It's that time of year again!

It's Christmas movie season again! This week's post contains my most famous contribution to society: the definitive list and ratings of Christmas movies and "Christmas Movie Bingo" (trademark pending). Scroll down to access these treasures.

Updates
I know it's been super busy, but here are a couple of things we've done through the media center:

• 
  More Mystery Zooms are taking place. I met with Ms. Ziegler and Ms. Long's class to get started on the process. Ms. Kunkel met with classes in Massachusetts and California this week. Ms. Hickcox also connected with a class in Massachusetts. Next week, Ms. Tierney and Ms. Hickcox have sessions scheduled. 
• Balloons were floating through the Fishbowl this week. Ms. Tierney and Ms. Maude visited to hear "Balloons Over Broadway" and then created their own balloons to showcase on our very own street with stores named after our very own staff. Really fun!

Sora Updates
Our circulation numbers are climbing quickly. We now have over 230 checkouts which is double the number we had just two weeks ago! Thank you for promoting this resource in your class. And extra great news: my grant money has arrived! So when students return from break, there will be another $2000 worth of eBooks and audiobooks waiting for them. Sweet!

Teacher Appreciation Committee
We have new FTO committee focused on Teacher Appreciation. Joining me on the committee is Abbey Upton, Nikki Kunkel, and Rachel Burlison (she doesn't know yet. I love surprises!). If you have suggestions for activities, please let one of us know. Our first order of business is to plan and implement an ongoing beverage and snack station in the lounge. Please fill out this Teacher Appreciation Lounge Survey to let us know what you like! I'm also planning a return of the Festivus luncheon this year on December 21. Stay tuned for details!

Kiss the Pig Link
Monday will be the Kiss the Pig event. Students will be able to watch the event through Zoom in your classrooms. FTO has arranged for some snacks and drinks to be delivered for the viewing. Here is the link we'll use on Monday: Kiss the Pig Zoom Link

Alright, here's the content you're really here for. I hope you enjoy!

Christmas Movie List
-2021 movies are highlighted in green
-Netflix movies are highlighted in red
-if you have issues with the ratings, make your own list!

Christmas Movie Bingo

Have a great weekend!

You did it!

It's been a long week! Congratulations on making through the first trimester of another
crazy year. I only have one thing for you in this edition. 

"Matt Grants" are back!
Are you wanting something for your classroom that will enrich the education of young minds? Books, technology, seating, etc? Look no farther because "Matt Grants" are back. Running a book fair again has added a significant number of Benjamins to my Scholastic Dollar account. There's no real criteria or limit to what you can ask for. There's really no submission form either. Just tell me what you want (Scholastic Catalog). Enter 68863 as our account number and then your info. Sounds like you can make wishlists too. So look around and tell me what you want. The worst I can say is "no"! 

Ok, one more thing. We've had half as many Sora checkouts in the last two weeks as we did from August through the end of October! That's good. Please, please, please give your kids time to view the Sora app. It would also be great to include it as an activity to do when students finish their work. I have titles that suit grades 2-5 with more coming once my Links to Learning grant money arrives. 

Have a great weekend!

Your Definitive Book Fair Guide

What a great week! I'm sure you noticed that my usually cheery personality has

been in overdrive this week. In case you didn't know, the Braves are World Series Champions! 

Book Fair Information
All the info for next week's book fair:

• Your class will be completing digital wishlists during library time next week. Have them bring their iPads. They will be taking pictures of desired books and can post them to Seesaw.
• Sales will take place after school each day from 3:45 to 7:00.
• There will be no sales during the day. However, if you have a student who brings in money and you know their parents won't show up for conferences, let me know and we'll make it work.
• Come in after school today to pick out your classroom wish list books. Please don't clean us out. And don't take the last copy. If you'd like the a title that only has one copy left, let me know so I can order more first. You are welcome to come in during next week and add books to your stack. Or you can be like Jen and disregard all my directions and pick out 47 books. 

What's been happening...
It's been a busy week. Here are some of the highlights...

• 
  All of second grade visited the Fishbowl to create seed dispersal machines. We
  loved seeing so many unique designs to evenly spread seeds over our test area. Some worked well, and some failed miserably. But that's how it goes!
  
  
• Several kindergarten students visited my secret workshop to paint their new picnic tables. We'll have those out on their playground next week.
  
  
• 
  Ms. McIntyre and Ms. Wilson's classes came to the Fishbowl to take on the fall STEM challenge. They used apple chunks and toothpicks to build their names.
  
  
• Ms. Hickcox's class started working on Mystery Zooms. We introduced how it works and ran through a practice session with me. Their first real Mystery Zoom is scheduled for November 22 with a class somewhere in the world.
  
  
• Kindergarten had a special visitor this morning. Daisy, a therapy dog, had lots of books read to her this morning. 

Get all the rest this weekend! Thanks to YouTube TV, I'll be watching replays of World Series except during the three hours when Georgia is slaughtering the Tigers. 

