National Picture Book Month: Dance

According to the counter been for today is Dance. It is also nonfiction Monday. I'm going to include some nonfiction books about dance, but I can't resist including some fiction books as well.

There are so many great nonfiction books about dance. We don't have as many as I would like in our library, but I found lots of great ones at the St. Mary's County Public Library. A few of the ones I found I will be adding to our collection. I love when books combined a topic, such as dance and the alphabet. There are two really great ones that I found at the public library. One of the alphabet books is Alphabet of Dance by Barbie Schwaeber. The second is A Dictionary of Dance by Liz Murphy. Click here for a summary on Goodreads. I leaned so much from each of the books. I was not a dancer when I was younger, so the books were a great introduction to the dance world. 

There is one book that I found that looks interesting for those aspiring dancers is Learn to Speak Dance: A Guide to Creating, Performing, and Promoting Your Moves by Ann-Marie Williams. Click here for a summary on Goodreads. Because a lot of great information including history of dance and some great tips on costumes, performances, and even a potential career. Anybody who aspires to be a dancer might want to check into this book. Ann-Maire Williams, the author has had many years of dance experience.

I can't talk about dance without talking about two of my absolute favorite fiction books. They are both wordless picture about it allows you to "tell the story". The first is Flora and the Flamingo, click here for a summary on Goodreads. It is a Caldecott Honor Book. The second is Flora in the Penguin, click here for a summary on Goodreads. Both books are written by Molly Idle. These books are so much fun since they also have a lot of lift the flap pages and pages that fold out. I always notice different things going on each time I read them.

                   

Since it's nonfiction Monday what great nonfiction books have you been reading? Post in the comments that we can share new titles.

Happy Reading!!

Miss Hazuda (@HESMediaCenter)

National Picture Book Month: Mo Willems

I have been a HUGE fan of Mo Willems since I read the book Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! He is a gifted storyteller, as well as a wonderful illustrator. Right now two of his pigeon books are in our Top Ten Checkouts by students. All of the kids, no matter what their age enjoy them. 




If you haven't read any of his Knuffle Bunny books you really should run to the library and check them out. The first book is a story many parents can relate to Trixie, the little girl in the story, leaves something very important someplace. The story is great, but the illustrations really make the story for me. Mo Willems took real photographs (in black and white) and used them as the background for the story. Then he drew his characters and placed them on top of the background. It is really neat to look at the real photographs with these drawn characters on top. 

Mo Willems Elephant and Piggie books can't be beat. I love them all, though my favorite is We Are In A Book! This book was a Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor winner a few years ago. I always try to celebrate Friendiversary in February. This is when the first Elephant and Pigge book was published. They are some of the most well loved books in our HES Library. I also have a lot of fun with Kindergarten with Elephant and Piggie's Dance Party on Mo Willems site. They kids have so much fun and there are so many giggles! The newest Elephant and Piggie book is called I really like Slop! I can't wait to get it for the HES Media Center!!

I think my favorite Mo Willems book is Leonardo the Terrible Monster. Click here for a summary on Goodreads. This book is a sweet tale about friendship. I loved reading it to my classes. It is one that I never get tired of reading aloud. And I love when the students create their own monsters after we have read it. They can be so creative!
Do you have a favorite Mo Willems book? Share in the comments if you do!!

Keep checking back and following on Twitter for more great posts about National Picture Book Month. Don't forget to print out the calendar and find some new authors.

Happy Reading!!

Miss Hazuda (@HESMediaCenter)  

National Picture Book Month

November is National Picture Book Month. This celebration is a recent one for schools, libraries, authors and readers to promote literacy at all ages. Many times in the library we hear these words, "I want to check out a chapter book!" Chapter books are certainly wonderful, but often students want to rush to chapter books because they think picture books are too easy. 

