Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Join Us For A Literati Book Fairs Webinar and Be Entered For A Chance To Win A Special Book Bundle!

                

I am so excited to join my friends at Literati for a very special webinar coming up on February 8, 2024 at 4:00pm CST.  

In the webinar, Learn About Literati Book FairsI will discuss:


And guess what?  Everyone who attends has a chance to win a book bundle!  


If you can't attend live, don't worry.  The recording will be shared with everyone who registers. 

I hope to see you there, friends.  I can't wait to share about our Literati Book Fair and so much more.

Our BOOKHUB & Virtual BOOKHUB For February! 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 February. 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 February Virtual BOOKHUB choice board.
First, I logged into our Capstone Connect
I searched Winter using the Title Search in Capstone Connect. 
When I searched Winter, 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 Valentine's Day 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 February 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 February  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 February to fill in with your own eBooks and choices for February.

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

And you will find the list of all the Capstone Interactive eBooks from the choice board here.

Tuesday, January 30, 2024

The 2024 ALA YMA Posters For Our Library Walls and Bitmoji Rooms Are Here From Our Friends At Follett!

This time of year, the new YMA (ALA Youth Media Awards) Award Books we ordered are coming in and we are ready to set up a special display to show all of these off in our library for our readers. 

With these books, I love to display the YMA posters that our friends at Follett creates for us every year.  These bright and colorful posters filled with beautiful book covers represent five different YMA awards by displaying this years winner and several from the past too. 

You can get the posters here on Follett's site where you can download them to print. You can print them in any size you would like.  

There is an orange button that lets you Shop The Awards on Titlewave. I found this super useful when I was pulling together the new award books for our library.  You can find it here on Titlewave
I also started a Bitmoji Room with these posters hanging on the wall.  If you would like to use this, you can make a copy here

A Little Science Research Project About Migration and Hibernation Using PebbleGo Create!

 

I love collaborating with teachers on learning and research projects. It's one of the best parts of being a teacher librarian. 

Over the last few weeks, our first graders had a request for a little help as their students learned about hibernation and migration. 

We started with a choice board filled with PebbleGo articles and Capstone Interactive eBooks
You will find the template in this Google Slide.  Feel free to make a copy and add your own links. 

Then we picked a place for them to share what they learned.  PebbleGo Create is the perfect place for them to do just that!  
In PebbleGo Create, the teacher or librarian can create a template and push it to the students.  This what we did for this research project.  

I created two templates, one for migration and one for hibernation.  
We then printed the templates on paper and gave them to the students to use as a template for their research. 
This worked great because it gave them a chance to draw and write what they learned about each topic.
Next, I shared the two templates with all of our first grade classes.  With the Google Classroom integration in PebbleGo Create, it is super easy to create a template and share with the students. I love this! 
Now it was time for the students to share what they learned in their own creative and meaningful ways.
And the best part is to see how proud they are of their learning and creations.  

Register Today For The NEW Follett Webinar, Collaboration and Communication In Your School and District!

 


Join me in my upcoming Follett webinar on collaboration and communication in your school and district to learn how all types of educators can further learning and technology to empower one another for the betterment of students. It is on February 29, 2024 at 2:00pm CST. 

You can register here

And if you can't make it live, a recording and the webinar resources will be sent to everyone afterwards too. 

See you there, friends. 


Monday, January 29, 2024

Here Is The "February Choice Board Poster"....Making Choice Boards Easy & Organized For All Students To Access & Use!

                          

Hi friends, 

I want to share a little tip that I have been using for all of the different choice boards we use each month.  This will help when organizing and sharing choice boards with students at school and those learning remotely.  
Each month after I have my choice boards done, I pull them together in another Google Slide choice board.  

I add each choice board as an image and link the choice board to that image.  Under the image, I add a QR code that I make in QR Code Monkey for each choice board too.  

Our teachers can share the monthly choice board posters in Seesaw and Google Classroom.  This works great for our students at school and those learning at home.  

We also print the posters so our students with iPads can scan the QR codes.  This can also be projected on the screen in the classrooms for students to walk up to and scan.  

For this month, I have two different grade level posters. 

You will find the TK-3 February Choice Boards Poster here. You can make a copy, add your QR codes and links. 

You will find the 4-8th February Choice Boards Poster here.  You can make a copy, add your QR codes and links. 

You will find the February Choice Boards, with directions on how to share, in this post too. 

I hope you find these choice board posters helpful too. 

A Groundhog Day Choice Board & A Fun STEAM Activity From Our Friends At 3DuxDesign!

                 

On February 2, we all watch to see if the Groundhog sees his shadow.  This is always so much fun for our kids to watch and learn more about. 

I put together a choice board for our students and teachers at Van Meter and wanted to share it with all of you too. 
In addition to the Pennsylvania site, Enter a State of Phil for the...
...Groundhog Day 2022 Livestream here, I included a few videos for kids, online activities, 
the PebbleGo article about Woodchucks, 
...and two Capstone Interactive eBooks about groundhogs and Groundhog Day.

You will find the link to the Let's Learn About Groundhog Day Choice Board here. You can make a copy and add links to your PebbleGo and Capstone interactive eBooks or change them out for another resource.
Remember, when sharing with your students, just click on File and Publish to the web. 
Then copy that link to share with students.  It will be just the interactive choice board that they see. 
To go along with our choice board and lots of learning and fun, our friends at 3DuxDesign created a super fun STEAM activity for Groundhog Day to do with your students too.  You will find it here.

Have fun celebrating Groundhog Day in lots of different ways. 

It's Time For Our February Choice Board! You Will Find TWO Versions This Month & the Links For Both Here, Friends.

                 

February is a week away and we are getting ready for a new month filled with learning, exploring, creating, collaboration and fun. 

There are many things happening in February so Our February Choice Board is filled with lots of places to connect our learners to these events and information.  

This month, I made two versions of the February Choice Board to share.  
Version #1 includes the Let's Learn About Presidents' Day Choice Boards created with PebbleGo and PebbleGo Next. 

You can share this link with your students for Version #1 and if you want to make changes you will find it here to edit too
If you don't have PebbleGo and don't want to make any changes, you can use Version #2 which includes links to the Groundhog Day Choice Board and National Geographic Kids to learn more about the Presidents.  

You can share this link with your students for Version #2 and if you want to make changes you will find it here to edit

Let me walk you through this months choice boards. 
In the first column, I included choice boards for Groundhog Day, Valentine's Day and Presidents' Day.  
You will find the Happy Valentine's Day Choice Board here. This is where you can make changes if you'd like. 
I included two choice boards for Presidents' Day on Version #1.  The first is for grades TK-3rd here and...
On Version #2, I included the Groundhog Day Choice Board.  You will find everything you need for this one here
I also included a place for the Let's Take A Trip Around The World Buncee Choice Board, 
which you can find here too
And just as a reminder, remember to share it with your students by Publishing it to the web and sharing that link.  It will just show the slide when you share it that way. 

Please let me know if you have any questions or need help.  I am always happy to share and help you in any way. 

Have fun getting ready for February, friends.