3G Bat Research Projects

3rd graders have been doing research on different kinds of bats. They chose a question, researched with books and websites to try to answer their question, and made a presentation using the Shadow Puppet Edu app to share their learning. Below are the presentations from Mr. Goetz's class!


What Bats Eat by Adam K.



Sizes of Bats by Adam O.



Sizes of Bats by Allison



Bat's Habitats by Austin




Ghost Faced Bats by Benjamin





Vampire Bats by Chloe




Flying Foxes by Clare





Bat's Habitats by Cody




Vampire Bats by Ella




Sizes of Bats by Emmet




Bat Sizes by Freddy





Bat's Bodies by Grace




Bat's Body by Jazmyn




Bat Predators and Problems by Kaitlyn




Bat's Bodies by Macey



Echolocation by Matthew






What Bats Eat by Noah





How Bats Fly by Quincy

One Book, One School Family Reading Night

Thank you to everyone who came to our Family Reading Night last week! To go along with the book Prospect's hallway had stations for each of the ten Dewey Decimal sections. Families started off by finding their assigned starting section and then completed different activities, from building "squishy circuits" in the 600s, to writing poetry in the 800s, to making up trivia questions and decorating a game board for the 000s. We also heard from storyteller W. Nikola-Lisa.
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library, 

For more pictures, see below!

Manners Advice Video from Family Reading Night

At our Family Reading Night, families had to find different stations based on the numbers in the Dewey Decimal System. In the 100s area, students were invited to give manners advice. Here's what they had to say:

One Book, One School Family Night!

Next week is an exciting week for Prospect readers! The Bookfair will be in the Gym on Thursday, Nov. 20 (8:30 am - 4:30 pm; 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm), Friday, Nov. 21 (8:30 am - 4:30 pm), and Monday, Nov. 24 (2:00 pm - 6:00 pm).


We will also celebrate our reading of our One Book, One School book, Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library, with a Family Reading Night! It will be on Thursday, Nov. 20 from 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm.  Families will be able to listen to entertaining stories from storyteller W. Nikola-Lisa in an upbeat, action-packed presentation filled with music and lots of humor. Prospect's hallways will be transformed into stations relating to the 10 divisions of the Dewey Decimal System, with activities ranging from using conductive dough to make "Squishy Circuits" to designing your own Greek monster. We hope to see you and your family there!

Going Batty

Third graders have been doing bat research! After being introduced to the topic, students brainstormed questions and chose one they wanted to research. They have been using books and websites from the LibGuide: http://libguides.d181.org/bats.

After gathering facts and working hard to put their findings into their own words, the third graders are now organizing their facts into paragraphs. This can be a bit tricky! We will share our learning using the presentation iPad app Shadow Puppet EDU. 

Last Friday, third graders heard from a bat expert, Dan "The Bat Man" from Incredible Bats. (See his website at http://www.incrediblebats.com/). The students heard all kinds of facts and got to meet his Egyptian Fruit Bat and African Straw-colored Bats.  Even though bats are a common symbol for Halloween, one of the facts we learned was that no bats would be out and about on Halloween in Illinois! Dan told us all 12 of the species of bats in Illinois would be hibernating by now. 

One Book, One School

We are so excited to be starting our One Book, One School for this year! This year we chose the book Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein. This fast-paced book features an eccentric billionaire, game-maker Luigi Lemoncello, who welcomes twelve 12-year-olds to an overnight lock-in filled with fun and games. But the next morning, when the lock-in is supposed to be over, the doors remain locked. The children must follow book-related clues and unravel all sorts of secret puzzles to find the hidden escape route if they want to win Mr. Lemoncello's most fabulous prize ever.  

In addition to all the puzzles the characters try to solve, rumor has it there is even one puzzle that is in the book but not in the story. Can you find and solve it?

Another challenge is to see how many book titles you can find in the book. 

For more fun information about the book and author, see his website at http://chrisgrabenstein.com/kids/. Third, fourth, and fifth graders will be Skyping with him in December. 

You also won't want to miss our Family Reading Night from 6:00-8:00pm on Thursday, November 20. You will hear from storyteller and author W. Nikola-Smith in an action-packed presentation, explore stations around the school that relate toEscape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library and the Dewey Decimal System, and have fun with your family! For more information and to RSVP, see the attached flyer on the MRC website. You can also RSVP by emailing Mrs. Swanson, MRC Director (rswanson@d181.org). 

A month in...

It's hard to believe we have been in school for almost a month already! Here's what we have been up to in the MRC.

Kindergarten has been learning about using the library, including good listening and checking out books. We also have been talking about fiction and nonfiction.  We describe fiction as having a story, characters, and not being real. We describe nonfiction as having facts, being real, and having realistic pictures. Of course things are not always so clear-cut!  It is trickier to know whether a books is fiction or nonfiction when a fiction book is very realistic, or a nonfiction book has cartoon drawings, but it is a discussion we will continue to have.

First grade has enjoyed some books about using the library and choosing a "just right" book (with the book Goldie Socks and the Three Libearians. They also learned about this year's Monarch Award nominees and started looking at author Kevin Henkes.

Second grade also has been learning about this year's Monarch Award nominees and enjoying some different titles, as well as learning about the MAP test.

Third, fourth, and fifth grade students all learned about the Bluestem Award, and fourth and fifth grade students also learned about the Battle of the Books club. We also reviewed using the catalog and finding books in the MRC, as well as putting books on hold.