Digital Citizenship Contest Registration Due Date: 12/16/16!

Please remember that you must register by Friday, December 16^th to participate in this Digital Citizenship photo/video contest!

Biblionasium has gone live!

Great news--Biblionasium is finally up and running!  All 1st-5th graders were introduced to Biblionasium during yesterday's PLC Day.  

Biblionasium is safe, COPPA compliant online community for young readers that promotes a love of reading by allowing students to connect with their classmates to share their favorite books and record their reading progress. Students can add books to their digital bookshelf, recommend books to friends, log their reading, rate and review books, earn virtual awards, and more. Biblionasium allows for easy collaboration between our school librarian, the classroom teacher, and the student’s parents to motivate, measure, and manage each child’s reading. Soon parents will be able to be linked to their child’s Biblionasium account.  I will post directions on how to link to your child's account as soon as this feature is updated by the creators of Biblionasium (this update is scheduled for next week). This will allow the parent to track their child’s reading progress, view their child’s reading list and wish list, monitor their child’s independent reading, recommend books to their child, and set up family reading challenges.  This will also allow the parent to see the teacher’s reading list.

Each Kilpatrick student has a Biblionasium account that is linked to Destiny, our library’s online catalog.  Students can access their Biblionasium account either by logging into Destiny Discover (Destiny can be accessed in the student’s MyKaty cloud https://mykaty.katyisd.org/) or by going directly to the Biblionasium website(www.biblionasium.com) and selecting the “Login with Destiny” option.  In both platforms, the student will need his/her Katy ISD username and password to access this account (available from your child’s teacher). This linked account will provide the student with real-time information and access of our library’s resources. Coach Chip Manzee will guide the students through the website, offer helpful tips, and reward reading achievements with digital awards and trophies.


The school librarian, your child's classroom teacher, and (coming soon!) parents can set up Reading Challenges for a student.  The student may also set up a personal Reading Challenge for him/herself.  Our school librarian will set up Reading Challenges for all participating OKE students throughout the school year.  Library-sponsored Reading Challenges will be rewarded with reading tags and various prizes. Your student can view Reading Challenges by logging into their Biblionasium account and selecting the “Challenges” tab.

I will continue to share information about Biblionasium as the program is updated.  In the meanwhile, your child is invited to begin getting his/her account set up.  As always, Happy Reading!

Library Volunteer Mingle & Jingle on 12/9/16!

All OKE Library Volunteers are invited to our

Library Volunteer Mingle & Jingle!

Join us for some holiday cheer,

For Winter Break is very near!

OKE Library

Friday 12/9/16

9:00-10:00 AM

Fall Book Fair Underway!

The library's Fall Book Fair is underway! The library is hosting its Fall Book Fair from 

Monday 11/7/16 - Thursday 11/10/16 in the library.

Book Fair Hours:

Monday 11/7: 8:00 AM*-3:30 PM

Tuesday 11/8: 8:00 AM*-3:30 PM

Wednesday 11/9: 8:00 AM*-3:30 PM

Thursday 11/10: 8:00 AM*-3:30 PM and 4:30 PM-7:00 PM (during Open House)

*Only students accompanied by parents may shop in the Book Fair from 8:00 AM-8:30 AM each morning.  The Book Fair is open to students after the Morning Announcements each day.

Proceeds from past Book Fairs have been used to purchase books, fund author/illustrator visits, fund reading incentive programs, purchase library furniture, instructional materials, and technology. Thank you for supporting the OKE Library!

Maud Marks Hosts Local Authors' Literacy Festival and Market on Saturday, December 3rd!

LOCAL AUTHORS' LITERARY FESTIVAL & MARKET 

(Story Time! Crafts! Face Painting! Prizes! Workshops! Autographs! Book Sale!) 

