Just Keep Reading

During any type of extended break from school, it is important for students to maintain their reading skills.  The best way to accomplish this is for them to read every day. Some of the benefits of reading daily are an expansion of vocabulary, increased creativity, improved writing skills, enhanced memory and development of analytical thinking.

To assist them in getting motivated to read every day, let me remind you of our reading challenges for the year.  The deadline for the Texas Bluebonnet Award for 3^rd-5^th grade students is coming soon after we return from Winter Break.  Students will be voting for their favorite the week of January 24, 2017 if they have read at least 5 of the books on the list.

The next major deadline will be for the Six Flags Read to Succeed Program.  All reading logs of 6 hours of recreational reading will be due on Friday, February 24, 2017.

Grades K-2 will be voting for their favorite Texas 2x2 book the week of April 24, 2017.  Like the Bluebonnet Award, students must read at least 5 books on the list in order to vote.

Our final deadline is for the Bookworm Challenge. Reading logs for all grade levels will be due by April 28, 2017.

I look forward to seeing how many students complete the challenges for this year. In the meantime, I hope everyone has a relaxing and fun filled Winter Break.  Remember, just keep reading, just keep reading, just keep reading!

Hour of Code

Code.org is a non-profit organization committed to providing access to computer science for all students. This week is Computer Science Education Week and Hour of Code is part of the celebration of this week. I did coding with nearly all of the grade levels this week during their library time.

In Pre-K, I read Here Comes Santa Cat by Deborah Underwood. It’s still a little too difficult to get a class of Kindergarten students to operate a computer independently, so we worked on giving and following directions.  I had four different stations. There was coding on the move, file folder coding and two separate LEGO stations.

Grades 1-5 used laptops or their own devices to go to www.code.org/learn to practice for the Hour of Code that we held at our school Friday afternoon. During that Hour of Code, parents were invited to come and code with their children.  We had an amazing turnout!

Cultural Diversity and Figurative Language

This week, Pre-K discovered the world of The Little Red Hen. I therefore, found a Cajun version to read to them titled, Gator Gumbo: A Spicy-hot Tale by Candace Fleming.

In Kindergarten, we discussed the difference between fiction and non-fiction books. I read Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Butterflies by Jennifer Hurtig.

Both First and Second Grade were learning about cultural diversity this week. I read The Sandwich Swap by Queen Rania Al Abdullah to First Grade.  It has a wonderful message of not judging a book by its cover, or anyone else for that matter. For Second Grade, I read Same, Same But Different by Jenny Kostecki-Shaw. It shows how people from different parts of the world can be different, but still have a lot of similarities.

Third Grade learned about onomatopoeia this week, so I read In the Small, Small Pond by Denise Fleming. Fourth Grade was working on their inferencing skills, so I read I Want My Hat Back and This is Not My Hat, both by Jon Klassen. The students really enjoyed predicting the outcome of both stories. Fifth Grade was also working on figurative language by learning more about metaphors. I read You’re Toast and Other Metaphors We Adore by Nancy Loewen.

Next week, we will be hosting an Hour of Code on Friday, December 9^th from 1:30 – 2:30.  Please come and join us if you can!

Holiday:Thanksgiving

It’s Fall and today it finally feels like it.  Thanksgiving is just a week away, so this week was a perfect time to read Thanksgiving stories to all of the classes.

For Pre-K, I read Happy Thanksgiving, Gus! by Jacklyn Williams. In Kindergarten, I read Clifford’s Thanksgiving Visit by Norman Bridwell.  I read my all-time favorite Thanksgiving story to First Grade. ‘Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving by Dav Pilkey.

I read A Turkey for Thanksgiving by Eve Bunting to Second Grade.  It is another favorite of mine.  For Third Grade, I read Arthur’s Thanksgiving by Marc Brown.  Fourth Grade really enjoyed I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie by Alison Jackson.  I was unable to read Balloons Over Broadway by Melissa Sweet to Fifth Grade because they were gone to camp this week. All of the students seemed to enjoy the stories this week.  I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Scholastic Book Fair

This week we held our fall Scholastic Book Fair in the library.  Instead of coming to the library for a lesson or story, each class was able to come to the fair to create a wishlist of books they wanted or to purchase books.  Thursday evening we had a Story Night where the students got to come in their pajamas and hear different teachers reading stories.  They also got to enjoy milk and cookies.

