Our K - 2nd grade students have been "reading up" in anticipation of a visit from children's author/illustrator Thyra Heder. Thanks to the Oradell PTA, Ms. Heder will be paying them a visit on Friday, March 24th to discuss her work as an author/illustrator. She will discuss her writing process, demonstrate how she illustrates her books, and answer questions from students. If you'd like to find out more about Ms. Heder and her work, please visit the author presentation located at the bottom of our OPS Library Media Center website's home page.
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Thanks to the Oradell PTA, author Karina Yan Glaser will be visiting with our 3rd and 4th grade students on Thursday, March 16th. During her visit to OPS, Ms. Glaser will share her creative process, and answer questions from our students. If you'd like to find out more about Ms. Glaser, please visit our author study of her work located at the bottom of our OPS Library Media Center website's home page. Our Students:
We are excited to kick off a new school year in the OPS Library Media Center by welcoming all of our new students to our Oradell Public School community and getting reacquainted with all of our returning students. It's always good to see new and old faces enjoying our OPS library. New School Year, New Books: We're thrilled to announce that we have over one hundred new books to share with our students beginning Wednesday, September 14th when we kick off our library borrowing for the year. The new books include a wide variety of fiction and nonfiction titles ranging from biographies, natural sciences and history to realistic fiction, fantasy, and graphic novels. We can't wait to share all of these new books with our entire OPS community. Reading Clubs: On Thursday, September 22nd we'll be kicking off another year of our OPS Library Reading Clubs. These voluntary clubs are open to 1st - 6th grade students, and provide students with an opportunity to earn prizes for reading a wide variety of age-appropriate and award winning fiction and nonfiction literature. Details for each club will be sent home with students the week of September 19th. We will also be sharing information about the clubs with our students during their library class over the next week or so. If you have any questions regarding the clubs please don't hesitate to contact Mrs. Lisa Santangelo. Summer may be upon us, but that doesn't mean you should stop reading. Reading over the summer is not only fun, but can help you hit the ground running when the new school year begins in September. Whether you're moving on to the middle school or returning to OPS, we want to encourage you to read at least 20 minutes a day over the summer. If you are looking for a way to keep track of your reading and earn prizes along the way, the Oradell Public Library's summer reading program, "Oceans of Possibilities," is a great way to do it. This summer reading program allows students to log their reading minutes online and earn brag tags and other prizes for hitting certain reading milestones. To sign up for the program please visit the Oradell Public Library Read Squared website.
Welcome to another installment in our OPS Authors series. For our fourth and final installment of the 2021 - 2022 school year we'd like to spotlight a story by two OPS fourth grade students, Lea and Ruby. This creative pair would like to share their story, The Ongoing Ivy. Inspired by an illustration from The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg, this short story was written by Lea and Ruby in library class. The Ongoing Ivy is mysterious and compelling, so give it a read and then check out our interview with the two authors!
The Ongoing Ivy
A few days earlier she had come into the library. She was new in town and did not know his legend. She had borrowed a book, she was about to leave when Mr.Linden pointed a creaky finger at her and said “Don’t trust the book, it has many secrets you should not know.” But that just intrigued her even more.
After a few nights she had really gotten into the book and was reading it every night at bedtime. One night she noticed a little green leaf stuck in the pages. She thought it was left by a past owner so she tried to tug it out. But the ivy only got longer. Merely from her own fright, she passed out. Hours later the ivy had grown to a monstrous size and almost covered the whole book. The ivy ignored everything and started climbing up the girl's arm. When she awoke she was surrounded by what she thought was a forest. She tried to get up and look around but she was tied to the bed by the ivy. With horror she realized she had fallen right into the book.The book was perfectly intact, but still completely covered in ivy. She vaguely remembered being someone named Jacky, but the memories were slipping by the minute. She tried to remember how to get home but she could barely remember anything about her past life. She tried quite hard but all she could remember was a book and a man named Mark Linden. She kept on getting flashes of past memories and thoughts. She snapped back to reality and realized she needed to focus on breaking out of the ivy. She thrashed about in the ivy, but it wouldn’t budge. She reached for a nearby branch from a tree and ripped off a sharp limb, and started to saw the ivy. Finally what seemed like hours later she broke free from the clutches of the ivy. She slowly got up and scanned her surroundings for anything other than trees and bushes. She started to walk, but staggered and lost her balance. She realized she couldn’t remember how to walk! But as she was struggling to stand up, something glittery caught her eye so she went to go check it out and almost tripped again. Falling on her knees she picked up a shiny gold bookmark. Wait! she thought, she had seen this bookmark before. Oh yes it was the book mark from a book. What book? She remembered it was the book she was reading. Suddenly, by holding the book and bookmark - each in one hand, the girl from her past life clicked back, like snapping in the last puzzle piece of a puzzle. Something whirled around her, pushing her this way and that. She got nervous now, wishing she was in her bed, even with her annoying (very, very annoying) twin siblings above taunting her telling she was “Jacky Frost” the ignorant queen of “Winter wonderland”. She had not realized she was asleep until she awoke. She didn't ever figure out what happened that day. The only person who knows is old Mr. Mark Linden who understood her whole adventure was just a dream. He remembered reading that old book himself as a child. That was his book, and he’ll never forget writing it. The End The Ongoing Ivy by Lea and Ruby is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Author Interview - Lea & Ruby
Your short story, The Ongoing Ivy, was inspired by an illustration from the Chris Van Allsburg book The Mysteries of Harris Burdick. What was it like writing a story using details from a picture?
