READING COUNTS CONTEST – GRADE 3
Third grade students are introduced to the Reading Counts program in September and are challenged to earn points for their class by passing quizzes all year long. Mrs. Stein has set a classroom goal of 1200 points for each homeroom. Thermometers in the library hallway keep track of the points earned by each classroom. Some students will pass more quizzes than others in their quest to reach the class goal of 1200 points. We’d love to see every third grader earn at least 50 Reading Counts points! Third grade students will enjoy a party in the library during school hours when they reach their classroom goal. Over the past six years, every third grade classroom has earned a Reading Counts party. Parents and students, please be aware that any student in the class who has accumulated less than 15 points by the day before their class party will not be attending the party. Everyone in the class needs to work toward the class goal.

READING COUNTS CONTEST – GRADES 4-8
For the seventh year in a row, Mrs. Stein is sponsoring a Reading Counts contest to encourage all OLW students in Grades 4-8 to use the Reading Counts program for fun and, of course, reading enjoyment. Every student who reaches their individual point goal may choose a prize from the treasure chest in the library. Students may not watch a movie based on a book and try to pass a quiz without reading the book. Students in Grades 6-8 may not earn points for books that are considered “too easy” by their reading teachers. Mrs. Stein reserves the right to deduct points from a student’s record if they violate these rules.

Point goals for the 2009-2010 school year are as follows:
100 points for Grade 4
140 points for Grades 5 & 6
160 points for Grades 7 & 8
Point goals need to be reached by Friday, April 23, 2010 .

LIBRARY CURRICULUM
Special activities and lessons are planned for students in grades KDG through five during their weekly library time. Some of the highlights for each grade are the following:

 Kindergarten students have story time every week. Students listen to all types of stories, from the classic Each Peach Pear Plum, a classic I Spy book from Janet and Allan Ahlberg, to a book by one of Mrs. Stein’s favorite new children’s authors, Mo Willems -- Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! If you are lucky, you might stop into the library one day to hear one of the “singing” storytime books, like On Top of Spaghetti, or I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More.

Grade 1 students have a story time curriculum, in which they are introduced to famous children’s authors, illustrators who have won the Caldecott award, learn the difference between fiction and nonfiction books, and find out why a fairy tale or folktale is different than a regular fiction book.

Students in Grades 2 and 3 spend several weeks learning library skills. Students learn how to search for books on the patron catalog by title, author, subject and keyword and then find the actual books on the library shelves. Grade 3 students take an in depth look at the Dewey Decimal system and find out how nonfiction books are organized by a number related to the subject of the book. Using a library is a life skill, and the lessons learned in the school library can really help when finding materials at the public library.

Grade 3 students are introduced to research skills. They read a chapter from a nonfiction book and learn how to take notes on their topic. They learn how to use the World Almanac for Kids to find information and then play the always popular “World Almania for Kids” game in the library with three competing teams looking for answers to “Jeopardy” type questions.

 Grade 4 and 5 students spend some time reviewing their library skills, with an emphasis on putting Dewey Decimal numbers in the proper order and matching Dewey numbers with the proper subject.