"I Am Drums" Book Review

Sam isn't like other girls. All day long Sam taps out rhythms and hears drums in her head. Her deepest desire is to make jazz band next year until she finds out that the music program at her school is being cut. There will be no jazz band. There will be no drums for her to play. How will she get her own drum set? Who will teach her to play? This book centers around Sam fighting through all odds to persevere and make her dreams a reality. 

I enjoyed this book because I think we all need to be reminded to keep moving forward. Sam shows the world that stereotypes are unfounded and she can do anything she sets her mind to. It also shows that not every child or person fits neatly into one box. As a teacher, this touched on the things I believe. Every child is unique and has an unbelievable capacity to create their own unique place in our world.

"Steelheart" Book Review

Imagine a world in which superheroes not only exist, but they are part of your every day life. Now imagine that our typical idea of a superhero is flawed. These mean and women are power hungry and greedy. They use their powers to subject the "human" population to their dominion. That's exactly the trip you go on as you read "Steelheart." The world is turned upside down one day as people start exhibiting powers and use those powers to control everyone else and start territory wars. They are seemingly invincible so most of the population is too scared to fight back. Except for the Reckoners. The Reckoners have set out to bring down superheroes and fight back in secret. David wants in to get revenge for his father and to kill Steelheart. 

I really enjoyed this book because of its different take on superheroes. We put this idea of a superhero on a pedestal, but Brandon Sanderson knocks that pedestal down and reimagines the stereotype. I can see kids who love dark books falling for this story. The one thing I didn't love was that there was minor language so putting it in the elementary library might be a stretch. Overall, the language wasn't bad though. I definitely want to read the next installments in the series. 

"Butter" Review

Butter is a teenage boy who is obese and seemingly unconcerned with his health and appearance. His weight overshadows his incredible musical ability and his interest in the most popular at girl at school. As he deals with the tense relationships with his parents and ridicule from other students, Butter decides he is going to bring in the new year by eating himself to death. He posts his plan online and overnight his blog becomes the thing to talk about. Other people even start befriending him and encouraging his plan. New Years Eve comes and what happens now?

I randomly found this book in my public library's online shelf. I have to say when I read the synopsis I thought it was the oddest thing in the world so I borrowed it. It's definitely original in my opinion. I thought it was an interesting way to look at the pressure kids feel and even create. It may surprise some that the author had other characters encouraging Butter, but I truly believe something similar could and is happening. This opens up not only the topics of bullying, but also depression, eating disorders, and taking cries for help seriously. This book is for mature readers who can understand the content and the major themes behind it. 

Character Education

This year we are trying to focus more one character education each month as we talk about the word of the month. For September our kiddos are working on Respect. For my younger kiddos I read aloud:

As we went through we talked about character traits and giving evidence for how we knew they were respectful or disrespectful. Unfortunately, neither of these books were housed in our library, but both are read aloud on YouTube videos. They are now on my next order so I'll have them on hand. 

We also watched the "For the Birds" short by Pixar. As we watched we gave thumbs up when we saw respectful behavior and thumbs down when we saw disrespectful behavior. At the end we talked about what the birds should have done instead. 

Fourth grade is doing something a little different. Since we have a new green screen, they are creating videos that show respect and disrespect. Those vodeos will be published on the school website. We practiced this week, film next week, and having a viewing of all the videos the final week. 

"The Monster at the End of this Book" for the Win

 

I don't know about you guys, but this was one of my favorite books growing up. Grover trying to tie the pages and build brick walls to stop us from getting to the end was hysterically funny. The words that took up half the page just begged to be shouted. It's a staple of any library, either public or at home.

A few weeks ago I read this aloud to my first and second graders and it's still magical. My kiddos were floored and covered their ears when I shouted Grover's frustrated statements. They giggled when I pleaded that we not turn the pages. They even begged to hear it two and three times. I could have read it for the entire class period and they probably would have kept collapsing in giggles at poor Grover. 

If you don't have this book in your bag of tricks you have to find a copy. 

Card Catalog Races

I'm going to state right now that this was in no way my idea.

