Library Newsletters 2022-23

Learn About Beanstack – September 12

Are you logging your reading time into Beanstack?

Every month we have a new reading challenge! The goal is to read 600 minutes or more! 600 minutes equates to 20 minutes per day (for most months).  Every month we are seeing more growth and more students meeting or exceeding the goal. Top readers receive a small prize and public recognition for their efforts.

If  you missed the email on how to log in or how to get the free Beanstack app here is the information:
School-Flyer – Family

Keep  your eyes and ears open for new challenges all year long! We’ll have more school wide challenges and classroom challenges for the 2022 – 2023 school year. But your child can just log their time because they want to know how long they have read. Badges are earned along the journey. Do you have family read aloud time? Log the time, it counts! Do you listen to audiobooks? Log the time, it counts! When I read to classes in the library I log time for each student! So many ways to earn badges and it’s fun!

Young Reader’s Choice Award Junior Nominees

The Young Reader’s Choice Award Nominees are chapter books selected by the Pacific Northwest Library Association.  It is the oldest children’s choice award in the U.S. and Canada. Thousands of students throughout Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Idaho, Montana, British Columbia and Alberta read the YRC nominees. Students in grades 4-6 who challenge themselves to read two or more of the nominees have the privilege of voting for the best book. At Smith we encourage them to join the YRCA Beanstack Challenge to log the books they read as well as the minutes read. This year we will have small group book clubs for students to join to discuss the books as they are read. Here are the 2023 nominees:

1. Maya and the Rising Dark by Rena Barron
2. City Spies by James Ponti
3. When you Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller
4. From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks
5. Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri
6. The Barren Grounds by David Robertson
7. Wink by Rob Harrell
8. When Stars are Scattered (Graphic Novel) by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed

Montana Treasure State Picture Book Award

This award was started in Missoula in 1990 and has been a popular activity in school libraries ever since. All over the state teachers and librarians read the 5 nominated titles to their classes, grades K-3. Children enjoy voting for their favorite!  Every book has a related literature activity for students to complete. The lessons are collected and put into a booklet for students to refer to when it comes time to vote.  Be sure to ask your student to share their booklet and their favorite book. The winning book is announced in April. The nominees for 2023 are:

1. IT FELL FROM THE SKY by Terry Fan
2. CROWBAR by Jean Craighead George
3. PATRICK PICKLEBOTTOM AND THE PENNY BOOK by Mr. Jay
4. ON ACCOUNT OF THE GUM by Adam Rex
5. PRINCESS UNLIMITED by Sager Weinstein