Welcome Back!

It's been a great start to the 2015-16 school year! So far, I have seen 3/5 of the school during library time. It's wonderful that routines have already been established for most students, and I am focusing on being classes being STARS in the library!

S= sit quietly to enjoy your books

T= turn your books in on time

A= always do your best

R= respect each other and the library

S= show safety by walking

My Friday classes traced their hands to show "reaching for the stars" and decorated them so I could get to know them as readers. 

This week, grades 4-6 have been completing a scavenger hunt through the library. It took a little time to set up, but I created a survey using Socrative with questions about specific books they find in the library. I attached large shapes to 12 books and each question says "what shape is on the book...?" and teams of 3 have to find the book and choose the correct answer. They are doing awesome and getting reacquainted with the library! 

 

A Fun End of the Year Game

I know this is late, but at the end of the year I created a really fun Go Fish game based on books. I cut and taped mini book covers on an actual set of Go Fish cards (purchased at the Dollar Tree in a set of 3 with Crazy 8 and Memory Match). Then the students would ask each other "Do you have... Wimpy Kid? Dinosaur books?" and other fun titles.

Then they came up with a summer reading goal that I displayed as "Swim Away With a Summer Reading Goal". My 2nd graders had a lot of fun thinking of different ways they would read this summer! Some were planning to read for a certain amount of minutes per day or week, some had a number of books as a goal, and others wanted to find just right books.

Interactiv Conference 2015

Today is my second and final day at the Interactiv Conference at UW-Whitewater. I am going to implement a MakerSpace, use Google forms more, maybe use my Twitter account more, and I have a lot of other ideas to work with teachers on. With technology, you have to stay ahead of the game!

We Love Mo!

My first graders partner read Elephant & Piggie books by Mo Willems today. Then they did a little "news report" about their story including the characters, setting, problem, events, and solution. Hopefully they will keep reading more Mo books this summer!

Eagle Library Visit

The librarian from the Alice Baker Library in Eagle came to visit us today to talk to us about their summer reading program themed "Every Super Hero has a Story". She told us about a lot of fun events, including their kick off this weekend, drawing activities at the library, movies and storytimes, super hero academy, and much more! Check out their link: Alice Baker Library. They also told the 6th graders about Overdrive, the e-book and audio book app that they can get for free!

Best book since Wonder?

                                    

I am currently reading a book I would put in the same amazing category as Wonder, about a girl who has a learning disability but has been labeled a "slow reader" or "slow" but no one has really supported her. When her teacher goes on maternity leave, a sub comes in who wants to help and understand her. The book Fish in a Tree by Linda Mullaly Hunt leaves a lasting impression on readers to try to walk a mile in someone's shoes.  (images from bn.com)

"If you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life thinking that it's stupid"

6th Grade Genre Challenge

In 6th grade, we are working on inferences. Students seem to have a pretty good handle on what they mean so I put them to the test. One week, each student chose a genre of books to research. They took notes on what they meant, examples of the books, what they entail, and any other important details. Then the following week I gave them the Genre Challenge! They were to design a t-shirt (team Poetry/Fantasy/Etc) to represent their genre but they may not use their genre word(s) anywhere on the shirt. Students had to give clues/inferences that others would be able to guess. In addition, they were each assigned a number (no names) so they could judge a shirt from another class. This week, they were assigned 4 shirts to guess and had to explain the clues/inferences that led them to their guess.

They did a great job!