Hour of Code Week

My first love is BOOKS and READING, but my second is technology, coding, and computer science. I always have a blast teaching students the aspects of coding and watching them problem solve. 

This year, I decided to focus on robots for Hour of Code week, so every grade level had a challenge using the Ozobots. 

5th Grade

5th grade had my favorite challenge of the week! We use ozoblockly.com to program our Ozobots. If you have Ozobot robots and have never used Ozoblockly, you should really check it out! Each group was given an Ozobot, and logged into the website. Using the program, students were given the challenge to choreograph a dance for their Ozobot to dance to Feliz Navidad. 

They had a blast, and there was a lot of collaboration and problem solving going on. The students learned that the Ozobot would not blink colors and move at the same time, so they had to create loops within their program. Lots of learning going on this day! 

4th Grade 

With the fourth graders, I integrated Geography into our coding lesson. Each student recieved a map of the world, then students labeled the continents. It was a great review of the 7 continents. They drew their code to have OzoClause 😊 to visit all the countries. We added some flying tricks in as well. 

2nd and 3rd Grade

For the second and third grade class, we had a Grinch challenge. Students had to fill in the codes for Ozobot, or OzoClause to visit the houses and avoid the Grinch. We also had to be sure to code the robot to stop for milk and cookies. 

Kinder and 1st Grades

This is the first time the kinders used the Ozobot, so we did simply line codes. They had so much fun making their Ozobot move from one end to the other. Then we made the Ozobot go slow, then fast. The giggles in the room were contagious!

Most of the first graders had used the Ozobots the previous year, so we had a more complex activity. First graders had to use turn left or turn right codes to get the robot to the dog. We had fun, made some mistakes, and learned together. 

The Hour of Code is always one of my favorite weeks, even though the students on my campus code most the year. This week is a fun week where I get to see everyone in the library and learn coding.

Speedy September in the Library

The month of September has come and gone, and what a whirlwind it was! We started the school year with construction throughout our entire building. Construction is still going on, and I can't wait to see what our school will look like once all the construction is finished. I know it will be amazing!

CyberSafety

I spent quite a bit of time in September collaborating with the 5th grade teachers on the best ways to teach cybersafety and digital citizenship. With the increase in technology use, especially the ability to add comments to Google Classroom, we thought it would be a good idea to start off the school year with discussion. 

The first week we talked about bullying and cyberbullying with the students. I use a PearDeck presentation and placed several discussion points for the 5th graders. They were able to add their thoughts on several different situations, and see others statements as well. 

The following week, we decided to look at the positive aspect of the internet and how we can control our digital footprint. Students traced their foot, then wrote/drew what they want to have in their digital footprint.

Book cover reveal

One of my favorite parts of my job is getting our students connected to people around the world. We had an amazing opportunity to connect with the author of one of my students' favorite series, FENWAY & HATTIE. The author, Victoria J. Coe, hosted a Google Hangout, and we were one of the schools chosen to participate. Victoria J. Coe talked about her series, then revealed the cover of her new book coming out in 2019. We cannot wait to read the 4th book in the series!! After she talked about the upcoming book, our students were able to ask her questions. It was an amazing morning for our second graders.

Dot Day

One of my favorite days of the year is Dot Day, which falls around September 15th each year. It all started with the book THE DOT by Peter H. Reynolds. If you have not read this book to your students, do it today! It has an amazing message of how we can make our mark on the world, no matter how insignificant we think our talent is.

The art teacher and I collaborate on this day every year, and we come up with grade level activities. She brings her art classes to the library where I read the book, discuss the theme, and then students participate in activities having the do with dots. 

Start with a dot and see where it takes you.

Our first graders received a framed page where they started with a dot anywhere on their page. Then, they changed their simple dot into their own creation. We had dinosaurs, snowmen, cars, flowers, and ducks just to name a few! 

Every student in the school was given a dot to decorate any way they wanted. Thanks to some amazing parent volunteers, the dots were all put together into a school wide collaborative art creation that is now hanging in the library for all to see! Isn't it BEAUTIFUL!

I can't say no to a fun Breakout EDU activity! I found a Breakout that was based on THE DOT, so I set it up in the library for our 4th grade classes. We did 4 Breakout sessions in just 4 hours! MAN was I TIRED!!

In the hallway, we hung up another school wide collaborative art project. Each student in the school received a dot sticker to place anywhere on the poster. This project was based on Yayoi Kusama's Obliteration Room. The kids had so much fun with this! 

Whew! September was busy busy busy!! Now we are into October, and I just recieved 7 boxes of brand new books. I cannot wait to get these books ready, and I know I have some students that are patiently waiting to get their hands on these new books. 

Many more activities are coming in October, so stay tuned!! 

STAAR Review Stations

Our State Assessments are coming up this week for 5th grade, and what better way to help teachers on your campus then to help with a STAAR review.  I met with the 5th grade teachers to see which skills needed to be reviewed before the test. While meeting and looking over the data, it seemed as though the students needed making inferences, theme, main idea, summary, and genre. We had noticed that one of the classes also needed a reminder to look at charts, tables, captions, etc... in order to find answers as well.

