Edublog Awards

I recently came across a great blog called Kleinspiration "Connecting Tradition and Technology to Inspire the Seeds we Plant Today" after attending a webinar hosted by the blogger Erin Klein
www.kleinspiration.com/
I highly recommend that you check it out. I have found many useful ideas here.

Today's post talked about the "Edublog Awards". Kleinspiration has been nominated in 2 categories. I headed on over to vote and decided to print out the list of nominees for all categories. If these are the best of the best than I wanted to take note of them.
https://edublogawards.com/
- December 3rd "Voting is Open" post.

My plan is to slowly check out the nominees to see if there are any other hidden gems out there on the internet that might give me some more ideas. Some of the voting categories include
- Best Student Blog
- Best Ed Tech Blog
- Best Teacher Blog
- Best Library/Librarian Blog
- Twitter Hashtag
- Free Web Tool
- Wikis in Education

- Most Influential Post *

May I suggest reading this article "What the Kardashians Taught Me About Reading Instruction (No, for real)

http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/book_whisperer/2012/09/what_the_kardashians_taught_me.html

Though my lonely little blog isn't on the list maybe it could be one day...probably with a little more frequent posting on my part :)

NY Times Notable Books of 2012

I am sharing these links that I got from a posting on LM_NET. If you are a librarian and not a member of this listserv you must join immediately. I can't tell you how many times the members have helped me out, quickly, or volunteered for a project I was doing. There are 1000's of members all over the world. It's a great networking opportunity.
http://lmnet.wordpress.com/

So on to the list - NY Times Notable Books of 2012. Here are two that I take special note of since I teach elementary students but there are many more lists.

New York Times Best Notable Children’s Books 
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/02/books/review/notable-childrens-books-of-2012.html
* Out of the picture books listed I've read Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin to my boys and we loved it. 

New York Times Best Books Graphic Novels
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/23/books/graphic-novels-from-batgirl-to-wrinkle-in-time.html?ref=books

There will be many more lists coming out so it's nice to take a peek at the lists and see what your library owns or what you may need to buy. It always makes me feel good to say "Oh, we already own that". It makes me feel like I'm doing a good job selecting books for my students.

Halloween...my favorite holiday!

In this day and age many teachers are scared (pardon the pun) to read about Halloween.  There are many conflicting opinions about the holiday or some students don't celebrate it. As much as I love the holiday I also try to stay safe.

Each year I focus on a different "scary" topic. I rotate between bats, spiders, and mummies. These are some things that come to mind when I think of Halloween! With just three grade levels a three topic rotation is easy. Bats is the topic of October 2012. Here is a basic rundown of my books and topics.

KINDERGARTEN
Lesson 1 - We listen to Stellaluna on www.storylineonline.net Afterwards we complete a  chart as a group that compares bats to birds. We talk about how they are alike and how they are different.

Lesson 2 - We read Nat the Bat by Susan Laschutza. We talk about echolocation. I found these websites helpful
http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/life/zoology/mammals/bat2.htm
Scroll to the echolocation diagram

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cp31AsqeggE&feature=fvwrel
Audio of a bat using echolocation - I only play to about the 1:05 mark because she says a cuss word a little later.

Lesson 3 - Littlebat's Halloween Story by Diane Mayr and magazine articles.


FIRST GRADE
Lesson 1 - We fill out 1 KWL Chart as a class. Starting with just the K & W sections..

Lesson 2 - We read Bat in the Boot by Annie Cannon. We talk about echolocation and I use the same websites listed under Lesson 2 in the kindergarten section.

Lesson 3 - We read Zipping, Zapping, Zooming Bats by Anna Earle.

Lesson 4 - Finish the KWL chart and move on to new topic.


SECOND GRADE
Lesson 1 - Author study of Brian Lies.  I show the students the bat books that the l library owns then they vote on which one they want me to read.

Lesson 2 - We start the lesson discussing fact vs opinion. We read Zipping, Zapping, Zooming Bats by Anna Earle. After the story we review fact and opinion then I read them a sentence about bats. Students raise their hand to tell me if it's a fact or an opinion.

Lesson 3 - We read Nat the Bat by Susanne Laschutza. We then talk about Megabats vs. Microbats. I show them a flash card with the face of a bat on it. Students raise their hand to classify it as a megabat or microbat. Here is a helpful website
http://mrsgebauer.com/bats/Kinds/kinds.htm

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

So its been awhile...

So yes, it has been awhile since I posted. I'm hoping to get back on track. I wanted to share with you one of my favorite "Beginning of the school year" reads for first grade. It's called Stella LouElla's Runaway Book by Lisa Campbell Ernst.