WHERE:

Maud Marks Library

1815 Westgreen Blvd., Katy

(281) 492-8592

WHEN: Saturday, December 3 from 12:30 - 4:30 12:30 - 4:30:

• Story Time & Crafts with Local Children's Authors Beginning Every 1/2 Hour 
• Panels & Workshops for Various Age Groups Beginning Every 1/2 Hour 
• YA, Adult, and Children's Authors Selling and Autographing Their Books 
• Free Popcorn & Photo Opportunities with Authors & a Special Visitor 
• Opportunities to Win Door Prizes 2:30 - 4:30: Free Face Painting: Book Characters, Sports, & Winter Symbols

PANEL/WORKSHOP DETAILS:

• 12:30 How to Write a Book (Christy Esmahan, Gordon L. Rottman, George Slaughter) 
• 1:00 Raising Readers: How to get your child to become a reader using picture books and beyond (Ellen Leventhal, Kathy M. Slaughter, Jenna Pashley Smith) 
• 1:30 Spotlight on Sci-Fi: Aliens, Robots, and More (Mandy Broughton, K.C. Maguire, K. J. Russell)
• 2:00 Be Creative: Ways to Get Inspiration for Writing Everything from Book Reports to Novels (Christy Esmahan, Monica Shaughnessy, Jenna Pashley Smith) 
• 2:30 Spotlight on Fantasy: Magic, Myths, and Mystical Creatures (Artemis Greenleaf, Claudia Herring, K. J. Russell) 
• 3:00 Clues to a Good Mystery (Mandy Broughton and Monica Shaughnessy) 
• 3:30 World-building: It's all in the Details (Claudia Herring, K.C. Maguire, Gordon L. Rottman) 
• 4:00 How to Research and Organize Information (Artemis Greenleaf, Steven D. Malone, George Slaughter) 

STORY TIME/ARTS & CRAFT DETAILS:

• 12:30 The Tooth Collector Fairies: Batina's Best First Day by Denise Ditto; Craft: Fairy Wings and More 
• 1:00 Fish Stew by Fleur Wiig; Craft: Coloring
• 1:30 A Bear's Year by Kathy Duval; Craft: Color and cut out a bear to put in a paper bag den. 
• 2:00 Fish Stew by Fleur Wiig; Craft: Coloring
• 2:30 Bizz & Buzz Make Honey Buns by Dee Leone; Craft: Foam Frame and Hap-bee Holiday Card
• 3:00 H is for Houston by Kathy M. Slaughter; Craft: Two Houston Coloring Pages 
• 3:30 Hayfest: A Holiday Quest by Ellen Leventhal; Craft: Make up your own holiday and decorations for it. 
• 4:00 A Bear's Year by Kathy Duval; Craft: Color and cut out a bear to put in a paper bag den 

(Schedule Subject to Change Without Notice) 

Biblionasium Start Date Postponed

We have had to postpone the start date of Biblionasium to allow our upgraded system to be tested.  We look forward to getting the program started soon. Thank you for your patience!

Pumpkin Decorating Extravaganza 10/24-10/27/16!

The Kilpatrick Library is hosting its eleventh annual BOOK CHARACTER Pumpkin Decorating Extravaganza for OKE families from October 24th-28th! You can use paint, fabric, and other craft supplies to transform an ordinary pumpkin into your favorite character from a book! Perhaps you can use a little red paint to make Clifford or some yellow yarn to make Goldilocks! We're looking for pumpkins that are created, not carved (please do not poke holes in the pumpkin as this causes the pumpkin to decay).  The pumpkin characters will be on display in the library for all to enjoy! The library is open each morning at 8:00 AM.

This event is an Extravaganza, and not a contest.  Pumpkins will not be judged, but will be enjoyed by students and parents! What a fun seasonal activity for the whole family to enjoy! We'll invite some of our students to share their creations on announcements each morning throughout the Extravaganza. Also, ALL student participants will receive a special pumpkin dog tag for their Reading Chain! Have fun and happy decorating!

