Tag Archives: mieexpert15

Love Your Library Month

Posted on by
2

902b6aeae7d1f91ed6512719ce6f6678

February was Love Your Library Month at our library. I know…it’s not February anymore and I admit I’m pretty late in posting anything about Valentine’s Day. Yet, we had such a great time, that I just had to share. I got all of my ideas from Pinterest. 

The Date with a book was almost too much of a success. I could hardly keep up with wrapping books for kids who wanted to try a book date! Each book  had a rating sheet inside that students could return and be eligible for a prize. The candy guessing jar was very popular. About 80% of our students made a guess. Their guesses made me smile as they  ranged from 1 to 1 million. I had small prizes for the top three students who came the closest to guessing how many candies were in the jar without going over. The students found it fun to mix math and reading in the library.

I’d like to give a big shout out to Jamie Camp,  librarian  (@connect2jamie) at Benfer Elementary School in Klein, Texas. We partnered again this year and our second grade students made bookmarks for each other.

8SHTn

Here’s a Sway illustrating our activities.

The Dream Continues

Posted on by
3

Books to Africa: Year Three

IMG_0113c

In  September 2012 when my students and I began our Books to Africa project,  their dream was to help other kids. They wanted to matter and make a difference by sharing books. They love to read and wanted to make sure that other kids had the chance to be readers just like them, no matter where they live in the world.

1920452_10203078945391640_1596315014_n (2)

 

That was the dream. We didn’t know exactly how things would work out, but we hoped they would. That’s where our partner schools came in. They made the magic happen in ways we couldn’t imagine.

106_4785 Phuti

Who can believe that it’s been three years since we began our Books to Africa program? From the first Dream Team crew to now, each year the program has grown and evolved in different ways. We now have all the K-5 students participating, raising more money, sending more books and ultimately helping our partners in Ghana, Lesotho and South Africa! The first year our goal was to raise $1,000. The second year we totaled about $1800.  I am excited to announce that this year we have raised over…

$2,000

With this money, we will be able to send about 24 boxes of books overseas. I am so proud of the efforts of our students! I know there are some excited children waiting for the boxes to arrive too!

A couple years ago, I was listening to a book on tape and the speaker was talking about planting seeds, except she wasn’t referring to plants, but rather the seeds of ideas. She asked her audience, “What seeds did you plant today?” She explained that often we have no idea how the seeds we have planted have affected others. Her point reminded me of our literacy project and the reading seeds we have planted in different parts of the world.

SAM_1600

When our original team brainstormed the slogan: “Every Child Deserves a Book”  they believed that where you live shouldn’t determine what resources are available to you. Kids here are just like kids in other parts of the world. Books open up a world. They plant a garden of knowledge. They can change the educational course of a child’s life. Here is a video clip from Pula Madibogo Primary School in Sovenga, South Africa. The children wrote a song and recorded it for our students. It’s a great reminder that the actions we take do matter to other people, even when they live on the other side of the world.

1964472_584965494942230_1097720030_n 10716058_584965508275562_1165064827_n

We have had numerous fundraisers since January including Friday Fun Night, Multicultural Night and Lollygrams. Many other people donated money for postage, including a very special group of my friends who don’t even have children at our school. A special shout out to my “Girls Club” friends for your belief that all children should not only have the right to read, but also have the materials they need.

 

A Must Read – The Honest Truth

Posted on by
6

 

coverOh wow! You know when you read a book and you get goosebumps because it’s so great? When you stay up WAY later than you should because you can’t put it down? The Honest Truth is that kind of book! It has star power. This book has that elusive it quality. From page one, I knew deep inside that this book was something truly special. 

I felt this way when I read The One and Only Ivan. I felt it again when I read Wonder and again when I read The Fault in Our Stars (YA novel). This book was a gift that came to me one ordinary afternoon. Judy brought it to me and said, “You have to read it Julie. Josa and I loved it. We think you will too.” So, I took it home and put it to the top of my book pile.

