Teacher Resources

Part of my job is to provide resources for classroom teachers. Please let me know when you need materials for your classrooms or websites to support what you are doing in the classrooms. I distribute planning sheets every month to coordinate my lessons with yours, but I would also love to do research project with your classes. I have every Friday morning open from 9-9:45, so let know if you would like to work on a special project!

We also subscribe to many professional journals, including Mailbox and Reading Teacher.

Here are some links that might be helpful to you:

Nettrekker: this is a fabulous database that provides interactive websites and lesson plan ideas, all reviewed by professional educators. It was described to me as "Google on steroids."

Brainpop: Entertain and educate your students about a variety of topics with our favorite cartoon robot, Moby.

World Book Online Encyclopedia: check out this online version of the high quality encyclopedia.

Discovery Education: find great video clips or clip art to share with your students.

Please see me if you need usernames and passwords, or if you would like to get together to plan a lesson using one of these online tools!

Picture book of the week: Ghosts in the House!

If you are looking for a cute book for Halloween, check out Kazuno Kohara's Ghosts in the House! A witch buys a house that is haunted and thinks of very creative ways to deal with the ghosts, including giving them a spin in the washing machine. This charming book is just right for kindergarten and first grade.

Chapter book of the week: Savvy

Have you ever wished that you had magical powers?  In the Newbery honor book, Savvy, written by Ingrid Law, everyone in Mibs Beaumont's family has a savvy, or magical power, that appears on their thirteenth birthday.  Mibs's grandmother can move mountains.  Her brother Rocket can make electricity.  On the night before her birthday, Mibs is worried.  What will her power be? When her father is injured in a car accident, Mibs decides to sneak into the hospital and use her unknown savvy to save him.  When she realizes that the bus that she snuck into is headed in the wrong direction, her troubles begin.  Mibs's journey is one that you'll never forget!

Picture book of the week: The House in the Night

Susan Marie Swanson's lastest book, The House in the Night, is the 2009 Caldecott Award winner.  This lovely picture book uses just three colors: black, white, and yellow to depict what light looks like as it fills a house at night.

Chaper book of the week: The Graveyard Book

Neil Gaiman’s lastest book, The Graveyard Book, is the 2009 Newbery Award winner. Not for the faint of heart, this book takes place in a graveyard. Nobody Owens is a regular boy being raised by ghosts after the death of his parents. This book is a mix of mystery, fantasy, and humor. Will Nobody solve the mysterious death of his family? Read and find out!

Elmer Avenue school students are published poets!

During the 2008-2009 school year, library classes in grades 3-6 wrote haikus and entered them in a poetry-writing contest. Ten current Elmer students were selected to have their poems published in a book of poetry. The following students have poems published in Young American Poetry Digest; the library owns a copy of the book and it is available for check-out. Congratulations to our published authors!

Austin A., fifth grade
Summer Vacation
Big hot vacation
Many people come to play
In the field to laugh

Breanna B., fourth grade
Polar Bears
Polar bears are white.
It’s my favorite animal.
It is snowy here.

Ally C., fifth grade
Warm crisp apple pie
The hot cocoa is burning
When you wrap yourself.

Destiny D., fourth grade
Fireflies light up
From the evening to the night.
I watch fireflies.

Alyssa H., fourth grade
Nature has beauty
There are many kinds indeed
All over the world

Anajah H., fourth grade
White is falling down.
What could it be?
Perhaps it is snow.

Ben H., fifth grade
I like vacation
I sweat all day in the summer
Then grab a cold drink

Margaret M., sixth grade
Here I am in Maine
York Beach to be exact
Shining sun on me

Faith W., fourth grade
Apples are growing
They are sweet and delicious
Granny Smith is great

Hermine W., fourth grade
It is warm today
The sun is shining
It is getting cool

Amber J., former Elmer student
Our teachers rock!
Teachers help you with school work!
Thank you for the help!

Dechelle T., former Elmer student
Books are all colors.
As authors form fun letters,
And readers read books.

Breana M., former Elmer student
Interesting books.
The pictures remind me of days.
Cool books and pictures.

Unice D., former Elmer student
Tea
I drank tea today
It was so sweet like honey
It felt good inside

Lilly M., former Elmer student
Mirrors all around
I can't stop spinning around
In my leotard

A peek inside the library...

What would you see if you visited  the Elmer Avenue library?  You might see a kindergarten class discussing fire safety while examining an actual firefigher's outfit.  Or a first-grade class participating in an interactive read-aloud, or a second-grade class practicing alphabetizing words on the Smartboard.  Or a third-grade class participating in Reader's Theater.  Or a fourth-grade class learning how to use the online catalog.  Or a fifth-grade class using the computers to do a webquest about economics.   Or a sixth-grade class doing a Dewey Decimal scavenger hunt.  And all that activity is in a two-week time period!

Not only do we provide computers with internet access and subscription databases, we also have over 9,000 books that students may borrow.  We also provide teachers with a professional collection, academic journals, and videos and DVDs to supplement classroom instruction.  And if we don't have a what someone needs, we do our best to get it.

Elmer Avenue was the first public elementary school in New York state to have a school library.  What a wonderful claim to fame!

Library times, they are a-changing!

I was very shocked to read this article in the Times Union. Albany Public Library is abandoning the well-loved Dewey Decimal System in favor of a more user-friendly bookstore arrangement. I wonder if this will become a trend?

Its Number Up, Dewey is 86ed

Our new online catalog

Check out our new online catalog! You can check to see what books we own from the comfort of your couch, or any other computer with internet access. You can even see a listing of our newest books!

OPALs online catalog

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Thank you for checking out Elmer Avenue Elementary School's blog. Check back frequently to read about current happenings in the library!