Back to School

Wow! It has been quite a while since I last blogged. It was a busy second half of the school year- I had a baby! 👶 My goal is to post monthly this year. 😊

Last year, many books sat in boxes because we had some difficulty getting the correct number of shelves in the library. I am SO excited to say the rest of the shelves have arrived and ALL of the books are out of boxes and ready to be read! 📚

I have been busy working in the library this summer. There is lots of new signage that I'm really excited about. 🙌 Check it out:

Tables now have colorful supply caddies and numbers on the tables rather than table tents.

All of the device and library expectations are updated and posted where students (and myself) can easily refer to them!

Sections are now identified with large lettering. This will help students find what they are looking for! There will be nonfiction signage- it just isn't up yet!

Another project this summer was the table arrangement. The library acquired 3 more tables, so that meant I had a lot of shifting to do! This year the library will have 6 big table groups rather than 8 small table groups. I think students will enjoy this because they'll have more space to work and more friends to work with! I'm excited to see their reactions to the new set up. Excuse the mess 😬

Mock Caldecott Unit

Second grade students at South Prairie have recently named Not Quite Narwhal by Jessie Sima as the Mock Caldecott winner in the building.

To start their work, second graders learned about the criteria for the true Caldecott Medal and looked at several winning books along with Caldecott Honor books. We started with a favorite of Mrs. Sedrel's, the 2015 Caldecott Medal winner, Beekle by Dan Santat.

Students worked in table groups to evaluate 28 books using the sheet below: 

Based on scores, students narrowed choices to these top four titles:

To evaluate the finalists, students used the same scoring sheet- except they did this part individually. Students independently watched a video of each book being read while they completed the scoring sheet. 

After students finished scoring the final four books, Not Quite Narwhal was crowned the winner for South Prairie's 2018-2019 Mock Caldecott Award! 

Building an epic LEGO Wall for the Library

Last spring, I posted a project on the Donors Choose website and was lucky enough to have the project fully funded! Now, this dream has become a reality; our library has a new awesome to create with LEGOs!

Creating the walls themselves was actually pretty simple! Here are the steps:

1. Gather your materials.
       - Hardboard (like this...Lowe's will even cut it for you 👏)
       - Baseplates (I used peel and stick baseplates from QT Creative)
       - LEGO blocks (you will need some pieces as you assemble the wall)
       - Velcro strips (I used 3M Picture Hanging Strips)

2. Trim the baseplates to fit your surface.


3. Sand the corners where you trimmed.

4. Peel backing from baseplate and stick on your surface. The first plate is most important!! Make sure it's straight 😆

5. Follow the directions on the baseplate package to apply the remaining baseplates.

6. Attach LEGO wall to your surface (or use them as portable boards)! 3 of my boards are attached to doors in the library with the 3M Picture Hanging Strips. They are super-easy to remove and display in the library window!
       - Make sure to let the Hanging Strips set for an hour before kiddos start using the
         boards!

I've also created a video talking about the benefits of a LEGO wall, and it includes clips of the LEGO wall creation! Find the LEGO Wall video here or watch below!

Library Scavenger Hunts: A Back-to-School Adventure

To get back into the swing of things at South Prairie, 3rd-5th graders worked on different library scavenger hunts! Each hunt had students search for important places in the library as well as the locations of popular books and series.


3rd graders did a BINGO-style hunt. Instead of a BINGO, students wrote the number that appeared next to the item/location they found.

4th graders got to do the QR code scavenger hunt this year. QR codes are a handy and easy tool to use in the library when students need to access information! With a partner, students worked to locate QR codes around the library. Each QR code provided students with essential beginning-of-the-year information. Students would then record the answer on their paper.

5th graders did something totally new to them! I created a library scavenger hunt in the GooseChase app. GooseChase is a scavenger hunt app that asks users to complete missions using photos, videos, and text.

Here are some of the missions in our GooseChase:

This was my first time using GooseChase as a facilitator and not a participant! 5th graders loved taking selfies to complete missions, working in a group, and using a new app on the iPads!

New Agriculture and Farming Books at DC Elementary

Earlier in the school year, the Dallas Center Elementary library was awarded a $200 grant from the Iowa Agriculture Literacy Foundation. This grant allowed for the purchase of several new farming and agriculture books to add to the collection and to use with units of study.

Recently, second graders completed a mini-unit that reinforced the main idea/detail note-taking work they had been doing in their classrooms throughout the year. Students could work individually, with a partner, or as a trio to read all or part of a new book, then complete the handout, identifying one main idea and two supporting details.

Access the handout HERE

Below are some of the things students learned in their work:

Once students had read and completed the handout, it was time to return to one of their favorite web tools, Flipgrid. This group of students has used Flipgrid several times and with very few reminders were able to record their learning. 

Awesome Octopuses

As an extension to our fiction/nonfiction work with kindergarten students, we turned to octopuses--an animal with which many students already had a fascination. We began with a quick review of the difference between fiction and nonfiction books, and then we were off with our octopus books.

Students quickly began sharing what they already knew about these sea creatures, and we referred to National Geographic Kids's website for additional information as well.

CLICK HERE to access the full article

With all of our octopus learning, we turned to creating our own octopuses. We used a template from Minieco.co.uk. The template reinforced scissor skills, and students were able to design their octopuses with camouflage elements as they chose. You can CLICK HERE for the template:

Check out some of the students' work:

We've Been Busy!

It's been a long time since we've posted about our students' work and activities. What have we been doing? All sorts of things! Take a look!

Fourth and fifth graders are working on several things at once: accessing our AEA databases, reading nonfiction for main idea and details, and citing their sources. Eventually, their notetaking will lead to the creation of a Google Slides presentation.

Third graders have just wrapped up their look at mythology and myths from around the world using a Scholastic site.

Access the site HERE

Students read myths, identifying main characters, summarizing the plot, and determining the purpose of the myth.

Online catalog work is the focus for our second graders in the fourth quarter. Students learn about the visual and basic searches, then practice using the catalog to find books on the shelves.

First graders are busy using PebbleGO to browse for an animal of interest, then learn facts about their animal that they then combine with make-believe information. The facts, along with their added silliness pieces, come together in a storytelling activity on Flipgrid.

 Finally, kindergarteners take the last several cycles of the year to read and listen to a variety of themed books. For example, recently students read Diary of a Worm and Diary of a Spider, then created their own Diary... books featuring animals or objects of their choice.

Our year's not over yet--stay tuned for more work and activities!