We seemed to have had a great turnout and made approximately $9,000.  That’s wonderful that so many books are now in the hands our students.

Plano ISD Elementary Science and Engineering Fair

It is time once again to prepare for the Elementary Science and Engineering Fair.  The fair is open to students in grades K-5. Through participation in this annual event is voluntary, we want to encourage interested students to take advantage of this opportunity to exhibit their knowledge. 

If your child is interested in participating please return the Science and Engineering Fair letter to your child’s teacher so you may have a handbook. Our campus fair will be January 9^th this year! We look forward to some great entries to represent Christie Elementary!

If you have any questions feel free to email the Science Fair Coordinator at Jessica.Malloy@pisd.edu

Holiday: Halloween

This week started off with Halloween, so I decided this would be the perfect time to read some Halloween stories to the students.  I love sharing the holidays through good books and the students always seem to love them as well.

In Pre-K, I read Clifford and the Halloween Parade by Norman Bridwell. I read Halloween Mice! by Bethany Roberts to Kindergarten and Happy Halloween, Gus! by Jacklyn Williams to First Grade. For Second Grade, I chose to read Froggy’s Halloween by Jonathan London.

Since Third Grade is also studying poetry right now, I chose to read Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich by Adam Rex.  It’s a poetry book about all sorts of monstrous things.  For Fourth Grade I read The Perfectly Horrible Halloween by Nancy Poydar and The Perfect Pumpkin Pie by Denys Cazet for Fifth Grade.

The students loved the stories and now I’m ready to start looking for books to share for Thanksgiving.

State Award Books

This week I read the Caldecott Award winning book Kitten’s First Full Moon to Pre-K.  For Kindergarten thru Second Grade, I read Mother Bruce which is one of the titles for our Texas 2x2 List.  I discussed this list in detail in a previous post.  I reminded students that they need to read at least 5 books on the list in order to vote for their favorite in April.

For Third thru Fifth Grade, I read A Fine Dessert.  It is listed on our Texas Bluebonnet Award list.  Students must also read at least 5 books in order to vote for their favorite in January.  I hope that by reading a few of the books on each list, I will encourage students to read some on their own so that they will be eligible to vote.

Digital Citizenship

This week we learned about digital citizenship across all grade levels.

We discussed not giving out personal information such as your real name, address, phone number or even what school you attend. We also talked about being kind and respectful online and to tell a trusted adult if you are a victim of cyber bullying or if you come across something that is inappropriate.

We learned that we should never let anyone else use our login and passwords at school and to make sure that we are completely logged off of the computer to make sure no one can access our account accidentally.  We also discussed that our devices should always be connected to the PISD guest WIFI to make sure that inappropriate sites are less likely to pop up and to save our parents data plan.

This week was primarily an introduction into digital citizenship by watching Faux Paw the Techno Cat for Pre-K and some Netsmart videos for the other grade levels.  Digital citizenship is a topic that should be covered numerous times a year, especially each time the students are doing online research.  I plan on having more in depth lessons about these topics at a later date.

Christopher Columbus and More

This week I read a Christopher Columbus biography to First Grade and then we completed a Quizizz afterward.  The kids always love to do a Quizizz!  They really did an outstanding job considering the fact that this was the first time we had done one with multiple choice answers instead of true or false.  I was also amazed at much they remembered from the story and was able to call out the correct answer before I even had a chance to read the answer choices to them.

In Fifth Grade, we watched a video of the reading of Encounter by Jane Yolen.  It is a story of Christopher Columbus as seen through the eyes of a young native boy.  It has a totally different perspective of Christopher Columbus and his explorations.

In Pre-K, we read Barn Dance since they have been learning and talking about fall.  I keep hoping that the fall weather will eventually blow in, but no luck so far.

In Kindergarten and Second Grade, we discussed character, setting and plot.  I read Frog and Toad Together to Kindergarten and Poppleton Has Fun to Second Grade.  We were able to identify each element after we read each “chapter’ of the books.

In Third Grade, we discussed the definition of historical fiction and then I read Katie’s Trunk to them.  We discussed how the events in the story could have happened back in the 18^th century during the American Revolutionary War.

