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I hope everyone is enjoying this lovely summer. I wanted to share with you that the author of the very popular Owl Diaries beginning reader series is coming to the Evanston Public Library on Friday, August 10 at 2:00 p.m. and all are welcome to attend. This series is very popular with our SFX 1st and 2nd grade students from last school year and I know many of them would love this rare chance to meet the author who is

Dear School Parents, We’re excited to announce a great reading resource called Capstone Interactive eBooks. This summer, Capstone is providing free access to thousands of ebooks that can be read from school, home, or on-the-go. These eBooks can be used with a laptop, a desktop computer or an iPad. Best of all, Capstone Interactive eBooks provide critical supports like text-highlighting and read-aloud audio and are re

It’s hard to believe it is June! What a wonderful year I have had with all of our SFX students! They are such book enthusiasts and a delight to shepherd through the world of literacy. It was so exciting to end our year with an amazing author visit with Liesl Shurtliff. She enthralled our 3rd-5th grade students and had them perform a readers theater of Snow White. Liesl even made time to celebrate with our 4th-6

As the school year is drawing to a close, our 3rd-5th grade students are getting very excited about Liesl Shurtliff’s visit to SFX this Friday. If your child would like their own personal copy of one of Liesl’s books, please fill out and complete the order form and return it to the office by Tuesday, June 5 along with a check made payable to the Book Stall. 20% from the sale of Mrs. Shurtliff’s book

As the school year comes to a close, we need to make sure all SFX library books make their way back to school. We have asked students to return their school library books to the school library by the end of the school day today, June 1st. Please help your child remember to return all of their books! Please email me at lindasawyer@sfx-school.org if you have any questions. Mrs. Sawyer

Today, Alice Joseph of the Wilmette Public Library came to SFX to speak with our Kindergarten-4th grade students about the wonderful offerings the library has to offer this summer. In addition to their summer reading program, they have tech programs, writing programs and a wealth of other fun events like concerts and movies. There are also great volunteer opportunities for middle school students to earn service hours

As part of our upcoming spring book fair, which is taking place June 6th-8th at the SFX Library and the Book Stall, we will be hosting author Liesl Shurtliff here on Friday, June 8th. She will be speaking with our 3rd-5th grade students about her newest book, Grump. If your child would like an autographed book, please fill out the order form and return it to the library no later than June 5. A portion of the proceeds

The tickets for the children who completed the Great America Read to Succeed Reading Club have arrived and will be sent home this week via your child’s classroom teacher. Please note the dates listed on the vouchers for the eligible time frame to use the free admission passes as they expire before the end of summer. If for some reason, the voucher doesn’t makes it way home, please don’t hesitate to

As spring is now here and the weather is finally starting to feel spring-like, I would like to draw attention to our new Little Free Library. It popped up over the winter and is located in front of the school on Linden Avenue. Last school year, our then 3rd grade students (along with their fellow Poetry Pals partners from two other schools) created the tiles that make up the outside of the library. Much thanks to SFX

What fun we had last week during our Book Cafe. The students did a great job discussing our featured book and decoding ciphers from the book. In May, we will meet on Thursday, May 31  during 3rd-5th grade recess and lunch. Dessert will be provided.  The discussion is open to all students in 3rd-5th grade.  We will be reading Jack the Fairly True Tale of Jack and the Beanstalk by Liesl Shurtliff. Ms. Shurtliff will be

Just a quick reminder the deadline to complete the Bluestem Challenge is this Tuesday, May 1. Any SFX 3rd-5th grade student who reads all of the 20 Bluestem nominees and turns in the Bluestem Reading Challenge form to me no later than May 1st will get to attend a special pizza party in the library at the end of the school year. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions. Mrs. Sawyer Libr

Throughout the school year, first grade students visit the library weekly and they checkout 5 books that they keep in their classrooms to have for reading during the school day. These books are a mix of picture books, beginning readers, and, as of last week, transitional chapters books-books with controlled vocabulary but more pages and fewer illustrations than beginning readers. Starting this week, first grade stude

