Author Visit: Dan Abdo & Jason Patterson

We had a great virtual visit with Dan & Jason, who are cartoonists that make epic, silly, adventurous, comic books. The students were engaged with them and are excited to read their middle-grade graphic novel series Barb The Last Berzerker, which is a fantastical adventure comedy about a young warrior, a 400lb yeti and a mysterious magical sword.

https://www.danandjason.net/

Scholastic Book Fair: May 23-27th

Summer is around the corner and I’d like to remind everyone about the importance of Summer Reading. While summer gives students and teachers a much needed break, it’s also a time when many children forget to read. Children who don’t have access to books, learning opportunities or summer school lose 1-3 months of learning during the summer. In addition, teachers spend the first six weeks of school re-teaching forgotten information. Therefore, let’s make a pledge to get students reading this summer! 

We understand it gets difficult with family travels and sports, but remember it only takes 20 minutes a day. Read together, aloud and/or during dinner…Just Read! It’s an important habit to maintain.

• Reading 4 Books Improves the Summer Slide by 85%
• Reading 12 Books is Equivalent to Attending Summer School

Summer learning loss is real and it takes very little to prevent. Let’s spread the word and make this summer one filled with memories and reading!

Our Book Fair is coming up May 23 - 27. It’s a perfect opportunity to start obtaining summer reading titles. 5th and 6th graders have received 10 free books throughout this school year thanks to the CLIF Grant. In addition, the IRS Library is donating one free book from this Book Fair to each 7th and 8th grader.

Happy summer reading!

SETTING UP AN EWALLET

This is the easiest way to pay for the Book Fair!

1. Go to Book Fair homepage: https://www.scholastic.com/bf/indianriverschool1
2. Scroll down to the eWallet section and click on "GET STARTED."
3. The Book Fair eWallet page appears. Next click on "GO to eWallet."
4. Create an eWallet account and fund with your desired amount. (If the book fair is in school, be sure to fill in the Teacher Name as this will make it faster at checkout.)

Once you have created your eWallet – share it with your friends and family that will want your child to build their home library. (The option to share will come up automatically and you can copy and paste the unique URL into an email, text, or social media post.)

Now it's time to shop! Your child will have access to their eWallet when checking out at the school Book Fair. Your child will either get change or can donate the remaining balance of the eWallet to the school library.

Live Author Visit: JP Voelkel

Enter the mysterious world of The Jaguar Stones books, where ancient temples come alive and danger lurks around every corner. It’s a place filled with history, mythology and the wonders of nature, where every day is a battle for survival...

Jon and Pamela (J&P) Voelkel are the author-illustrators of the Jaguar Stones series; Pamela does most of the writing and Jon does most of the illustrating. Their books tell the story of a city boy and a jungle girl - a mirror image of Jon’s wild childhood in Latin America and Pamela’s altogether tamer upbringing in an English seaside town. The Voelkels met in London, where they both worked at the same advertising agency, and now live in Vermont.

To research the Jaguar Stones, they and their three adventure-loving children have explored over forty Maya sites in Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico; canoed down underground rivers; tracked howler monkeys in the jungle; and learned to make tortillas on an open fire. Jon’s most frightening experience was being lost in a pitch-black labyrinth under a Maya pyramid.

We had a very energetic and dynamic visit with J&P Voelkel as they got the students excited about their Jaguar Stones books and all of the adventures they went on to complete their research. The students and teachers were active participants, and Mrs. Follensbee even ate a bug!

Sora Sweet Reads

Sora Sweet Reads is back! This year’s summer reading program will run from May 4 - August 17 with a mix of 50 Juvenile and Young Adult ebooks and audiobooks. It’s like candy for their eyes and ears all summer long.

And if your kids read them all, they can always check out more books from their public library without ever leaving Sora.

Start reading on Sora now!

How to Add Your Public Library to Sora

Remember that Sora can be linked to your public library for an even greater selection of ebooks and audiobooks! Watch the video to add your public library to Sora and enjoy even more reading all summer long.

Update: Reading Magic Challenge

We are down to the FINAL month of our Magic Reading Challenge. I have been sending email updates for individual goals. Please encourage your students to continue to read, read, read!

Here are the standings as of now:

1st - Hufflepuff with 85% of the House Goal met*

2nd - Ravenclaw with 25% of the House Goal met

3rd - Gryffindor with 15% of the House Goal met

4th - Slytherin with 10% of the House Goal met

It's still ANYONE's game! You are all still on track to earn your individual prizes and participate in the reading celebration in June.

Let's enjoy the magic of reading!

*I ran out of sand for Hufflepuff so I apologize that it's not 85% filled.*