Batman Returns...His Books

After learning that Bat Girl was a librarian, I decided to change the name of my "dwelling" to the Bat Cave.  For Halloween, I dressed up as Bat Girl.  Pinterest has inspired the bulletin board pictured below.  It has caught the eye of students and teachers.

Data! Data! Data! Data! Batman!

I quickly put up the data because I didn't want it to look unfinished.  I plan to display an updated infographic each month. There are some things that I need to figure out first.

Where in the World Have We Been?

Our third graders read Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown.  We talked about what we would do and where we would go if we were flat.  I showed them some of the adventures of Flat Stanley that other students were able to witness.  The students decided to make flat versions of themselves, using the Cricut Everyday Paper Doll cartridge.  The students named the paper dolls after themselves. We had Flat Danny, Flat Amy, Flat Joey, etc.  They turned out so cute.

Playing With Paper Dolls

Flat Friends

Some students were able to get addresses of family members or friends.  We found addresses for some famous people. I also enlisted the help of some of my family and friends for the students who did not get addresses.   

This Flat Friend visited the White House.

We all got treats from Sweden.

The President told students that reading, writing, and math are important in his job and in other jobs.  He encouraged them to be curious and learn as much as they can.  We were thrilled to get a sealed letter from the President.

A friend of mine who lives in Sweden, sent our Flat Friend back in a big box along with postcards, flags, candy, chocolate, kronor, and other souvenirs. She also emailed me a slide show.  We learned that the students learn English in elementary school.  We also learned that a krona is equal to 15 cents.  Each student got a krona, some candy and chocolate.  I wanted to keep the chocolate for myself.  Our Flat Friend was not dressed for the weather in Sweden, so my friend made her a scarf.  Next year, we will choose our destination and then dress the paper dolls for the climate.

Some other places that our Flat Friends have been are; California, Arizona, Charlotte, NC (Home of the Carolina Panthers), Texas, Georgia, and Japan.  My friend in California took our Flat Friend to some exciting places. We got maps, brochures, and tons of pictures from California. He even got a chance to meet a Flat Stanley.  My sister took a Flat Friend with her to a real estate convention in Arizona.  He was very popular at the convention.  He was photographed with a group of super heroes and some "Things".  There was a request for our Flat Friend to start his own blog.  Another Flat Friend went to visit Cam Newton in Charlotte.  He returned with a letter, an autographed picture, and a fan card.  Our Friend who visited Japan, came back with postcards.  Our Friends who visited Texas and Georgia came back with pictures and post cards. We are still waiting for a few friends to return from West Virginia, Florida, Charlotte, and Belgium. I will be taking two Flat Friends with me to Disney World.

We will make a scrapbook after all of our Flat Friends return, and have a chance to be displayed. 

Making Our Mark

This was my first Dot Day.  The students were excited to share ideas about how they could "make a mark" and express themselves creatively.  The art teacher and I collaborated for Dot Day activities. Next year, I hope the PE teacher, music teacher, and guidance counselor will join us.   

Certificate Outside the Art Room

In art, students experimented with primary and secondary colors, negative space, and teamwork.  Their artwork is displayed all around the school.  Students were able to tell me about some of the techniques they used during art. The art teacher read Ish to some of her classes.  One student was able to make a connection about the boy at the end of The Dot.  Since I haven't read Ish, I was glad that she had the opportunity to share her observation.

Teamwork

Negative Space

In the media center, students listened to the story, The Dot and Press Here.  With the help of the app colAR Mix 3D, students colored a dot and watched it spin and bounce around.  Two classes made word clouds, listing ways they can make a mark.  It really clicked with one class when I shared the display board of the Eagle Scout's Project. One student who has been attending our school for five years finally realized the change that took place this summer. He wants to become a Boy Scout so he can make improvements around the school.  One class used Wixie to make their own version of the book, Press Here.  The students had to use creative thinking to make the dots interactive for the reader. 

I love this border.

I am looking forward to celebrating International Dot Day in 2014. Let's Make a Mark every day.

I See You Checking Me Out

The first few weeks of school have been a little hectic.  Not only did I start another semester of grad school, I had to do lesson plans, set up AR, get student numbers ready, distribute Chromebooks and Nooks, set the timers for Chromebooks and Nooks, and get the library ready for students and visitors.  I'm sure that I left out something. 

The PAWSibilities are Endless

I actually enjoyed getting the library ready.  Our school hosted a PBIS meeting the second week of school.  One of the first bulletin boards that I finished was my PBIS board. The Bulldog was cut with the School Spirit Cricut cartridge.  The letters and scalloped border were cut with the Schoolbook Plantin cartridge.  You can't see it in this picture, but I added texture to the wide border with an embossing folder on the Cuttlebug.  The paws were cut with our Ellison Cutter.  It is time to replace the cutter.  The pads are worn, and we can't find new pads.