In reality, many picture books are written for older readers at high reading levels. Books with illustrations working together with text can give readers a better understanding of challenging concepts. For example, Carole Boston Weatherford's book Freedom on the Menu tells the story of the Greensboro Sit-in. Doreen Rappaport's biography Eleanor, Quiet No More chronicles the First Lady's transition from childhood to the White House. Photographs like Nic Bishop's in his book Frogs capture wildlife in action-an experience many children don’t have.

Reader understanding of all of these topics are enhanced because of their illustrations. The picture book format provides the right balance to make the topic more accessible for students. 

During November I hope you'll challenge yourself to read a few picture books and enjoy the work of both authors and illustrators!  You can print this calendar in color or black and white with picture book suggestions. Make sure you scroll down to page 2 on the black and white calendar. Let's read, share, and celebrate the power of picture books!

If you are reading any great picture books, please share with me! Starting today I'll be sharing a great picture book related to the theme or author on the calendar for that day. Enjoy the video below. Authors and illustrators answer the question: What is a picture book?

Happy Reading!!

Miss Hazuda (@HESMediaCenter)

More Take A BOOK On Vacation Pictures

The third set of Take A BOOK On Vacation pictures comes from Katie, an incoming 4th Grader, and Elizabeth, an incoming 1st Grader. They got to fly, on a plane, to Chicago. Mom took their picture while they were up at an altitude of about 40,000 feet around Toledo, Ohio, which is about 530 miles away from Hollywood Elementary School.

I spy a really great chapter book being read. It is Jelly Bean by Cynthia Lord. This book is the first in the Shelter Pet Squad series. The second book in the series Merlin and will be published on September 29, 2015. I can't wait!! The second picture of Katie and Elizabeth was taken in front of the world's largest weather vane. It is located in Montague, Michigan which is about 753 miles away from HES.

Don't forget there is still lots of time to send in a picture of you reading! Keep checking back this weeks for a picture from Mrs. Gilman and Miss Hazuda's pictures from her vacation!

Happy Reading!!

Miss Hazuda (@HESMediaCenter)

The Second Take A BOOK On Vacation Picture

Today's Take A BOOK On Vacation picture comes from Gabby an incoming 5th Grader. She and her family took a trip down to North Myrtle Beach in South Carolina. Gabby was rereading Mockingjay in the Hunger Games series. She finished the entire book during their week long vacation. Rereading books/series is something that I do as well. In fact, I'm in the middle of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Book 3). This is a series that I love to reread. I always discover something new when I read the books again.

There is still time to snap a picture of you reading and send it to me. You don't even have to be away. The picture can be in your backyard, over on Solomons Island, or even reclining on the couch. Last year I had my picture taken over on the boardwalk on Solomons Island, where I spent many hours reading.

Happy Reading!!

Miss Hazuda (HESMediaCenter)

Take A BOOK On Vacation -- Mr. Kneuer

Hope everyone has been enjoying their summer. I know that I have. I am finally home for good. I had two vacations right in a row. Now that I am home, I can start posting some of the Take A BOOK On Vacation pictures I have received.

Mr. Kneuer was the first person to send me pictures. He and his wife went to the Rocking Horse Ranch which is located in upstate New York. The ranch is about 342 miles from Hollywood. Being the art teacher, Mr. Kneuer didn't just send single pictures. He made two wonderful collages of all the places he was reading on his vacation.


Keep sending those pictures in! There is still time to be reading! You don't have to go somewhere to be caught reading.

Check back tomorrow for a picture from an incoming 5th Grader!

Happy Reading!!

Miss Hazuda (@HESMediaCenter)

Take a BOOK on Vacation!!

Take A BOOK On Vacation

When you are packing for your vacation, don’t forget to bring a great book or two!!  Where can HES students be caught reading this summer?  Take a picture or two or more of you and your book while on vacation.  See Miss Hazuda’s examples below!