Finally, in Fourth Grade we discussed author’s purpose. I showed them three different books and talked about how the words the author chooses is critical to the purpose and audience he is writing to. I read Turkey Tot as an example of entertainment.

Special Request for PE

Dear Christie Parents-

This year Christie Elementary has the opportunity to win some amazing prizes for our wellness program.  Anyone in our community can click on the link below and enter for a chance to win a $30,000 grant for our school's healthy transformation AND a new playground.  While there are other prizes available, this would clearly be an amazing opportunity of our kids! The sweepstakes runs until March 24, 2017 which is a very long time. Please set your alarm on your phone or post a sticky note on the fridge to log on each day and vote.  Also, feel free to share with family and friends to help increase our voting numbers.  Thank you!

http://www.togethercounts.com/at-school/win-for-your-school/sweepstakes

This year PE/Fitness is also wanting to incorporate a drumming fitness activity into our workout. However, we want to make sure our students have the materials they need to succeed, so I just created a DonorsChoose.org classroom request.   Please click on the Fit to the Beat link below to donate.

Fit to the Beat

When you give to our classroom by October 6, 2016, your donation will be doubled thanks to DonorsChoose.org. Just enter the code LIFTOFF during checkout and you'll be matched dollar for dollar (up to $50). 

Thank you so much,
PE/Fitness Team

P.S. If you know anyone who may want to help all our students, please pass this along! 

Angela O’Brian

PE Teacher

469-752-0880

Twitter: @obrian_y

Blog: Christiecubpe.blogspot.com

Making Predictions

The week we concentrated on making predictions while reading. Students recognized that clues with the text and clues in the illustrations can help them in making those predictions. In Pre-K we read Welcome Home, Mouse. In Kindergarten we read It's an Orange Aardvark! and in First Grade we read The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear. Second graders loved singing along with Pete the Cat in Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes.

In Third Grade we read The Secret Birthday Message, Fourth Grade heard all about Wemberly Worried and in Fifth Grade we read The Day the Crayons Quit.

Christie Reading Incentive Programs

This week I have discussed all of these reading incentive programs with all of the K – 5 classes. We will have 3 major reading incentive programs at Christie throughout this school year that will be sponsored thru the library.  I would like to recommend that you highly encourage your children to participate in all of the programs.  Statistics have proven that the more students read the more their grades and test scores improve.  I am also hoping that it will help expand their reading experience with different genres and increase their enjoyment of reading.

Each student will have a reading log for each program that they will keep in their binders.  Once they have completed the requirements, they will return the logs to their teacher or to Ms. Lewis in the library.  Each program will be explained below.

Texas 2x2 List (K – 2^nd)

Students must read (or be read to) at least 5 books from a list of 20 in order to vote for their favorite book.  Voting will take place the week of April 24, 2017.  If students read 5 books and vote, they will be eligible for a popcorn or popsicle party in May.

Texas Bluebonnet Award (3^rd – 5^th)

Students must read (or be read to) at least 5 books from a list of 20 in order to vote for their favorite book.  Voting will take place the week of January 23, 2017.  If students read 5 books and vote, they will be eligible to attend the Bluebonnet Breakfast in March.

Six Flags Read to Succeed Program (K – 5^th)

Read to Succeed is an exciting program that encourages students in grades K through 6 to read for fun. Students who complete six hours of recreational reading earn a free ticket to Six Flags! The program is available to teachers and schools at no cost to participate, and it's a great way to motivate kids to read. Registration will begin in late October. The deadline is usually towards the end of February. More details to come in early November.

Bookworm Challenge (K – 5^th)

This challenge is a reading incentive program based on Donalyn Miller’s The Book Whisperer to engage our students in free choice independent reading of a variety of genres. Each grade level has their own goals and types of genres. The deadline for completion will be April 28, 2017. Students who complete the challenge will receive a certificate and a medal.  They will also be recognized at the final assembly in June.