Stations 

I had these super cute green baskets, and I've been waiting to use them! After finding the materials for the different stations, I put everything needed inside the baskets. Each table was labeled with a number, and students had a recording sheet. Everything was set up when the class came in.

At this station, students sorted stories by genre. 

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This was my favorite station. Students had to tell the difference
between main idea and the theme of a story.

At this station, students had to first sort nonfiction text features
by their name and definition. Then they had to use the pictures to
answer the questions. This will hopefully remind them to look at charts,
tables, and captions to find answers as well as the text.

Students moved through the stations while the teacher and I helped out and monitored. They really needed a second day to finish up, but I was leaving for TLA conference the next day. Next year, we plan on having this two days in a row so students can stay at each station longer.

Nonfiction with 4th and 5th grade

A couple of weeks ago, I was sitting in a vertical planning meeting with 4th and 5th grade teachers. They mentioned that they needed to do more with nonfiction.  That is where I come in! We started planning immediately.

4th Grade

The 4th grade teacher mentioned that her students were specifically having trouble making inferences with nonfiction text. We scheduled a day/time for each of her classes, then started planning our lesson. We decided to create a Nearpod lesson, which is an edtech tool where teachers can create interactive lessons. The lesson shows on the students device screens (we use Chromebooks) and the teacher can give immediate feedback. 

I was in charge of finding the nonfiction passages and the questions. We reviewed making inferences, then we practiced together. We used text clues + schema to come up with our inference. 

I made a note taking sheet for students to fill out while they found clues in the story, plus writing down their schema. 

 

At the end of the lesson was a short quiz that students completed. I was able to send them their scores immediately after completion, and students could see what they answered correctly or missed. 

5th Grade

The 5th grade ELA teacher mentioned that she needed her students to have a better understanding of:

• the different types of nonfiction 
• text features
• purposes of text features

I decided to pull books and magazines to allow the students to have examples in their hands. We reviewed the types of nonfiction, and in groups, students sorted out their books/magazines into types of nonfiction. We discussed features of biography, procedural, magazines, newspapers, and informative texts. 

Then, I showed examples of types of text features commonly found in nonfiction texts. This part was a review, but then we went deeper and discussed how each type of text feature helps us comprehend the nonfiction text. 

The final piece was for the students to find examples of text features in their books and magazines at their tables. They added the examples to a collaborative board in nearpod, but had to include specifics on how that text feature helped them as readers. This was the hardest part, and many students had to go back and add specifics. In the end, they got it! 

Collaboration

If you aren't already collaborating with your teachers, please start! Start small, and your collaborative partnerships will grow. 

Start off by asking to sit in on a PLC or a vertical planning meeting. These are perfect places to offer to help out on a skill that the classroom teachers mention their students need more help. 

Co-teaching and collaborating with the teachers have done wonders for our students on my campus. They have 2 teachers in a lesson to help them, monitor, and teach them.  

Powered Up Week #poweredlibraries

This past week, October 1-7, was Power Up Week, a week where libraries across the state showcase innovation and dynamic leadership. I was excited to participate this year and showcase some of my programs this year on twitter. Powered Libraries even used one of my pictures and tweets in one of their daily highlights! 

Advocacy Monday

I try my best to advocate for my library everyday! This year I sent out a smore showcasing everything that had happened in the library in the month of September. 

This was sent to my administrators, as well as the teachers on campus. This helps them to see what is done with all the grade levels, not just what I do with their classes. 

I also started the week with a collaboration project with the 5th grade teacher. They have been studying the US Regions, so she brought them in for a quick lesson on citing sources and using Google Drawings to create a poster and share with the group. Since they used Google, students were able to work on this at home together, using the comment section to collaborate. 

Tinkering Tuesday

Tuesday was probably my favorite day of the week. Kindergarten was introduced to the MakerSpace materials, which I will pull out once a month for them. It was the quietest they have ever been in the library, they were so involved in their building. 

Web Widget Wednesday 

Wednesday was another collaborative project, this time with the 4th grade ELA teacher. We worked together to review the genres, and for Wednesdays lesson I created a Kahoot for the kids to play.  Feel free to use this kahoot in your class/library to review types of genre. 

 

The best part of collaborative teaching and my flexible schedule, is both myself and the teacher work together to ensure that the students understand. The teacher tells me the skill they want and the end product, and we plan together. I created the Kahoot and she went over the concept and did the checking for understanding. 

Powerful Partnership Thursday 

This year, I decided to participate with the second graders in the 2017 Global Read Aloud. We are reading books by Mem Fox and connecting with other classes around the world. This week, we read KOALA LOU by Mem Fox, then looked at Australia on a map to see how far away it is.

We connected with other classes through a padlet created by Mrs. Ockey to connect with others. We added our favorite parts of the story, and answered some of the questions asked by other 2nd graders. We also looked at where the other students were from on the map compared to where we live. 