It's the cute story of Stella who looses her library book. As she tries to backtrack she is joined by many people in the community who try to help her. I always tell kids before I start to listen to the clues. The story never tells you the title of the book she misplaces but if you listen carefully you can figure it out. What's also cute is that the favorite part of the book goes with each person's profession.

Other curriculum tie-ins.
* People in the community
   - In this story it's the mailman, a police officer, a waitress, etc.
* Time
   - Stella must get her book back by 5:00. Towards the end of the story it mentions that it's 3:00 then a    
     few pages later 4:00.
* Proper book care
   - If you look at the title page you will see that Stella reads her books everywhere, even in the bathtub!
     This can spark a discussion on proper book care.

          

Website: Teachers pay Teachers

I have found a great new website - Teachers pay Teachers
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Signup?ref=murphy1620

Teachers pay Teachers is a website where teachers go to buy, sell and share their original ideas. Every grade and subject level is represented so its worth taking a look at. You can even post an "ad" to hire someone to make a lesson plan for you. I am finding quite a few free lessons and any of the ones I've paid for have been under $10.

Here are a few of the lessons I have posted. The Tales From the House of Bunnicula outline is free and the rest are priced $5 and under.
* A Day's Work by Eve Bunting : Discussion Questions and Observation
* Arranging Fiction and Non-Fiction Books
* Camp Read S'More Reading Program and Grant
* Grant for PebbleGo Animal & Earth Science Datebases (K-3)
* Grant: 6 Barnes and Noble Nook Colors or Kindle and Math and Science eBooks
* Scrapbooking in the Curriculum Power Point Presentation: K-3 Grades
* Tales from the House of Bunnicula Series - Writing Terms and Tips
* Vote for Books Election and State Book Awards for Teacher or Librarian

I hope to get some more lesson plans up. Now that we are debt free, except the house, I am working towards saving money to surprise my husband with a vow renewal ceremony when we go on our trip in June 2012!

Getting ready for 2012

The kids return back to school on a Wednesday. Since I will only have two days of classes I don't want to jump into anything new.

I'm looking forward to sharing Squirrel's New Year's Resolution by Pat Miller with them! I got the book and CD from Scholastic Book Club and if I remember correctly there are some comprehension questions on the CD. It turns out this book made the cover of Library Sparks January 2012 cover. Since squirrel, and probably a lot of our students, don't know what a resolution is they head to the library (where else!) to begin their search.

To librarians the name Pat Miller may sound familiar. She is the author of library related books including one of my kindergarten favorites, We're Going On a Book Hunt. She also write the Stretchy Library Lesson books. A must have for any librarian.

Check out Pat Miller's website. It contains a lot of great information and activities about her books along with a biography and "Writing lessons learned over a lifetime". I also plan on checking out some of her handouts on the homepage.
http://www.patmillerbooks.com/index.htm

Holiday Favorites

My holiday read-aloud favorites.

Kindergarten
What is Christmas without Gingerbread Men! There are a lot of great gingerbread books out on the market and they provide a great opportunity for the kids to compare and contrast the story. I also found a gingerbread man glyph. I enlarged the gingerbread man and then read the directions. It's a good listening and following directions activity.


Printable Glyph w/directions
http://www.kidzone.ws/thematic/gingerbread/index.htm


Favorite Stories
* Gingerbread Baby and Gingerbread Friends by Jan Brett (www.janbrett.com)
* Gingerbread Cowboy by Janet Squires
* Gingerbread Boy by Richard Egielski (takes place in the big city)
* Gingerbread Pirates by Kristin Kladstrup
* Gingerbread Girl and Gingerbread Girl Goes Animal Crackers by Lisa Campbell Ernst
* The Library Gingerbread Man by Dotti Enderle

First Grade
We are doing a Jan Brett author study and reading some of her gingerbread and winter books. I created a PowerPoint about her that I shared with the kids then showed them what books we have of hers. I also showed them how to identify her call number so that they could find her books on their own.


Fabulous Website - www.janbrett.com

Second Grade
I probably look forward to this set of books the most during December.


Favorite Books
* The Amazing Christmas Extravaganza by David Shannon (LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this one!)
* A New Improved Santa by Patricia Rae Wolff.
* If You Take a Mouse to the Movies by Laura Numeroff
- I few years back I bought this with a CD. Jason Alexander, from Seinfeld, is the reader. It comes with 2 popular Christmas songs that have mouse related lyrics to them. Very cute!

I will continue the Jan Brett author study when we return from school and include second grade in the unit.