It wasn't NIGHT, but it was NOISY: Mac Barnett and Brian Biggs make a stop on their NOISY NIGHT book tour

Why the passion for creating a cityscape? 

My students were preparing for a visit from Mac Barnett and Brian Biggs, who are on tour for their new book, Noisy Night. 

My library was one very fun and very noisy place! Have a look and listen:

Prior to their visit, my students watched the book trailer for Noisy Night. It was #booklove at first viewing.

Speaking with their elbow partners, the students shared the sounds of things that make their nights noisy and then contributed their voices to the following book connection activities that were available to students:

Table One: create a cityscape 

Table Two: decorate pajamas (from a template I created)

Table Three: create speech bubbles of sounds heard at night

Table Four: draw pictures of sounds heard at night

I taught this lesson with all the kindergarten and first grade students. By the end of two days, I had one NOISY NIGHT bulletin board and one NOISY NIGHT window decoration.

Here are a few more images of the students' work:

Did this preparation help get the children excited for the visit? You bet! 

Did Mac and Brian really need any help getting the children excited during the visit? Not really. 

Thanks for visiting, Mac and Brian!

Wherein the kind, warm, and wonderful Sophie Blackall visits my school

The incredibly kind and incredibly skilled Sophie Blackall visited with my fifth graders recently. She was amazing. 

Sophie was warm and engaging. The students connected with her immediately. There's nothing like watching seventy fifth graders held in rapt attention by an illustrator whose work they love. 

Here's a look at her visit:

Prior to her visit, we revisited some of our favorite books illustrated by Sophie. I also showed them some of the videos from her webpage. The one from the Brooklyn Library exhibit resonated with them.

One indicator of the impact of her visit is that the children are still talking about it, even after a full week off for our winter break, which likely held many an adventure for many of the students. 

Another indicator is the queue for all the books illustrated by Sophie. The hold list doesn't go out that far.

The third indicator? The thank you notes they shared after the visit.

I couldn't say it any better!

Learning about art and writing from Kevin Hawkes

Kevin Hawkes is visiting with our first graders today! We've been reading his books in the library and the classrooms.

The students have been learning about his writing and his art.

They've been sharing their questions:

And today they got to meet him! The students learned about his inspirations, his writing process, and his art. It was a fabulous visit. Check it out!