Kindergarten (15 total)                           

Biography: 3                                             

Fiction: 4                                         

Non-Fiction: 4                                           

Free Choice: 4    

1^st Grade (20 total)

Biography: 4

Informational (NF): 4

Poetry: 4

Traditional Lit.: 4

Free Choice: 4

2nd Grade (30 total)

Biography: 5

Informational (NF): 5

Poetry: 5

Traditional Lit.: 5

Free Choice: 10

3^rd Grade (40 total)

Biography: 4

Fantasy: 4

Historical Fiction: 2

Informational (NF): 4

Mystery: 4

Poetry: 3

Realistic Fiction: 3

Science Fiction: 2

Traditional Lit.: 5

Free Choice Chapter Books: 9

(FC may include 3 graphic novels)

4^th Grade (40 total)

Biography: 2

Fantasy: 4

Historical Fiction: 4

Informational (NF): 4

Mystery: 2

Poetry: 3

Realistic Fiction: 3

Science Fiction: 4

Traditional Lit.: 5

Free Choice Chapter Books: 9

(FC may include 3 graphic novels)

5^th Grade (40 total)

Biography: 2

Fantasy: 4

Historical Fiction: 2

Informational (NF): 4

Mystery: 2

Poetry: 5

Realistic Fiction: 5

Science Fiction: 2

Traditional Lit.: 5

Free Choice Chapter Books: 9

(FC may include 3 graphic novels)

Dot Day

Yesterday was International Dot Day. Dot Day was created in response to Peter H. Reynolds’ book, The Dot.  It is a day for encouraging creativity and challenging people to make their mark.  We celebrated Dot Day all week in the library.

Every class got an opportunity to color a dot any way they wanted. We then used the Quiver App to make those two dimensional drawings three dimensional.  The students were so excited to see their “dots” come to life!

Yesterday was also Powered Up @ Your Library Day.  This is a day to help broaden the awareness of library services and to promote libraries as vital, technology-centered institutions. Using the technology of the Quiver App in conjunction with Dot Day seemed to be a perfect union.

Everyone really enjoyed this week’s activity and I hope that I can find a way to bring Quiver back into the library again this year.

Library Expectations and Book Care

This week we continued our discussions about library expectations and book care across all of the grade levels. In Pre-K and Kindergarten I read It’s Library Day.  First Grade, I read D.W.’ s Library Card and in Second Grade I read Franklin’s Library Book.

For Third Grade I read No T. Rex in the Library. Fourth Grade heard Library Mouse and Fifth Grade listened to Bats at the Library.  All of these books were lighthearted and fun ways to show students how they should act in the library or how to take care of the books they checkout.

First Week

Well, the first week of library classes is officially in the books!  It was the second week of school, but the first week for students to come with their classes to the library.

We discussed library expectations, book care, and finding a “just right” book. Our first time Pre-K students listened to a story titled School’s First Day of School, since they are learning about going to school.

It was a little rough for some students to get back into the routine of remembering what to do when checking out their books, but overall it was a successful week.

Getting Ready

This week has been a time for performing all of the necessary beginning of year clerical duties that must be done before classes start coming to the library. I have to get class lists, put Kindergarten and now Pre-K cards in plastic sleeves in class sets. Make any needed library cards and plan lessons. I also have to schedule classes with teachers and get the room ready for the students. There is much more that I have to do, but I won’t bore you with the details!

I’m really excited to get to start seeing the students on a weekly basis again and I hope this year will be enjoyable for me as well as the students. Here is my contact information. Feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.

E-mail: kimberly.lewis@pisd.edu

Phone: (469)752-0827

Twitter: @K_Lewislms

Blog: lewislmsbookluvr.blogspot.com

Final Week in Library for Students

This week was the last week for students to come to the library for this school year.  Actually, only K-2 classes came this week to vote for their favorite Texas 2x2 book. I’m really excited to see what book won the most votes!

Now that we are winding down the year, it is imperative that students return all library books as soon as possible.  This helps us to get the books back on the shelves and everything in its place and ready for the next year.  If for some reason a student has lost a book, they will need to pay for it before June 3^rd.

I also encouraged the students to read every day during the summer to prevent the “summer slide”.  (More about that next time.) I reminded them that we have a public library close to our school that they could visit over the summer to check out books.

The End is Near

Well, the end of this school year is quickly approaching, although not quickly enough for some people. This week was the last week to check out books for this school year, therefore all library books will be due next Friday, May 20^th. Students will come to the library one last time next week and then it will all be over for this year, at least for the students anyway.