Midweek edition

I wanted to send a midweek update to cover the rest of the time before Halloween Break. 

What's been happening?

• 
  Fourth grade is continuing their Mystery Zooms. Maybe you've seen our progress on the board outside the library. This week, Mr. Akkerman's class connected with a class in Ottawa, Ms. Kunkel's class connected with a class in Minnesota, and Ms. Tierney has one scheduled for Friday.
• Ms. McIntyre continued her work with Mystery Words. This afternoon, her class connected with a Locust kindergarten class to share and guess mystery words. She saw what fourth grade was doing and we put together this cool activity!
• I worked with Ms. Tierney's and Ms. Kunkel's classes on using the Clips app. Students are using Clips to share the information they've gathered about Native Americans. After a quick tutorial and about 30 minutes work time, the students had some pretty cool videos made.
• 
  Ms. Hickcox's class is working on book recommendations. I visited for a quick minilesson about recommendations and the Clips app. Now her students are creating recommendations using Clips and they will be posted to a Flipgrid to share via QR codes with other students. Look for their display to continue "growing" in the hallway.
• Ms. Kunkel's class used the Fishbowl for an egg drop activity. They have been studying how to keep their brains safe. We set out materials for student groups to build a protective vessel for an egg from the Cardinal flock. After getting rained out on Friday, I ventured to the roof on Monday (nah, that probably wouldn't be allowed) and dropped the contraptions. The results were fun to discuss!
• I've continued with my five Mark Twain nominee groups. It's been fun discussing the stories with the kids. Today, one group was served tea to go along with the book and you might see us learning how to play cricket outside very soon...

Fall STEM activities
Being gone the first week of October really through things off for me. So my October STEM challenge will become the Fall challenge. This time I'm giving you a choice of activities centered around apples:

1. Apple Letters/Names - students will create letters/words/their name using apple chunks and toothpicks. Creations will be shared via Seesaw
2. Apple Shapes - we'll use apple cubes and toothpicks to create 3D shapes such as cubes, cylinders, or spheres. Creations will be shared via Seesaw
3. Apple Boats - students will create apple boats using apple chunks and other materials available to them. We will test the boats' strength by adding coins until they sink. Creations will be shared via Seesaw

When you decide what you'd like to do, email me in the form of a fast food order. I can start taking orders for days in November.

Bookroom Accommodation
Thanks to a recommendation from Ms. Jeffries, I have added a couple of desks to the center of the book. If you are lacking the height to see the bins on the top shelf, you can now bring the tub to the desk to sort through.

Halloween/Thanksgiving Buttons
If you'd like to schedule a time for students to make buttons for Halloween or Thanksgiving, contact me. My schedule is pretty stacked up before Halloween, so that might be tricky at this point. 

Email on iPads
Students in grades 3-5 have access to email. Mandy can teach them how to set up their email, create a signature, and discuss digital citizenship guidelines for usage. In the past, we have left it up to teachers to make the call about whether or not they learn how to set it up. Let me know if you are interested.

Book Fair
There will be an in person book fair this November. It should arrive on November 5th and be set up for conferences the week after. We will have students preview the fair and create wishlists during their library time that week. Sales for the fair will only take place after school. I'll send out the times to you and families when I get it figured out. 

That's it.

See you in a week!

I'm heading out to Tennessee on Sunday with the fifth graders. If you need anything at all, including lunch pickup anywhere in town, just contact Kendra Collard at extension 0. 

Thank you to Susan, Taryn, Lori, Jen, and me for volunteering to enter the "Kiss the Pig" contest. There's still time to sign up. Let me know if you want to be added to the list. It's fun, and your kids will never let you live it down if you don't sign up. Just saying. 

Classroom Happenings

• 
  Mystery Zooms are in full effect in fourth grade. We completed three this week
  and visited with classrooms in Illinois, Kansas, and Pennsylvania. We have four more on the calendar already for October. Look for a display in front of the library that will show our progress.
• We wrapped up the LEGO storytelling activity this week with four more classes. We had 18 classrooms come through this month. Next month will be much shorter, but look for the October activity in next week's blog.
• I visited Ms. Hickcox's class to show them the Clips app. I'm looking forward to seeing what they create. I'd be happy to visit your class to do the same.

Bookroom update
I spent some time over the last few weeks getting all the Geodes barcoded. All sets are now ready for use! I also rearranged the entire space. You'll now find all the "old" leveled sets on the left side of the room. All the Geodes are on the right now. I also have our lit sets cleaned up for you. In case you didn't know, we have the best set of chapter books of any elementary school in the world. Use this link of available books to see what we have. I have added the lexile and reading level as well. 

Current Events with "The Week Junior"
I would like to start working with classroom in grades 3-5 on current event literacy and discussion. We purchased "The Week Junior" for our Flipster catalog to support that work. It's an excellent resource with short articles and activities about a wide variety of topics. I have reached out to Joy Bess for integration ideas. It includes teacher editions located here. If your class or whole team would like support with current events, please let me know. In the meantime, access the "The Week Junior" and other periodicals through the Flipster app. 