Putting speech bubbles on some of the books proved to be a "selling" feature.  I am trying to get the students to see that we have other books besides Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Captain Underpants, Clifford, and Dr. Seuss. You know that feeling when a student leaves empty handed because there are no more copies of the series he or she has become "comfortable" with.  I am thrilled that the students are excited about reading the latest antics of "Pigeon", "Pete", Greg Heffley, and Skippyjon Jones, but I really want them to step outside their comfort zone.

I See You Checking Me Out

This is the Place for Characters

I know!  Why did I feature these characters on a bulletin board if I want the students to check out other books?  For one, I had no idea that the students missed their old friends so much.  I thought, okay, they are older, so their tastes have changed.  NOT!  Third graders are checking out the same "Pigeon" books that they checked out in second grade.  I even directed them to the new Mo Willems books that were added this summer. Another reason is that it will be easier to make connections when we talk about story elements.  I plan to do another bulletin board nearby, titled, Reading Takes Us Places or Oh! The Places You'll Go, for setting.  The main reason, I love these characters.  When I saw Primary Possibilities' door decor on Pinterest, I had to use the idea.

Word Clouds replaced the Dewey Decimal Posters in the nonfiction section.  I had fun searching for props for this section of the media center.  Some came from my past life as a first grade teacher.  Others were found while I was cleaning and organizing the media center, this summer.  A few of the dinosaurs just returned to their former residency.  I was surprised when I told a student that the book she was looking for, was on the shelf below the microscope, and she said, "What is a microscope?"  I am so glad that we are setting up a science lab in an empty classroom.

I am having a difficult time with the fiction section.  I will add genre posters. I plan to get the students to help make the genre posters.  Other than the speech bubbles on the books, I can't find my Mojo for this area.  Maybe a book club or classroom book/author study group could help me with the fiction area.

The art teacher and I are collaborating for International Dot Day.  I will post about our activities soon. Here is one the most fun activities that we did during library lessons.  You can download the app and coloring sheet at colAR app.  It's free.  It works on iPads, iPhones, and Droids.  I could not get it to work on the iPod.

Co-Teacher

Cari at The Centered School Library made me think, "How can my library space be used more effectively?"  I had several windows that I covered because I didn't like looking into a storage room, my office, and a kitchenette.  I didn't know what I was going to display on these make-shift bulletin boards. Cari's post put things into perspective for me.  My library space is my "co-teacher" and should be used in a way that students will benefit.

Super 3 Posters

Dewey Decimal Posters

There is one cork bulletin board that I decided to use as a theme board. The Library Vocabulary board will be interactive. Students will write definitions for library vocabulary, in their own words.  I will choose a few to display.  PBIS board also includes our matrix for expected behaviors in different areas of the school.  It will not change throughout the year.   

Letters from a 1st Grade Class after reading, The Librarian From the Black Lagoon, in their class

Since this picture was taken, the matrix was added.

Some Daily 5 components will be used in the library.  Students are already looking for "Good Fit" books. Once I have met with each class, I will display the "Good Fit" anchor chart near the circulation desk.

I'm going to move this Genre set to a more prominent spot.  Right now the set is in a corner.  I will put a fun quote in it's place.

I am anxious to find out how others are using their library spaces as a co-teacher.

 

Visit The Centered School Library

Moving In

Thanks to my niece and her friend, we were able to move my junk treasures to the media center. No need for Zumba when you're moving six years worth of teaching materials to another part of campus. We really got a work-out.

This week I have been busy unpacking and setting up the media center.  I never realized there were so many little closets and storage areas in the media center.  The school Cricut and laminator have been hot - figuratively and literally. I was able to take several "before" pictures, but only one "after" picture.  The custodian had to put me out. Time sure does fly when you're having fun.

I didn't like looking at the back of the bookcase through the window.  With bulletin board paper and my Locker Talk Cricut cartridge, it looks better. I'll add a quote or use it to display rules. The poster will stay for now. 

This unused Room is the new home for the Cricut and Book Hospital.

This is one of the small closets.  Right now it holds some outdated technology and decorations. It will probably be used for decorations and props, once the techy stuff is removed.  There's another small closet across the room, which is mostly used to store Book Fair set-up items.

I am in the process of re-doing the bulletin board and windows on this wall. Instead of doing a theme, I'm using blues, yellow, and green dots to decorate.  It will be easier to work polka-dots into the Book Fair themes.  The PBIS window will remain, but with my polka-dot color theme.  The "Library Star" board will be used for an "Author Study" or theme.

I will only work one or two days next week.  I would like to take a mini vacation before the teacher work days start.

