Harry Potter in Real Life

Harry Potter has long been one of my favorite characters.  I periodically reread the books and always get something new from them.  I still think they are as brilliant as when I read the first one so long ago.  I came across this and thought it was hysterical.  If only I could have been at Penn Station that day!!

Halloween

Halloween...Oh my!  Not much more needs to be said!  It's a big, fun, loud, crazy holiday at my school.  All week the boys are vibrating in anticipation of the big day.  This year in the library we celebrated the holiday by reading a monster book and making monster bookmarks.  It ended up being a good activity...who doesn't love a good monster book, and the boys love to make things especially anything that involves origami.


We started by reading The Monsters' Monster by Patrick McDonnell.  It's a story that gives a nod to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, but then quickly adds its own twists.  Other favorite monster books include Mo Willems' Leonardo the Terrible Monster and Jackie Koller's No Such Thing.

Following the story we made monster bookmarks.  I found directions for these bookmarks at CT Baker in the Acres.  They are cute, easy to personalize, and the directions she gives are easy to follow.  I did this with our prefirst and first grade classes.

 Here are our prefirst graders proudly displaying their monsters munching on the corners of their library books.

Awwwww....Halloween!!

What the heck is copyright?

The fifth grade has been learning about copyright.  One might think it's a bit dry for 11 year old boys, but they are very interested and have some very insightful comments.  In this day and age, it's far too easy for students to take a snippet from the web and plop into an assignment and then never give it another thought.  It's an aha moment for the boys when they realize that someone has created the work that they borrowed, and it's another aha moment when they realize that copyright extends beyond the written word.

One of the most effective teaching tools I've come across is this video, A Fair(y) Use Tale, that explains copyright and fair use by using clips from Disney movies.  It was created by Eric Faden a professor at Bucknell University and in addition to teaching about copyright, it is an example of the perfect application of fair use.

Shake by Carli Davidson

I am a dog lover and I make no apologies for loving my dog as much as my people.  I just learned of the book Shake by Carli Davidson.  The author, who is the owner of a big sloppery dog, has taken amazing photographs of dogs shaking off.  How brilliant, how simple, how addicting!!

This video will give you a taste of what to expect in her book.  Enjoy!



SHAKE from Variable on Vimeo.

The PS Brothers by Maribeth Boelts

The PS Brothers by Maribeth Boelts

Shawn and Russell are the PS Brothers.  They both have home lives that are less than ideal, and they both are picked on at school.  They decide that they need a big, mean dog to defend them and to love.  All is well and good, except they have no money and dogs are expensive.  They decide the quickest way to earn money is to form their own business -- cleaning up dog waste or scooping poop, and so the P(oop) S(coop) Brothers business was born.  Next item of business for the boys is to find a dog and that's where the story takes off.  They find a dog, but they also find much more than they bargained for...including danger.

Ungifted by Gordon Korman

Ungifted by Gordon Korman is the story of Donovan Curtis.  An eighth grade impulsive ne'er do well who in the process of avoiding trouble at his middle school finds himself inadvertently in a school for gifted children.  While it's quickly apparent that he doesn't belong academically, he does bring a gift of sorts to his classmates.

This book is funny, the characters are likeable and believable.  I really loved seeing the way Donovan's character developed throughout the book.  He was neither all good nor all bad.  This is now my favorite Gordon Korman book.

This is one of the 2013-2014 Black-Eyed Susan nominees. 

Bookworm Club

Today was the first meeting of the Bookworm Club.  It's a lunchtime club for our third-fifth grade boys.  They read a book of their choice, bring their book and lunch to the library at lunchtime, and tell the boys in their group about the book they read.  We had 35 boys sign up and attend today's meeting.  Four teachers give up their lunch periods to facilitate the small groups.  It's a wonderful way for boys to share literacy with other boys.  At the end, I always provide a small incentive.  The next club meeting will be on November 8.

