Once again, the annual Scholastic Book Fair held in February during Parent -Teacher conferences was a ton of fun and a big success!

The teachers came for a preview breakfast on the first day of the fair while the students previewed the fair during their library classes early in the week.

Mrs. Armstrong, the library assistant, worked her usual magic and transformed the library with decorations that promoted the fair theme of "Frightfully Good Reads" and friendly monsters! Thank you also to Mr. Weatherford's art classes for the awesome monsters they designed and created to hang all around the library!

A couple of contests livened things up as well--the students entered a guessing contest of estimating how many gummy monsters were in the jar, and Abigail Hartley and Jace Jackson were the winners of the two Book Basket giveaways. The baskets were filled with paperback books of all reading levels and other fun miscellaneous items.

Book Fair Chairperson, Allison Edgar, had this to say about the fair, "I love watching the kids get excited about books they get to keep. There's something special about treasuring a good book that you can reread and keep forever. Their excitement about reading is contagious!" Longtime volunteer, Sharlene Christensen, said her favorite part of the fair is "seeing all the new books and the kids' faces when they see them!"

THANK YOU to everyone who helped make the book fair a success! The success of the book fair would not be possible without the support and enthusiasm of the entire WE community. The book fair always serves as a great reminder of how Wanamaker truly loves and values the power of reading. A special thank you to Allison Edgar, Book Fair Chairperson, and ALL the other volunteers whose help was greatly appreciated!

Wanamaker had a school-wide spirit week to celebrate Read Across America and Dr. Seuss's birthday. The library got in on the action by hosting a birthday party for Dr. Seuss in all the library classes.

Mrs. Reinert read a different Dr. Seuss story to each grade level. Grades K-3 followed the story with a related activity while Grades 4-6 gained knowledge about Dr. Seuss's life by viewing a Google Slide Show. In addition, the older grades learned that while some of Dr. Seuss's books are filled with fun illustrations and creative rhyming, they also carry a serious message. For instance, the 6th graders learned that The Butter Battle Book is Dr. Seuss's perspective on the nuclear arms race between the U.S. and Russia during the Cold War. The 5th graders learned that Yertle the Turtle depicts Hitler and his dictatorship during WW II, and the 4th graders took a look at environmentalism in The Lorax.

Songs based on Dr. Seuss's stories were played during check-out time, and all students put their name in the Cat's hat in hopes of being one of the lucky winners of the many items given away in a drawing.

We had a great time in the library this week!

Many students love listening to podcasts and some teachers love using them in their classrooms. Listening to podcasts offer many benefits for both kids and families. Benefits include a positive impact on language and literacy development as well as opportunities for adult-child bonding. (Maggie McGuire, CEO of Pinna, February 1, 2021)

Many kids find podcasts more appealing and easier to absorb than reading or videos.

More and more high-quality podcasts are being produced specifically with young learners in mind. Good podcasts tend to be centered and "down-to-earth", encouraging kids to listen, reflect, and digest what's being said.

Listening to a podcast together would be a wonderful way to bond with your student! Besides being a more mobile form of entertainment that promotes togetherness, they can also be great starting points for new conversations.

Shannon McClintock Miller, award-winning librarian and author of The Library Voice blog, has put together a Choice Board of excellent podcasts for elementary age children. The Choice Board is pictured above, and you can access it by clicking the link below.

The Bucks 4 Books campaign held during February brought in nearly $1,300.00.

The Student Council members decided to donate $1,000.00 to the American Library Association Disaster Relief Fund. This fund is used to help re-build libraries around the world that have been destroyed by natural disasters. Several years ago, Wanamaker donated $2,000.00 and our school was featured in an online article published by ALA.

The students also voted to donate $300.00 to the Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund.

The campaign allowed our younger students to work on learning their money concepts. Everyone who donated their change also enjoyed the feeling one gets when contributing to a worthwhile cause. We are grateful to have such a nice collection in our school library, and we want others around the world to experience the power of books as well.

The classroom donating the most money at each grade level will be rewarded with an extra recess. The classroom donating the most money overall (Mrs. Hoffman's 4th grade class) will be treated to a Freddy's lunch sometime in May.

Thank you to our families who donated to this school-wide fundraiser!

March 4 & 25-- Student Council meeting in the library at 8:00 AM

March 9-10-- Student Council Bead Sales for Green Day (St. Patrick's Day) held on the 10th

March 14-18--Spring Break

April 1-- Battle of the Books meeting during 4th, 5th, and 6th grade lunch hours

April 8-- Kindergarten Round Up

April 9--Kansas Association of School Librarians NE District Workshop will be held at Wanamaker Elementary. Mrs. Reinert is the Director of the workshop and Dr. Shyla Biju of Landon Middle School is the Asst. Director.

April 15-- Mrs. Reinert will co-present with Mrs. Kufahl (Farley librarian) on the topic of "Building Your Classroom Library" at our district's Professional Development day.