Next week is when one of the busiest times of the year starts for me. I have to worry about getting every book back or paid for if it’s lost.  I will run overdue letters every week until the last day of school.  I will probably have to call some parents to try to get them to pay for the book that their child can’t find. Then, once the books have been returned, my volunteers (all two of them) and I will make sure that the book shelves are straightened and in order. That is quite an undertaking to say the least. Finally, I will have to make sure that every staff member is clear in that they have returned all materials and is ready to leave for the summer. Whew! I’m already exhausted just thinking about it. But hey, I’ve got the weekend to rest up, recharge and be ready to go next week.

Reading Challenges

It seems to be getting more and more difficult to get the students motivated to read on their own. A lot of students ask, “What do I get if I do this?”, but even more want to know if they “have to do this”.  This is very disheartening; especially for someone that has always had a love of reading. I try very hard to make the reading challenges fun and enjoyable, but judging by my completion rates, I fear that most students just don’t want to do it.  Not even for a free breakfast, free ticket to Six Flags, a popcorn party or a medal and certificate.

Earlier this year, students had the opportunity to participate in several reading programs. All students were eligible to participate in the Six Flags Read to Succeed Program where students had to read a total of six hours over several months. I think we had about 70 students out of just fewer than 700 that completed the challenge. Third thru Fifth grade students could participate in the Texas Bluebonnet Award List where they had to read at least five books from the list of twenty in order to vote for their favorite. What I love about this reading program is that their votes actually count towards who wins the award. I mean, how cool is that? Out of approximately 370 students that could have participated, I had only 10 that voted. What a shame!

Something new I added this year was the Bookworm Challenge. It challenged students to read a certain number of books over several months along with reading a variety of genres. This came about as a grant proposal that I and four other librarians created based loosely on the book titled, The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller. I had hoped that they would be motivated by a little competition in seeing that other classes were doing better, but needless to say, this has been disappointing as well. We haven’t quite completed it yet, but so far I calculate that I might have 60 students that totally finish and earn their certificate and medal that will be presented to them at the final assembly.

The final reading program that I have is for Kindergarten thru Second grade students. It is the Texas 2x2 Award List. It follows the same concept as the Texas Bluebonnet Award, only these votes don’t really count for anything. If they read the books and vote, they can enjoy a popcorn or popsicle party.  So, as we start to wind down the last month of school, I wanted to make sure that I read another Texas 2x2 book to Kindergarten, First and Second grades.  That way everyone will hopefully have an opportunity to vote for their favorite from the list in a couple of weeks. I feel a little bad that I have to practically do it for them in order to get them to vote.  I try to read at least 5 of the books so that everyone will be able to vote. Otherwise, I’m afraid this program will fare just as poorly as all the others.

Poetry Quizizz

This week marks the end of our National Poetry Month. We learned about a lot of different types of poetry throughout the month. To put it to the test, I created a Poetry Review on Quizizz.

I just discovered Quizizz a couple of months ago and when I tried it for the first time for President’s Day, my students fell in love with it. I had told them then, that I would try to find another way to use it in the library. This was my perfect opportunity. They’ve enjoyed it just as much this week as they did the first time.

With Kindergarten and First Grade, we used colored cards to represent their answers for true or false since it’s more difficult for them to use the computers and read the questions by themselves. It worked really well. The rest of the grade levels were able to easily answer the questions on their own. I can’t wait to find another way to use Quizizz in the library!

Poetry and Poem in Your Pocket

This post is a little late again. This past week we continued working on poetry for National Poetry Month. Each grade level had a different kind of poetry that they worked on.

Kindergarten did Paper Sack Poetry. They had to look in their sacks, without anyone seeing what they had inside. Then they had to describe the animal Beanie Baby so that the others could try to guess what kind of animal it was.

First Grade did what’s called a Fold-It Poem. Each class member contributes to the poem by starting their line of the poem with the last word of the line of the person before them. It made for some very interesting poems!

Second Grade used a website called Word Mover by Read Write Think. It allows them to manipulate what looks like magnetic word tiles to create poems. They loved how easy it was to click and drag the words around. They could also alter the font, color and size of the text as well as change the background. 

