Over the past few weeks, 3/4 classes in the library have been practicing for a Mystery Skype. They've learned US geography and map-reading skills in order to prepare.
Today, we finally had a chance to put those skills to use! Mrs. Sorensen's class played the Mystery Skype game with another class somewhere in the United States, and through careful deduction and teamwork, they were able to discover that the other class was located in the state of Illinois! Best of all, they figured it out before the Illinois team guessed that we were in Connecticut!
Mystery Skyping requires each team to ask each other yes/no questions to logically deduce where the other team is located. Below, you can see a video that another school made of their first Mystery Skype.

Today, almost all of the 3/4 classes gathered in the library to meet Ann Hood, author of The Treasure Chest series.
Ms. Hood was a very engaging speaker who got the students excited about the historical fiction genre. Best of all, she was able to share how she got the idea for her series when she was a kid herself! She showed pictures of the books that inspired her, and even asked Lyman students for more ideas!
To read more about Ms. Hood and The Treasure Chest series, visit her publisher's website.

While the 3rd/4th grade learn about Native American culture in their classrooms, in the library they spent this week learning about how to use folktales and fairy tales to find out more about cultural values.

We talked about the familiar fairy tale, Cinderella, collected and written down by Charles Perrault over 300 years ago in France. Afterwards, we read the Algonquin folk tale, The Rough-Face Girl by Rafe Martin.

Using a Venn diagram to illustrate the similarities and differences in the stories, students learned more about the cultural values described in each story. For example, while Europeans valued royalty, the Algonquins valued nature and the intangible. Several students pointed out how fire was important to both stories, so much so that the protagonist in each was nicknamed for her role in keeping the family fire.

It is interesting to point out that there are Cinderella stories from all over the world, several of which we have in the library. You can search for them in the Lyman library through our online catalog, or

This week, the 3rd/4th grade classes learned about challenged and banned books during Banned Book Week. They were very surprised to learn that several books with which they are very familiar have been banned or challenged in some places.

We talked about each title and students guessed why it was banned. In several instances, students objected to the reason for banning; for example, students didn't think William Steig meant any disrespect when he drew police officers as pigs in the anthropomorphic Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. The reasons for banning some books, like The Lorax by Dr. Seuss and Wings by Jane Yolen, were difficult to figure out. Others, like In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak, were very easy to understand almost immediately!

Every year, students around the world participate in International Dot Day on (or around) September 15th in order to celebrate creativity, courage, and collaboration.

This year, classes gathered in the Lyman Library to celebrate. We read "The Dot" by Peter Reynolds,  talked about the different ways we can "make our mark" on the world, and discussed ways that we feel encouraged and ways we can encourage others.
Afterwards, students collaborated with each other in making dot art (both 2D and 3D), used a virtual dot-making application on iPads, and designed Core Ethical Value dots.

The following week, library classes got to experience a Skype conversation with another class in order to talk about how International Dot Day was celebrated elsewhere. We Skyped with other local schools as well as schools in other states. In Minnesota, for example, we learned that one class celebrated by having a dot scavenger hunt, and in another school, everyone made dots to hang on a dot wall - even the school's principal and superintendent!

Yarr!
Today be Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Avast ye scurvy dogs, the 1st/2nd grade is reading "How I Became a Pirate" and "Pirates Don't Change Diapers" writ'n by Melinda Long and illustrat'd by that landlubber David Shannon.

So don't ye be surprised when ye find them runnin' a Jolly Roger up yonder pole!

Honesty, Respect, Responsibility, Kindness, Courage

This week, 3rd/4th grade classes designed elements for a bulletin board display in the library all about how our Core Ethical Values relate to how we use the library.

They came up with some terrific ideas, including:
Honesty: If you lose your book, tell the librarian.
Respect: Treat all materials in the library with respect so others can use it as well.
Responsibility: Keep track of your books and bring them back on time so that others may check them out.
Kindness: If someone is looking for a book, you can help them find it.
Courage: Trying a book that is different that what you're used to takes courage. Also, it can take courage to share with someone else why you liked a book.

This project is something that can be done anywhere! Some Core Ethical Value displays can talk about values at home, while playing sports, going on vacation, and so much more. It's easy to do and uses very few resources.
Here are the instructions:

• First, think about what Core Value you want to display. Brainstorm ideas.
• Get your materials: a rectangular piece of paper (we used colorful construction paper), and a marker.
• Fold the piece of paper in half and, on the outside, write the name of the value you decided on.
• Inside, explain how you can use your value in your chosen situation.
• Hang it up and admire your work.