B For Beekeeper

Whenever we read, Busy Buzzy Bee in our Harcourt Trophies reading series, we try to get someone to talk to our first graders about beekeeping.  This year we were very fortunate to get Bill Waddell to bring one of his hives, his beekeeping suit, a smoker, and a sample of honey.  The students were able to handle and observe a honeycomb.  Two students were able to try on the beekeeper bonnet.  All of the students were able to sample some honey.  They were fascinated by all the bees in one hive, and tried to find the queen.  They were more amazed to know that Mr. Waddell only brought a small portion of his bees with him.  He shared a YouTube video in which he was featured; Bee For Beekeeper.  There are two parts to the video.  Check it out.

Mr. Waddell goes all over the world with his bees. He has been to the Dominican Republic and Venezuela.  I ran into him at the NC Zoo back in the fall.  I bought two bottles of honey from him. When I realized that he lived in the city next to me, I asked if he knew a former neighbor who was also a beekeeper.  Throughout our conversation, I realized that he and my neighbor came to another school where I was an assistant.  He said that he would be happy to come talk to our first graders. 

Our first grade classes wrote about worker bees and queen bees.  Their writings are displayed in the hallway.  I think I'll add some of the pictures that were taken during our guest speaker's visit to the display.

I Speak For the Trees

This week has been full of Seuss.  We were able to integrate writing, math, social studies, and science with Dr. Seuss books. 

Dr. Seuss Math

Some of my most reluctant students showed off their writing skills with their versions of some Dr. Seuss stories.  A favorite was There's Wocket in My Pocket.  Thanks to Rachelle at What the Teacher Wants, my students were able to imagine a pocket creature that rhymes with pocket.  Students also wrote about their favorite Dr. Seuss books.  Our Thing One and Thing Two Glyphs were too cute.  It was my fault that they glued the hair on wrong, but they are still too cute.  Kimberly Edgerton's directions for the Dr. Seuss glyph were clear, but I failed to make a sample before the students did the activity. The students learned that a glyph is a display of collected information in the form of a picture instead of a graph.

We used One Fish! Two Fish! Red Fish! Blue Fish! to graph Gold Fish Crackers and to do nonstandard measurement.  We also used Oh, the Places You'll Go! for nonstandard measurement.  Marlana at Li'l Country Kindergarten provided a 100 chart picture of The Cat in the Hat.

Using toy cars to measure our paths

During our discussions, we made connections with modes of transportation when we read Oh, the Places You'll Go!  After watching a Sneetches video, students made a text-to-text and text-to-world connection with Freedom on the Menu and the civil rights movement.  I usually save The Lorax for Earth Day, but since I was The Lorax, and the movie started today, I just had to read it.  Thing One was quick to make a connection about how we need to take care of the Earth by planting trees and stop being wasteful.  I shared that the reason I choose to dress up as The Lorax is because my birthday is on Earth Day.

I Speak for the Trees

There was so much to do, that we weren't able to finish our Oobleck.  The students who were able to make Oobleck today, also had to mix colors to make the color green.  That was not intended to be part of the lesson, but the students were able to witness some problem-solving in action. I might as well get a big bottle of green food coloring so we can finish this project and be ready for St. Patrick's Day.

The whole school celebrated Dr. Seuss's birthday by dressing up and decorating bulletin boards.  Teachers switched classes and read a Dr. Seuss book. I enjoyed visiting kindergarten, because I was able to see who might be in my room next year. 

No Turkeys Here

After seeing the cute disguised turkeys on other blogs, I finally gave it a try.  To get the students thinking of ideas, I read Piggie Pie by Margie Palatini and T'was the Night Before Thanksgiving by Dav Pilkey.  Then I sent a letter home explaining that the students wanted to save Tom Turkey from being eaten for Thanksgiving.

Unfinished Bulletin Board

I had so many favorites for different reasons.  The most resourceful non-turkey was made from things found in the yard; gravels, leaves, and seeds.

Most Resourceful

The most original non-turkey was Sponge Bob.  I don't care for Sponge Bob, and the students know this.  Leave it to my students turn a turkey into an irritating sea sponge. LOL!

Most Original

The cutest non-turkey was Santa Turkey.

Cutest

I think one of my students was still in the spirit of Veterans Day.  The most patriotic non-turkey was a soldier. We had just finished our Veterans Day unit and participated in our annual Veterans Day Parade.

Most Patriotic

Finally, my all-time favorite was the Carolina Tarheel non-turkey.  I don't know how they did it, but it looks like a Carolina napkin was folded into a jersey to fit Tom perfectly.  All Tom needs now are the Carolina pom-poms that decorate our ActivBoard.

#1 Fan

Rock Stars,  Princesses, and Spider Man will also be safe.