Let’s See:

*how far away from HES can our books go

*how much fun our books can have in MD

*how high in altitude can we read

*or anywhere else you can think to be caught reading

Submitting Pictures and Forms

**Email Miss Hazuda (sjhazuda@smcps.org) the picture(s) along with the information from the form.

**Print out the picture(s) and mail them along with the form to HES.  The address is:

44345 Joy Chapel Road

Hollywood MD  20636

Please click here to find the form.  It is on the HES Library webpage.  

Miss Hazuda (@HESMediaCenter)

Wow, It's Almost Summer!!

It is hard to believe it is almost the end of the school year. Once all the snow stopped, this year flew by. Just a few reminders as we begin to start thinking about school being over.


Be aware of overdue notices coming home with the students. We are still on the hunt for some books that have been out since the beginning of the school year!! Look in bedrooms, under the bed, closets, book cases and any other place you think the books might be hiding. We would much rather have the book back than than the money. So really look hard before you pay for it. Thanks so much. Friday was the last day for checkout, so there will be no new books coming home. We are just looking for them to be returned to us before the end of the year.

For those of you who will be returning to HES in the fall I will be having the "Take A BOOK On Vacation" program again this summer. Be looking for more details coming soon.

During the summer make sure you keep checking back for the "Take A BOOK On Vacation" pictures, posts about great books that I'm reading and lots of book suggestions.

Happy Reading!!

Miss Hazuda (@HESMediaCenter)

May 28th is Library Spirit Night

http://www.mycutegraphics.com/

Hope to see everyone at Hollywood Elementary School's Library Spirit Night at the Leonardtown Public Library tomorrow night, May 28th from 4:30-6:30pm. We have always had a great turn out and a lot of fun. So come out and join us! 

There will be an opportunity for students to sign up for the summer reading program, some crafts, a chance for HES students to enter a raffle, an opportunity for students to sign up for a library card and of course there can be lots of books checked out. Mrs. Bulvin and I will be there, so come out and visit us! We will be more than happy to help pick out some of those books. 

Even if you won't be at our school next year, you can still come sign up for the summer program.

Miss Hazuda (@HESMediaCenter)

Scholastic Book Fair Is Coming!

I'm so excited that the Scholastic Book Fair will be starting this Thursday, April 23rd and run through Friday May 1st. We will be open weekdays 9:00am-3:30pm. On Tuesday April 28th we will be staying open after school until 6:30pm. We will also be open during the Sock Hop for those families attending this  fun event. Please visit the Book Fair Homepage for more information. New this time is a Book Fair app that you can download through the iTunes store or GooglePlay. Click here for more information about the app. This app is a great way for you, as the parent, to find out information quickly about a book. After downloading the app, you can scan the cover and find out reading level, appropriate age and grade, book summary, videos, and podcasts. This is a very helpful app. I've downloaded it and played around with it on the preview box of books.

Also, our Online Book Fair will be available from April 28th-May 8th. If there are books that you and your child can't find, or books for older or younger children the Online Fair is perfect. Any books that are ordered on the Online Book Fair will be delivered to Hollywood and there is no shipping and handling charges. This is a perfect way to get books for summer reading. If you want the books to be a surprise for your child(ren), just send me an email letting me know that you ordered and I will let you know when they come in.

If you have any questions, please email Miss Hazuda or Mrs. Bulvin.

Happy Reading!!

Miss Hazuda (@HESMediaCenter)

The Winner of March Book Madness Is...

When Mrs. Bulvin and I started planning March Book Madness back in January/February, I never thought that it would be such a success! Everyone from Kindergarten though 5th Grade enjoyed reading all the picture books and there was a lot of great discussions happening about the books! Everyone had their favorites and near the end there were some hard choices that had to be made! Even Mrs. Scaggs, our substitute for Mrs. Bulvin before Spring Break, even made a tee-shirt advertising her favorite.

It came down to Carnivores by Aaron Reynolds versus Chester by Melanie Watt. There were strong feelings about each books and why they should win. But after all the votes were counted, Chester by Melanie Watt was the winner!

The students have been checking out all the runners-up throughout this past week. Everyone is enjoying sharing these great picture books with their families. No matter how old you are, picture books are still important.

