Listen. Connect. Empower.

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! ...

This lesson was about making a visual representation of our reading selves.  We drew, we laughed, we learned about each other as readers, and started building a reading community.  We did this on a remote day.  *This was developed in conjunction with my brilliant colleagues.* Standards:  AASL: Inquire/Share I.C.1 . Interacting with content presented by others. I decided we needed a theme to tie a disjointed year together and settled on the question:  I spent much of my summer thinking about "identity" but needed a concrete landing place for those big, abstract thoughts.  I wondered what would happen if we thought about "identity" through a reading lens. We read Reading Makes You Feel Good We practiced looking at two options and showing our choice for where we like to read by holding up that number of fingers. Next, we moved on to our directed draw. When we were done drawing, we had a big reveal.  Students were tasked with looking for someone with ...

If you were to pop in on a digital meet I have with students and our music teacher, you might find us going on scavenger hunts or playing Heads Up, but a huge success came last week when I played Bring Your Own Book with our 4th and 5th grade Reader Leaders. This version has been modified for younger audiences. I played this game once before and don't own a copy of it, but the website had free prompts (when you put in your e-mail) and I gave it a whirl.  We had a blast!  (This feels like Apples to Apples with a literary spin). First, I gave all students 30 seconds to go get a book and bring it back. Next, we declared a "judge" who could still participate, but not "win" the round. I read the prompt and we all dove into our books to find a phrase that would fit (or send us into fits of laughter).  45 seconds later we shared what we found and the "judge" gave the winning point to the best line. Examples: Famous last words "Gre...

I was honored and humbled to be interviewed by Amy Hermon for her fabulous podcast School Librarian's United.   Our initial conversations revolved around the topic of nonfiction which is near and dear to my heart. This post is a departure from my traditional blogging of a lesson or a unit that happened in our library, rather it is a compilation of thoughts and activities about nonfiction.  Here we go! How our library supports what is happening in classrooms. And the data to prove it. #msla #tlchat #UAELibrarians pic.twitter.com/37DDP3q4tU — Wendy Garland (@dancelibrarian) January 17, 2020 The #nonfiction section of our library. Can you tell the entire school is reading nonfiction books? Shelves are very empty. What remains is an unorganized disaster. I love it! They are reading! #msla #tlchat pic.twitter.com/NsgI9aKyih — Wendy Garland (@dancelibrarian) January 17, 2020 This was my January.  Nonfiction books were flying off the shelves.  Studen...

I just love it when multiple ideas/concepts come together.  Our coding experience was an example of that this year. We have been celebrating the Hour of Code for the last 7 years.  I love the problem solving and teamwork I see when students code.  However,  I have been struggling with where and how this fits into our library program.  It was feeling like an isolated unit that didn't authentically fit.  I was inspired at #AASL19 by  Ashley Cooksey's  work and how she integrated picture books and coding.  I decided this was the year for change.  I used the month of December to read diverse picture books and problem solve (code). Diverse picture books for coding Wendy Garland's favorite books » Share book reviews and ratings with Wendy, and even join a book club on Goodreads. Why? One of my goals for the year was to audit books chosen to read aloud to stu...