Another teacher told me about a game her library teacher used to play when she was a kid and I took the idea. The previous teacher took two cards from the card catalog, handed them to two kids and they raced to find their book first. I thought this was fabulous (ABC order anyone?) because it teaches students to find books within the library and is a natural precursor or extension to a lesson on the online card catalog. 

Well we don't have a physical card catalog anymore so I made these cards for students to use. That have the title and call number. 

I've done this with third through sixth grade kids and they love it. Even my kids who think they are too cool for everything were begging for another turn or to race their friend. It also means my students actually want to learn where different books are in the library and how to navigate it. I get them to learn what I want and they enjoy it. Everyone wins.

"Vengeance Road" Book Review

"Vengeance Road" is a young adult western. The protagonist and her father live quietly on a farm until their peaceful life is destroyed by a gang of men looking for something. Although she isn't sure what they want, she begins a quest to find out the secrets her father has been hiding and to take revenge on the men who killed him. She isn't prepared for the secrets that unfold on her ride through the west.

I love watching westerns as I grew up on John Wayne movies, however, western books haven't always appealed to me. Specifically, this book wasn't my favorite because there was a large focus on the romance that unfolds as they cross the terrain and encounter dangerous situations. I thought it was a little far-fetched and over done. The plot twists were intriguing though and I wanted to know what was happening. There is some language which would make me nervous about putting it in some school libraries and it is for a more mature audience. 

Art Gallery

Our library currently has LOTS of white walls. I abhor the color white. That being said, I don't want to just throw junk on the wall. Luckily my mother  is full of amazing ideas and reminded me I had some inspirational quotes and paintings I made at paint parties that were already on canvases and waiting.

As I talked to another teacher she offered a painting of hers, and so the library art gallery was born. I asked other teachers if they would add art to the wall and several agreed. We have paintings, weavings, mixed medium, and photographs for our new gallery. One wall is quickly filling up. My hope is that we continue adding, changing out pieces, and even creating some new ones in class.

How do you decorate your classroom or library that makes it special or meaningful to you or your kids?

"Heat" Book Review

I don't know about anyone else, but sports are not my thing. As librarians, we have to be well-versed in many different types of books so I picked up a Mike Lupica book called "Heat." I have to admit the first chapter or two I thought I was in for a long, dull read. I didn't think there was any way I could get through a sports book, especially baseball oriented. I was pleasantly surprised though.

"Heat" is about a Cuban-American boy. Without official papers he has to be careful not to attract the attention of the "official persons" that could take him away from his family or deport him. The only problem is that he also happens to be a fantastic pitcher and his team is poised to make a run for the big game. He attracts plenty of attention and not always for good reasons.

The game scenes are very detailed and vocabulary specific, but even so I got caught up in them and couldn't wait to see how it all turned out. The characters were intriguing without being overdone. It also captured the fear and concern that children have when authority figures hold power over them and possibly not in a positive way. I think kids who love baseball will be caught up in the suspense of the games and the quest for the ultimate trophy. Even readers who don't understand all of the baseball lingo will get caught up in the story.

Doing Something Right

Seemingly no one is immune to the wonderful feeling that comes when you know you are doing something right. Today I was so incredibly excited because a parent stopped me to say their child had come home talking about their time in the library. Talking about PE or Art is absolutely normal, but talking about Library doesn't always happen. This student was excited about getting to use the exercise balls as a seat and listening to music while reading. I was so happy to hear that students were enjoying the library and even talking about it. That kind of reaction may be small to most, but to me it's monumental. Here's to making more amazing moments happen!

Castle Hangnail Book Review

This book was adorable! Castle Hangnail is in need of an evil master and Molly just happens to show up and fit the bill. Before she can be considered the evil master of the castle she has certain obligations to fulfill. The only problem is she doesn't look or even quite act like the evil she is supposed to be. Will she be the master of the castle or will it close down and the magic be removed?

I adored the quirky characters and the odd happenings. From moles to ice queens to minotaurs it was a fun ride. I can't wait to add it to our library collection!

