Foundation posted the following on their website to keep viewers

updated on the naming process of the siblings (to be viewed with parental permission and/or 

supervision):

Want to help name DC2 and DC3? The D.C. Eagle Cam partners are entertaining name suggestions 

via social media! Hashtag #dceaglecam & #namethenestlings on Twitter and Instagram, 

or visit the American Eagle Foundation's Facebook page or the Department of Energy & Environment's

Facebook page and voice your suggestions there!

Want to help name DC2 and DC3? The D.C. Eagle Cam partners are entertaining name suggestions via social media! Hashtag #dceaglecam & #namethenestlings on Twitter and Instagram, or visit the American Eagle Foundation's Facebook page or the Department of Energy & Environment's Facebook page and voice your suggestions there!

                          Most frequently asked questions about these eagles. 
                                             Click here!

AMERICAN EAGLE FOUNDATION

©2016 PR Newswire. All Rights Reserved.

Proctor loves to Party!

CELEBRATING the MCBA 

with our awesome Proctor readers!

On Thursday, March 17th all students who participated in the Massachusetts Children's Book Award reading challenge were invited to a V.I.P. voting party after school.  Over 100 students joined the challenge and even though not everyone could come, we had a great time celebrating our love of books!
 The results aren't in from the state, but we had a clear winner at Proctor.  The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate got two thumbs up from our readers. Read all about Ivan and his incredible story

My new title for this crew: The Awesome Readers Club!  

MCB...yay!!!

Votes and Treats!

Our readers had to choose from a list of 25 books...not an easy choice! 

Even some personal creative writing was shared among friends.  Very impressive!

Literary Silliness! 
Thank you to all readers who participated,
voted, and joined in on the party! 

Massachusetts Children’s Book Award Voting Party

Who? Any student who has read 5+ books on the MCBA nominee list (students who cannot attend may vote in library class this week)

To see the list, click here: 2016 MCBA list

When?  Thursday, March 17^th from 3:10-3:45

Where? The Proctor School library

What? voting ballots….book chats….refreshments….

Congratulations to all students who made the commitment to read and vote!!

World Read Aloud Day

World Read Aloud Day

What is it?

Every year World Read Aloud Day calls global attention to the importance of reading aloud and sharing stories.  This year World Read Aloud Day is on Wednesday, February 24th. 

How Does Steward School Participate?



The amazing Mrs. Klipfel organized Skype visits with various authors for each grade level.  Thank you, Mrs. Klipfel, for putting together such a wonderful experience to tie in all that World Read Aloud Day is about.  Also, thank you to our World Read Aloud Day authors for taking the time to Skype with us and share your love of books with our students!

Meet the Authors!

Wednesday Feb. 24th

10:30-10:45 Grade 1 Michelle Edwards  http://michelledwards.com/

11:30-12:00 Grade 3 Lauren Magaziner  http://laurenmagaziner.com/author

12:30-12:50 Grade K Sue Fliess http://www.suefliess.com/

Friday Feb. 26

11:30-11:50 Grade 2 Katy Duffield http://www.katyduffield.com/ABOUT.html

 

Directors in the making!

     As a result of our December book club, two amazing Proctor readers showed interest in extending our discussions and activities. There have been rumors (and some wishful thinking) that the Land of Stories will end up on the big screen one day, so Ben and Andrew decided to make a book trailer to entice readers and future movie goers to read this book.  

     They are putting in many hours and lots of creativity using ChatterPix and iMovie to create their masterpiece.  We look forward to sharing it as soon as it ready for release.  Stay tuned!!! 

......and how about the Caldecott Medal???

                         2016 Caldecott Medal Winner

Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear, illustrated by  Sophie Blackall, written by Lindsay Mattick and published by Little, Brown and Company, an division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

 

Finding Winnie is an incredible account of the friendship and love shared between a soldier and the real bear who inspired Winnie-the-Pooh. Blackall beautifully interprets this multi-dimensional family story through her distinctive Chinese ink and watercolor art, capturing intimate and historical details perfect for a child’s eye. 

 

“Children will be enchanted by Winnie’s journey from the forests of Canada to the pages of the Hundred Acre Wood. Blackall offers a tour-de-force of visual storytelling,” said Caldecott Medal Committee Chair Rachel G. Payne.

The Caldecott Honor Books for 2016 are:

Trombone Shorty, pictures by Bryan Collier and words by Troy Andrews and published by Abrams Books for Young Readers, an imprint of ABRAMS. 

 

Waiting, illustrated and written by Kevin Henkes and published by Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. 

 

Voice of Freedom:  Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement, illustrated by Ekua Holmes, written by Carole Boston Weatherford and published by Candlewick Press.

 

Last Stop on Market Street, illustrated by Christian Robinson and written by Matt de la Peña, published by G. P. Putnam’s Sons, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) LLC.

To learn more about the Caldecott Medal and past winners, click here:

All about the Caldecott Medal

A Winning Pair

The 2016 Winner of the John Newbery Medal for most outstanding contribution to children's literature is.......

"Last Stop on Market Street," written by Matt de la Peña and illustrated by Christian Robinson.  The book was also given a 2016 Caldecott Honor book award.  

So, both author Matt de la Pena and illustrator Christian Robinson have alot to celebrate!  Here is a short book trailer.  Watch it and then read the book.  You won't be disappointed!