We have been so fortunate at Sippican School. I always get excited when I find an opportunity for us to share our resources with those around us. Next week we will have a chance to do just that! Mrs. Arone from the Elizabeth Taber Library and I started working on a project to build a school library for a small town in the country of Malawi. Malawi is in the southern part of Africa. We’ve learned through research on The African Library Project website that most people in Malawi do not have access to electricity and their classrooms are without books.  We are hoping to make a difference for the children of the Kaphira primary school.

How Can I Help?

Between April 30 and May 4 we will be collecting gently used books along with loose change donations to cover the cost of shipping the library (around $500).  You may bring used books or donations to our school library or to the Elizabeth Taber Library at any point during the week.  We will prepare the books for shipment the following week!

Thanks in advance for your support!  Check out more details on the flyer below or contact Mrs. Barrett in the school library with questions.

It’s hard to believe that it is already time to talk Book Fair!  Are you excited? I certainly am. There are so many interesting titles at this year’s Fair. I can’t wait to get it all set up.  Here is what you need to know:

• Students get to shop during their library classes between March 12-16
• Students can now pay using Scholastic’s eWallet.  Visit http://www.scholastic.com/bf/sippicanschool1 to sign up. This is an easy way to provide students with a shopping budget (and no loose change to worry about, either!).
• We need volunteers!  Can you help? Sign up with this quick link.
• Our Family Shopping will be Tuesday and Thursday, March 13 and 15, from 3-5 pm. NEW THIS SPRING: You must RSVP if you plan to attend the Family Shopping. RSVP by emailing the names of those attending to jessicabarrett@oldrochester.org. Only individuals who have RSVP’d will be allowed to enter and shop. Thank you for helping us to keep our building a safe place!

Finally, did you miss the book trailers this week? With our storm day on Monday, and a PD half day today I missed a few classes.  Watch the videos here to discover new titles from the Fair:

It is Read Across America week at Sippican School, and classrooms are selecting favorite authors to celebrate. We will be enjoying some fun Dr. Seuss stories in most library classes, along with using Cat Cam and Seuss Color on the iPads.  Grades 3 and 4 will get to search Seussville for information about Dr. Seuss. Grade 5 is going to have our first ever Skype visit with an author – Chris Grabenstein!  We can’t wait.

We also have a ton of new books that are making their way out to all of our readers. Check out our new book display!

Our annual reading challenge has arrived! Beginning tomorrow, January 8, Sippican School will be participating in a “Reading Without Walls” reading challenge. All students, families, and staff are invited to read:

• Books about characters that don’t look or live like you
• Books about topics that you don’t know much about
• Books in a format that you don’t usually read for fun (graphic novels, a book in verse, a chapter book, poetry, etc.)

Every time you complete a challenge in one of these categories you can turn in a reading slip to the library! We’ll display them on the bulletin board just outside of the library. Which challenge will you accept first? I can’t wait to hear about it!

Links to the reading challenge memo and the reading slips are here (click the image):