I hope you had a blessed Easter and are enjoying the Easter break. Just a reminder the deadline for the Bluestem Challenge is approaching.  I encourage all students in grades 3-5 to take the Bluestem Challenge. The Bluestem Award is an Illinois Readers Choice award for students in grades 3-5. The nominee list is created by librarians and educators from across the state.  Any SFX 3rd-5th grade student who reads all of

While adults very busy voting in primary elections yesterday, our SFX students have spent the last week voting in the Illinois Readers Choice Award elections and here are the results: For the Monarch Award, which is for Grades K-2, I read to the students the 20 books that were on the nominee list over the course of a few weeks and they cast their votes. Check out the enthusiasm of some of our voters here . Our studen

Congratulations to our 4th-6th grade Battle of the Books team members. Our three SFX teams competed Monday against 9 teams from three other schools-Baker Progressive School, St. Joseph, and Chiaravalle School. One of our SFX teams, The First Timers came in 2nd place in the individual team competition and in the overall school competition SFX came in 2nd. I couldn’t be prouder of how well these students worked t

After a bit of a hiatus, Book Cafe is returning on Wednesday, April 25 during 3rd-5th grade recess and lunch. Dessert will be provided.  The discussion is open to all students in 3rd-5th grade.  We will be reading The Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman. Registration for Book Cafe is limited to 15 students. To register, please complete this form and return it to Mrs. Sawyer no later than Friday, April 13. Mr

What a wonderful day we had with our One Author, One Community featured author Jacqueline Davies. Mrs. Davies spent all day Monday on campus and she saw students in grades JK-8th grade giving four very distinct, age-appropriate presentations. With our JK and Kindergarten students, she shared her book The Night Is Singing, which is her evocative poem-book about the sounds we hear as we drift off to sleep. Working with

Many of our 4th-5th grade students have been furiously reading in preparation for the Battle of the Books. All 4th-5th grade students have been placed in teams with their classmates and next week they will be competing during battles taking place in the library. There are two rounds for each battle. During the first round students work with their team to earn points. In the second round, students work individually to

What a wonderful week we had last week when we were fortunate to host two author visits. On Monday, author Tammi Sauer engaged and enthralled our K-2 students with her incredible storytelling. Children fell in love with her and her endearing new book character, Wordy Birdy. On Friday, bestselling children’s author Andrew Clements concluded our week by speaking with our 3rd-5th grade students. He delighted us as

Today was a very big day in the world of children’s literature. This morning, the Association of Library Services to Children (ALSC) announced their annual award winners for outstanding children’s books published in 2017. This is like the Academy Awards of children’s literature. A complete listing of the award winners can be found on the ALSC website One of the awards announced today was the 2018 Ca

Thanks to our friends at the Book Stall in Winnetka, picture book author Tammi Sauer will be coming to SFX the afternoon of Monday, February 12. Last week, I read Ms. Sauer’s newest book, Wordy Birdy, to our Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade students. They adored the zany book. Many asked how they could get a copy. I handed out order forms and told the students the forms needed to be back no later than Friday, Fe

Thanks to the great success of our Christmas Book Fair, Scholastic, the company that offered the fair, is bringing a very special author to SFX on Friday, February 16. Andrew Clements is the author of the enormously popular book Frindle. More than 10 million copies of his books have been sold. His newest book, Loser’s Club is on our 2017-18 Battle of the Books list. He doesn’t do many speaking engagements

Just a reminder Monday, February 5 is the last day for children to submit their reading logs for the Six Flags Read to Succeed Reading Program. This program is open to children in grades K-6. Any child who independently reads or is read to for 6 hours and completes the reading log will earn one free admission to Great America. Replacement reading logs are available if a child lost their original log. Logs can be turn

Thanks to our friends at the Book Stall in Winnetka, picture book author Tammi Sauer will be coming to SFX the afternoon of Monday, February 12. She will be speaking with our kindergarten, first, and second grade students and sharing some of her wonderful books including her newest, Wordy Birdy. She has written over 30 books for children and more information about this author can be found on her website. The Book Sta

Happy New Year! Each year, I encourage all students in grades 3-5 to take the Bluestem Challenge. The Bluestem Award is an Illinois Readers Choice award for students in grades 3-5. The nominee list is created by librarians and educators from across the state.  I read three of the titles aloud to the students as all students in grades 3-5 can vote for their favorite book on the nomination list as long as they have rea