Honor Flight

Honor Flight is a non-profit organization that transports vets to Washington, DC to visit the memorials that have been constructed in honor of their service to our country.  As you might expect Honor Flight's priority is our eldest vets -- WWII vets.  Here is a short video explaining Honor Flight.

Our Middle School librarian, Eric Hanson, owns and operates a company that restores vintage vehicles and specializes in Jeeps.  He was recently asked to bring one of his WWII Jeeps to an Honor Flight gathering outside of DC.  He was accompanied by, Butch Maisel, an Upper School history teacher and military historian.

Eric wrote about his experience in a blog post on his company's blog, Hanson Mechanical.  His words, pictures, thoughts, and deeds are all touching and do us proud.  Thanks to Eric and Butch!

Read about it here:  Hanson Mechanical: Honor Flight

Hi! My Name is Melvil Dewey!

The fourth grade has been learning about the Dewey Decimal System.  We kicked off our unit with this engaging rap about the Dewey Decimal System. 

A word to the wise:  This rap will echo through your head all day..."Hi! My Name is Melvil Dewey!"

Kindergarten in the Library

The Kindergarteners love books and coming to the library.  They love being read to, delight in finding books on a multitude of topics -- tornadoes, motorcycles, superheros being hot topics, and they love to read.  Part of what I love about working with Kindergarteners is the joy and wonder they have when the discover something new. Today it was Mo Willems's Cat the Cat and the library's floor chairs.  Both were huge hits. 

Clickers

I love teaching with my SmartBoard.  I use it at every opportunity and whenever I'm in a classroom or a lab without one I miss it more than ever.  I've dabbled with using the SmartResponse system that is also available for the SmartBoard.

The most of boys LOVE using the clickers.  There are some who are a bit unnerved by the technology -- a surprise to me.  They especially love seeing the immediate feedback.  There is a surprising bit of learning how to respond while using the clicker that must happen before really getting any meaningful feedback.

We used it for an assessment for the first time last week.  I think the assessment took longer to complete using the clickers.  There also seemed to be a lot of waiting, especially since we can only move forward as fast as the slowest student.  I'm not too sure I liked that.

I'm hoping that with regular use we will all be better at using the clickers and this new technology with be clicking with us!

Good Morning Boys' Latin!!

The library is open in the mornings before school.  The boys can play games, read books, chat with friends.  It's a great way to start the day!

Ode to Librarians

Have you ever wondered what a librarian does in this digital age?  Here's a short video from FlocabularyYT that about says it all.

Library King

 Every summer I host the Library King Challenge.  It came into existence when I noticed some of our avid readers weren't recording their summer reading.  After speaking with them, I learned that it was the writing piece that prevented them from recording the extent of their reading.  In response to this I created the Library King Challenge.  It is optional and any 4th or 5th grader who reads more pages than I do is in the running to be the Library King.  Titles and page numbers are kept on a Google spreadsheet that all of the boys have access to so the participants can keep track of my reading and what their peers are also reading.

This year four boys read more than I did.  I read 11 books for a total of 2702 pages.  The boy who won the challenge and will be returning to reign as Library King read 27 books for 9716, pages up from last year's 5456 pages!!

Summer Reading Challenge

We do summer reading a bit differently in my school.  All 4th and 5th graders participate in the Summer Reading Challenge as their summer reading program.  It's accessible online through Moodle, our learning management system.  The challenge consists of 15 tasks.  The boys select a task, read a book that meets the requirement of the task, and then write about the book.  Completing a task will earn the boy 5 points with occasional opportunities for bonus points.  As a bare minimum the boys must complete two tasks which would tally to 10 points.  The challenge ends on the first day of school. 

The results of this year's challenge are in.  This year's top scorer completed every challenge and earned all possible bonus points.  He scored a 95 on the challenge.  The second place finisher completed all but one task. Well done gentlemen!

Speed Booking

I am never quite quite sure what to do to acknowledge summer reading in the classroom, especially with the 5th grade.  A few years ago I came across an article in Book Links (May 2007) that described "Speed Booking".  It's a version of speed dating adapted by Christine Boardman Moen for her classroom.