Important Dates:

• Monday, October 24th - Thursday, October 27th: Bring your pumpkin creations to thelibrary!
• Friday, October 28th: All pumpkins not picked up in the morning will be sent home with students at dismissal.

The entry form is being sent home in the 10/12/16 Wednesday folder.  Additional forms are available in the library or can be printed here.

Mini Maker Faire on 11/5/16!

Books still available for autograph!

If you are interested in having illustrator Michael P. White autograph a book for your child, we still have copies available:

Click here for a copy of the order form.
We look forward to visiting with Michael P. White on Thursday, 10/20!

OKE Welcomes Illustrator Michael P. White!

Award-winning illustrator, Michael P. White, will be visiting with all 1st-3rd grade students on Thursday, October 20th. Michael P. White has illustrated The Library Dragon, The Return of the Library Dragon, The Secret of Old Zeb, and Harriet's Horrible Hair Day.  Order forms to purchase autographed books are being sent home in the Wednesday Folders today. If your form is misplaced, you can print off an additional order form here. Additional forms are also available in the library.

You can listen to the author, Carmen Agra Deedy,  read The Library Dragon here.

You can learn more about Michael P. White at his website: http://www.michaelpwhite.com/.

Morning Check-Out!

Our library is now open for check-out before school!  From 8:00 AM-8:20 AM each day, students may come into the library before school to return books or check out new ones.  When Biblionasium starts up, students may use library computers to access their Biblionasium account, as well.  Morning Check-Out passes are available in the gym or in the classroom.  This is the Morning Check-Out schedule:

• Monday: Kindergarten and 1st Grade
• Tuesday: 2nd Grade
• Wednesday: 3rd Grade
• Thursday: 4th Grade
• Friday: 5th Grade

Welcome back!

Welcome back to school! We are looking forward to another fun and reading-filled year! We already have many exciting things planned for our students including Biblionasium, author visits, books fairs, Promise to Read, and more.

Last year, we piloted Bookopolis with our 2nd and 5th grade students. Bookopolis is a fun and safe online community where young readers can explore new books, create digital bookshelves, and recommend books to friends. Both our students and teachers enjoyed using the program.  This summer, a similar program called Biblionasium entered an exclusive partnership with Follett, the company that creates our library software. Because Biblionasium will be directly linked to our library catalog, we have chosen to use it with our students this year.  We expect to receive our software update which will include this integration in October.  You will be hearing more about how Biblionasium will be used at OKE in the coming weeks.

This year we have several authors and illustrators visiting our school including Michael P. White on 10/20/16, Connor White and Annabeth Bonder Stone on 1/17/17, Mike Artell on 2/21/17, and Lisa Wheeler on 2/23/17.  We will also have members from our community reading with all of our students during KISD-sponsored Promise to Read on Tuesday, November 15th.

Once again, we will be displaying pumpkins decorated as book characters during our annual Pumpkin Decorating Extragavanza to be held in the library 10/24-10/28/16.

Our Fall Book Fair will take place November 7th-10th in the library.

As always, happy reading!

Bookopolis!

Our 2^nd and 5^th graders were recently invited to explore Bookopolis with their classmates (https://bookopolis.com/#/ ), an online community for young readers that helps ignite a love of reading by letting students connect with friends to share their favorite books.  In 2015, the American Association for School Librarians selected Bookopolis a “Best Website for Teaching and Learning”. 

In Bookopolis, students can:

• Create virtual bookshelves of books they’ve read, are reading now, or want to read
• Rate and review books to practice opinion writing
• Complete book reports to practice comprehension and critical thinking
• Track daily or weekly reading in an online reading log
• Connect with friends to see what books they’ve read
• Explore new book ideas and reviews from curated lists and other Bookopolis readers
• Earn points and badges for their reading achievements

Bookopolis is a free site that is compliant with COPPA (child online safety standards.) The creator is a parent and book club facilitator, Kari Riedel.  Email her directly with any questions or suggestions you have about the site – kari@bookopolis.com.

