This week we are celebrating the Chinese New Year. 2016 is the "Year of the Monkey". To honor different cultural traditions, I am producing a puppet show of "The Five Chinese Brothers". It is an adaptation of the story by Claire Huchet Bishop and Kurt Wiese and a retelling of an ancient Chinese tale. In the story, the five Chinese brothers use their gifts to help them survive and overcome a difficult situation. It is my hope that you learn about different cultures from around the world and that you use your gifts and talents to have happy and successful lives. Remember that you must learn to read BEFORE you can read to learn. I hope that "The Five Chinese Brothers" puppet show inspires you to read lots of different types of books in our Casey Library Media Center. Here is a link to the video of the puppet show on YouTube. Gung Hay Fat Choy! Translation: "Best wishes and congratulations. Have a happy and prosperous new year!"
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This past summer my family and I traveled to Washington, D.C. Among the many AMAZING historical landmarks and monuments was the new MLK Memorial. It was breathtaking! A partial statue of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was carved out of stone (granite) to honor one of the most important Americans in history. It was Dr. King's dream that all people regardless of religion, race, or the color of their skin could live in peace and respect one another. Unfortunately he died for his beliefs and it is for this reason that we celebrate his birthday every year in January. One of my favorite quotes from Dr. King is "Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that." Please take a moment to learn about the life of this remarkable American. He and other Civil Rights leaders sacrificed everything so that we could have equal rights. If you ever get the chance to visit Washington, D.C. in person...I HIGHLY recommend visiting the MLK Memorial.
Here is a link to the official website to the MLK Memorial from the National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/mlkm/index.htm 'Tis the season to READ books... Read-Read-Read-Read-Read... Read-Read, Read-Read! Where has 2015 gone? The holidays are here and it's the perfect season to relax, spend time with friends and family, and of course READ! I will most definitely be dedicating some time to relax and read during my holiday vacation. I hope that you will do the same. It has been a WONDERFUL school year so far and I know that 2016 will be even BETTER! On behalf of the Casey Library Media Center I wish you the happiest, safest, and most relaxing of holidays. See you in the new year on Tuesday, January 5, 2016! Until then, happy reading! Mr. Garcia Very recently, in our own galaxy very, very near....Our first Accelerated Reader (AR) contest made our kids excited about reading! The contest dates were November 9th - December 18th for students in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades. Each grade level had different point goal for individual student points. The AR Crocodile Challenge point goals were:
I like to have an AR Reward Day for our top readers that reach their point goals and I have chosen a field trip to take them to go see "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" in early January 2016! We are currently running a fundraiser on PledgeCents.com to raise the money for the field trip. We need your help to reach our fundraising goal! Please visit this link below to donate money. We sincerely appreciate your help and support! I will post pictures of our field trip after we secure the necessary funding. Thank you! And of course...May the Force be with you...Always! Happy Reading! Mr. Garcia Here's the link to donate to our PledgeCents.com fundraiser. Click the link and then "Invest" to donate money. https://www.pledgecents.com/cause/zcgzyb/rewarding-the-best-readers-in-the-galaxy_
The week of November 16th - 20th I read the 2015 - 2016 Texas Bluebonnet Award Nominee Grandfather Gandhi written by Arun Gandhi (Mohandas Gandhi's grandson) and Bethany Hegedus and illustrated by Evan Turk. I thought this was the perfect book to read to teach 3rd - 5th graders about Gandhi's message of peace. It saddened me to have to answer questions about the recent terrorist attacks in Paris, France on November 13th but I wanted to use this opportunity to teach about Gandhi's message of hope and peace. Fore more information about the book and about the life of this incredible advocate for human rights, please visit the websites below. Grandfather Gandhi by Arun Gandhi and Bethany Hegedus Biography of Mohandas Gandhi - World Book Online Last week I discussed El Dia de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead) with my students. We discussed the importance of learning about traditions and celebrations from other cultures around the world. I read the informational book El Dia de los Muertos/The Day of the Dead by Mary Dodson Wade and we discussed how other cultures perceive and