First Week Recap

This was the end of our first full week with kiddos and I have to say after the first couple days of school I was ready to pull my hair out. Changing routines on kids, making new procedures, and establishing my own library is not easy. When you only have 50 minutes, once every four days it means you have to pack a lot in and you don't quite get the procedures down. I've also had to rethink some things. I'm treating this year much like I did my first year of teaching, it's all trial and error. Next year, I'll have a system that works. Until then there may be lots of tweaking.

Have you started back? How was your first day or week?

Wolf Hollow Book Review

This is one book that I read and absolutely loved. First, isn't the cover beautiful? It takes the first words of the book and puts them front and center, drawing you in.

In Wolf Hollow a little girl disappears and the only suspect is a war veteran who lives in an old shack and wanders the country side. The town and people are shaken at the disappearance and assume the worst. The only one to believe that he is innocent is another little girl who tries to find the truth and clear his name. It's such a poignant story about how we perceive other people and how "different" can often be decided as bad.

The author brought out deep subjects, but didn't overpower the story or characters. Everything unfolded beautifully. I could see you using this book with older students to start a discussion on PTSD, judging others, and so many more topics. Even though it's set during World War II, the topics are just as relevant and most likely even more prevalent today.

Open House at the Library

This week school started back, which means we had open house. Since I'm new to the library thing I wasn't sure what to expect. I honestly thought I wouldn't see a single soul set foot in the library. Usually parents just focus on meeting the classroom teacher in our district. Even though I thought no one would be interested, I propped open the door and hoped people would drop by. 

I was pleasantly surprised to have people intentionally drop by. One parent came in and was talking about the difference between comic books and regular books. Another parent came in and talked about biographies. One student flew in to look for the book she wanted to read. A brand new student to the district asked if they could come in and we got to talk about how he was nervous about starting. 

I was excited to see students excited and parents engaging with them about reading! Next year I want to ramp things up and have a drawing for books, music, and other things to draw parents in. 

Zoom! Zoom! Zoom!

I looooove teaching space. If I could teach nothing but space all year I probably would. So when I saw this book sticking out of the big book stack I knew I had to read it.

This book is perfect to start talking about rhyming words. My firsties immediately picked up that words were rhyming. 

After we were done I showed a rap from YouTube on the different planets and then we looked at different space books from the library. 

Extension Activities:

• Draw pictures of the night sky. We also read a chapter from this Stars book that talked about how stars are different colors. Kids can paint or color a night sky with different colored stars.
• Simulate gravity by getting a mini trampoline and having kids jump on it while you talk about how the moon has less gravity. I saw that idea on this blog but I wasn't able to do it. She has a ton of other amazing ideas for a space unit. Go check it out. I want to be one of her students. 

Cat's Colors

The second lesson I did with my K and 1 kiddos in summer school was to read Cat's Colors by Jane Cabrera.

The book starts with a question mark filled with different colors, which makes a perfect place to gauge prior knowledge. 

Next, the author asks what Cat's favorite color is and I love using that for share time. My K students usually just say their own favorite color and that makes a perfect opportunity to talk to them about point of view even if they can't quite grasp it. I also give them time to talk about their own favorite color. For me, share time is essential to read alouds because kids need to connect with you, connect with the book, and they need to feel like they are heard and they matter. 

The rest of the book takes you through the different colors and Cat gives you an itwm or two that matches that color. Of course we share some more and brainstorm other ideas. 

After the book is done I had different colored pieces of paper stuck on the wall. I put at least four different pieces of each color on the wall somewhere in the library. When I called a color they had to go find the color. They also could only have four people at each paper. This was a great brain break and only takes a minute or two to set up. 

You can do any age appropriate coloring sheet and pair another color book with the lesson.

Online Databases Intro

Once again I went a little freeform with this lesson because I want to see how the kids react and what they are capable of doing. Plus I did it during summer school so why not have a little fun?

I showed students how to use the Explora Elementary database that is available through EBSCO. As far as I know our elementary kids (up to sixth grade) have never seen or used a database. I typed in Stephen Curry and showed them that they could find images, videos, articles, and more. After showing the basics, students got to spend time picking their own topics and looking through their own articles.