Bookopolis also offers a Summer Reading Challenge for anyone interested (https://bookopolis.com/#/my-world/new-books-summer-challenge):

• Read 1,000 minutes between 6/13/16 and 8/13/16 and earn a FREE BOOK (while books last)!
• Log your minutes on your Bookopolis Reading Log.

Bookopolis READ-O (Reading Bingo): 

• If you get a Bingo (5 in any direction) or a Blackout (all squares are marked out) between 6/13/16 - 8/13/16, email Bookopolis a copy or picture of your Read-O card to info@bookopolis.com.
• Bookopolis will pick weekly winners to receive a FREE BOOK.

Summer Reading!

Summer Reading!

Although our school library has closed, we hope you will continue to reinforce your child’s reading skills over the summer by joining the summer reading program sponsored by the Cinco Ranch Public Library. This library is located at 2620 Commercial Center Blvd., Katy. A librarian from the Cinco Ranch Public Library will be speaking to all students about this program on Tuesday, May 31^st.

Also, the KISD Elementary Librarians have compiled a list of book recommendations for all elementary-age students.  You can take a look at our suggestions for books that may interest your child using the following link:

http://www.katyisd.org/students/Documents/Summer_Reading_2016-English.pdf

You also may want to get a head start on reading books for next year’s Texas 2x2 Program (Grades K-2): http://txla.org/groups/2x2 and Texas Bluebonnet Award Program (Grades 3-5): http://txla.org/TBA-nominees

Finally, any student can join Bookopolis (https://bookopolis.com/#/ ). See post titled "Bookopolis" for more information!

Have a safe and enjoyable summer—and, as always, happy reading!

Shop the online Book Fair!

Thank you so much for supporting our school's Spring Book Fair!  If you did not find what you were looking for at the Fair, you can shop for it through our Online Fair which continues through 3/8/16.  All books will ship for free to OKE after the Online Fair ends
For more great books online:
scholastic.com/fair

It's official! Announcing the 2015-16 Texas Bluebonnet Award winner:

To see the voting totals or watch the acceptance video, go to the following link:
http://txla.org/tba

Winning Texas Bluebonnet Award book to be announced soon!

Hot off the presses from the Texas Library Association!:

We are so excited to share this year’s winner of the Texas Bluebonnet Award! The winning book will be announced on Friday, Feb. 12 at 7 am CST. You can find the announcement posted on the TBA website, the TBA Facebook page, and on Twitter! We hope you enjoyed the program as much as we have. 

OKE TBA Voting Totals Are In!!!

Congratulations to all OKE 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students who participated in this year's Texas Bluebonnet Award program!

This week, 139 students came into our library and cast their votes for their favorite book from this year's list of nominees.  The totals were as follows (I have highlighted the top three books on our campus):

Votes per book:

8 votes for The Night Gardener

0 votes for The Great American Dust Bowl

2 votes for The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus

18 votes for The Misadventures of Salem Hyde: Book One: Spelling Trouble

13 votes for Always, Abigail

3 votes for Emily's Blue Period

2 votes for Saving Lucas Biggs

12 votes for Sky Jumpers

17 votes for The Vanishing Coin

3 votes for The Scraps Book: Notes from a Colorful Life

9 votes for Mountain Dog

3 votes for Grandfather Gandhi

12 votes for The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom

0 votes for When the Beat Was Born: DJ Kool Herc and the Creation of Hip Hop

12 votes for Zane and the Hurricane: A Story of Katrina

5 votes for Quinny & Hopper

7 votes for The Lost Planet

2 votes for Rutherford B., Who Was He?: Poems About Our Presidents

5 votes for Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez & Her Family's Fight for Desegregation

6 for The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing

Total book votes:  139

Votes per grade:

• Third Grade: 48
• Fourth Grade: 43
• Fifth Grade: 48

Total school votes:  139

These votes have been submitted to the Texas Library Association in Austin.  Our votes will be added to the votes from children all across the state of Texas.  In early February, the Texas Library Association will announce the official winner.  I will be sure to post the official winner as soon as it is announced.