Book Fair will be starting on Thursday April 23rd. Be on the lookout for a post about the Book Fair soon!

Happy Reading!!

Miss Hazuda (@HESMediaCenter)

Author Timothy Young Visited HES

On March 26, 2015 I was thrilled to have author and illustrator Timothy Young visit us at Hollywood Elementary School. He has authored and illustrated five books, including one of my all time favorites The Angry Little Puffin. 

Students in Kindergarten through Third Grade, and Fifth Grade were able to come to the Media Center to listen to Timothy Young. He talked to the students about his various jobs that he had before becoming an author. My favorite was hearing about his work on Pee-Wee's Playhouse! I loved that show! The students also got to hear Timothy Young read his books aloud. I personally find this so interesting to hear an author read his/her own work. It gives you an idea on how he/she intended the book to sound. Our morning and afternoon Pre-K students got to hear Timothy Young read his books when he visited their classroom. He even drew the Puffin for them!

As Mr. Young talked about his books, the students and I learned about a third job that he had while making I'm Looking For a Monster. This book is a pop-up book, so Timothy Young was also a paper engineer. This was his first book that was published. His other books are: They're Coming (which had to be read in a scary voice), Shadows on My Wall (which has instructions on how to make shadow puppets), I HATE Picture Books (which has a lot of childhood favorites in it), and The Angry Little Puffin (which is my favorite). Below you can watch the book trailers for The Angry Little Puffin and I HATE Picture Books.

Timothy Young is also an illustrator, so he showed the students a new method to draw. He sometimes uses this to jump start his thinking. Timothy Young started off by scribbling on a white board and then with a different color found the picture hiding in the scribbles. Soon he let the students do the scribbling, and boy did they try to stump him with a lot of scribbles! Many of the students were inspired to try this technique when they got back to class. In fact, when I went into Mrs. Schoch's class the next day I saw a few of these pictures up in her room.


As I said above, The Angry Little Puffin is one of my new favorite books! I had the pleasure of reading an advance readers copy of this book and I just fell in love with it! Puffins are my favorite bird, so I was thrilled beyond belief when Timothy Young emailed me and said that HES would be receiving a statue of The Angry Little Puffin for our library! I might have even done a little happy dance! Here is a picture of Timothy Young, myself, and the statue.


It was a great day for everyone! Thank you to the HES PTA for paying for his visit! If you missed out on purchasing one of Timothy Young's books during our pre-order sale, we will be sending home a form after Spring Break.

Happy Reading!!

Miss Hazuda (@HESMediaCenter)

March "Book" Madness

My Cute Graphics

Whenever I think of March, I always think of March madness. This year Mrs. Bulvin and I wanted to do something different so we did a March "book" madness. We chose many different picture books to start us off. It was a mixture of Caldecott award winners and some really great more recently published picture books. Below are the groupings that we started with.

The Adventures of Beekle versus Scaredy Squirrel at the Beach

Nana in the City versus Me...Jane

Hooray for Hat versus This is Not My Hat

Sleep Like a Tiger versus Kitten's First Full Moon

Perfect Square versus Not a Stick

Red Sings from Treetops versus Green

First the Egg versus Bats at the Library

Chester versus Chloe and the Lion

Sam and Dave Dig a Hole versus A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever

Flora and the Flamingo versus Shark vs Train

Extra Yarn versus Some Smug Slug

Have I Got a Book For You versus The Book With No Pictures

One Cool Friend versus Penguin on Vacation 

Dog Loves Books versus A Ball for Daisy

Gone Wild versus Carnivores

Frankie Stein versus My Teacher is a Monster

Students were given the opportunity during class time and checkout time to read the pairs of books and vote. It's very interesting to see their reactions to the different books. And see the difference in the primary students likes versus the intermediate students likes. Some of our races were close and we narrowed the field down last week to the "Sweet Sixteen" matches.

