Listen. Connect. Empower.

The crafter and engineer in me LOVES origami. That has rubbed off on my students. Students' love of origami grows and evolves in our library Why origami? It is active! Active nonfiction books guide students through DOING something. It has a different feel from most books that share facts.  It supports literacy - both spatial and the traditional literacy. Origami encourages reading through the visual appeal of the pages - no heavy text is required to read to be successful. Captions or short directions do the trick. Short spurts make students feel successful! Leadership! Student leaders will emerge from the group and become "coaches" for the others. It is often the least likely candidate who will lead these groups.   Paper knows no language barriers. Students can sit side by side and fold together despite the fact that they do not speak the same language. Folding is its own language! It is practically FREE! Students can borrow a book and grab a stack of paper to take home a...

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 s...

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 ...

How can we see ourselves and learn about others in the books we read? To answer this question, my 3rd graders and I went on a multi-day journey about how books can be mirrors and windows.  Standards: AASL: Include/Create II.B.1 Interacting with learners who reflect a range of perspectives. Social Justice Standards: 7. Students will develop language and knowledge to accurately and respectfully describe how people (including themselves) are both similar to and different from each other and others in their identity groups. Day 1: Books as mirrors I introduced the concept of "mirror" books.  We read and made the "me too" signal when we had mirror moments like, "my best friend moved away too."  Day 2: Books as windows I introduced the concept of window books. We read and drew "windows" in the air when we had a window moment like, "they have mud for walls and I do not."   Day 3: Applying the thinking We applied our learning to the books we ha...

I enter the 2020-2021 school year in a very different place. I am feeling like a new teacher again. Oh wait, that's right. I am! This is new to us all. I have read passionate letters and tweets expressing the anxiety and concerns of many educators. Here, I decided to do something different. Here, I air my concerns, talk myself off the proverbial cliff, and share my "plan" for surviving another turbulent pandemic season. Why?  These thoughts have cluttered my brain for months.  Then, they made it to a notebook in colored marker where they became a little more real.  Posting them here makes them REALLY come alive and challenges me to hold myself accountable.  (You are now officially my accountability partner).  Here we go. Worried me: Planning .   It runs in my family (just ask my sister).  However, I can't plan for the unknown.  I don't know what teaching will look like or how I will be able to develop relationships with students through a m...

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...

Our entire school is focused on being thankful this month.  Daily announcements suggest ways we can express this in our school and recognize students who are exemplifying this.  The gym and wellness teacher is playing games and starting conversations about what this looks like.  We are showing what we are thankful for in our library classes. We began our library class by reading  We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga.    We practiced saying the Cherokee word and every time we saw it in the text, students read it with me. I shared with students my reasoning for choosing this book.   The author's note explained how the Cherokee culture puts great value on being grateful all throughout the year and not just on one Thursday in November.  I wanted to see what another form of giving thanks would look like in another culture.  Students were intrigued with the Cherokee language (how it sounds and how it is written).  Following the reading...