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Lone Star Storytelling Festival Auditions!

Lone Star Student Tellers Auditions!!

Auditions for the Lone Star Storytelling Festival are going on now until May 4^th! Every year FISD 4^th graders attend the Storytelling Festival at Dr. Pepper arena and we would love to hear a story from an Isbell student! Students ages 8 and up can try out by submitting a DVD or You Tube video to Frisco Public Library of them telling a story. If you are unable to record them, I am more than happy to record them. Just shoot me an email (beatharb@friscoisd.org)! You can learn more by visiting:  lonestarstories.org

Up, up and away!!!

February is Overdrive month for all Frisco ISD schools. Overdrive is a great resource that we use to allow students to check out eBooks. Each FISD student can check out 2 eBooks for 2 weeks for free!!! All the students have to do is type in their 5 digit student id #. This month, if student check out a eBook their name gets entered into a contest to win a free e-reader!! 

Also the librarian that doubles her ebook check out gets their name entered into a drawing to win a free hot air balloon ride. I told my Isbell students, "when would you ever have another chance to send your librarian up into the sky???" They of course thought this was hysterical and are more excited about sending me up into the sky than the e-reader (oddly enough). It is probably because I told them I'm afraid of heights! :) Be sure to check out overdrive by clicking on the links below!!! Happy E-Reading!!!

http:/friscoisd.lib.overdrive.com

For help and directions click here!

Neil Shusterman is coming to Frisco!

Attention 4th and 5th grade parents and students! I wanted to make you aware of an exciting, upcoming author event that will be taking place in our district and also at the Stonebriar Barnes and Noble. Neal Shusterman, author of many young adult books has a new book (reviewed for Grades 5-7) he will be releasing at a launch party in Frisco on February 11, 2014. Mr. Shusterman’s book (coauthored by Eric Elfman) is titled Tesla’s Attic and the review for the book is below. Mr. Shusterman is scheduled to visit Frisco ISD middle schools beginning the week of February 10^th and will be autographing books that are presold to our students. Attached to this e-mail you will find an order form if you are interested in purchasing one of these books for your child. All forms are due to the school librarian by January 31^st. Each Frisco ISD student that pre-orders a book will have their name placed in a drawing for the chance to win a special ticket to attend the Launch Party in Frisco on February 11^th in the evening. Students that have their name drawn will be invited to the Launch Party along with a parent/guardian. This event will be an unforgettable evening with a chance to meet and hear Mr. Shusterman and Mr. Elfman talk about their new book. There will also be a limited number of special addition books available for purchase at the Launch Party as well for those in attendance. Mr. Shusterman will make an appearance at Barnes and Noble on the evening of February 13^th at 7 p.m. We are thrilled about having authors like Neal Shusterman and Eric Elfman visit our school district and look forward to our students getting excited about his new book.

Review for Tesla’s Attic by Neil Schusterman and Eric Elfman:

Booklist (January 1, 2014 (Vol. 110, No. 9))Grades 5-7. Everything changed after the toaster hit Nick on the head. It fell from an attic full of junk in the ramshackle Victorian house in Colorado Springs that 14-year-old Nick, his father, and younger brother have moved into from Tampa. Nick disposes of most of the things in the attic at a garage sale. What begins as a story about an adolescent boy coming to terms with his mother’s death—and his guilt about the house fire that took her—quickly takes a turn for the supernatural and sinister as Nick discovers that the items he sold are the magical inventions of Nikola Tesla. And he must recover them before they fall into the hands of a murderous secret society, the Accelerati. The first entry in a planned trilogy, this collaboration between Shusterman and Elfman tempers the scarier elements of Nick’s quest with deft, humorous writing and plenty of the ordinary adventures of a new kid in school finding his niche. Hand this one to fans of Rick Riordan’s Kane Chronicles or Kenneth Oppel’s Airborn (2004).

The dog days are over!

The Isbell students are dog crazy!!! Several students get picked every month to read to therapy dogs that visit. The kids absolutely love reading to the dogs, it is so much fun to see! Below are some of the pictures of them reading from December and January! 

All about Robert Munsch!!

The month of December was a whirl wind in the library! Hence, why I'm just now writing about it in January! Oops!! We had a busy month in the library! 

Second grade students came to the library and learned more about the author, Robert Munsch! They had fun learning about his background and how he came up with all of his wonderful stories. Below are some pictures of the kids visiting the stations. 

If you would like to see what they learned, you can visit the website that we made: https://sites.google.com/site/robertmunschauthorstudy/home

Happy Veteran's Day!!!

Happy Veteran's Day!!!

We salute you!!!

Last week in the Isbell Library, students learned more about Veteran's Day and wrote letters to the Veterans. All of the letters were dropped off at the Plano VFW for the Veteran's to read. 

On Friday, 2nd graders created virtual posters that I turned into a classbook. Check their books out below!!

Sutherland-http://www.flipsnack.com/Blaire316/fdn36jjk

Denison-http://www.flipsnack.com/Blaire316/ftu9wppu

Cunningham-http://www.flipsnack.com/Blaire316/ftmlv55m

Scozzafava-http://www.flipsnack.com/Blaire316/ftjfrii9

Cassidy-http://www.flipsnack.com/Blaire316/ftnfrii9

Alexander-http://www.flipsnack.com/Blaire316/ft9sd883