DEAR Assembly - thanks for joining us!

We had a quiet but purposeful start to our day this morning as we all Dropped Everything and Read at our first DEAR assembly of the 2017-2018 school year.

I'm reminded of the video clip that is going around on Facebook right now. It's an Navy officer recommending graduates of the University of Texas that they start the day by making their bed. He says that making your bed first thing in the morning, gives you a small dose of achievement right at the beginning of the day, and that by having one task done, you set yourself up for a productive rest of the day. (The video continues to cover most of the commencement address. See it here on Youtube.)

That's what starting the day reading with the ES school feels like. It's going to be a productive day because we had that great shared start.

Do you wish you were more of a reader? Here is a handy infographic by Jennifer LaGarde. It was designed for teachers, but can apply to all adults.   Click on it to zoom in.

Want to get social about reading with me? Join me on Goodreads. I'm fitziane. I've been a member since 2005 and I really enjoy keeping track of my books. I also love setting myself reading challenges. This year, for the fifth year in a row, I want to read 365 books. I'm a little behind but will catch up soon!

Library Assemblies Coming Up!

We have 2 exciting dates coming up for the ES Library.

March 28 - DEAR Assembly

Bring a book next Tuesday morning and drop everything and read on the ES lawn during the time we usually have assembly. Parents are welcome to read with us too.

April 4, ES Book Parade

Dress up as a favorite book character and show your love of reading! Our assembly on April 4 will be given over to the ES Book Parade, hosted by our ES Library Council.

Costumes can be store bought but it's fun to make your own. The costumes don't have to be very elaborate. See my Pinterest page for simple and fun ideas.


Post your character costume pics on social media and tag with #CACESBookParade or #CACESReads. Images on Instagram tagged with #CACESReads will show up on the right sidebar to this blog.

Character Dress Up Day 2015

We had a such a great morning today for our Character Dress Up Day! Thanks to all!

First we had a read aloud by Sarah Gauch, who shared a few pages of her new book, The Tomb Robber and King Tut. Ms. Gauch visited the grade 3 Egypt Culture classes today, as they devote a unit to the study of Tutankhamen and his fabulous treasure trove. The ES library has two copies of the new book, as well as 3 copies of her previous book, Voyage to the Pharos.

After Ms. Gauch's short presentation, we had our character parade and oh, so many wonderful costumes of classic literature characters. I hope students had as much fun coming up with their costumes as we had seeing how clever they were.

My favorite costumes were the simplest:  (although the amazing Rapunzel in the tower costume was amazing precisely because it was not simple! Sadly, I don't have a photo of it. If you do, please email me!!) Here are only a few of the many, many great costumes that we saw today.

The rabbit from Alice in Wonderland

Judy Moody from Judy Moody Saves the World

The Old Man and the C -- ha ha!

The Lorax

Splat the Cat

The Man in the Yellow Hat

Willy Wonka's Golden Ticket

The Phantom Tollbooth

Treasure Island - not a character, the whole book!

Judy Moody

Amber Brown

I was so busy with the assembly, I didn't have a chance to take more photos myself. I am looking forward to seeing the undoubtedly wonderful photos our school photographers will take for the yearbook!

The audience behavior of our elementary students today was exemplary. Well done, ES! Even though we were so excited with the parade and the author and the bookmark competition announcements, all the elementary students were attentive and respectful when it was time to listen. We're very proud and we hope this is a trend that will continue to improve.

Here is a short movie by our tech integrators from the parade. Thanks, Ms. Hebba and Ms. Ingy!