School Book Fair / Grandparents Day

This was the week that they turn our school library into a book store.  Kids shop during recesses and after school.  It's a big fund raiser where they earn $3000-$4000 for library books every year.  These are some of the books that were donated to our classroom by students or parents.  I'm so excited to get these read:

One Came Home- part mystery, part adventure, reads like an homage to True Grit.
A Long Walk to Water - dual stories, one in 2008 and one in 1985 in Sudan, based on a true story.

Inside Out & Back Again - based on the author's experiences, the story of a 10 year old girl leaving Saigon for America.
Navigating Early - How can Fred's daughter resist this cover? Reminiscent of Huck Finn, two boys set out for the Appalachian Trail on a quest for a great black bear.

I just started One Came Home and here's the first sentences: "So it comes to this, I remember thinking on Wednesday, June 7, 1871.  The date sticks in my mind because it was the day of my sister's first funeral, and I knew it wasn't her last - which is why I left."  I'm hooked already and will be reading all weekend.

Part of the great success of the book fair is the marketing plan.  This was also the week of kindergarten registration and all of the kids and their parents came through and bought. There was also a Bingo Night where you could escape the loud, hot gym and just browse through the book selection in the quiet library.  The best marketing ploy though is scheduling Grandparent's Day during the Book Fair.  Grandparents visit the child's classroom for 30 minutes of activities, bring lunches or eat school lunch, and then take their grandchild to the Book Fair.  For two and a half hours, they make bank!

I love having the grandparents visit our classroom.  I start a discussion and ask them to share some of their experiences in grade school, experiences in life, and wisdom they might want to share.  All the grandparents talk and share, and the students listen transfixed. There is always one or two that went to a small one or two room school, one who went to a strict Catholic school with nuns, and one that went to a big school in a big city.  This year, a grandparent had gone to school in Thailand.  Another grandparent had a band in high school and was the opening act to Paul Revere and the Raiders, at the fair in Portland. Grandparents talk about military service, travels, hobbies, and most of all, the importance of education as a means to a good life.  We had 27 grandparents visit this year.  Two came up from Roy, Utah, just to have lunch and go to the book fair one last time. It's a crazy day, but one of the best days.