The Masked Reader and more

Just one more week until Spring Break!! The year has flown by. I want to say how energizing it is to see how our staff comes together to help each other out. Shoutout to Justin, Emily, Mandy, Rebecca, and probably more I don't see who have stepped up to take over classes this week. The kids deserve it!

The Masked Reader
The event will take place Tuesday evening at 6:30. I would include the link, but someone at technology services removed webinar access from my account so I'll have to start over again. In the meantime, here's the promo if you'd like to share with your families:

Update: I got my webinar back! Here's the link to "The Masked Reader": https://cpsk12.zoom.us/j/92186130870

March Reading Madness
Please fill out your class's choices for this round: https://forms.gle/iG2YyKuCDdom3DxC8 We will announce the final matchup during Monday morning's announcements. 

Book Fair ending soon!
The last day to place orders for the book fair is Monday. We currently only have 34 orders submitted. Please encourage families to get their orders in by Monday! Here's the link to include in your correspondence: https://efairs.follettbookfairs.com/guest/home?classCode=XW3GR

Nearpod
It's been fun helping out in classrooms with Nearpod! Kindergarten all used activities this week for St. Patrick's Day and rhyming words. It went really well! We have extended our trial until the end of April. We also have another training opportunity on April 7th from 3:45 to 4:45 (https://nearpod.zoom.us/j/9662511638). If you weren't able to make the first training, then try to get to this one. There's a lot of great resources for you to access and the students love the interactivity of the activities. 

Chicken Adoption
So Jen is the only teacher who has volunteered to watch the chickens over Spring Break. Just kidding, Jen. Seriously though, Mike said they could live outside around this time. I would feel a bit guilty tossing them out there when we're all gone for Spring Break. I have some extra tubs that I can use to separate them into smaller "flocks". So maybe I'll get more hits if I ask if anyone wants to watch 2-3 chickens over break. Please? Then once we return, they'll be in their permanent home in the coop. 

Mark Twain Award Voting
Fourth and Fifth grade teachers, please share this Mark Twain Award Nominee voting link with students. They must read/hear at least four of this year's books to vote. Please have them vote before they leave school on Tuesday. 

This will be my last blog before Spring Break. Feel free to read through archived posts if you are needing a fix.

Have a Great Weekend!

The Edge of Glory!

I got a little grief from my fans about not posting last week. I hate to disappoint. Things are really busy around here leading into Spring Break! Please let me know if you have questions about anything.

March Reading Madness
We are moving on to the Elite Eight! We will plan to do two rounds of voting this week. Please complete this round's voting by the end of Tuesday! Use this form to submit your class's picks. We will then narrow down to the final two by Friday of next week and then pick a winner by Thursday before Spring Break. Remember that you don't necessarily have to reread the books but you might want to revisit them before they vote. I've started to recirculate the current matchups. As soon as you are done, pass along to your teammates and then on to the next grade level. 

Chickens
It's been so fun seeing the students interact with the chickens. You can really tell that the chickens are comfortable around people. Please continue to add your names to the chicken sign up sheet. When you host the flock, please make sure the water and food containers are clean and full before you leave. It's a great job for students! You can also swap out the bedding by throwing everything away, placing new paper in the bottom, and adding more chips. If you are hesitant to host the chickens because of personal concerns, I'm happy to help. We're planning on moving them outside after Spring Break. Speaking of which, we are going to need some volunteers to care for the chickens over break. You can take them home with you so it's easier...

Flock Names
We will be assigning names to Fluffy, Fuzzy, Tweety, Nugget, Teryaki, Tender, Chick Berry, and Dr. Nelus next week. I will do some research on chicken collars. Or sweaters. I hear Leanna likes to knit. 

The Masked Reader
Hopefully you've heard about The Masked Reader event set for March 23 at 6:30. We are using a Zoom Webinar, so there's nothing you need to do for your students except talk it up. We are hoping to get a video promo ready for you to share with students. FYI, I messed up the link that Taryn used in her beautiful flyer. Here's the real link if you'd like to include it in your classroom correspondence: https://cpsk12.zoom.us/j/92186130870 

Nearpod
Please let me know if you need assistance with Nearpod. It would be great if everyone could try out a lesson for yourself. I'd be happy to help you get set up or be in your class while you are trying it with students. I think you'll find that Nearpod combines a lot of features that many of you use in many different tools. 

Benchmark Engagement
Just curious if you've ever seen this level of engagement in your Benchmark lesson?

Outdoor Seating
Please continue to use the buckets and chairs when you take your classes outside. If you give me a heads-up, I can get the chairs in place for you. I love seeing so many of you getting outdoors to enjoy the weather!

Geodes
No, not the fun kind. I'm working on getting the geode reading materials ready for K-2. I've started with 1st because Rebecca's using them for intervention. There's a lot of books. 256 total sets. So it's going to take some time. If you would like to get started, see me and I'll prepare the materials you want on demand. First request is free. 

Book Fair
Open now through March 22. Click any part of this sentence for the link.

Finally...
We are moving closer to beginning many major projects that are going to really enhance our grounds. By the end of the school year, we plan on having the new outdoor classroom with stage and seating installed, kindergarten picnic benches, and a Lady Gaga pit for the playground. Stay tuned!

Have a Great Weekend!