Lea - It was interesting using pictures and turning them into a story for a reader to read. It was fun finding the specific characteristics of the picture and turning them into words. Ruby- Even though it was new, and fun, it was a little tricky because instead of looking for context clues which is what i’m used to, we were looking for clues in a picture. What element of your story do you think was most inspired by your picture - characters, setting or plot? Why and how? Lea - I think the part where she pulls out the leaf and it starts to grow on her was the main inspiration of the story and it came directly from the picture, not one of the made up parts. Ruby - I think the part where she had fainted from her fright of the ivy most resembles the picture because even though at first glance I thought the girl in the picture was sleeping, we took it a different route and said she had been knocked out. What was it like writing with a partner? Lea - I had a lot of fun working with Ruby as my partner. She has a great imagination and worked with my ideas, and I’m glad we were able to find a way to use both of our ideas in the text. Ruby - unlike other partners I have had, Lea didn’t just shut out my thoughts, she considered and added them in when we could, and she was patient. Do you enjoy writing for the fun of it? Lea - Yeah. I do. I am actually writing a book with my friend based on a note I found in my notebook. Ruby - Yes I do make up stories for the fun, but most of my stories stay in my head so I can keep imagining and creating them. What authors do you think inspire your writing? Lea - I love the way Genevive Cogman writes; she uses great metaphors and similes. I have read all the books in one of her series, The Invisible Library series. She inspired me to try and use better and more sophisticated words and phrases. Ruby - I love J.K Rowling( Harry Potter) because of how she includes mystery and even a little humor into her books, and I like C.S. Lewis for how he came up with a wild and crazy journey and fit it in with amazing writing. Thanks to the Oradell PTA, author/illustrator Doug Salati will be visiting with our 3rd and 4th grade students on Thursday, May 26th. During his visit to OPS, Mr. Salati will share his newest book, Hot Dog, demonstrate how he illustrates his books, and answer questions from our students. If you'd like to find out more about Doug and his work, please visit his author presentation located at the bottom of our OPS Library Media Center website's home page. Over the past week we've been sharing with our K - 2nd grade students the exciting news that children's author Ruth Chan will be paying them a visit on Thursday, April 21st. Thanks to the Oradell PTA, Ms. Chan will be sharing her work and creative process as an author/illustrator. She will discuss her writing process, demonstrate how she illustrates her books, and answer questions from students. If you'd like to find out more about Ms. Chan and her work, please visit the author presentation located at the bottom of our OPS Library Media Center website's home page.
Are you a maker? If so, you'll want to register for the Oradell Public Library's NJ Makers Day. This year's event is so full of incredible STEAM fun that it will take place over three days, March 25th - 27th. Learn how to program with SCRATCH, create floating ink, experiment with the power of air, and even make elephant toothpaste. To register visit the Maker's Day Sign Up Genius or visit the Oradell Public Library's website for more information.
It is time for another installment in our OPS Authors series for the 2021 - 2022 school year. Back in December 2021 we posted part one of The Breakthrough, an original story by Dean, a sixth grader here at OPS. The story was a big hit, so we're thrilled Dean has now provided us with Part 2 of his story. We hope you enjoy it. The Breakthrough Part 2 - Reconcile I got home and I saw my son waiting for me. He must’ve been pretty shocked that I was even alive. I mean, I was and I quote “fatally wounded”.
“Dad? Is that you? I thought you were surely gone. I mean, you were on the ground and there were lot’s of police and an ambulance. I wouldn’t know what to expect,” he said. “Well, at least I'm alive,” I feel a tear coming down my face. I reach forward, arms out, and I hug him. The feeling was lost so many harsh years ago. Now, it came back to me. The feeling of comfort. I… I don’t know how to explain it. “Son, after we lost your mother, my wife to that earthquake. I lost all humanity in me. I want you to know I still care about you,” I sniffled. I let it all come out. A torrential downpour of tears come out. I can’t stop it. I gain back all senses of who I am. Once a few minutes passed, I gathered my bearings. Then I came back to the realization that a clone is afoot. He could strike at any time. I decided to bust out the old police radio, and go to any location that the crime was at. “Son, if I don’t make it back, know I love you,” I look back hoping for the best for me. First I drove some distance before noticing some odd calls. Things like a flying human, or a cluster of orange swirls. It had to be him. I headed over to the next location. It was a bank. I saw crossing the street then bam, he teleported. After that, I decided to call New Genetics corporate headquarters. “Hello?” The attendant called. “Tell me how to deactivate a Nano-tech unit. Now,” I threatened. I needed answers. If I didn’t get any, there could be serious consequences. One of which would be the possibility of the clone blowing up the power plant. Los Angeles wouldn’t have power for weeks. Survivor Tree, written by Marcie Colleen and illustrated by Caldecott Honored illustrator Aaron Becker, is the fifth and final book up for consideration in our 2022 OPS Picture Book Awards. This beautiful picture book tells the story of the resilient pear tree that survived the devastating tragedy of September 11th, 2001, and still grows on the site of the former Twin Towers to this day. Marcie Colleen's simple text and Aaron Becker's use of nature's cycle of colors provides young readers with a moving story about how hope and healing can follow a tragedy. To take a quick look at this uplifting story of resilience please watch this video:
Survivor Tree is one of the five picture books our OPS students will be reading, analyzing, and considering for three OPS Picture Book Awards: Best Illustrations, Best Message, and Best Overall Picture Book. Voting will take place by homeroom class on Thursday, March 3rd, and the winning book(s) will be announced on Friday, March 4th. To check out a copy please visit the Oradell Public Library's BCCL's system.
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