Turn The November 2023 PebbleGo & PebbleGo Next Monthly Holiday Calendar Into An Interactive Research Choice Board For Your Students & Teachers!

Our friends at Capstone create these super fun PebbleGo and PebbleGo Next Holiday Calendars each month. 

In this post, I share more about the PebbleGo Monthly Calendars. 

I love making paper copies of these to share with our teachers and kids. 

They hang them up in their classrooms and hang them in our library too. I also share them online through social media and as an image in Google Classroom or Seesaw. 

The teachers even use the PebbleGo Calendars for mini research opportunities throughout each week. The students use PebbleGo Create to share what they learn throughout the month with the calendars. 

Here is the PebbleGo and PebbleGo Next November 2023 Holidays Calendar. 

Earlier this year, when I was sharing the calendars with teachers and students, I thought....Hey, this would be really fun in a choice board! 

So, I opened up a Google Slide, uploaded the PebbleGo November 2023 Holidays Calendar, and added a little chalk board with text over the top.  

Then I went through the calendar and found every special day in PebbleGo and PebbleGo Next.  

For example, Veteran's Day is November 11. The PebbleGo article about Veteran's Day is perfect for this special event. 

I went to PebbleGo and found the article. I grabbed the link, as shown in the image above. 

I took that link and added a linked text box around each special date. 

Now, when the kids click on a holiday, it will take them directly to that PebbleGo article.  

If you want to use the template to create your own, you will find the Google Slide here to make a copy and add links to the PebbleGo and PebbleGo Next articles. 

And to make it a choice board, just Publish to the web, as shown in this image above. 

You will share that Published Link with your students.  

I love sharing these interactive PebbleGo and PebbleGo Next Holiday Calendars with our students and teachers. They love learning all about these special days that are highlighted each month too.

I will have the November 2023 PebbleGo and PebbleGo Next ready to go for the month. I hope you will find ways to use it with your students and teachers. 

Creating Thankfulness Self Portraits and Stories With StickTogether Pixel Art, Books and Lots Of Creativity!

                  

As we get ready for the holiday, our first graders are participating in a very special project using books, graph paper and the StickTogether Pixel Art site, not to mention lots of creativity, hard work and fun. 

When the first grade teachers and I met to collaborate around doing a StickTogether Pixel Art project, we decided to have it focus on thankfulness. We would have the students create Thankfulness Self Portraits and Stories to share with each other and their families. 

The teachers kicked it off my sharing books with the thankfulness theme. Thankful and The Thankful Book are two of my favorites. 

This is the NEW StickTogether Pixel Art site.  

Since this was the 1st graders first time creating in the StickTogether Pixel Art platform, I made a screen shot of the site and printed it for the students to use as they created their self portrait on the graph. 

They used pencil and marker. 

When they finished on the paper, they were so excited to go to the Pixel Art site. 

I loved watching all of the unique and amazing self portraits come to life. 

They used their touch screens and the track pad. 

Take a look at a few of the beautiful Pixel Art creations from our 1st graders. 

As they finish their self portraits, they just click on Generate PDF's and it goes into the teachers dash board where they can be printed in color or as a grid to be filled out with the stickers. 

We had them add their colored one to the Padlet too. This is what it looks like printed off in color. 

This week, our students will be adding the stickers to their blank sticker posters. I will share an update as they complete their Pixel Art self portraits. 

Once they have the Pixel Art complete, we will attach them to a piece of construction paper with a sentence starter, I am thankful for....on the other side for them to write what they are thankful for too. 

You can also find Pixel Art Starter Packs now on the StickTogether site that gives you lots of stickers for your students to stick their own creations. You can find the special packs here.

Join The Fun At The Capstone Community Virtual Pictionary Event On November 9th at 3:30pm CST! Sign Up Today, Friends.

 

I am so excited for the upcoming Capstone Community Virtual Pictionary Event!  

