Widgets

I found a great website www.readingrockets.org with loads of great ideas, and widgets!  I've added one to the right sidebar, so you can preview it.  I've added this one to my library blog as well.  I love the daily tips and suggestions for parents to help the child(ren) with their reading.  Small things done each day will greatly improve reading and comprehension in the future. It also has links to scads of printables that parents can use at home.  Lots of fun ideas can be found on this website.

Researcher buttons

I thought I'd send out a picture of some new buttons I've recently created. I'd love to hear what everyone else has done.

Bulletin Boards

I thought I'd share my theme this year, as well as a couple of my bulletin boards. I'm always looking for new ideas, so I'd love to see everyone's boards here.

I went with a graphic novel theme, I know, I know, I'm pandering! But, I think it turned out pretty cute





I reuse this board every year, it's so colorful and I love the information on each of the file folders. I got the idea from someone in our group, sorry I can't remember the person. Whoever you are, thank you.

BATS!

Yesterday as we shared the bat story, I thought of this easy bat finger puppet you can make out of poster paper. Just cut the shape of the bat then add 2 slits in the middle of the bat to slip your finger through. I always read a bat story or poem around Halloween time with Kindergarten and give them these bats... they love it!

Here is a bat poem I frequently read and the motions students do as I read...

5 little bats sitting on the floor (have puppet sit on their knee) 1 flew away and there were 4

4 little bats sitting in a tree(make a tree with fingers spread apart)1 flew away the there were 3

3 little bats tasting witches brew(make a cauldron with one hand cupped)1 flew away and there were 2

2 little bats just having fun(fly your bat through the air)1 flew away and there was 1

1 little bat who likes to pretend... Won’t fly away because he is your friend(have bat sit on their shoulder or head)

WELCOME BACK!

How did you welcome back your students this year??

The Lone Media Specialist

I came across this article in an email from the NEA this morning...

We are so lucky to have one another and a district that understands and supports libraries, and their importance in the educational process.  Read all about her HERE.

It's that time once again...

BACK TO SCHOOL!

Hope you've all had a spectacular summer!  

What fun things are you planning for your libraries this year?  Please share, and if you have any photos send those to me so we can post them here on the blog.  Thanks, and have a great year!

Alexandria Training

Are you ready for our Alexandria Training??  I know Sue is, and she's EXCITED!  Actually we were too after our training meeting today!  The new version has some wonderful new additions.  Before your training, make sure you have downloaded the demo, available by clicking the link below.

http://www.goalexandria.com/support/training/demo.html

and HAVE FUN playing around with it!  It's awesome!

This week at Cascade...

Last week we learned a little about poetry, where it is in the Library, and read a few out loud. This week, I wanted to review some of the fairy tales, and what better way to do that than to read Betsy Red Hoodie by Gail Carson Levine! Gail takes several fairy-tales/nursery rhymes and weaves them together for a very cute story. After we read the story, the students see if they can identify the different tales that were in the story. It's been great fun so far!

source

This book resides in the PIC section of our Library, but we also are reviewing where in our Library the students can find fairy-tales. Non-fiction, 398

I am sharing a simple presentation about President's Day this week. As part of it we are watching 2 short movies from history.com. You CAN access history.com from school without problems and they have a ton of short clips full of great info about history. We are watching the "White House deconstructed" and one about George Washington as well.

Check it out at http://www.history.com

Saw this cute idea to make paperclip bookmark. I plan to give them out for my Valentine cards. I'm clipping them onto a note with the quote "There is no friend as loyal as a book" ~Ernest Hemingway ... but you come awfully close! Happy Valentine's Day

Peggy Sharp Workshop

I did not get to attend the Peggy Sharp Workshop this year, but I did purchase the audio program and book. She mentioned something that I thought was worth repeating...

"Children want/need to choose their own books to read."

According to a survey conducted by Scholastic, 90% of readers were more likely to finish a book if it was one that they picked out themselves. We need to introduce them to different types of books, but we need to let them select the ones they read. That includes letting the upper grade students select picture books if they choose.

Did anyone else gain added insight from Peggy?? Any thoughts/ideas come to you that you would like to share? Please share... =)

Welcome back! Hope everyone had a spectacular break! Ready to hit the ground running?

Just to start off the year on a fun note, and to "freshen up" your shelving skills from the long holiday...try this librarian game! Don't play it at work though... =)

http://funschool.kaboose.com/fun-blaster/games/lightning-librarian.html