As soon as I had a chance I picked it up and started in. It was love on page one. Mark, the main character, lives in Wenatchee, Washington. He is 12 and has been fighting cancer for a large part of his life. When he finds out that his cancer is back which will most likely mean he will die, he makes the decision to take life into his own hands. He packs a backpack, gets his dog Beau, and runs away to Seattle. This begins a life or death journey for Mark to climb Mt. Rainier with his dog….alone. It’s a quest filled with danger and problems at every turn. I couldn’t put it down. I absolutely had to know what was going to happen to Mark and his dog Beau.

This book spoke to me and pulled me back into the book trailer creative mode. My husband and I even took a drive to Mt. Rainier to take some photos and footage of the mountain. Here is the trailer, made with iMovie.

 

Earlier today, I shared the trailer link with Dan, crossing my fingers that he would like it. I was pretty thrilled when I read that he does! Whew!

twitter

If you love realistic middle grade novels with a heavy dose of action and adventure, then this is a good match for you. Pick it up at your local school/public library or at your favorite bookstore. Dan Gemeinhart, the author, is a teacher-librarian who lives in Wenatchee, Washington. This is his first novel. I sure hope it’s not his last!

 

Love Your Library Month

Posted on by
3

 

Who says February in Seattle is cold, rainy, and dreary. Not in our library!

We are celebrating Love Your Library Month with a little fun!

love library

Go on a Blind Date with a Book – Everyday I put out 5-8 Blind Date books for students to check out. Each book is wrapped and has hints on the outside. Inside, there is a rating sheet where students can read the book and then rate their reading date. They make comments on the cover and how they liked or didn’t like the book. Return rating sheets are eligible for a daily prize.

Candy Guessing Jar – How many candies are in the jar? Combine the library and math and you get a fun guessing contest. Each day I pull a random guess slip from the container and that student wins one of the daily prizes. The Big Prize goes to the student who has the closest guess, without going over. The prize winner will be announced on March 2nd, Dr. Seuss’ birthday!

Why I love My Library – We also have a comment sheet where students can share why they love our library. Again, students who participate may win one of the daily prizes.

Love Your Library Bookmarks – We partnered with Mrs. Camp, the librarian at Benfer Elementary School in Klein, Texas for this activity. Her second grade classes made our students bookmarks and we did the same. Now they are in the mail and traveling to their new homes. This is the second time we have partnered with Mrs. Camp’s classes. Last year we shared poems during Poetry Month. Check out the acrostic poems on their blog.

bell bookmarks

Lollygrams – The Books to Africa club is also selling lollygrams next week. All proceeds will go to purchase postage to send books to our partner schools in Africa.

sample lollygram

If you are looking for ideas you can use in your library check out the dozens of ideas on Pinterest. Nearly every student who has come to the library to participate in one of our contests has also left with a book! It’s a win-win Reading Month!

 

Showcasing Creativity

Posted on by
1

 

I’d like to end the 2014 school year on a super high note by showcasing three students who have been doing some incredibly creative activities at home. It’s one thing to learn how to use a tool. It’s another to take that skill and push the boundaries to make something new and different. These students show creativity, innovation and dedication to their craft.
Meet Kayla

Kayla began coding two weeks ago with the Hour of Code week. She worked through the ice-skating with Anna and Elsa activities on code.org  first.

kayla example

Next she figured out how to create these drawings. Talk about incredible! What impresses me about these pieces is the colorful patterning. They are works of art!

IMG_3963

Meet Kaito
Many of our students participated in the PTSA sponsored art contest this year. The theme was “The world would be a better place if….. ” Kaito decided the world would be a better place if we had a clean earth. Using his Legos, iPad and the Lego stop-motion movie making app, he wrote, set up and filmed this movie. He inspired other students at our school to try creating a stop motion movie too.  Here’s a Clean Earth:

Meet Logan
The last student I would like to feature is the Rubics Cube King. Logan can solve a Rubics cube in record time. Hand him one and before you can say, “How did you do that?” – he is finished and the puzzle is solved. I just found out that he helps other people solve these puzzles by making videos. Thanks Logan for making this understandable!

If you know someone at school that I need to feature because they are doing something on their own time that uses technology or literacy (books), please let me know in a comment! Absolutely NO LAST NAMES!
Happy Holidays! See you in 2015!