Third Grade wrote poems on green sticky notes to place on our Poetree. We have a tree made out of cardboard that just sits around in our Learning Commons and typically only gets used during the Christmas holidays, so this was a way to make good use of it.

Fourth Grade used another website from Read Write Think called Theme Poem. It is basically creating a poem within a shape, also known as a concrete poem. They loved being able to choose their “theme” or object.

Fifth Grade did Blackout Poetry. I had several different pages from different books that the students could choose from. Then they blacked out all of the words on the page, except for the ones they kept to create their poems. This was a little difficult to do, but some of them had great success!

Thursday of this week was also Poem in Your Pocket Day.  I had a lot of students that came up to me to show their poem and share it with me. I also had teachers tell me how much they loved this idea and how excited their students got about finding or writing a poem. I wasn’t able to get any pictures of the students’ poems, but here is a favorite of mine from childhood that carried in my pocket that day.

National Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month. According to the Academy of American Poets, National Poetry Month is the largest literary celebration in the world, marking poetry’s important place in our culture and our lives.

I’m really excited to get to try some new fun activities that I think the students will like. We’re going to have a Poetree display, Poem in Your Pocket Day, blackout poetry, magnetic poetry and maybe some sidewalk chalk poetry.

This week I read the book A Poem in Your Pocket by Margaret McNamara, to help the students to get a better understanding of what Poem in Your Pocket Day is about. It was a great way to talk about not thinking too much about your poem and trying to make it perfect. You have to just write what you feel or think.

Some exciting news for next week is that it is National Library Week. I’m hoping to tie some of our poetry activities in with that as well. April is definitely a busy month!

Holiday: Easter

Well, another holiday has rolled around and this time it’s Easter.  I love Easter because it’s spring time and the promise of new life is all around us.  That was actually the message of the book that I read to First Grade this week.  In Looking for Easter by Dori Chaconas, Little Bunny keeps trying to find Easter by getting a basket and filling it with grass and berries. He ends up giving his beloved basket to Robin for a nest and is delighted when he finds out that his basket is the home for Robin’s new hatchlings.

For Kindergarten, I read Here Comes the Easter Cat by Deborah Underwood.  The illustrations in this book are wonderful.  You can really get a sense of what Cat is thinking just by his facial expressions and body language. The students really seemed to enjoy this funny book.

Finally, for Second Grade, I read Betty Bunny Loves Easter by Michael Kaplan. In this story, Betty Bunny realizes that her brothers and sister have been helping her throughout the years to find all of the eggs during the Easter egg hunt.  Now that she’s older, she wants to find them on her own.  Even though she only finds three eggs, those three eggs are more meaningful to Betty Bunny because she found them on her own. This is a sign that Betty Bunny is maturing and becoming more responsible and that doing your own work has its own rewards.

With STAAR testing this week, these were the perfect, light-hearted books to read!

Collaboration

I apologize for the late posting, but the week kind of got away from me with having Good Friday off.  I chose to talk about collaboration because our #EdSlowChat question for the week was: How does collaborating with your librarian impact student learning?

My hope as a librarian is that by teachers collaborating with me, WE are able to help the students make connections outside of their classroom. I love it when I read a story about something they are learning in class and they say, “We were learning about this in class!”  It’s amazing to see those light bulbs go off.

Often times, I don’t get a lot of true collaboration.  I realize teachers are busy, but I feel that part of my job is to help take some of the burden off of teachers.  If there is something that I can teach in the library that will save a teacher from having to do it, I am more than willing to help out.  I’m here to serve and I think a lot of teachers don’t realize the untapped potential they have in a resource like me.  I would love to be used more and to feel more useful than just someone who helps the students’ checkout their books.  Perhaps, in time, if I keep plugging away and try to draw more teachers in, I’ll be able feel as though I am completing my role as librarian.

Open e-books App

Last month, the White House and Michelle Obama announced the release of the Open e-books App available for iOS and android systems. This app is available to Title I, military base, special education teachers, librarians, and by extension, students.

Teachers may sign up to receive codes for their students who may download the app and then e-books on that app.  The hope is to get more books (e-books) in the hands of as many readers as possible, especially students that don’t have ready access to books.