The Adventures of Beekle versus Me...Jane

This is Not My Hat versus Kitten's First Full Moon

Not a Stick versus Green

Bats at the Library versus Chester

Sam and Dave Dig a Hole versus Shark vs. Train

Some Smug Slug versus The Book With No Pictures

Penguin on Vacation versus A Ball for Daisy

Carnivores versus Frankie Stein

Check back later this week to see our "Elite Eight". 

Happy Reading!!

Miss Hazuda (@HESMediaCenter)

SNOW DAY!!

Happy Snow Day! I hope everyone is enjoying their snow day! I know that I enjoyed sleeping in, but I'm not enjoying the shoveling! Once you have had some fun time out playing in the snow, there are lots of great things to do as you warm back up.

My first choice would be curling up with a great book. You can see some of my favorite snow books right below. All of these are available as a Kindle download if you have access to app.




One of my favorite things to do when I was growing up was to make snowflakes. Here is a link to some printable snowflake templates. Now if you don't want to have to pick up all of the little pieces of paper, you could always make a snowflake online. I spent a lot of time here after I found this site. I'm just amazed at the gallery! Or if you are a Pinterest fan check out the It's All About the Snow page for a ton of activities!

Let me know what you guys are doing on your snow day in the comments!

Happy Reading!!

Miss Hazuda (@HESMediaCenter)

I LOVE My Media Center Because...

At the beginning of February Mrs. Bulvin and I put out a sentence starter "I LOVE my Media Center because" and we wanted to see what the students would say. We got a lot of great responses! Mrs. Bulvin put them together to make a bulletin board out in the hallway that you can see below.

Here are some of my favorite responses!

I love my Media Center because...

*it is fun because we get to read books.

*it has a lot of good books.

*it is awesome!

*I love to read books! 

*the teachers are nice!

*we can get free books.

*we do fun stuff on the iPad.

*they have all the books that I need.

*our teachers are amazing!

*there are so many wonderful books on almost every 

topic, we do fun activities, and do research projects!

*we always do fun things

*of all of the books you have and all of the 

activities you give me. Thank you.

My most favorite one this year is "you have all the books that I like and none of the books that I don't like!"

Happy Valentine's Day!

Miss Hazuda (@HESMediaCenter)

Valentine's Day

I know I published this last year, but I wanted to update the blog. I'm going to be posting regularly from now on. Be on the look out for new posts!


Valentine’s Day is more than just a day to celebrate love. It’s a celebration of who we are as people. As humans we thrive because of our relationships with other people. We work together in groups to solve problems. We have teams to accomplish goals. We have friends to spend time with. We learn from others of all ages. 

The people around us make a difference to us every day.

Which is why February 14th is a great day to write letters and cards to friends and family members we appreciate. 

Valentine’s Day has a long history and there are many different traditions celebrated around the world. The United Kingdom began the tradition of sending flowers, chocolates and cards. In the area of Slovenia (in Europe near Austria and Hungary) February 14th is a celebration of spring. Men and women go out into the fields to being their work. In some countries in Central America February 14th is a traditional day to do acts of kindness for friends. 

To celebrate this week of kindness and the people we love here are a few things you can do:

Monday: Read about the traditions of Valentine's Day on Pebble Go.   
              If you need the user name and password, please email Mrs. Bulvin 
              or myself.  Please make sure you mention who your student is,
              because this log in is only for HES students. Once in the database,
              go in to Social Studies, and then Holidays. 

Tuesday: Do like puzzles? Do this interactive word search from National 
              Geographic Kids. (even though it says the puzzle is gone, it's still there)

Wednesday: Do a Random Act of Kindness for someone. Here are some ideas
                    for people of all ages. 

Thursday: Make a card for a friend or relative. Follow these directions at 
                Instructables for a simple card or for a more challenging card.

Friday: Watch a Valentine-themed video from PBS Kids.  

Happy Reading!!

Miss Hazuda (@HESMediaCenter)