Missour Readers Award Annoucement

The conference I went to a couple of weeks ago was awesome. The most exciting event was to hear the announcements of the winners for:

2009-2010 Missouri Readers Awards.

Show-Me Readers Awards Winner: Some Dog by Mary Casanova
Mark Twain Award Winner: Deep and Dark and Dangerous by Mary Downing Hahn
Truman Award Winner: The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod: Eighth Grade Bites by Heather Brewer

Most of the MLE winner predictions were confirmed. However, I was pleasantly surprised about the winning of Mary Casanova's book, Some Dog.

MLE had voted for Orange Shoes by Trinka Hakes Noble. MLE is a community of big thinkers and naturally choose Orange Shoes for the incredible story of Delly Porter who enjoys the feel of soft dirt beneath her feet as she walks to and from school, but after a classmate makes her feel ashamed of having no shoes she learns that her parents and others, too, see value in things that do not cost money.

Some of you may remember last years Truman Award winner: Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer. The book tells the story through the journal entries of sixteen-year-old Miranda. She describes her family's struggle to survive after a meteor hits the moon, causing worldwide tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions.

It is probably one of the most powerful books I have read in a long time. I was very fortunate to meet Ms Pfeffer at the conference. She used a great deal of humor when reflecting about how she thought of her ideas for Life As We Knew It. In short, she watched an old movie called Meteor. Ms. Pfeffer shared that she wasn't exactly impressed by the movie but it did inspire her to think....what if.

She went on to say that there is a story everywhere you look. We just need to slow down and think about different setting, characters and problems and wonder...what if.

Next week: We will be talking about the

Summer Reading Challenge

Learning New Things

I'm attending a librarian conference this week. One might rush to the thought of ....BORING! However, I have to admit it's not. I'm part of a group who is looking at ways to help you be the 21st century student you need to be. I get to look at different pieces of technology that will help you find information, communicate your learning and help you inquire about things you what to discover. I have already found some really cool sites that I can't wait to share with you.

This is also the conference that I find out all the winners from the Missouri Reader Club. What book will win the Show Me Award, Mark Twain and/or Truman Awards? I'm excited to see if my predictions will be accurate. I'll let you know when I get back.

Lights, Camera, Action- READ or write...

MLE is celebrating 30 stars students who have been recognized by the district for their writing and/or artistic ability. One early Saturday morning in February, around 40 district elementary teachers arrived at MLE to judge over 1,000 pieces of writing and poster creations. These teachers had a very difficult task in narrowing the entries to around 350. It's wonderful that these students will receive the recogition they deserve. They worked hard and MLE salutes them. Who knows, maybe some of these talented writers will be the next Eric Carle or Roland Smith.