Look What's Happening
Book Displays
The library atmosphere should be calm, comfortable, and an environment that encourages reading. I purchased this octagon book display furniture for the library so kids can see the books we have and grab what they like. It is amazing how these books always fly off the display shelves.
Instructional Technology, My Passion
Gone are the days of the classic shhhhhing librarian. I am part of the new generation of librarians. We still love reading, but we are way more complex than that. My passion is teaching students using instructional technology and project based learning like this Paper Slide Video.
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Our fourth graders went on a field trip to space in the library using Virtual Reality Goggles. I have never felt so much like Ms. Frizzle from the Magic School Bus. The expedition was truly out of this world!
Donor's Choose Success
In the past year, the library has been earned 3 Donors Choose awards. The first award was for several magazine subscriptions called Magazines Galore. The second Donors Choose was for favorite nonfiction titles on topics like sharks, cooking, and cars. Then our third successful award was for another set of magazine subscriptions called Magazines Galore 2. In one year we earned over $1,000 dollars worth of materials.
Promoting Reading
The library atmosphere should be calm, comfortable, and an environment that encourages reading. Bulletin board displays can help promote reading. These are a few examples of bulletin board displays in out library. I get a lot of inspiration from the seasons and Pinterest.
TV Broadcast System Upgrade
When I first came to Armstrong ES, our school did not have a morning news show. My second year I worked with the Title One Coordinator to start that program. We made it work on a shoe string budget. We literally McGyvered the video camera to a tripod using super strong Velcro tape. We were doing the best with the money we had. The third year of the news, we were able to use Book Fair proceeds and PTA funds to bring our broadcasting studio into the 21st century
Read Across America Day
AES goes all out to celebrate reading! This year the Very Hungry Caterpillar showed up along with Captain Underpants and Rainbow Fish.
Accessing Ebooks
The library doesn't have your book and the hold list is a mile long! Try getting an electronic copy. In the library we are learning how to take advantage of ebook resources.
Picture Book Award Committee
I served on the Picture Book Award Committee. What a great experience to collaborate with librarians across the state. In those two years, our library received $800 of new picture books
AR Alphabet App
The alphabet came to life when the K-5 students scanned a letter, an augmented reality animal would pop up out of their ipads.
Text Dependent Analysis, TDA
Two things I know for sure. TDA is all the rage, and practice makes perfect. After collaborating with the teachers, my students practiced their text dependent analysis during library time.
Reader's Theater
The second grade classes enjoyed participating in reader's theater. These students have roles in the dramatic reading called Lightning Linda
Hoot Owl Master of Disguise
Sean Taylor is the author this super fun book that we read for the first time in the library. After we read the story, we made our own hoot owls.
New Furniture!
We bought new furniture for our reading area. We were able to use some of the proceeds from our Scholastic Book Fair. Thank you for supporting the library.
P Is for Pilgrim
Reading nonfiction is exciting when you pair it with an edible craft. We read about the first Thanksgiving and made yummy pilgrim hats to celebrate one of our national holidays.
First Grade Fun!
We read a fun new book called the Little Shop of Monsters written by the author of Goosebumps, R. L. Stine. The book was funny and a little scary. Especially when we found out that you don't pick the monster. The monster picks you! The best part of the lesson was creating our own monsters!
Holiday Fun!
We read the famous poem, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. We talked about how that poem inspired many more poems to begin with the phrase, "Twas the night before..." Then the students made fruit Santa Clauses, and we ate them, of course. Yum!
Book Reviewers
The 3rd and 4th graders reviewed several of the SC Picture Book Awards books. They evaluated the quality of the story, the value of the illustrations, and the interest level for children. Each student voted on his or her favorite picture book.
Research!
We research science and social studies all year long! We use our research to create products using instructional technologies like photo stories, Google Apps, and other tools.
Summer Reading 2016
Our summer reading theme was an Olympic Go for the Gold challenge. Several students completed their reading logs and were invited to an ice cream Sunday celebration.
New Carpet
May of 2016 we got new carpet in the library. We had to take every book off of every shelf. We weeded thousands of older books to make room for new books.
First Grade Fun!
We read a fun new book called the Little Shop of Monsters written by the author of Goosebumps, R. L. Stine. The book was funny and a little scary. Especially when we found out that you don't pick the monster. The monster picks you! The best part of the lesson was creating our own monsters!
Summer Reading 2015
Our summer reading program was Reading is My Super Power. Several students completed the reading challenges and were invited to a MARVELOUS reading celebration!
Bull Pup Book Awards 2014-2015
The third, fourth, and fifth graders were challenged to read at least five novels from the South Carolina Children’s Book Awards List. The students had five months to accomplish this major task. Several students read the books, wrote reviews, and earned invitations to the Bull Pup Book Awards Party. At the party the students voted on their favorite books, and the votes were submitted to Columbia along with schools across the state. The state winner was Buddy by M. H. Herlong.
Read Across America Week!
March 2nd was the 110th birthday of Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss). We celebrated reading all week long. We delighted in a wacky version of green eggs and ham. We dressed up like our favorite book characters and paraded through the school. The entire school had a surprise drop everything and read session.
Ebenezer Scrooge!
Eek! We were visited by Scrooge! We were afraid at first, but he told us an amazing story of how he was visited by three ghosts, which completely changed his life! He even gave us chocolate treats before he left. He was surprisingly nice!
Let's Read!
AES competed in the school-wide Clemson Carolina reading challenge. This year Clemson swept the reading competition. There is always next year Gamecocks!
2015 SCASL Conference
The year has flown by super fast! Speaking of super, I was able to sneak away from the library for a few days to attend an inspiring librarian conference. It was the 40th Anniversary of the South Carolina Association of School Librarians. I was pretty super star-struck meeting famous school librarians like Gwyneth A. Jones and authors like Chris Grabenstein. I even had the opportunity to share the Afghan Book Collection Project with my colleagues. Fun!
Fancy Nancy!
Fancy Nancy visited the second graders to share her love of fancy words that are synonyms that can replace plain, boring, everyday words in writing and speaking.
Battle of the Books (BOB)
Our Armstrong BOB team competed in the annual Battle of the Books competition hosted by Greenville County Schools. These stellar students read ten books and participated in weekly practice sessions as they prepared to compete in the challenging competition. Kudos to the team for doing a fabulous job!
Pete the Cat Saves Christmas!
Pete the Cat taught us that we are never too small to make a difference. The students made a Pete the Cat and responded to the writing prompt, "Even though I am small, I can....
Pinkalicious Visited
First Grade!
The first graders enjoyed having Pinkalicious visit. She read her own story about the time she ate too many pink cupcakes. She brought a tiny pink cupcake for each child. The students learned that sweets are best in small packages.