The students thought it was fabulous that other kids their age around the world were reading the same book. 

Another way we partnered up this year was with the author/storyteller, Mary Brooke Casad. Even though it took place on Friday, it still shows our partnerships with people in our community. Mary Brooke Casad is the author of the books Bluebonnet the Armadillo, and she lives not far from our city. She came to speak with our 4th graders this year about her stories and how she became a writer. Her message to the students is to "Keep reading and keep writing!" 

 

  

It was a fabulous week, and I can't wait to see what our school will do next year for Powered Up Week!! If you did not participate this year, I highly encourage you to get out and advocate for your library and all you can do for your school!

Cyber Safety Smart

Our school district has a week every year where we discuss Cyber Safety with the students. I highly believe that this discussion should happen year round, not just during this designated week. This year, as every year in the past, I partnered up with the teachers to teach Cyber Safety to our amazing scholars. Yes, even with our kindergarten students! I am a firm believer that instead of blocking everything, schools should be teaching students to be responsible users of the internet.  Some things do need to be blocked, but instead of banning all devices and all website outside of the programs purchased by the district, we should instruct our students to properly use social media.

Kinder and 1st grades

YES! Even kinder needs to learn how to be safe on the web. We talk about "stranger danger" all the time, but shouldn't we be talking about strangers on our computers, tablets, and iPhones. OK, so most 5 and 6 year olds don't have a phone, but how many play games on the computer? Many games now days have a way to connect with another player in order to complete missions. Even our youngest students need to know that the person on the other side may not be how they say they are. 

With my younger students, we talked about Going Places Safely online, and I used a lesson from CommonSenseMedia. In this lesson students were able to:

• discover that the Internet can be used to visit far-away places and learn new things.
• compare how staying safe online is similar to staying safe in the real world.
• explain rules for traveling safely on the Internet.

If you have not looked through the lessons on Common Sense Education, you need to browse and find a lesson that fits your students.

2nd Grade

Second graders learned what is safe and not safe to share on the internet when chatting with others online. Many of our second graders mentioned that they play games online, such as Minecraft, Rodeblox, and Wizard 101, where they can chat with other players and complete missions with other players. 

Many children at this age don't really think about the dangers of the other player possibly not being another kid their age. So, we watched a fun video with Timon and Pumba about what information we can and cannot share with other players online. 

After the video, each group completed a sort of what is safe and what is unsafe to share online. 

3rd Grade

Third grade is the year that students really start using Google for Education and Google Classroom often. Students are able to communicate and collaborate, even from home, on assignments using Google. So, I felt it important to go over the power of words online and how it can affect us emotionally. Even as adults, I feel like we forget that an actual person with feelings is on the other side of the computer. 

I adapted my lesson from Common Sense Education called "Power of Words", but I did tweak it a little to fit the time I had with the class and to fit what the teacher and I felt was best for the students.

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4th Grade

Fourth grade had a higher level version of the lesson that I did with second grade. We discussed what is safe and unsafe to share online. A few 4th grade students are learning about social media and are starting to post things online. So, I let Professor Garfield talk with them about our digital footprints.

5th Grade

I was blown away when talking with the 5th graders at how much they do not understand about being safe online, but how much they are sharing online! When the teacher and I talked with them about conversations being deleted, they truly believed that if they deleted it, it was gone. They have a lot to learn! 

With 5th grade, we talked about the difference between Bullying and Cyberbullying. There were some great conversations going on in the groups. A few of them didn't take it seriously at first, but did at the end. This just confirms that these lessons need to go on all year long, not just during this designated week.

After we went over the lesson and watched the video, students got into groups and created a Venn Diagram comparing/contrasting Cyberbullying and Bullying. 

Poster Contest

Next week the posters will be judged and a school winner will be named!! I'm hoping for the district winner this year!! 

5th Grade U.S. Regions Research

The third week of school is almost complete, and every 2nd - 5th grader knows how to do self-checkout. I still need to review looking for a book in the catalog and placing a book on hold with my younger students.  

Flexible schedule has now started in the Hillside library, and I love it! Today, the fifth grade class came to complete research for a project over U.S. Regions. I had the atlases laying out at each table, as well as the nonfiction books about the states. 

The students had to use the atlas to determine which U.S. states were a part of the region they chose. Students got into groups to find information about major cities, landscape, climate, and produce from each region. 

I enjoyed being a part of this lesson with the 5th grade teacher. Having a flexible schedule and collaborating with the classroom teacher brings about numerous opportunities for mini-lessons. I was able to do a mini-lesson over finding reliable sources and using other sources than Google with a group of students at the computers. Another group of students were having trouble locating information about types of produce from particular regions, so I did a mini-lesson on using a map key.

The students loved searching for the answers to their questions in the library. It was great seeing the excitement on their faces. I cannot wait to see their final products.

My flexible schedule adventure will continue next week with 4th grade genre lessons and collaborating with the art teacher for Dot Day. Stay tuned and follow along with me this year.