understand the death of family members and loved ones. I focused more on the fact that El Dia de los Muertos is celebration of our loved ones' lives and tied it back to the tradition of storytelling. I explained that sharing stories and memories of our loved ones is a wonderful way to keep their memory alive. I also created my own mini "ofrenda" or altar dedicated to my maternal grandmother, Maria Velasquez. I included candles, a ceramic model of a sugar skull, pan de muerto (sweet bread), some of my grandmother's favorite foods and of course a photograph of my grandmother holding my son, Armando. I also included a sewing kit because my grandmother was a very skilled seamstress and could make beautiful clothes. She was also an AMAZING cook and I explained that when I use her famous recipes while cooking dinner for my family, I share stories and memories of my grandmother with my son that he can learn about her life. He was blessed to have known her before she passed away, but as he was very young, he very few memories of her so I help him remember her by sharing my own stories and memories. I'm happy to see that El Dia de los Muertos is now a more popular and well-known holiday here in the United States and it is my hope that my students use this opportunity to remember their loved ones and celebrate their family history. Until next time...Feliz Dia de los Muertos! and of course, happy reading! Mr. Garcia October is the perfect time to "Go Batty for Books!" I've been giving our Casey Crocodiles goosebumps and sending chills down their spines with spooky storytime for the past 2 weeks. I use every opportunity to introduce my students to different genres including folktales, legends, mysteries, and horror*. We've been discussing genre and author's purpose as we listen to A Dark, Dark Tale by Ruth Brown for PreK - 2nd grades and La Llorona (the Weeping Woman) by Joe Hayes for 3rd - 5th grades. As soon as we're ready to check out books, the kids swarm around my spooky book display and giggle with excitement as they begin reading stories that are perfect for the Halloween season. I hope that everyone gets to read a spine-tingling book or story this Halloween season. I always enjoy a book that goes bump in the night!
Happy reading and may the Great Pumpkin visit you this Halloween! Mr. Garcia *As always, my read alouds are age-appropriate and I make it fun for everyone. Students were given an opportunity to choose an alternate activity in the library during storytime in case that they didn't enjoy "spooky" stories. I use the example of my wife, Mrs. Garcia (who does not enjoy scary movies). Whenever I want to go see a scary movie at the movie theater, she refuses to accompany me 99% of the time and I go with my best friend instead. I tell them that "spooky" isn't for everyone and I encourage my students to explore different genres and so that they can discover which types of stories are their favorite. Celebrate Star Wars Reads Day 2015! Celebrate Star Wars Reads Day 2015 Friday 10/9 - Saturday 10/10 at a library or bookstore in a galaxy near you! This is great opportunity to get kids excited about reading! I am a HUGE Star Wars fan. Everyone that knows me knows that one of my favorite characters of all time is Sith Lord, Darth Vader. He is one of the most popular (and evil) villains in all of movie and literature history. I hope that you take advantage of this AWESOME opportunity to get your kids reading. Please visit the following websites for more resources and ways to celebrate "Star Wars Reads Day 2015". Star Wars.com DK Books.com "May the Force be with you...Always." Mr. Garcia Happy Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15th - October 15th)! To celebrate Hispanic Heritage month I am reading My Name is Celia: The Life of Celia Cruz/ Me llamo Celia: La Vida de Celia Cruz by Monica Brown. It's a wonderful biography that teaches about the life of the "Queen of Salsa", Celia Cruz. I am using the biography as a read aloud with a mini geography and world history lesson, and then students get the chance to see one of her live performances with fellow music legend Tito Puente in a YouTube clip. None of us can sit still during the performance so I invite everyone to dance along to the tropical rhythms of her wonderful Salsa music! I was very fortunate to see her perform live here in Austin at the Bass Concert Hall many years ago and I share this story with my students. I explain that her famous trademark was shouting "Azucar!" which means "sugar" in English. The Queen of Salsa would always shout "Azucar!" because she thought that life was sweet and full of love. I'm very happy to introduce our Casey Crocodiles to this inspirational and charismatic Latina music legend. Until next time....Happy reading and I wish you lots and lots of "Azucar!"
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AuthorI'm Mr. John Garcia, the proud librarian at Casey Elementary School. Archives
August 2018
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