The Hub

What an amazing evening celebrating love of literacy, dedication to life-long learning and commitment to growing as global citizens of the world! We, Greenwich Public School Library Media Specialists, hosted our 5th Annual Battle of the Books in the gorgeous PAC at Greenwich High School on Tuesday, January 16th at 6:30 PM.

In a very tight battle with all eleven elementary schools, these five amazing readers represented Julian Curtiss: Artem, Lucia, Hana, Arya and Zach (in the order as pictured above). Readers from Glenville Elementary School took the trophy home.

Our selection of ten age-appropriate novels were hand-picked by my colleagues and I after considerable time, expertise, and thought. Our selection represented a motley of outstanding literature, mostly award nominees and winners such as Nutmeg, Caldecott and Newberry. On behalf of all my colleagues, I thank you for recognizing all the thought and care we put into raising our readers.

A huge shout-out to Jennifer Taylor and Stephanie Krupa who created the most beautiful 2024 Battle of the Books JC spirit-wear! We love our tshirts and will wear them with pride.

IT'S NEVER TOO LATE to immerse yourself and your child into great literature! Here's the list of 2024 Battle of the Books selection.

ARE YOU A FOURTH GRADE PARENT and would like to consider encouraging your child to participate in next year's Battle of the Books? Then please continue reading your emails! Each year, we share our selection for next year's competition by early June. Please stay tuned!

Once again, Julian Curtiss is hosting the Nutmeg Award Book Bowl for our Grade 4 and Grade 5 readers.

The Nutmeg Award encourages children in grades 2-12 to read quality literature and to choose their favorite from a list of nominated titles. A Book Bowl is a game show like event where teams who have read the books compete against each other to show their knowledge. Combined together is the, drum roll please, Nutmeg Award Book Bowl! For details on what this will look like for JC readers, please check out the presentation we pulled together for the students, including a book trailer for each selection.

Our annual March Madness is coming back! In recognition of READ ACROSS AMERICA DAY, we will kick-off a month-long read aloud challenge: MARCH MADNESS: PICTURE BOOK EDITION.

March Book Madness is a bracket-style book tournament that matches books to one-on-one games. The games are decided by the JC readers. Students vote either individually or as a class to decide the winner of each game. After each round of voting, we will update the brackets and the next round of voting will take place. We attempt to match the dates of the brackets to the NCAA March Madness as closely a we can!

Each year, our K-5 school-wide reading program focuses on a theme. In the past couple of years, we have had themes that included "books that bring joy to your heart" and kindness. We will unveil our theme and our bracket shortly!

In 2023, Dr. Jones prioritized the ARP funding to enhance the K-5 student experience with hands-on activities in science in the classroom and engineering/technology in the media center across all of our eleven elementary schools so that we can provide rich learning opportunities to all of our K-5 population.

One of the tools we use is Wonder Workshop's Dash and Dot robots. Dash robots are innovative educational tools designed to introduce elementary school students to the foundations of coding in a fun and interactive way. These robots are equipped with sensors, lights, sounds, and various programmable behaviors, providing a hands-on experience that brings coding to life. Some key features of Dash Robots include:

1. Engaging and Interactive: Dash is designed to captivate young learners' interest with its friendly appearance and interactive capabilities. It is a tangible and approachable introduction to the world of robotics.
2. Programmability: Students will have the opportunity to program Dash using simple drag-and-drop coding blocks. This process encourages logical thinking and problem-solving skills as they create sequences of actions for the robot to perform.
3. Sensors and Feedback: Dash responds to its environment through various sensors, allowing students to explore concepts such as distance, sound, and light. This feature enhances the learning experience by incorporating real-world interactions into their coding projects.

At Julian Curtiss, we LOVE our Dash Robots! Our goal this year is to use them with all of our learners, Kindergarten through Grade 5. Our learners start with the Go application that gets them familiarized with the robot's functions, capabilities and the overall, gives them some app user experience. Coders then move onto the Path application that introduces the idea of "challenges." Ultimately, their experience leads them to the Blockly application, which offers an all comprehensive and personalized computer science learning pathways.

The BRAND NEW Inchy: The Bookworm Vending Machine is in action! And so are the amazing students of Julian Curtiss who are accumulating Class Dojo points towards earning a gold coin to receive a free book of their choosing!

Our Specials teachers- Art, Media, Music and PE- are collaborating on promoting Social Emotional Learning (SEL), a growth mindset, and inclusive thinking practices in our school. In our classes, when we recognize outstanding behavior demonstrating any of our norms- Be Here, Be Safe, Be Honest, Care for Self and Others; and Let Go and Move On- we award our student(s) with a Class Dojo point. When a student's Class Dojo points add up to 10, they then receive 1 gold coin. The gold coin then earns the student the opportunity to select from a number of outstanding literature choices and take a free book home.

Our ultimate goal is to foster a love of literacy and connect it to personal and interpersonal growth. One Class Dojo point at a time...

We are wishing everyone a well-deserved rest over the February break!

Ms. Laccetti would like to remind readers to bring back their overdue books. She will be sending out notices in the Friday folders as reminders.

Mrs. Ripegno would like to remind the students to be mindful when using their devices and to please adhere to the district norms.

Esra Murray, Library Media Specialist

Arlene Laccetti, Library Media Assistant

Anna Ripegno, IT Support Technician

Email: esra_murray@greenwich.k12.ct.us
Website: https://www.greenwichschools.org/julian-curtiss-school/learning-commons
Location: 180 East Elm Street, Greenwich, CT 06830
Phone: (203) 869-1896