In the meanwhile, you can get a head start on reading from next year's list:

2016-2017 Texas Bluebonnet Award List

These books will be available for purchase during our school's Spring Book Fair, and will be available for check-out from the library soon!

Important Upcoming Dates!

The library will be closed all day on Thursday, January 28th to accommodate PLC’s. There will be no Accelerated Reader testing before school on this day. Students may take Accelerated Reader quizzes in their classrooms during the school day. Thank you!

The Bluebonnet Bash will take place Friday, February 5^th in the library.  All students who read eight or more Bluebonnet books AND returned their forms by the January 20^th deadline will be invited to attend. Invitations will be sent home in the Wednesday folders on 2/3/16.

The library will be closed all day on Thursday, February 25^th to accommodate PLC’s. There will be no Accelerated Reader testing before school on this day. Students may take Accelerated Reader quizzes in their classrooms during the school day. Thank you!

The library will be closed all day on Friday, February 26^th to accommodate Book Fair Set-Up. There will be no Accelerated Reader testing before school on this day. Students may take Accelerated Reader quizzes in their classrooms during the school day. Thank you!

The library's Spring Book Fair is around the corner! The library will be hosting its Spring Book Fair from Monday 2/29/16-Thursday 3/3/16 in the library.

Book Fair Hours:

Monday: 8:00 AM*-3:30 PM

Tuesday: 8:00 AM*-3:30 PM and 4:30 PM-7:00 PM (during Family Art & Science Night)

Wednesday: 8:00 AM*-3:30 PM

Thursday 8:00 AM*-3:30 PM

*Only students accompanied by parents may shop in the Book Fair from 8:00 AM-8:30 AM each morning. The Book Fair is open to students after the Morning Announcements each day.

Proceeds from past Book Fairs have been used to purchase books, fund author/illustrator visits, fund reading incentive programs, purchase library furniture, instructional materials, and technology. Thank you for supporting the OKE Library!

There will be no AR testing in the library before school Monday 2/29/16-Friday 3/4/16 due to the Book Fair. Students may take AR quizzes in their classrooms this week with teacher permission.

The library will be closed all day on Friday, March 4^th so that we can pack up from the Fall Book Fair. The library will re-open after the book fair is packed up.

OKE Library News

The library will be closed all day on Thursday, January 28th  to accommodate PLC’s.  There will be no Accelerated Reader testing before school on this day.  Students may take Accelerated Reader quizzes in their classrooms during the school day.  Thank you!

OKE 3rd-5th Graders: Don’t forget! If you are interested in participating in our school’s Texas Bluebonnet Award program (voting and Bluebonnet Bash), you must return your forms to the library no later than Wednesday, January 20th.  All students who have read five or more of this year’s nominees and who have returned their forms on time will be invited to vote for their favorite title.   Voting will take place from Monday, January 25^th-Wednesday, January 27^th in the library.  All students who have read eight or more of this year’s Texas Bluebonnet Award nominees and who have returned their forms on time will be invited to the Bluebonnet Bash. The Bash will take place on Friday, February 5^th in the library.  Extra forms are available in the library, or can be printed from the Texas Bluebonnet Award section of the blog.  Happy reading!

Library Volunteer Positions Available:

The Kilpatrick Library is in need of volunteers.  We ask our volunteers to commit to one hour per week on a regular basis.  The duties include helping students locate and select books, checking books in and out to students, shelving books, and keeping the library organized, as well as assisting with various other tasks.

Library volunteers allow Kilpatrick to keep the library opened for circulation all day long.  With library volunteers we are able to offer more activities and programs including book clubs, author visits, reading incentive programs, and more.

The library is at the heart of Kilpatrick Elementary and our volunteers are the beat that keep it running.

If you would like to volunteer, please call or email Prudence Johnson:

281-237-7621

PrudenceSJohnson@katyisd.org