The White House partnered with ten major publishers, Digital Public Library of America, First Book and the New York Public Library to make this all possible.

As a Title I school, this is something we are very interested in.  We’re hoping that very soon, we will be able gain access codes for our students so that they may enjoy books at any time on any mobile device.

Here is a link to read more about the Open e-books App.

http://tinyurl.com/jsmvekf

Digital Divide

In this golden age of technology, it is easy to believe that everyone has equal access to the Internet.  Unfortunately, that is not the case.  Nine out of ten low income families have internet access at home, but the majority of them are under connected in the fact that they only have internet access through their smart phones.  Additional barriers to connectivity for students is the fact that using the smart phone could lead to overages on data, the phone may be turned off due to lack of payment, or more than one person needs to use the phone.  If by chance a student might have internet access at home, there is often a problem of slow connection.

Many more schools these days are expecting students to use technology at home.  A prime example of this is my two nephews that live in a very small town on the outskirts of Joplin, MO.  Last year, their school district went to a one on one device ratio per student.  Each student was assigned a Chrome book and the community was expected to get internet service if they did not already have it.  As a single mother of two boys, my sister struggled to make this a reality.

Once she got the internet service, there were constant problems with being able to stay connected.  Apparently, this small town did not have the infrastructure in place to provide internet access to that many people.  Therefore, many students suffered agonizing loss of work and many hours of time working on their homework.  I know that there were many occasions that my nephews had to go to McDonald’s to use their free Wi-Fi in order to complete their homework assignments.  The fact that the school district forced many families to get internet service that could not perform properly is still a hot topic of discussion in this little town over a year later.

I don’t know what would be a good solution to make internet access more equitable for every student, but I know that the learning gap will continue to grow if changes aren’t made.  You can read more about this in a couple of articles that address this issue.

The first one is from Mind/Shift and is titled What’s Lost When Kids Are “Under-connected” to the Internet? and it can be found at:

http://tinyurl.com/zyfd28k

Many low income students use only their phone to get online. What are they missing? is the second article is by The Conversation. You can find it at: http://tinyurl.com/zkaos72

Perhaps one day everyone will have the same access to the Internet regardless of their income.

Roller Coaster

This week was Engineering Week, so I wanted to do something fun to tie engineering into the library.  What I came up with was roller coasters. (Actually, I didn’t come up with this idea. Another librarian did.)  I read the book Roller Coaster by Marla Frazee and then discussed some vocabulary terms such as acceleration, speed, velocity, gravity, friction, potential energy and kinetic energy before the students made their own roller coasters.

The students used pipe insulation that had been cut in half length wise as the roller coaster and large marbles to test them. They had to create one with 1 hill, 2 hills and 1 loop. They got so excited when the marble would complete the run, especially with the loop. After testing their roller coasters, we discussed as a group some of the observations they made while completing this task. They did a great job of realizing that the higher they started their track, the greater the force of gravity and more speed their marble would have. They also talked about friction and how it played a part in their marble not wanting to roll. Here are a few examples of what they created.

This week was a fun week. The students really enjoyed this lesson and I believed they learned a lot. I also think this lesson was the students’ favorite so far this year!

Digital Learning

There was a lot going on this week.  We started the week with President’s Day and then Thursday was Digital Learning Day.  I managed to combine the two with a President’s Day Quizizz.

Last week during our Tech Shop, the staff was introduced to quizizz.com. You are able to create quizzes that allow students to compete against each other or you can use quizzes that other people have created and made public. One of the reasons I like this website so much is how easy and user friendly it is.  Having never used it before, I was able to create an account and my quiz within fifteen minutes.  It’s that easy!  Of course, I could have taken more time to make it a little more “fancy” with images, but I just didn’t have the time this week.

The students absolutely loved it!  They were SO excited and engaged the entire time.  Sometimes almost too engaged! They didn’t want stop. They kept asking to do another one. What a way to leave a positive impression of the library.  I promised them that I would try to find other ways throughout the rest of the year that we could incorporate Quizizz into our library lessons.

Hopefully I’ll be able to keep my promise because we did have some technical difficulties and not everyone was able to participate.  I would love to do it again so that all of the students will have the opportunity to participate.