One more week!

For Kindergarten this week in the Media Center I will be concentrating on Fiction/Non fiction books and where they are located in the library.  I found a great book, The Shelf Elf Helps Out, that tells about the different sections of the numbered section of the library.  I also found some games for the Smartboard on this subject.  It should be fun!

For PreK, I will be reading a book about Spring.  I have one about a classroom pet that goes home for Spring break and the adventures that he has! 

In Technology news, Donna has begun to re-image computers in the building.  She will be putting Steady State on the student computers.  I have taught the children in the Media Center to find the educational activities on the Library Webpage.  Things like, Starfall, Seussville, ABCMouse.com can all be found there.  If there are any other websites you would like included, please let me know!  I can easily add them to the webpage.  If there is a piece of software you would like to use, such as Millie's Math House, for example, you can check it out of the Media Center at any time.  Also if you would like your empty software box back, you can have it! (Please!)

Have a great week and a FUN SPRING BREAK!!

Spring Break is coming!

Now this week we will have Dr. Seuss night for Kindergarten!  
So the choices for Kindergarten are wide and varied!  Here they are:
Dr. Seuss 2:  The Sneetches and Other stories
Commotion in the Ocean-to go with the goldfish, and a fish paper
Library Skills--The Shelf Elf Helps Out or Fiction/ Non fiction if your class hasn't heard it yet
And, for later in the week:  The Leprechaun in the Basement--to go with St. Patrick's day!

For PreK:
The Orange Splott for building unit or Watch me throw the Ball, for the balls unit!

Technology news:
Donna almost has the new image ready for your student computers!  We are going to handle the software differently from now on. You will get a list of the programs available to you.  When you would like to use one, you can come down to the Media Center and check it out, then you return it when you are finished.  We don't have enough of every program for every person, so this seems to be the best way to handle it.

I hope you have a great week!

Dr. Seuss Week!

Happy Dr. Seuss Week!

For both Kindergarten and PreK this week we will be talking about and reading about Dr. Seuss!  Some Kindergarten classes have already heard Dr. Seuss Pops Up!, so they will be hearing about the Sneetches this week.  If they have already heard that, we will be reading a biography about Dr. Seuss.  The PreK will all be hearing Dr. Seuss Pops Up!

In technology news, Donna will begin re-imaging computers this month.  She will be putting on a program called "Steady State" on all of the student stations.  Steady state is a program that causes your computers to go back to its original settings after it is shut down. This helps your computers so that if the kids do something weird to them, it is gone the next morning.   How does this affect you?  This means that every night when you shut down your computer, if you have marked any favorites, they will disappear when you turn them on in the morning.  If you have loaded anything, saved anything to the desktop, it will be gone.  This will only be on the student computers!  It is always a good idea to save everything to your own home directory (your "h" drive).  If you don't remember how to do this, just ask me, I can help! 
 I have been teaching the kids in the Media Center to click on "Kids Links" on our Library web page.  This should be your home page when you open Internet Explorer. This way, we don't have to rely on "Favorites." 
We also have decided on which software programs we will be using.  Our technology committee went through all of our software (which is A LOT!!) and tested it, and aligned them to the Common Core Standards for K and The Gold Standards for PreK.  A BIG thank you goes to Megan Wilson, Nikki Kunde, and Laura Bianchi!!  When Donna is finished you will be receiving some CD ROMs that you can use on your computers.

Have a great week!