Things I noticed as we searched were that they did NOT want to read articles and they were very stuck on people. I also found out they have no idea how to take notes or why they need to take notes. Students had a simple note page where they filled out the article title, author, and any notes they found important. Most had no idea what to write.

A couple ideas I had while we did this was to have a facts wall like I had in my third grade room. This should be a quick and fun way to get them interested in picking out fun details about people or things. Also, while we discussed which basketball player was better I thought it might be fun to do a people take on the "Who Would Win?" series. One of our research projects this year might need to be picking two people in a specific field and comparing them to see who would win. I'm thinking we should create ads...and the wheels begin to turn...

Online Catalog Lesson

I love lessons that take almost no planning and this is one of them. When talking to teachers one thing that came up was a request for books that were already available. Teachers and students had no idea we had access to an online catalog of our library. So that's one thing I feel like has to be made known.

I gave my fourth through sixth grade students a quick tour of the online catalog. We talked about finding books, using keywords if you aren't sure what you are looking for, and how to place a hold. After five to ten minutes of talking I gave them the chance to just explore. They got to look for book subjects that interested them. I kept it pretty freeform because I want students to have freedom in the library and I didn't want it to be a chore for students.

While we did the lesson I noticed a few things: 1) for the most part they followed and did what others were doing, 2) they tended to stick with the books they already knew about instead of exploring new options, and 3) exactly which students struggled with finding books in the library. That shows me we will need to come up with some creative ways to look at different styles of books and explore new interests. 

No Puppies Today Lesson

No Puppies Today by Joanna Cole is a cute book that is great to talk about counting, animals, and character feelings. I taught this lesson in summer school with my kindergarten and first graders.

First, I love to have kids connect somehow to the book. For this one my kids got to tell what animals they have at home. Then we read the book and predicted which animal she would get next, roared like lions, talked about the word bison, counted, and added. 

Once we were done with the book, they got a paper to draw any pet they wanted to take home. Kindergarten got a blank paper and I wrote the name of their animal at the top. First graders got a traditional writing page with a blank space for a drawing and lines for them to write a sentence. 

The last part of the lesson is to pair another book and this one perfectly paired with a non-fiction on animals. We happen to have a set of non-fiction books on baby animals in the library so that's what we read aloud to wrap things up. 

TPT 4th of July Sale

This past week summer school ended for us and I get to spend the next month "relaxing." To kick it off we are having some family fun around the holidays. Who doesn't love a good holiday and good sales. From now until the 4th I am having a 20% off sale in my store. I hope you find something you like! Happy Holidays!

Magazine Dilemma

Honest truth: I'm not a big magazine person. I've been putting off dealing with our magazine collection because I don't read them and I don't have any idea where to begin. 

We have several subscriptions targeted at adults, but as far as I know we don't have any teachers that use them. I'm probably going to be paring that selection down. On the other hand I'm looking at student focused subscriptions and looking at expanding that section. I'm thinking maybe even some comic books might need to be added. 

My question is what do you do with old magazines. I have stacks and stacks. I tend to be a hoarder. Do I keep them in a makeshift archive? Do I get rid of them because they are dated? We've tried giving them away before, but I rarely think teachers grab them to use. 

What do you guys do with old magazines? What subscriptions do you have that kids love?

Book Looks

During summer school I really wanted to see what my kiddos know about using the library, finding books, and understanding what there is to enjoy about the library. They have the knowledge, but they need more practice. 

Of course you always have kids that say they don't like reading. I know so many adults who hated reading as kids and then found a book or series they enjoyed and it encouraged them to keep reading. Harry Potter is a great example of that. So how do we get kids to see different books?

First, I pulled out a piece of butcher paper and had each class write down all the things they enjoy watching on tv. I made sure to tell them it could be anything. Even things that aren't school appropriate as long as the title wasn't inappropriate. The paper was full of different things from sports games to movies to YouTube videos. 

