Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Below is a link to a great site with a video, recipes and other ideas on  making a gingerbread house.
*This is a British site so some ingredients & measurements are different than we use.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Another activity students can choose to do this week is make a Christmas card to send to the Army Medical Center for recovering soldiers. Some students didn't have time to make a card,  so here is the address to mail a card to if you want to send one from home.

A Recovering American Soldier
c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center,
6900 Georgia Avenue
NW Washington, DC 20307-5001

Monday, December 3, 2012

Christmas Oranges

This week I am sharing one of my favorite Christmas Traditions. 
Can you guess what it is? It is very appropriate to do in the library.
Yes, sharing Christmas stories! 
This is one of my favorites...
 "Christmas Oranges" 
A young orphan named Rose discovers the spirit of generosity that lies at the heart of the holiday when she is eight and an epidemic forces the closing of her beloved Greenwoods Orphanage and she is shipped to Irongates. Irongates is run by Headmaster Crampton who punishes Rose severely for a tiny infraction, decreeing that she miss the special treat of an orange on Christmas morning. How the other children find a way to share this glorious Christmas tradition with Rose is the sweet message of this story. 

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Friday, November 16, 2012

Hope you have a 
FUN & HAPPY Thanksgiving
Click this Thanksgiving Fun link to see great information & activities on the National Geographic Kids website.

Monday, November 12, 2012

The Wall, by Eve Bunting, is one of my favorite picture books about remembering veterans.

 To watch a video about this book, click here... THE WALL
This video is through Pioneer Library so it will ask for our username (pioneer) and password (online)
Some of the Veterans in my family...
My great-grandfather, grandfather and father.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

President for a Day


Tuesday, November 6, 2012

We are starting a new reading activity this year, " Battle of the Books" with 5-6 grade. Students that are interested, and their team members, read books from a list of 20 books. In March we have a battle to test their knowledge of the books they read, then the winning team from Orchard will go on to the district competition at the end of March.

The books that are chosen for the BOB book list are a mixture of genres. Many are classic books that have been around for awhile. I would recommend them to anyone looking for a good book to read.
Here is the book list for this years BOB...
Author                                               Title                                 
Banks, Lynne Reid                         The Indian in the Cupboard
Burnett, Frances Hodgson             The Secret Garden
Burnford, Sheila                         The Incredible Journey
Clements, Andrew                         No Talking
Denzel, Justin                         Boy of the Painted Cave
DiCamillo, Kate                         The Tale of Despereaux
Farley, Walter                         The Black Stallion
Goble, Paul                                     The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses
Haddix, Margaret                         Running Out of Time
Juster, Norton                         Phantom Tollbooth
Karr, Kathleen                         The Great Turkey Walk
Lewis, C.S.                                     The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds             Shiloh
Park, Linda Sue                         The Kite Fighters
Konigsburg, E.L.                         From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
Peck, Robert Newton             Soup
Sachar, Louis                                     Sideways Stories From Wayside School
Shahan, Sherry                         Frozen Stiff
Taylor, Theodore                         The Trouble with Tuck
Urban, Linda                                     Crooked Kind of Perfect

Tuesday, October 30, 2012


5 little bats sitting on the floor
1 flew away, then there were 4.

4 little bats sitting in a tree
1 flew away, then there were 3.

3 little bats tasting witches brew
1 flew away, then there were 2.

2 little bats just having fun
1 flew away, then there was 1.

1 little bat who likes to pretend
won’t fly away, because he is my friend.


Tuesday, October 23, 2012

from
We Give Books.

Monday, October 22, 2012

Book Pig

Looking for a book to read? 
Book Pig is a great site to get book recommendations. 

Friday, September 28, 2012

This week the younger classes have been watching 
Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge 
through Storyline Online, 
a product of the Screen Actors Guild Foundation
Check it out!

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

HAPPY TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY!
Here are a few pirate words that are good to know...
AHOY: Hello!
ARRRRGH: Hello, goodbye, disgust.
MATEY: Friend.
ME HEARTY: Someone dear to your heart.
AYE: Yes.
AYE AYE: I'll do it right away!
AVAST: "What's up?" or "What are you doing?
WALK THE PLANK: A punishment of walking off the side of a ship and falling into the ocean.
DOUBLOON: A gold coin.
BLIMEY: Surprise.
SHIVER ME TIMBERS!: An expression of fear or excitement.
SEA DOG: Experienced sailor.
JOLLY ROGER: The pirate flag with its skull and crossbones.
SCALLYWAG: Bad person.
CAP"N: Captain.
GRUB: Food.
SEA ROVER: Pirate ship.

