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!

Georgia Children's Book Award Nominees 2012-2013

Top Accelerated Readers

Congratulations to the six students at Indian Knoll who earned at least 500 Accelerated Reader points this school year!

Also congratulations to the top three readers in the school!  Alli finished the year with 615.1 points, A.J. earned 619.7 points, and Nyla had an amazing 860.2 points!

Top Ten Books of 2011-2012

Here are the top ten titles circulated in the Indian Knoll media center during the 2011-2012 school year!

10.  Discovery Girls Magazine
9.  Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth by Jeff Kinney
8.  Adventures in Cartooning: How to Turn Your Doodles into Comics by James Sturm
7.  43 Old Cemetery Road: Dying to Meet You by Kate Klise
6.  Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
5.  Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days by Jeff Kinney
4.  Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever by Jeff Kinney
3.  Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw by Jeff Kinney
2.  Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules by Jeff Kinney
1.  The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger

Summer Reading Club

This summer, Indian Knoll students entering second through sixth grades will participate in the Summer Reading Book Club.  Students in these grades have been given a book to read over the summer.  Teachers will discuss these books with students when school starts in August.  This is a wonderful opportunity for the students to bond with their new classmates through a common reading activity.

Students are encouraged to blog about their books this summer as they read.  The blog's web address is http://ikessummerreading.blogspot.com.  Many of Indian Knoll's teachers will be blogging with the students!

Here are the books we will be reading:

• 2nd grade: Henry and Mudge and the Forever Sea by Cynthia Rylant
• 3rd grade: How To Be Cool in Third Grade by Betsy Duffey
• 4th grade: Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
• 5th grade: Turn Homeward, Hannalee by Patricia Beatty
• 6th grade: Every Soul a Star by Wendy Mass

Summer Reading Promotions

There are many great programs this summer that encourage summer reading! Here's a quick list of some programs from major retailers, most of them involving free books or other fun rewards!

Pottery Barn Kids Summer Reading
From May 17 to August 22, kids 10 years and under select one of the reading lists to read the books on it to earn a free book. Click here for more information, including the reading lists.

Pizza Hut Book It Summer Break Reading Challenge
From June 15 to August 15, kids who were in grades K through 6 during the 2011-2012 school year and who meet the challenge of reading five books will be eligible to enter for a chance to win a Diary of a Wimpy Kid summer fun prize package. Click here for more information and a form to download.

PBS Kids Summer Reading
Sign up now, and starting June 18, you will receive e-mails with literacy building tips and activities from experts at PBS. You’ll also get book suggestions, free downloads, and a daily chance to win $1,000. Click here for more information.

Scholastic Summer Challenge
From May 1 to August 31, participate in weekly challenges, earn digital rewards, enter sweepstakes to win prizes, and find great books to read. You can also log your minutes read and join with kids from all over to Read for the World Record. Click here for more information.

Chuck E. Cheese Summer Reading From now until December 31, 2012, kids earn ten free tokens for reading every day for two weeks. Click here for a form to download.

Barnes and Noble Summer Reading
Read eight books and receive a free book from Barnes and Noble. Visit a store for details.

Scholastic Book Fair

We invite you to visit our Scholastic Book Fair and experience a celebration of reading that provides families the opportunity to get involved in a universal mission: encouraging kids to read every day so they can lead better lives.

Our Scholastic Book Fair theme – Book Fair Luau! It’s a Reading Celebration! – is part of an exciting reading event that brings to school a wonderful selection of fun, engaging, and affordable books kids want to read. Giving kids access to good books and the opportunity to choose their own books will motivate them to read more. And like most acquired skills, the more kids practice reading, the better they’ll get.

We are excited to announce that you will be able to purchase books online during this book fair. These purchases will also benefit our school. From March 28 through April 8, go to Indian Knoll's book fair website and follow the link at the bottom of the page to place an online order. All orders will be sent to the school after April 8. This is a wonderful opportunity for out-of-town relatives 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.

Reading is vital to every child’s success, and raising kids as readers means getting involved while they’re young. Now is the time. Since there will never be a substitute for a parent’s direct involvement in his/her child’s education, please make plans to visit our Book Fair. We hope to see you there!

Book Fair Dates and Shopping Hours:
Friday, March 23: 7:30 AM – 2:30 P.M.
Monday, March 26: 7:30 AM – 2:30 PM
Tuesday, March 27: 7:30 AM – 7:30 PM (Visit us during Cultural Arts Night!)
Wednesday, March 28: 7:30 AM – 2:30 PM
Thursday, March 29: 7:30 AM – 6:00 PM (Visit us when you pick up your child from school!)
Wednesday, March 28 – Sunday, April 8: 24/7 online ordering

Use your smart phone’s QR code reader to view the Indian Knoll Scholastic Book Fair website!

Destiny Quest App

There is a new app for your smart phone or tablet that allows you to view your child’s library account. It is the Destiny Quest App. This is free and available for both Apple and Android devices. To get the app, visit your device’s app store and search for Destiny Quest. Setting up the app is very simple. All you need is the CCSD server address, which is: destiny.cherokee.k12.ga.us.

Then choose Indian Knoll. Your child will log in using his/her Student Network Login ID (which is also the AR login) as the user name and regular computer password as the password. Students must be logged in on a school computer before this will work at home. Please contact your child's teacher or the media specialist if you are unsure about this.

The app allows you to search for media center resources, discover the ten most popular titles and any new additions to the media center, and view account information, including current and past checkouts.

We use this app daily in the media center and find it to be extremely helpful in locating the books we want. I hope you enjoy using this very useful resource at home as well!