My friend, Jenna Gobrick, will be hosting this super fun event, and I will be making a special guest appearance to kick it off on November 9, 2023 at 3:30pm CST. 

Check out the details for the event...

It's been a busy back to school season! We cannot thank our community enough for all you do in your own schools, libraries, and communities. We'd love for you to join us for some laughs and a fun brain break! In this Zoom meeting, you'll get to know our incredible, talented Marketing Designers. Coming out from behind the scenes here at Capstone- Bob, Sandy, and Greta will be front and center.. and YOU will be their support throughout this game! We're leaving the drawing to the professionals- and the professional guessing to you, friends. Attendees will be pre-assigned to a designer's team, and each team will go through multiple rounds of guessing as many words as possible before time is up! The winning team will be sent a Capstone swag pack! Please remember to provide valid contact information when you register so that we can contact you if you are on the winning team. If you have any questions, please reach out to Jenna at jgobrick@capstonepub.com. We hope to see you there!

You can register for this special event here, friends.

BIG News! 47 NEW Articles Added To PebbleGo and PebbleGo Next This Month!

 

I always LOVE it when our friends at Capstone share BIG NEWS! 

This week, they announced that 47 NEW articles were added to PebbleGo and PebbleGo Next.

In fact, 23 were added to PebbleGo and 24 were added to PebbleGo Next. 

You can read more about the 23 new PebbleGo articles here and the 24 new PebbleGo Next articles here.

I have so many new favorites, but I just love the How Is It Made category in PebbleGo Social Studies.

There are two articles I can't wait to share with my students....How Book Are Made and How PebbleGo Articles Are Made. These are so interesting and our kids will love reading these articles. 

There are two activities that go with these articles....perfect to use for a writing activity. 

I loved spying my friend, Bea, from Capstone in the PebbleGo article too. 

You can read all about the 24 new PebbleGo Next articles here. 

I was excited to see a new Science article about Artificial Intelligence. 

There are amazing activities tied to the PebbleGo Next articles too. 

To read about more updates from Capstone, you will find them all here on their site.

New Year, New You! New Ways To Promote Your Library Program and Yourself! Register For My Upcoming Follett Webinar Here, Friends.

 

As we kick off a new year in a few months, I am excited to share my upcoming Follett webinar too. 

This one is called, New Year, New You! New Ways To Promote Your Library Program and Yourself!

It's on January 18, 2024 at 4:00pm CST. 

As shared in the invite online, 

Kick off the new year in a great way, with new ideas to take you through the entire school calendar. Join Shannon McClintock Miller at 4pm CST, when she will share what’s worked in her library to promote her program, holidays, reading, engagement, and more! It’s a brand-new year and the perfect time to think about all the things we can do to promote our library program and ourselves, as teacher librarians. In this exciting webinar, Shannon McClintock Miller will share a multitude of ideas and resources to promote reading, learning, and making through book displays, calendars, choice boards, digital tools, STEAM, collaboration, advocacy, and so much more. She’ll look ahead at holidays and events and share ways you can prepare with resources, Titlewave nodes, and Collections. You won’t want to miss this one, or your opportunity to kick off the year with Shannon! She will provide a takeaway calendar of events for each attendee. Attendees will learn ideas for:

• Setting goals for the new year • Promoting reading through book promotions and displays, book clubs, virtual reading choice boards, and more • Cool technology tools to use as a librarian • Tips for successful collaboration and advocacy Scheduling conflict?

We’ve got you covered! Register and we’ll send you the recording shortly after the webinar ends.

You can register for the webinar here today. Hope to see you there, friends.

A Fun and Spooky Collection To Have Your Kids Explore With Merge EDU and Augmented Reality This Week!

 

This week, we will be celebrating Halloween and fall. When our first grade teachers reached out to me to see if there was a pumpkin in Merge EDU activity that their students could view in augmented reality, I reached out to my friends at Merge. 

