Listen. Connect. Empower.

 4th and 5th graders are beginning a new series of lessons where they learn to better use our library catalog. The essential question is  How can I find what I want in the library?  I used a series of puzzles as clues in a call number scavenger hunt to launch the unit. It served as a fun and engaging entry point, and students were able to successfully apply the learning the next week. 4th grade students work through their clue. Ultimately, I want students to be able to  Identify their need or interest  Use their skills to find a book using the catalog  Locate what they want/need In the past, I have found students to be moderately successful using the catalog, but not nearly as successful locating the books they want. I found students frustrated.  I decided to start with the ultimate goal and practice these skills first. After a brief conversation about the different library "neighborhoods" and what we could find there, students broke into teams and began the scavenger hunt. S

This is the final installment of the activities we did in conjunction with our town read,  A Book Feast: Bridging Cultures and Building Community with the Common Language of Food.  Read about the introductory lesson here . Celebrating My Family's Culture With Food: Day 1 When I read this page from Soul Food Sunday by Winsome Bingham, I just knew this was the book I was looking for to use with my 4th and 5th grade students. We were continuing our lesson "Celebrating My Family's Culture With Food."   Granny's words echoed the feeling of the whole unit. Thanks, Granny! Soul Food Sunday became choice #1 I like to give students choice in what they read (even during the lesson portion of our class), so this delicious read became choice #2. Students chose a book to listen to and then moved on to the activity. The Activity The question presented to students was, "What is a food that your family makes or enjoys at a special celebration?" Students could show me i

Every Night Is Pizza Night Our 2022 Community Read began with the book Delicious: Poems Celebrating Street Food Around the World. For more information, read more about it here .   All students in grades 1-5 read this book. The next books and activities were broken down by grade.  Here I share the book and activities for our 1st-3rd graders: Students in grades 1-3 listened to this book Students wrote or drew about the food they would eat every night. Next, students chose how to share their thinking. They could create their food with legos, model magic, or make their drawing talk with ChatterPix. Some students created their food on our Lego wall. Others created their food with Model Magic. Model Magic was a crowd favorite! A student created their food with Model Magic and made it talk with ChatterPix. My takeaways Model Magic was hugely popular. I am finding that the hands-on activities are often the most sought-after. The goal of the ChatterPix videos was to have them explain why every