It started with a dream...

Last year, I was asked several times if I would be willing to have the library open in the summer for students to borrow books. Of course, I would want the library to be open in the summer. I know that the number one way to stop the summer slide is to read. I also know that many of my students need access to books.  So I started dreaming about what a summer library program would look like for my students.  I shared my idea with my principal. Mrs. Delk, a 3rd grade teacher, said that she would be willing to partner with me.  She wanted to start a school garden.  The summer reading program had life! We decided to name our summer program Reads and Seeds.  Each week we offer students (and parents) a variety of opportunities to Make. Play. Read. Learn. Students also work in our new school garden.

Make. Play. Read. Learn is the summer reading program sponsored by The Chattanooga Public Library.  I asked the Library if we could serve as a satellite site for the summer reading program and they said, YES!  Students are able to register and complete The Public Library's Summer Reading program at Clifton Hills Elementary School Library. Lee Hope, Youth Services Coordinator is even providing us with plenty of rewards for our summer readers. It's the beginning of a great partnership with the Chattanooga Public Library.

You can follow our summer reading adventure on Mrs. Delk's Blog.

STEM Fellows

I am excited to be serving as a 2014-2015 STEM Fellow with the Southeast Tennessee Innovation Hub. STEM Fellows is an amazing opportunity to learn how to implement STEM in my school.  The teachers in my cohort will meet together twice this summer in May and July.  We will also meet 4 times throughout the school year. We will work to create community partnerships with STEM businesses in our area.  As a STEM Fellow, I will be an advocate for STEM education in my community.

2014-2015 STEM Fellows Cohort

National Poetry Month

April is one of my favorite months of the year because we are able to celebrate poetry all month long.   This April each grade level is writing their own poems.  Kindergarten classes are creating I Can Poems.  First Graders are writing I AM poems.  Special thanks to Shannon Miller for the idea. Second Graders are working collaboratively to write a "What's in our Desks" Poem.  Third graders are experimenting with acrostic poems.  4th and 5th graders are writing their own I Spy Riddles.  In order to facilitate some time for me to assist small groups with editing and publishing their work we are trying a variety of Poetry Centers.  These poetry centers are a learning lab that allow students to try out a variety of types of poetry.  Students may choose from 9 different centers:

• Independent Reading-A variety of poetry books are available for students to read.  Students have the opportunity to review a poem or two.  Poem Reviews will be displayed in the library.
• Acrostic Poetry-Students may try to write an acrostic poem.  This center includes a graphic organizer to help students brainstorm a list of adjectives that begin with the letters in their names.
• Found Poetry-A selection of newspapers, glue and scissors are included in this center.  Students are encouraged to find a wide variety of words (different fonts, sizes, colors, etc.). Students cut out the words and then arrange them on construction paper to create a poem.  This center is challenging because students have to come up with an idea and then search the paper for words that will work in their poems.  
• Scavenger Hunt-Students search for Alliteration, Onomatopoeia, Rhyme, etc in a selection of poems
• Poetry Theater-Students work in small groups to prepare a poem to be performed for their class.
• Illustrate a Poem-Students practice visualization and draw a picture to represent the poem.
• Revision and Publishing-Students may bring their poems from the previous week to me for review and suggestions.  Students who have completed their poems may begin typing their poems.
• Spine Poetry-Students arrange book spines so that they create a poem.  This is a fun station as they get to look through all of the recently returned books and find titles that will work together.

Students enjoy the opportunity to choose the poetry activity they would like to complete.  At the end of class, I host a debriefing session where students are given the opportunity to share their work. Students love to read there work or share a poem that they enjoyed from one of our many poetry books. 

For the LOVE of Reading...

Crazy Hair Day

Our school celebrated Read Across America Week a little late this year due to benchmark testing that took place the week of March 3.  It was worth the wait!  This year, each day had a theme to build excitement.  Monday we had numerous Seuss characters pay a visit to our school.  Tuesday, we enjoyed a variety of crazy hair styles. Wednesday, we wore Silly Socks. Thursday, we wore our wackiest hats. Friday, was Read Across America T-Shirt day.   While this week is designed to promote reading, it had the added plus of students and teachers creating something for each day out of what they had available.  It was so neat to see how everyone interpreted each day.  I'll never forget the laughs we shared this week.  In addition to having theme days each week, we hosted a wide variety of guest readers from parents to community members.  We are so thankful for our volunteers. Every day is a great day to read with a child!

Grab your hat and read with the Cat!

A Snapshot of My Reading Life

I just learned about the WRAD (World Read Aloud Day) blogging Challenge.  I have decided to participate even though there are only two weeks left.

The prompt for this week is a snapshot of my reading life.  So here is my reading life.

This is a picture of a portion of the "Easy" Section in the Clifton Hills Elementary School library.  I chose this picture because I love sharing picture books with my students.  The picture book section offers something for everyone. There are books that make us laugh and books that bring us to tears and books that teach us about life. Students shouldn't be rushed out of the picture book section.  They should be invited to linger and stay a while. I tell my older students all the time that they may find their favorite book in the picture book section.  Some of my favorite books are found here such as Make Way for the Ducklings, Library Lion, Flotsam,  Why I was Young in the Mountains and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Maybe this summer, I'll change the name to Everybody Books.  

Hour of Code

As a part of National Computer Science Education Week, our students wrote over 2,000 lines of code during their library time.  Code.org created a great curriculum that makes learning how to code accessible for all ages.

We didn't let the lack of devices stop us from learning about coding. We used our brand new Promethean Board to complete the coding exercises as group.  Students loved the opportunity to come to the board and use the pen to move the coding blocks. Everyone cheered when the puzzles were solved correctly.  When something didn't go as we thought it would, we worked together to figure out why.

Every grade level enjoyed the opportunity to try coding and many wanted to know how they could learn more. Students can easily access coding resources from anywhere via my Symbaloo.

Gingerbread Houses

 Last week,  I read Jan Brett's Gingerbread Baby to my Kindergarten students.  We compared and contrasted the story to the Gingerbread Man.

This week the Kindergarten classes participated in a collaborative how-to writing project.  The students discussed the importance of having a plan when you are working on a project.  We talked about how Matti used a recipe to create his gingerbread house.  Together, the students wrote a list of items needed to make a house.  Then, they listed the supplies needed to make a gingerbread house.  Next, they wrote a step-by-step plan.  Finally, they used the plan to create their gingerbread houses. 
 

My students loved the opportunity to create something fun for the holidays.  We incorporated many Common Core Standards from Speaking and Listening to Writing as well as numerous information literacy skills.

The houses are now on display in the library along with a sign that explains the project lest anyone think it was just another cut and paste activity.