Six Flags Read to Succeed

 

Indian Knoll is participating in the Six Flags Read to Succeed program!  Students who complete six hours of recreational reading are eligible for a free admission ticket to Six Flags Over Georgia.  Record your reading on the sheet provided by classroom teachers in December.  The sheet must be signed by a parent.  Return to school on or before February 13.  All tickets will be distributed the last week of school.  Happy reading!

Thank You, Nick Bruel!

Author/illustrator Nick Bruel visited Indian Knoll on January 16!  Our students love his Bad Kitty books so much, they are almost always checked out. 

To prepare for his visit, students in kindergarten through fourth grade visited the media center for a Nick Bruel storytime.  We read Bob and Otto, Who Is Melvin Bubble, and Poor Puppy.
 
During his presentations, Mr. Bruel read his book Bad Kitty to the students.  Then he told students how his books start with a title and led them through a story writing activity starting with a title they generated and using their ideas.  Several of our students later brought me their drawings and stories, inspired from this activity.

Thank you to FoxTale Book Shoppe for coordinating Nick Bruel's visit to our school!

Thank You, Mr. Eric!

On Monday, December 3, Eric Litwin of Pete the Cat fame visited Indian Knoll Elementary School.  Our staff and students enjoyed his performances!  He sang songs from his CDs and of course treated us to his Pete the Cat stories.  Mr. Eric kept all of us entertained from the beginning to the end, using lots of call and response and audience participation techniques to engage us.  Here are some pictures from our groovy afternoon with Mr. Eric.

Picture Book Month

It's Picture Book Month!  Schools around the world are celebrating the importance of picture books this November.  At Indian Knoll, we are holding a Picture Book Challenge.  Students are encouraged to read as many picture books as they can and record the titles on the lists below.  There are two levels of participation.  The first level earns students a bookmark.  The second level earns a certificate and a chance to be entered in a drawing for prizes.  All entries are due in the media center on November 30.  In addition, we are promoting picture books on the morning announcements each day.  And there is a display in the media center of our staff members' favorite picture books.  We look forward to reading and discussing new and old favorite picture books this month!

Read for the Record Day

On Thursday, October 4, Indian Knoll celebrated Read for the Record Day.  Schools across the country participated in Read for the Record, a yearly effort in which millions of children join together to read a single book and promote early childhood literacy.

This year, the Read for the Record book was Ladybug Girl and the Bug Squad by David Soman and Jacky Davis.  Our principal, Dr. Gazell, read the book to all students.

We also raised money for the Ferst Foundation.  This organization provides books to children in our area.  Students were invited to purchase paper bugs for $1 each.  These were displayed outside the classrooms.  Indian Knoll raised $705 for this cause!

All Star Book Fair

You are invited to visit our Scholastic Book Fair to experience a celebration of reading that provides families the opportunity to encourage kids to read every day!

Our Scholastic Book Fair theme - All Star Book Fair - is part of an exciting reading event that brings to school a wonderful selection of fun, engaging, and affordable books kids want to read.  Come see our media center transformed into a sports complex!

You will be able to purchase books online during this book fair.  These purchases will also benefit our school.  From September 7 through 26, go to http://tinyurl.com/97ojm4k and follow the link at the bottom of the page to place an online order.  All orders will be sent to the school after September 26.  This is a wonderful opportunity for out-of-town relatives (including grandparents who cannot attend the Grandparent Breakfast) to purchase books for the children in their lives.  You can write a personal note, and there is no shipping cost.

In addition to purchasing books for your home library, you may wish to consider adding titles to your child's classroom library.  Each teacher has made a wish list of books that will enrich classroom lessons and encourage classroom reading.  You can view teachers' wish lists when you visit the Book Fair.

Book Fair Dates and Shopping Hours:

Friday, September 7: 7:00 AM - 2:00 PM

Monday, September 10: 7:00 AM - 2:00 PM

Tuesday, September 11: 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM

Wednesday, September 12: 8:00 AM - 2:00 PM

Thursday, September 13: 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM

Friday, September 14: 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Thank You, Peter Brown!

On Thursday, August 30, author/illustrator Peter Brown visited Indian Knoll Elementary School.  Peter Brown was already in Indian Knoll favorite since The Curious Garden was on the Georgia Children's Book Award list last school year.  To prepare for his visit, students in kindergarten through third grade visited the media center for a storytime in which we read some of Mr. Brown's other books, including Chowder, Children Make Terrible Pets, and You Will Be My Friend.

During his visit, Mr. Brown read his new book, Creepy Carrots (written by Aaron Reynolds), complete with sound effects!  He also showed us a "book" he wrote and illustrated when he was six years old!

Thank you to FoxTale Book Shoppe for coordinating Peter Brown's visit to our school!