Essentially students pair up, quickly (90 seconds each) discuss a favorite summer read and then rotate to the next student.  It's an activity full of enthusiasm, activity and joy.  The boys get to talk about and discover new books.  It's a wonderful wrap up to our summer reading.

August

Well here we are in August.  Back in June, August seems so far away.  Now here we are in the first week of August and too many of my summertime projects remain incomplete -- or most honestly not even started! 

I think of summer as one great big weekend.  June is Friday night -- I can think of a million things that I'd like to accomplish, sure that when I wake up I'll be full of energy and ready for action.  Next comes July -- the Saturday of summer.  I'm sure I have plenty of time to take care of all my todo list items, so instead of starting I diddle away my time.  Then all of a sudden without even realizing it, it's August -- the Sunday of summer.  Now all of a sudden I am running out of time, my projects remain incomplete, and it's time to start getting ready for school.

Faculty Summer Reading

I'm really excited about our Faculty Summer Reading this year. We typically read a professional book and discuss it with other faculty. The books selected are always interesting and engaging, but it always feels much like doing homework.

This year we are taking a look at boy's development through literature. Faculty can select one book from a list of 5 to read and discuss with other faculty when school is back in session. (In the interest of full disclosure, the Upper School librarian and I worked to assemble the list, so I may have a bit of bias!) The driving force behind this switch is my school's work with Michael Thompson, a leader in understanding boys and boys' education.

Here's our list:

A Land More Kind Than Home by Wiley Cash
Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend by Matthew Dicks
The Round House by Louise Erdich
Wonder by RJ Palacio
This Boy's Life by Tobias Wolff

I think I may read them all this year. Summer reading is looking good this year!



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Location:Via Rupi di Via 29 Settembre,Ancona,Italy

Digital Audio Books

Do you know about the Sync (Sync YA literature into your earphones) free (FREE) summer downloads?  I just found out about it from one of the blogs I follow:  A Year of Reading.  This post is complements of Mary Lee, one of the two bloggers who maintain the blog.  They have created one of my favorite blogs.  I get great tips from them, and now you do too!!

Each week, Sync pairs an adult book with a YA book, and it is free (FREE) to download the pair of books for that week.

Check out the pairs they've got lined up for 2013!

How do you get these free (FREE) audiobooks?

1. Download the OverDrive Media Console (computer) or App (portable device).
2. Create a free (FREE) Adobe account.
3. Go to the Sync website.
4. Follow the links and download the books.
5. Listen to the books...whenever! They are waiting there for you in your OverDrive app!
6. Lather, rinse, and repeat every week all summer long! (perhaps you should sign up for email or text alerts to remind you to go back to the site for all the free (FREE) book pairs they are offering)

Weeding

You must weed your mind as you would weed your garden. ~Terri Guillemets

We did a big and thorough weeding job in our library this spring.  It was time to cull those books that are worn out, contain out of date information, or are just sitting on our overcrowded shelves collecting dust.  

Weeding is always something I do with mixed feelings.  I hate to get rid of books.  Once I've read a book, it's become my friend and it's hard for me to toss out my friends.  I do take comfort in the fact that I donate books that are still in good condition and are still viable to Baltimore Reads.  We are lucky to have an organization like this that is so dedicated to literacy in our town.

Kicking Off Summer Reading

Summer is here!  I'm really excited to start reading all the time.  There are so many excellent books out there I can't wait to get started.

I've challenged my rising 4th and 5th graders to read more pages than I do this summer.  It's a formalized competition called the Library King Challenge.  The winner will be crowned King of the Library and reign for a year.  Last year's King was a 4th grader who read 5456 pages in 22 books!!!  He's already warned me that he's working to beat that record. There are several other students who are contenders and are also up for the challenge.  Yay readers!!

The Seattle Public Library launched their summer reading program by setting a new record for the longest book domino chain.  AWESOME!