Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics comes to Castleton!

The Olympics came to Castleton on Thursday and it was SPLENDIFEROUS!

Chris Grabenstein, author of the 2013 book, Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library and now the sequel (which just came out on Tuesday), Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics came to my school and was a rockstar.  One student even told a teacher that he was "Katy Perry of books" or something to that effect. I'll take that as a compliment.

Chris actually arrived on Wednesday night and signed 400 books!  We were able to raise enough money so that EVERY student was going to be surprised at the end of the day with a signed copy of the new book! Here's a fun time lapse video of Chris signing the books:

Chris Signing 400 books

For months we had no idea what our Library Olympics was going to be or look like.  When we finally decided on having every grade focus on an ALA Youth Media Award, it started to come together.  I cannot thank my classroom teachers enough for all that they did to prepare.  Here is a small snapshot of our day:

Chris announced that the Olympics were beginning over our PA system.  He told them to watch the opening video.

Everyone watched the video at the same time.

First stop: First Grade Geisel.  

They shared a song, read and acted out What this Story Needs is a Pig in a Wig by Emma Virjan and educated Chris all about the Geisel Award. They even tried to convince him to write a Geisel level book.  

Chris with all the first graders.

 NEXT UP: Second Grade Caldecott.  

All of second grade focused on Float by Daniel Miyares. We really hope Float gets a sticker on Monday.

Mrs. Donato's class was working on adding text to the Daniel's illustrations.

Chris with Mrs. Roe and Mrs. Segarra's class.

Mrs. Puccio and Mrs. Seres's class tested our knowledge on whether objects would sink or float.  Mrs. Puccio tricked us when she showed us a rock that was really pumice!

 KINDERGARTEN: The Carnegie Award for best video made from a children's book.  

The kindergarteners shared graphs on which videos they liked best and then Chris read Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs by Mo Willems, not the most favorite video, but certainly one they liked very much. The video that they liked the best and what they hope will win the Carnegie Award is I'm Brave! Here's the trailer for it:

Chris with Mr. Horan, our superintendent.

 NEXT UP: Third Grade-Coretta Scott King award for illustrations.  

Mrs. Yager's class focused on Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Pena and illustrated by Christian Robinson.

They wrote a book called, Last Stop at CES.

Mr. Morse and Mrs. Hanna's class shared Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews's book illustrated by Bryan Collier with Chris.

Mrs. Charsky's class with Ms. Atkins shared where they would go with their pens based on My Pen by Christopher Myers.

 NEXT UP: Fourth Grade--Sibert Smackdown (Best Nonfiction for Children)

4th graders shared their best Sibert Smackdown projects with Chris.  He learned a lot about flies!

 LAST STOP: Fifth Graders NEWBERY!

Fifth graders shared animotos, a Reader's Theatre and a debate. It was intense!

LUNCH FINALLY! 

With cake, of course!

After lunch we had our Olympic Closing ceremonies beginning with a parade, a Reader's Theatre of Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics, a presentation of awards from the day and then our big surprise!

Second graders marching in with their Float inspired hats.

The incredibly generous donors (Kasia Mello and Morgan Stanley, Audiologic Solutions, Nassau American Legion, Castleton Kiwanis, Brad Rose Leonard Landscaping, Inc, Schodack PBA, Friends of the Library and Bud's Florist) gave us the opportunity to do THIS:

 Give EVERY student a SIGNED copy of the book!

Woo-Hoo! Thank you donors!

What a day! All day the talk on Friday was "What chapter are you on?"  "I'm on chapter ___!"  "I finished the book!"

Thank you, Chris and EVERYONE, for a great Olympic day!  Now we are just waiting for Monday and the big ALA announcement to see if our favorites match those of the Committees in Boston.