The Spartan Librarian

This is my favorite read-aloud of the year!!  I love the message Ashley Spire's portrays in her book The Most Magnificent Thing! It is a great book to teach children about having a growth mindset, and that mistakes are part of the process, and sometimes you have to try, try, and try again to be successful. After reading the book, I share this wonderful stop-motion animation of the book by students at Elmwood School.  That gives the students a second chance to hear the message. We then watch this video about  Ormie  and his attempt at getting a treat! We then compare and contrast the two main characters in the films!  (Tie in those reading skills) We talk about what message (moral/lesson ) the two stories were trying to teach us, and how we can use what we learned at school and in real life! Then using postermywall.com , I have students create posters with inspirational messages and ideas to show the growth mindset!

Mrs. Long 'somehow' locked her lesson in her toolbox.  The students had to solve clues to help her get her lesson out and save her job!! This was a modified #breakoutedu activity! Using several re settable locks purchased through Amazon and Walmart, I created clues that helped the kids decipher the combinations. (These are some of the locks and hasp on Amazon.) I knew my Digital Safety lesson wasn't going to take my entire 45 minute block and I wanted the kids to be excited to find out what was in the box, so I created the clue activity to fill some of the class time. I created simple clues that could be solved in a matter of minutes.  Each table/group was responsible for deciphering one clue.  I gave one person at each table mardi gras beads, and they were the only person that was allowed to approach the box and attempt to open the locks.  (This saved my sanity and kept 25-30 kids from fighting over the locks and box!) My clues for this activity:...

I fell in love with Auggie in R.J. Palacio's Wonder !  Several of my teachers plan to share the novel with their classes this year as a read aloud!  I loved the message it sends to treat everyone with kindness! If you have the choice to choose between being right or being kind, choose kind! As soon as I saw the picture book We're all Wonders , by R.J. Palacio, I knew it was one I would share with my library classes!  The message was right on point,  that each one of us has something about us that makes us special and unique, that makes us a wonder! I used the book to talk about being ordinary, perceptions, and how we need to look at the inside of people before we jump to assumptions. We discussed how R.J. make the character exaggerated (hyperbole-tied some figurative language in there), and how boring life would be if we were all exactly the same! As a follow-up, I had kids think about what it was about them that make them unique.  We used Flipgri...

Although our attendance numbers were low, Technology Night Was a huge success! Union Intermediate School students, staff, and administration came together to celebrate Digital Learning Day  Thursday, February 23rd. Teachers and students were excited to show our parents all the digital tools we are using this year to make Union Intermediate School 21st century ready! Following a hot dog (Bright Leaf of course) dinner cooked by our principal, parents and students visited a variety of stations set up around the school.  Parents got to see students demonstrate different learning programs, creative tools, and presentations that teachers have been using in the classrooms. Parents were shown how to access student grades and given instructions to sign up for Accelerated Reading Home Connect Program. If you missed our event, here are links to the programs and resources we used! Power School Parent Portal   (Contact Glenda Estrada for student access codes) Accelerat...