Mayor's Summer Reading Program

Dear Parents/Guardians:

                Summer is almost here and I just want to take a moment to emphasize the importance of your child continuing to read during the summer months.  The Dallas Public Library has a wonderful program to encourage everyone in your family to read, read, read!  It is called the Mayor’s Summer Reading Program and it gives weekly prizes and incentives from June 15-August 10.   Registration for this program has already opened and students at Titche have already been given the opportunity to sign up.  I just wanted to take a moment to clarify and explain a few things so that you are on board for a great summer of reading!

1.        You do not have to have a library card at the DPL to participate and everyone between the ages of 0-adult can participate!

2.       The Dallas Public Library is doing online registration this year and has asked the schools to assist.  Many students at Titche have already been registered so you do not need to re-register them if they have returned the yellow form to me and received a prize. 

3.       The website to log-in or sign-up is http://dallaslibrarysr.evanced.info/

4.       Students will use their school ID number  as the username and the password will be ‘titche’

5.       Make sure you click the appropriate age group tab at the upper left hand corner of the screen before signing up or logging in. 

6.       Students will log their hours online or go into their local branch to report hours each week during the summer.  Students ages 0-6 must read/listen to at least 3 hours and students ages 7-12 must read at least 5 hours.  Teenagers and adults can participate too! 

7.      Go to the library every week to receive a prize, even if you don’t have a library card!  There are really great prizes including circus tickets, Rangers tickets, restaurant coupons, free books, and more! 

If you are not sure if your child already registered with me or you have any questions about this program, give me a call at 972-794-2120 and I will be glad to help you.  I hope everyone in your family will take advantage of this awesome, easy, and free program this summer! 

Happy Reading! 

                                                                                                                

Real Live Author Visit

Today 3rd graders had the privilege to meet a real live author in the Titche library!  Carol Liu, author of Arlene on the Scene and Arlene, the Rebel Queen came to share her book and the joy of writing with us. 

These books grew out of one moment, a moment of connection between two friends. Carol Liu and Marybeth Caldarone locked eyes that day, years ago, and decided: there should be a book.  There should be a book about a kid with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.

Shark–what??  It’s a weird name, a difficult disease. Marybeth and her daughter, Grace, have it. It’s not that rare, but too many have never heard of it. Marybeth and Carol decided that would have to change.

So they got to writing, and out popped Arlene. Yes, onto the scene. And she’s been making waves ever since.

Carol decided to take the show on the road, and one student at a time, explain why she wrote the book, why she believes in the message contained within its pages, and why we all need to get together to change the future for kids like Grace Caldarone, the inspiration and reason this whole thing happened.

The whole point of the book was to shout out to the world what it’s like to live with CMT, but it turned into a story about growing up different. Which means simply growing up, because what Arlene realizes is that we’re all different, and differences are beautiful. Carol Liu is not only an author, she’s also a clinical social worker with decades of experience working with young people on the very social issues explored in this book: developing a positive self-image, appreciating differences, and negotiating peer relationships.


Carol's presentation was outstanding as she addressed differences, disability, empathy, activism, and the writing process all in one entertaining session.  We appreciate her coming to visit free of charge and providing our students with such a great experience! 

5th Six Weeks- MVOB Book Giveaway Day

I am so excited to report that Titche Tigers turned in their best numbers of the year for the My Very Own Book program for the 5th Six Weeks!  We got to give away 393 books on Monday!  We had several classes achieve 100% participation including Mr. Olligan, Ms. McFadden, Ms. Vidal, Ms. Mendez, Ms. Snipes, Ms. Urton, Ms. Henson, Ms. Henderson, Ms. Chacin, Mr. Nava, Mr. Rodriguez, and Ms. Torres!  You all also read 284,902 minutes collectively for the grading period!  

Great job Titche readers!!!

Camp Reading: Read S'more Books!

