Author Visits

So far this year we've had two amazing authors visit our school.  On November 15th, Phil Bildner came to Union Hill to do a writer's workshop with our 4th graders.  He was so much fun to listen to.  Of course we learned a lot from him as well!

Domynion (a 5th grader) with Phil
Domynion created the amazing welcome sign behind them.

Phil signed all of our books!  Here he is with Vianey, a 4th grader.

Phil eating lunch with a group of us.

We were also lucky to have Steve Swinburne visit our school on Monday, December 16th.  He told us about some of his adventures doing research of various animals like the American black bear.  Students got to listen to sound clips of when Steve went in to a bear cave and held 2 7 week old cubs.  We learned about how important it is to recycle, especially plastic bags.  

Steve presented to 2nd-5th graders in the cafeteria.

Later he presented to Kinder & 1st in the library.

2013 Special Reading Spot Contest

Flyers are going home in Thursday folders with more information.  Here are the contest rules:
-Students must be visibly reading a book in the photo
-Students must turn in a print of their photo AND a participation form by January 10th
-Winners will be announced on Monday, January 13th

Here's a video with some examples of great pictures!

Armadillo Reader's Choice 13-14

Kindergarten through second graders have started reading the books from this year's Armadillo Reader's Choice list.  Each year RRISD librarians nominate 10 books for the list.  Click the link below to see what this year's books are:

Coins for Coats

Our Next Book Exchange

One Book, One Community... Choose Kind

This year, RRISD is participating in a special program called "One Book, One Community."  Part of the HEB grant, Education Award for Excellence, was used to purchase several copies of the book "Wonder" for each campus.

Union Hill Received 77 Copies

Union Hill students in grades 3-5, are all encouraged to read the book this year!  All of the books were handed out to students yesterday.  These students got their name drawn by the principals for showing respect for other students!

We are also promoting "Read it Forward."  When these students finish reading their copy of Wonder, they were asked to sign the inside cover, and pass it to a friend.

Have you read the book yet?  If not, you need to!  Here's a short book trailer for it.

Calling all 4th & 5th Graders Interested in Library Helpers

Are you a 4th or 5th grader at Union Hill? Do you want to be a Library Helper this year? Pick up an application in the Library. They are due back to Mrs. Stenulson THIS FRIDAY! Watch this video to learn more about Library Helpers.

May, June, and July Birthday Book Club

Thank you to all of the students who participated in our Birthday Book Club!  We hope everyone has a great summer and don't forget to feed your brain each day by... READING!

Book Exchange Party

This Thursday, May 23rd, all Union Hill students are invited to participate in a Book Exchange Party.  Students can begin bringing in their gently used books now (no more than 3 per student please).  On the day of the party, students will receive a ticket indicating how many books they donated, and that's the number of new books they will get to pick out.  Students will come at various times during the school day with their grade level.

Hopefully everyone will get at least 1 new book to read this summer!

Schedule for Book Exchange Party:
8:15- 1st Grade
9:00- Kindergarten
10:45- 2nd Grade
12:15- 3rd Grade
1:30- 5th Grade
2:00- 4th Grade

After school, teachers can come to the library to exchange a new book!

Spring Book Fair

We had another very successful Book Fair this past week!  Students enjoyed shopping for new books to read this summer.  The theme was Story Laboratory- Reading Gives You Power!  Our school is lucky to have a library that is spacious which makes setting up and decorating for the Book Fair fun! 

Our raffle was a huge success too!  I will be announcing the raffle winners tomorrow on our school broadcast!

What was your favorite book that you got at the Book Fair?  I hope you were able to stock up on some fun, new books!  Remember that this week we will have our Book Exchange Party where students can trade out their gently used books for new books!

With the money that we earned from Scholastic, we were able to give about 80 students a free book!  We also had enough money to get several new books to add to our library collection.

April Birthday Book Club

Thank you to all of the students who participated in the Birthday Book Club this month!

Book Fair is Coming Soon!

Our next Book Fair is May 13th-17th!  Sales will begin on Tuesday at noon.  We will be open late on Thursday, May 16th for Summer Family Night so be sure to stop by and visit us!

You can start ordering books now on this website:
CLICK HERE

If you are interested in volunteering, please fill out this form:
Volunteer Sign Up Form

March Birthday Book Club

Thank you to those of you who supported our library this month!

Lucas Miller is Coming to UHE!

Lucas Miller, also known as the Singing Zoologist will be coming to our school on May 9th!  He will do presentations with Kinder-3rd grade.  Check out one of his videos below!

More information will be sent home soon about times, and ordering his books.

District Battle of the Bluebonnets

Last week, our team of Union Hill 5th graders traveled to Teravista Elementary to compete against 23 other elementary schools in the Battle of the Bluebonnets!

We met each day during lunch to review and study the books.  Their hard work prepared them, but some of the questions were tough!

It was fun to celebrate when they got answer correct!

We would like to give a big "thank you" to Brian Mays from KVUE News.  He came and Emceed the event.  He was wonderful!

Congratulations to our 5 students who made the team!  We are so proud of you!

Battle of the Bluebonnets

On March 7th, 30 students from Union Hill competed against each other in the Battle of the Bluebonnets! Students had to read at least 10 of the 20 books on the list to get invited to the Battle. 

Battle of the Bluebonnets is like a game show where students use ActiveVotes to send in their answers. The five students with the highest scores are invited to the district wide Battle of the Bluebonnets. At the district competition, our five students will compete as a team against other strong readers from around the district. The district wide battle is this Thursday, March 21st at Teravista Elementary.  Wish our team luck!

Our Team

February Birthday Book Club

Thank you to all of the students who helped support our library this month by joining the

Birthday Book Club!

Fun with author Melissa Williams!

On Friday, February 22nd, our school was lucky to have children's author Melissa M. Williams visit our school!  

Students got to learn about all of her books, how she got her ideas, and her writing process.

After the presentation, students who bought books got to meet with Melissa and get their books signed!

Everyone really enjoyed the presentations.  We now have all of her books in our library for you to enjoy!

If you want to order your own copy of one of her books, or learn more about Melissa Williams, visit her website:

www.MelissaMWilliamsAuthor.com

To learn about her writing contest for older students, visit this link:

www.READ3Zero.org

January Birthday Book Club

Thank you to the students who participated in our Birthday Book Club this month! Take a look at this video to see what books they chose.

Bluebonnet Voting Results

Yesterday we had several 3rd-5th grade students lining up in our library to vote for their favorite Bluebonnet book.

Each student got to cast their vote on the computer.

When they were finished, they got a sticker to show they voted.

The book that received the most votes at our school was...

Zita the Spacegirl

By Ben Hatke

If you enjoyed this book, you should head over to the Book Spot (our local book store, across from Round Rock High School) tonight!  Ben Hatke will be presenting tonight, January 25th at 6:30pm.  I hope to see you there!

Stay tuned to find out which book gets the most votes around the state!  I will post the winning book when it is released in early February!

January Library Evening Hours Changed

Our library will be open THIS Thursday evening during the Winter Family Night, instead of on January 22nd.  We will be open from 6:00 pm- 8:00 pm.  So after you finish having fun with the family, stop by the library to check out a new book or two for some reading fun!

Teachers share their favorite books

Everyone has at least one favorite book.  Some teachers shared one of their favorite books from our library.  Have you read all of these books?  If not, they are worth checking out!

What is your favorite book?  Or do you have a favorite author?