Listen. Connect. Empower.

As I was planning for our new student group, Reader Leaders,  the library was gifted $500 by our PTO.  I took this opportunity to give the group their first real-world task of spending it.  We talked about how best to do that.  The group decided to ask their fellow students what they want in our library. They created a google form for them to fill out.  Their survey asked what genres students liked to read and asked if they had any recommendations. Reader Leaders learn to use Google Forms to create their survey. They also created a video to accompany the survey, explaining their request, writing the script themselves, and filming it using green screen. Reader Leaders film their video, explaining their project. The group wrote the script and put some humorous touches on the end. Once the data was collected, we met again to take a look at it and get a sense of what our students want to read. Reader Leaders examine the st...

The Idea I have had a "library jobs" program for several years and students enjoy helping out in our library, but I wanted to raise the bar and offer the students a more active part in our library program and see them leading projects in and around our school. We have a Student Council (I am an advisor) but my issue with Student Council has been that it is a position that is elected (translation - popular vote). I wanted to offer a leadership opportunity for those who might not necessarily be elected and for those who feel a particular affinity towards books, reading, and the library.  Inspired by examples of student groups led by Andy Plemmons , Melanie Roy , and Jason Lewis , I dug until I created the bones of a model that felt just right for my school.  Reader Leaders was born. Recruiting I created a video to get students' attention. The goal of the video was to introduce the program and build interest. The Application Next, students were invited to pic...

In our final week on the topic of "leadership" students were asked to view each other's work and think critically about it.  Students scanned a QR code and viewed all of the completed infographics .  Their job was to read critically and identify one that they agreed with and one that they disagreed with and provide their reasoning. While most students could easily identify a character and defense they agreed with, it was much more challenging for them to find one to disagree with.  The most common "leader" they disagreed with Greg Heffley. Now our project and our elections season is complete.  We read, shared ideas, worked independently or in small groups, wrote, created infographics, and thought critically about them.

Students spent the last two weeks preparing their thoughts and ideas about leadership.  They identified the qualities of good leaders and selected book characters that exemplified these qualities. This week they took their writing and created an infographic about the leadership characteristics of their character. Students used the app Pic Collage to create.  I had students include the following items: ______ has the qualities of a good leader. Quality #1 Quality #2 Quality #3 First name/s Only some of my students had used Pic Collage before, but it is very intuitive and they were very independent.  In 30 minutes I was able to explain the expectations and have them complete this project.  (It was rather tight in 3rd grade, but 4th and 5th graders had no problem getting this done in the allotted timeframe).  Some of my students' work follows: To conclude this project we needed to view each other's ...

We started class this week with a new spin on discussing our reading .  I am noticing that many of the same students are sharing their reading every week.  While this is exciting that they are comfortable sharing, this also means that there are many who are NOT contributing to the conversation.  This week I broke the class into small groups and had each person share something they are reading or something they just read in the small group. When we shared back to the class, I asked for 1 spokesperson from the group to report out a book that someone ELSE in the group shared.  My hope was that this would get them sharing and listening to one another.  I believe it did just that. The leadership conversation continued this week.  We began by looking at the list of leadership qualities we created last week. Now it was time for students to begin the reverse thinking - what character from a book exhibits these leadership qualities?  Students d...

In this election season it would be a shame to let the opportunity pass to talk about voting and voicing your opinion.  However, in THIS election season it would also be a nightmare to discuss politics, so I took a more gentle approach with the subject.  The goal of the class was to identify qualities of a good leader.   We began each class brainstorming what qualities a good leader exemplifies. Next, I read Harold and the Purple Crayon to the class, prompting students to think about what qualities Harold had that demonstrated good leadership.  I explained that I felt that Harold modeled many qualities that good leaders have and let small groups brainstorm these and then share back with the group. Each class now had a list of qualities they believed a good leader should have.  This list will be revisited next class when the assignment is reversed and students then have to find a character that fits the leadership qualities they identified....