Spring is here and what better time to camp out with a good book?  Titche Tigers in grades K-5 visited the library on Friday to receive their free RIF book and participate in a little "camping."  While waiting to select their books, students could gain some context for the idea of camping by watching a video clip of "Clifford Goes Camping".  After choosing a new book, students could sit around the "fire" or cozy up in the tent to read for a few minutes.  Upon exiting the library, the students received a "Read S'more Books" bookmark and a marshmallow treat.  Thanks to Ms. Snipes for building our fire and to Ms. Campbell for loaning us a sleeping bag and donating marshmallows to encourage all our Titche Tigers to READ S'MORE BOOKS!!

 

Building Readers!

Thanks to everyone who supported our last Scholastic Book Club order!  We had 40 students make the best investment money can buy...books!  Our book order totaled over $250.00!  I'm so excited that so many students are building their personal libraries at home!  I will do another book order at the end of this month so if you didn't get in on this one, don't worry.  You will have another chance soon!

Read S'more Books!

Hello Titche Tigers!  Just a note that I had to reschedule the RIF day we were going to have last Friday.  Instead we will have our fun book giveaway day on April 26.  Spring is a wonderful time to go camping...so get ready to camp out in our library with a good book.  I want all Titche students to get ready to....

I'm looking forward it it and hope you are too!

Book Return Builders

Thanks to a great book fair last fall, we had enough Scholastic dollars to purchase a nice new book return!  However, it did not arrive assembled so I enlisted the help of a couple of 5th grade student council members to help me put it together.  These young ladies were pretty sharp...I don't know what I would have done without them!  Who says girls can't build stuff??  GIRL POWER!!  :)  Thanks, young ladies!

Fun Websites

I wanted to let all you parents and kids know about a couple of fun resources that Scholastic has put together.  One is called "Stacks" and it is geared toward 8-12 year olds and features all kinds of information, games, and activities about all your favorite books and characters!  The other site is called "Family Playground" and it is designed for 3-7 year olds.  It also has lots of fun stuff about characters and books such as Clifford, I Spy, Magic School Bus and more! 

Check them out when you get a chance!

Stacks:
http://www.scholastic.com/kids/stacks/?esp=CORPHP/ib/////NAV/Kids/Tab/STACKSHP////

Family Playground
http://www.scholastic.com/parents/play/?esp=CORPHP/ib/////NAV/Kids/Tab/FPHP////

Enjoy!

Read Across Dallas- Dr. Suess Day

We had such a fun time last Friday celebrating reading with one of our favorite characters--Dr. Suess!  United Way helped host a fabulous event here at Titche by recruiting almost 50 volunteers, including Dallas Cowboys player Brandon Carr, to read to each and every classroom at our school.  Every class got to hear and enjoy at least one Dr. Suess book from our guest readers.  Thanks to United Way and our volunteers for being supporters of Titche Elementary and reading!

Here is a link to a  recap of the event from United Way:  http://www.unitedwaydallas.org/blog/entry/cats-things-and-loraxes

Fall in Love with Reading!

We had a wonderful time on Valentine's Day here in the Titche Library as we celebrated our love for books with our first RIF distribution of the year centered around the theme of "Fall in Love with Reading." All students in grades K-5 came to the library to choose a free book to keep and we had a great time reading, doing the Cupid Shuffle, and making a Valentine bookmark together. Hopefully everyone had a good time and found a new book to love! 

 

Parents! This Is For You!

If you are the parent of a K-3rd grade student, I have some exciting news for you! On February 5, we are having a parent workshop called "Emergent Readers" presented by the Dallas Public Library. Parents of students in Kindergarten-3rd grade who are reading below grade level are encouraged to register. You will learn basic steps to target reading problems at home and help your child become a better reader. You will also receive free books to read with your child at home. The workshop will be held in the Titche Library from 8:30-10:30am and the presenter is bilingual so all parents regardless of language preference are encouraged to attend! We do need you to register by January 30 so see your child's teacher or Ms. Embry to get a registration form if you don't see one in your child's folder this week. I really look forward to offering this opportunity and hope to see you there!

Pinkalicious

This is a fun book for all you pink lovers out there! If you enjoy it, make sure you check out "Purplelicious" as well!

Chill Out with a New Book This Winter!