Monday, September 17, 2012


I hope you enjoyed the Evertaster assembly today and discovered more about how SWEET reading & writing can be. If you want to see more information about Evertaster click to the right, on the cover of the book.

SWEET READING,
Mrs. Morley

Friday, September 14, 2012

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Friday, August 24, 2012

READ & WIN with

Thursday, August 23, 2012

    This year in the media center we 
will be discovering how 
"SWEET" 
reading & and books can be.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

The Itsy Bitsy Spider







Here is another story from the "A Story Before Bed" website.
Watch and listen to The Itsy Bitsy Spider at

Monday, April 16, 2012

A Story Before Bed

I have recorded a few stories on this website, A Story Before Bed. View my story by going to the links below, or choose one from the online resources list. Have fun watching my videos. Maybe create a few of your own.
Five Little Monkeys
Build It: The Construction Book.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

BUTTONS!

After Spring Break, students will have the opportunity to start earning buttons in the media center. For every 4 times that they return all of their books on their library day, and don't have any fines or overdue items, they will earn 1 button.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

National Library Week









Did you know that April is School Library Month and April 8-14th is National Library Week? We will be discussing the importance of Libraries this week, why we enjoy spending time in the library, and how it has made a difference in our lives. Go to the "@ Your Library" link for ideas on how you can celebrate reading and libraries with your children.

Monday, April 2, 2012

Love The Library!


























Kindergarten students brought these notes to the library last week to thank me for sharing the library, and it's books, with them. Thank you Kindergarten! Every week you do such a great job showing everyone how the library should look and sound.
You are leaders in the library.
I love you too,
Mrs. Morley

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Road to Success Giveaway!!

Tuesday we had a fun "magical" assembly with Magic Paul, so this week in the library I am also sharing a story about a magician and his "hat trick" that makes him the hottest ticket in town. Following our assembly we had our third Road to Success drawing, giving away another bike, i-Pod and several other prizes. Congratulations to all of the students that won prizes in our Road to Success Giveaway! We still have one more drawing at the end of the year, so keep reading and earning coupons for a chance to win more prizes.

Monday, February 27, 2012

The more that you read,
the more things you will know.
The more that you learn,
the more places you'll go.
~Dr. Seuss

March 2nd is Dr. Seuss' Birthday!

We are exploring Dr. Seuss this week! Go to the "Seussville" link under online resources to learn more about Seuss and the characters & books he created.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

The Adventures of Dod

At Costco this weekend "The Adventures of Dod" author was signing books. I talked with him and thanked him for donating a copy of his book to all of the 4th-6th grade students at our school. He told me about an essay contest for those that have read his book. Go to "The Adventures of Dod" link under online resources for more information.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Honest Abe

This week we are sharing the book "Honest Abe" by Susan Neiburg Terkel. In this story we learn about how much Abraham Lincoln loved to read and a time when he truly displayed his honesty that he is so well known for.

"The things I want to know are in books. My best friend is the man who'll get me a book I [haven't] read."

— Abraham Lincoln


Friday, February 10, 2012

Pete The Cat

One of the most popular books at the book fair was "Pete the Cat- I Love My White Shoes" by Eric Litwin, art by James Dean. If you would like free downloads of the author reading these fun stories, and other cool Pete activities, go to the "Pete the Cat" link under online resources.

The Quilt makers Gift

This week we have been sharing "The Quiltmaker's Gift" written by Jeff Brumbeau, illustrated by Gail de Marcken. We are also discussing possible ideas for a service project, as Orchard plans to participate in a school wide service project soon. This book is a wonderful example of how we can experience happiness and joy by giving to others. I hope we can all participate in, and experience the joy of, giving when we do our service project. To see more activities and information about the book we shared, go to the "Quiltmaker's Gift" link under online resources.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

I am sharing one of our new non-fiction books, "Frog or Toad? How Do You Know" and encouraging students to explore some the of the newest non-fiction books we have recently received in the library.
Did you like learning about frogs and toads? Click on the "frog & toad video" link under online resources, then choose Animals-Amphibians-Frogs and Toads to see some frog and toad videos from National Geographic.

Friday, January 6, 2012

Thank you!

Today was an exciting day in the library...
We got new furniture!
We have known for years that we needed to replace the fabric couches with something that is washable, like leather or vinyl, and have saved a portion of our book fair profit to make this purchase. I have procrastinated this for a long time, but finally made a decision with the encouragement from staff... Thank you! And a big Thanks to all the students, parents and library patrons that have supported the book fair in the past and made this purchase possible.

FYI: We have an upcoming book fair, Jan 30th-Feb 3rd.