Listen. Connect. Empower.

Developing relationships with students and families is my priority. I want them to have what they need from our library, but I also want (and need) them to respect our library and other students and return books so others can borrow them. Lost books are a reality. We lose MANY of them (too many of them) because it isn't something I spend much time or energy dwelling on. My hope is that the "lost" book has found its way into a home and is being loved there. However, this is something that has been increasingly on my mind. This past summer I read Rebeka Barringer's Knowledge Quest article  “How Inclusive and Human-First Circulation Policies & Practices Can Impact a Child’s Relationship with Elementary Library Spaces” (Nov/Dec 2022) and it spoke to me. It made me think about the language used to communicate with families student buy-in (or lack thereof) in the circulation of books I decided on action items for this year to address lost books: Help students underst

When I found this book, I KNEW it would get students' attention.  Any and all things "gross," "weird" or potentially "inappropriate" scream out READ ME! I took this opportunity to purchase it, read it aloud and create a fun activity that would (hopefully) get students' attention (grades 2-5). I chose four animals to feature. Each animal's "behind" had a moment to shine (or block, stink, paralyze, etc). We read and "ewww-ed." Four rear ends that paralyze, communicate, frighten, and block. Then we rated the rump. The book had a 5 emoji rating system, but I modified it so we could have a "four corner" system. I created signs and put them at the corners of our rug. Emojis used to "rate the rumps" Students walked to the emoji rating that best fit their opinion of this rear. Once we took in how the voting landed, we returned to our reading spots and repeated this process for the next rump. Read, rate, repeat!

Solving and creating our own emoji book titles was a creative challenge I first started exploring four years ago. It has evolved over time, and this latest version is the one that makes the most sense to me. Try it out  here ! Student-created emoji book titles (From top left corner clockwise: Magic Ramen, Catstronauts, Tiger Rising, Wings of Fire) I love this activity because It requires creative thinking (to both solve and create more) Students choose how they interact - do they want to solve or create? All the activities are student-generated I was able to use Google tools for all aspects of the project Solving emoji book titles I created an interactive activity which allows them to check the answer.  In this google slide activity, students use the emoji clues to guess the title of the book.  By moving the magnifying glass over the box, the answer is revealed. Creating emoji book titles While this activity engages many of our learners, I wanted to offer an option for students to cre

 While I have done many Mock Caldecotts over the years, I had never done a Sibert Smackdown. This seemed to be the perfect year to introduce this as I focus my time and energy on nonfiction.  As I write this 4 months into the school year, over 50% of read alouds are nonfiction (I am auditing this), and I am about 85% of the way through reorganizing the nonfiction section for easier browsing.  Melissa Stewart's article about nonfiction's image problem resonated with me and inspired me to focus my school year on nonfiction and how I put it in the hands of my students. A group examines their book in preparation to assess it  Reading and thinking about the contenders I chose the theme of “animals” to tie things together (although the “ducks” aren’t exactly alive…)  I wanted to look at different kinds of nonfiction books (without getting too into the weeds) and chose these books for our Smackdown: 2023 Sibert Smackdown contestants I created a series of four questions for students t