They sent me an amazing Halloween Collection of Objects in Merge EDU.  All of these objects shown in the image above can be viewed by the students using the Merge Object Viewer app and a Merge Cube. 

Here is the published link of this choice board above that you can share with your students.  If you want to make any changes to this slide, you can make a copy here and then share that published link with your students. 

If you have Merge EDU, you can log into your account to use this Collection. If you want to try it out with your students this week, you can start a free trial here.

And if you need Merge Cubes, you can print this off and make them here.

I can't wait to visit the first grade classrooms tomorrow as our students explore in augmented reality to learn more about these objects, fall and Halloween.

We Hope You Will Join Us For The 4th Annual Future Ready Librarians App Smash LIVE Webinar On November 9, 2023, Friends!

                 

Friends, we hope you will join us for the 4th Annual Future Ready Librarians App Smash LIVE Webinar on November 9, 2023 at 5:00pm EST. 

As shared online, 

Join us for the 4th Annual Future Ready Librarians App Smash Webinar hosted by the dynamic Shannon McClintock Miller and 25 amazing educators.

Get ready for an exciting hour of inspiration and innovation as twenty Future Ready Innovators come together to unleash the power of twenty cutting-edge digital tools. In this fast-paced event, our presenters will showcase how they use digital tools  to craft interactive and engaging learning experiences for students across face-to-face, virtual, and blended learning environments and even at home!

Discover firsthand how each digital tool is a vital ingredient in the arsenal of Future Ready Innovators. The presenters will delve into the intricacies of each tool,  and share not only its functionalities but how it can be used tomorrow to personalized learning for students.

This webinar promises more than just insights; it’s a celebration of sharing, networking, and collaboration within the vibrant Future Ready community. 

You can register here today.  We will be announcing our 25 special guests soon! 

Our BOOKHUB & Virtual BOOKHUB For November! Our Monthly Read Aloud & eBook Program Using Books, Capstone Connect & CI eBooks For All Readers!

 

One of our favorite ways to share special books and celebrate reading is our monthly BOOKHUB Takeout Station. 

Each month, we put together a new group of books that teachers can come pick up to read and share with their students.  You can read all about it, and find the signage I created in Canva, here in this post.

Here is our BOOKHUB Menu for November. You will find the Canva template here.

A few years ago, I thought it would also be found to create a Virtual BOOKHUB each month. 

Capstone Connect is the perfect place to help me create too! 

Capstone Connect is an amazing digital platform from our friends at Capstone that connects PebbleGo, PebbleGo Next, Capstone Interactive eBooks and teachers resources in one place with links to use that connect to each resource.

Let me show you how I put the our November Virtual BOOKHUB choice board.

First, I logged into our Capstone Connect. 

I searched Diwali using the Title Search in Capstone Connect. 

When I searched Diwali, it gave me the results eBooks, PebbleGo articles and teacher resources.

For the choice board I created, I needed the book cover and link to the eBook.  

To view the eBook, I clicked on Diwali and the eBook...

...opened up in Capstone Interactive.  This let me view the eBook and also grab the cover image. 

I then clicked on Copy Link and took it to the choice board. 

I then went back to the You've Been Virtually Book'd For November choice board I created in Google Slides.  I added the screen shot of the book cover, clicked on the image, and added the link I copied to the image. 

When our students and teachers click on the book covers, it will take them straight to the ebooks within Capstone Interactive.  

We don't even have to login because by using Capstone Connect it takes us directly to the eBooks and PebbleGo resources every time.  

We love our You've Been Book'd program and can't wait to celebrate reading in one more way with our students as we share our You've Been Virtually Book'd program every month! 

I made a template for you to create your own You've Been Virtually Book'd For November.  If you have Capstone Interactive eBooks, you can find the link and add them to the book covers I have included in this choice board.

I also created this blank template for November to fill in with your own eBooks and choices for November.

You will find it here to make a copy, friends.