"I Do It For You"

Too bad there's no audio to go along with the picture!

Congratulations to Ms. Wall's class for completing the "decorate your book return bin" contest. Her musical box came down the hall this morning blaring Bryan Adams and decorated with custom student art. It's pretty awesome so she's definitely getting some cash. I only know of one other classroom that is attempting it. You have until next Friday to finish.

I have a new (hopefully recurring) feature in my blog this week. As we've been struggling to get fruit to grow on the pineapple chart, I thought it might be helpful for me to share the types of things I am doing in different classrooms. I try to tweet my activities so you can see what's happening, but maybe a digest each week would be more helpful. So I'm including things I did this week (one time only) and what's coming up. Pretty much everything I do can be modified to any grade level or content, so talk to me about planning it out with you.

Matt's Projects Update
This week:
- Showed iPad productivity tools with all third grade classes

4th graders building their egg drop contraption

(15 minutes each)
- Made "about me" buttons with Trisha's class
- Completed an egg drop with Nikki's class for students to simulate the effect of heavy impact on the head
- Visited Leanna and Taryn's classes with the bookmobile
- Completed the Amazing Library Race challenge with all 3-5 classes
Next week:
- Working with all 2nd grade classes to design, build, test, and analyze machines to spread seeds over an area
- Collaborative activity with Taryn's class
- Showing Flipster digital resources to grades 3-5 during checkout times (no need for students to bring their devices)
Down the road:
- Collaborative Minecraft ecosystems with 5th grade
- Country research with 3rd grade with final projects being published using Pages and iBooks Author. We'll also use a green screen to record travel videos of their country. 

Global Read Aloud
The Global Read Aloud is upon us. I know, I missed it last year. This year features author Yuyi Morales. We have some of the titles now and I'm looking to add the ones we don't have. If you would like to participate, I can lend out the books for you to read to your classes. The lineup of books is listed at this blog site. Let me know if you'd like to join up. 

Bookmobile

So many choices...

The bookmobile is rolling around the school. Sign up your class by emailing me. I can post up in your class or in the hallway. Students can return and checkout new titles. If you are focused on a specific genre/author/topic in class, I can find titles to support more reading. 

Bookroom
Time for some friendly reminders about the bookroom. As of now, it's only accessible for our teachers. I think that might change at some point. Here are the key points:

• All materials need to be checked out in the library. If someone isn't there to help, add the numbers to the clipboard on the counter behind the circulation desk. I need to have record of our circulations and to be able to track down missing copies. Which brings me to...
• Make sure you are sending back all six copies in the bags. 
• This point might seem small, but I would appreciate it if you could return the bags with the information sheets facing out. That way the next person can see the title, level, and other info that they need to make decisions. And it saves me time. Because it's really all about me. 
• Finally, all materials need to be checked out. I know, I'm repeating myself. 

New book orders

I'm planning on putting in another book order for the library in the coming weeks. Send me any titles that you would like to see in the library or would like to see more of.

Have a great weekend!

Lots of things for you!

Between soccer, cross country, scouts, dance, piano, and choir, I'm over this week. But I'm not as tired as Josh! 

Reading Capsules

I launched our new Reading Capsules this week. Students have enjoyed hanging out in them to read their books. They are taking up a bit of space in here, so I'd love to ship them to your classrooms. If you are interested in using them for a day or more, let me know. They work best for grades K-2. I'll consider buying giant ones for the older students if you are interested. 

Headphone Splitters

Per popular request, I purchased ten splitters to use in the iPads. Nikki has used them in the past for students to listen to an audiobook in a group. If you'd like to try them out, let me know. 

Collaboration Activities
I wasn't able to find time to create my first round of activities. I'm planning to take that on next week. Several of you have expressed interest in starting those, so I'll contact you as soon as I am ready to schedule a time. Should be fun! 

Interactive Bulletin Board
Our board is starting to fill up! Taryn brought her class down to add posts and I'm seeing more students stop by to add their thoughts. I'd love for some of these ideas to spark conversations/research/service learning projects in your class. If something on the board fits with your teaching, let me know if I can help you get going. 

Mark Twain Nominees
For our 4th and 5th grade teachers, I have buttons ready to make for our book nominees this year. No, you don't have to complete a project like the students. I'll trust your word. Of course, if you teach K-3 and also finish a nominee, you are welcome to a button as well! There are some good ones this year. 

Attention 3-5 Teachers!
Next week for checkout, we'll be competing in the Amazing Library Race! We'll review info on how to use Destiny, reading spine labels, and finding books. Then we'll have a short competition to achieve their library certification. Please have 6 students bring an iPad to access Destiny and serve as our group leaders. 

Come and get it
I have a small book display that's just taking up space. It's by the tv. First come, first served. 

Finally...
Several of you have mentioned a Library Book Return Crate decorating contest. So let's do it. Decorate your crate to enter the contest. Scoring will be totally arbitrary and done by me. I like lights, music, bright colors, and butterflies. The winner of the contest will receive a $100 gift card to Scholastic. The contest will run until a suitable winner is found. Or two weeks. Whatever comes first. 

Have a Great Weekend!

Breakout, buttons, and bookmarks

I enjoyed attending most of your team meetings this week. It's fun to hear what's happening in your room. Please let me know how I can support your work in the classroom!

0 for 24. That's our current Breakout stat line. Third and fifth grades all took on a Breakout over the last two weeks and we came up empty. But we learned a lot, which takes me to point number one...

Collaboration Skills
As I watched so many groups work on their Breakout tasks, I realized that we need to continue to work on those crucial skills. We may not know what jobs our students will have, but we know that collaboration is vital for the workplace. My plan is to come up with short group activities and explicitly teach students different collaboration strategies. I'd like to fit it all within a 30 minute activity: mini-lesson, group task, debrief. The tasks will be tailored to your grade level. Yes, I mean kindergarten as well! I'm going to have everything organized by grade so we can keep building on these skills from year to year. Please let me know if you would like to start us off. 

Interactive Bulletin Board
Many of you have noticed the interactive bulletin board outside the library. Many students have as well. I haven't brought it up because I was curious to see what happens. And today, we had two girls add to the board when they arrived at school! Yes, it is meant for open discussions. I have supplies there for students and teachers to add their thoughts. Hopefully it can spark some conversations or writing in your classrooms. 

Maker Activities
We started making "about me" buttons and bookmarks with kindergarten this week. It is just so fun seeing their reactions when they see their drawing turn into a button. If you would like to schedule the same activity with your class, just let me know. 

PLTW
My big rock next week is to get organized with Project Lead the Way. I'd like to share the specific science unit with each grade level and start to think through how to implement it in your classroom. The learning is hands-on and I'm here to co-teach it with you. 

Have a great weekend!