After that we talked about how for everything we like to watch there are probably similar books. Before class I purposely pulled books that fit a specific theme (i.e. Magic, space, cars, horror, sports, travel, cooking, etc). I had ten different stacks of books and only two or three students at each stack. I put a timer on and they had 3 minutes to read the backs of books, flip through, and check to see if there was anything that sounded interesting. At the end they flipped over the butcher paper and wrote down two or three books they were interested in. 

I had a lot of students who thought there was nothing interesting that were begging to check out books right then. 

Big Change!

So if you've followed this blog you know I'm a third grade teacher. At least I was. This year I've accepted the position as our elementary school librarian! I am so excited I can't even begin to tell you! Right now I'm in the process of transitioning, taking over the AR program, and teaching summer school. I happen to be in the library for summer school and I'm really enjoying trying out some ideas and seeing what knowledge our students have and where we need additional work. Over the next few weeks I'll be posting lessons we've been doing in the library. 

The AR Agenda

So I am guilty of pushing the AR agenda. Accelerated Reader is a well-intentioned program to get kids to read, take a comprehension quiz, and earn points. The theory is that their comprehension will get better and the points will make them eager to read.

Guess what? It backfired on me. I also accept that it could be completely my fault and not only could it be my fault, but it really honestly is all my fault. Let me tell you what I did.

I set a goal every month for my students. The first month they have to get 2 points. That's the equivalent of 4 small books. One teeny tiny book a week and make a 100% and they can make that goal. I even let them go back and look for answers in the book. Usually the first month or two my kids think it's great and they are on fire. It's new. It's interesting. Then the novelty wears off. It becomes a chore. That's where it backfires for me.

As the months go on the goals get slightly higher. The kids who love to read will read and read and read. Then they'll take tests and tests and more tests. The ones that don't want to read don't read though. They don't care about the points. I've tried bribery and giving snacks or cool prizes to the kids that meet their goal. We give out Book-It coupons every month when they reach their goal. I send letters home to parents half-way through so they can see where their child is at on their goal. For the kids that need the help and the reading comprehension, it just doesn't work though. They don't want to read and honestly the AR tests make them dislike reading even more. My frustration level rises. Their frustration level rises. I become the new muse for the next Black Lagoon Book, "AR Monster from the Black Lagoon." It. Doesn't. Work.

Once again, I'm not saying that it won't work for you. I'm not saying that other teachers don't succeed. I'm just saying it hasn't been working for me. So this year I tried something new. I set goals. I put up my goal chart. I took a deep breath and stopped freaking out. My kids aren't going to die if they don't reach their AR goal. The world won't stop turning. Their education will not fall apart and they will not be illiterate. If they meet their goal that's awesome! If they don't there will not be an AR Monster.

Do you know what happened this year? I had more kids than ever reading chapter books. The last couple years I have begged and pleaded and pulled every trick in the book to get kids to read chapter books, but they haven't been interested. I looked at the books kids were checking out this year and all but two of my kids checked out chapter books from the library. (insert happy dance) Oh and I stopped harping about their AR levels. They can read whatever they want in my classroom, but they can only take AR tests on books at their level. My kids are actually trying to read harder books that are at the upper end of their level or just beyond. Before they read books at the very bottom of their level and wouldn't go higher. That was easy to do for AR. That got their goal met faster. Why wouldn't you take the easy way out? So kids are now reading chapter books and harder books.

I feel like I'm winning. My kids aren't taking the tests they should be, but they are reading. I had one student pick out one of my favorite book series to start reading. It's not quite on his level, but he wants to try it. I'm all for it. I have another student reading a giant book set in World War II. I about fell out. If I focused on their points or AR goal they wouldn't dream of picking up those books.

Does that mean reading in my class is perfect. Ummmm no. Are there still issues in my class that I have to work through? Yeah. Could this be a fluke and next year's class could backfire in a whole new way with this new laissez-faire attitude toward AR? Absolutely and probably. My whole point is that you should question what you are doing. Is it giving you the end result you want? Is it helping your kids? Is it really something you and your kids enjoy doing or is it a battle? Can you do it differently?