Computer Imaging
Carl needs to image your machines if he hasn't already. If you don't have the "Can't Hide Awesome" on your desktop, then you are out of compliance (looking at you Jen). Just kidding, it's not that big a deal. You just might not be able to print or anything. Let me know so I can get it scheduled with Carl. It does erase everything, so save your stuff. 

Library Checkouts on the 28th and 29th
Stephanie and Lori have me scheduling really far out now. I think Lori is a little Type A. So if you have a library checkout on the 28th or 29th, we are going to reschedule you for either the 25th or 27th in the morning. Let me know what time works for you.

Have a great weekend!

My apologies...

Idina Menzel (Elsa)

First, let me apologize for the amateur mistake during announcements. My daughter pointed out at lunch that I mistakenly had "Elsa" matched up with Kristen Bell. Of course, many of you already know that I should have had "Anna" there or Idina Menzel. As a Disney fan, I feel embarrassed by my error and will never let something similar happen again. 

Sorry if I didn't get to your team planning meeting this week. I preference classroom visits/activities over planning time in my schedule. So if I don't show up, it's not you, it's me. Track me down if you have anything to discuss/ask/demand.

Classroom Happenings:

• Completed beginning sound scavenger hunts with kindergarten this week
• Continued LEGO Storytelling with many classes
• Hosted eight student book groups (19 students) for our Mark Twain Award nominees
• Made buttons in Ms. Guillory's room
• Failed miserably in labeling basic animated characters to their voice actor
• Supported fourth grade with their first class to class Mystery Zoom session
• Planned with Kindergarten to put together some Mystery Number/Word sessions starting next month

Flock Updates
Thank you to Hannah for braving muddy conditions this week. I went in after meetings Wednesday to complete some maintenance so hopefully we'll be mostly dry going forward. Ms. Corwin is taking next week as well and then Ms. Kinkead will handle the first week of October. 

Egg Production Data
Here is a link to the production of the flock: Link to Egg Production. Feel free to use it with your students. 

STEAM Kit Checkouts
I have been receiving hold requests for STEAM kits. But while I was getting them ready to go out, I remembered that iPads weren't going home. So after talking to our fearless admin team, here's what will happen:

1. A student puts a hold on the STEAM kit
2. I contact the parent via Seesaw to confirm that the iPad will be coming home the week of the checkout
3. If they say no, then done
4. If they say yes, then I'll get the kit, deliver it to your classroom, and then the student can take their iPad home with them with the kit
5. If the iPad doesn't return to school, contact the parent and let them know the deal is off if the student forgets it again
6. I will also put the student in the STEAM Seesaw course so they can complete the activity to get credit for the drawing at the end of the year
7. Super clear, right?

iPad Updates
At some point next week, can you confirm that your students' iPads are on the latest iOS? I've been seeing some strange occurrences and want to eliminate that variable when I put in work orders. 

Have a great weekend!

What's in the box??

My data shows that more people opened my blog when I featured a Daniel Craig meme. So for this week, since I have lots of technology to offer people, let's go with Brad. 

I had several students ask me if we are playing Wheel of Fortune with The Fishbowl letters. They are having a hard time solving the puzzle. So if your team has some spare time on Wednesday, consider working on your letter! 

What's happening

• Fourth grade all continued their work with Mystery Zooms. They did a practice run with me as the mystery class. Next week, they'll zoom with each other as the last practice run before connecting with other classes. This activity is great for grades 3-5. We can also do "mystery numbers" with most grades.
• Third grade is pushing forward with their "passion projects". Students have created heart maps and are choosing topics to research. Next week, they'll be highlighting questions to research and will be starting gathering information.
• 
  Six classrooms visited The Fishbowl for the LEGO Storytelling activity. Students continue to impress with their creations. We also had several classes working in groups to build large scenes from the books. Finished projects were uploaded to Seesaw with a photo and voice recording of their work. If you haven't scheduled a visit yet, you still have a chance before October.
• Kindergarten has planned for a "breakout scavenger hunt" next week. Students will be finding locations around the building and recording the beginning sound of each location to uncover the secret code. I'm happy work with all grade levels on breakout activities.
• I started four book groups with 19 fourth and fifth graders. We are challenging ourselves to read all 12 Mark Twain Award nominees this year. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade teachers, if you have some students that you think would benefit from a pull out book group, talk to me and we'll see if we can set something up.

Geode kits
I am still working through the Geodes. I have first grade mostly finished and have one module from kindergarten and second grade finished. If you are looking for additional modules, let me know and I will get it ready for you. 

Amplifiers
We still have 13 portable voice amplifiers available for checkout. Coach grabbed one last week and has said that the amplifier has had a greater impact on his life than his entire experience in fourth grade with me as his teacher. So basically, huge. 

Document Cameras
I also have a couple of document cameras available for use. Let me know if you would like to try one out in your classroom. It's for showing stuff on your flat panel.

Hope you have a great weekend!