February 12, 2013 by plemmonsa

Connecting Libraries through some “Extra Yarn”

Shannon and I took turns reading pages of Extra Yarn.

What a fun day! After lots of tweeting, collaborating via a Google Doc, and emailing, Ms. Hocking’s Kindergarten Class connected today with Shannon Miller’s Kindergarten students in Van Meter, Iowa. In the spirit of World Read Aloud Day #WRAD13, we read a book that connected with the theme of “Reading it Forward” and used the book Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Jon Klassen. This book was just honored with the Caldecott Honor Award at the ALA Youth Media Awards. So far, I’ve read the book to all 1st grade classes and every class falls in love with this text and the illustrations. It also generates some great discussion about the mysterious yarn box.

In today’s session, Ms. Hocking’s Class gathered in the library. We talked about etiquette during the Skype session and looked at a map of where Van Meter Iowa is located. We also did a quick intro of what we would be doing together. Then, we made the call via Skype. Shannon Miller introduced her students and we enjoyed waving at one another and saying hello. Then, Shannon and I launched into reading the book. We each read a 2-page spread of the book, and it was so much fun to hear 2 different voices reading the text. The kids enjoyed joining in by saying “extra yarn” every time that appeared in the text. It was great to hear voices in 2 different states shouting “extra yarn”. We stopped a little bit along the way to look at how the illustrations were changing and to make some predictions. Our last step was to make yarn bookmarks to send to one another. Shannon’s students had already made their bookmarks before the call, so they were able to show us their work. This really inspired my students to do their best work and to make connections to what Shannon’s students had already started. We said goodbye and got to work on our bookmarks. Each student had a card stock bookmark with yarn attached at the end. They put their name on the bookmark and decorated both sides. Now we will mail our bookmarks to Iowa and eagerly await bookmarks to arrive from Iowa. We plan to continue to connect these 2 classes through a follow-up project in book making.

You can read Shannon’s post about the experience on her Van Meter Library Voice Blog!

Student bookmarks had yarn attached to the end in honor of the book.

Our students are read to send their bookmarks to Iowa

Our students are ready to send their bookmarks to Iowa

This was such a fun time. It meant a lot to the students, and it was really super easy to do through so many virtual tools. I look forward to many more collaborations with Shannon and other librarians across the country (and world)!

November 16, 2012 by plemmonsa

Skyping with Steve Milone @ Fox5 Atlanta

Mrs. Yawn’s enrichment cluster came to the library today to Skype with Steve Milone, meteorologist at Fox5 Atlanta. The session was excellent. The students have been studying weather for the past 4 enrichment cluster sessions and prepared questions to ask Steve.

Before the students came to Skype, Steve and I did a test call to check our sound and video quality. This doesn’t always mean the session is going to go smoothly, but it does prevent those initial Skype setup mistakes that often happen. Steve planned to switch from a stationary computer to an iPad, so we practiced doing that before the students arrived.

During the session, the students sat on the carpet in front of the Smart Board. A student introduced the cluster and welcomed Steve. Then, he launched into his introduction. We disconnected and he called us again on the iPad in order to give a studio tour. He walked all over the Fox5 Studio to show us the green screen, numerous computers, anchor desk, interview area, and more. I was amazed at how close all of the areas are together. It seems so much bigger on tv!

After the tour, Steve returned to his stationary computer and the students asked questions that they had prepared. You can hear 2 of the questions here:

Many thanks to Fox5, Steve Milone, and Mrs. Yawn’s enrichment cluster for this great experience! Look for this cluster to be on Fox5 Atlanta Sunday @ 8:15AM.

October 25, 2011 by plemmonsa

Storybook Celebration 2011

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Usually around this time of year I post about Barrow Storybook Parade. However, this year we revised the name a bit to “Storybook Celebration”. After tons of feedback from teachers and meeting with my media technology committee, we began to craft a new plan for this annual event. A major concern from teachers was that there seemed to be less of a focus on reading and more focus on dressing up in a costume that wasn’t related to books.

This year, we decided to speak to this concern by making the entire day a focus on reading. The morning started out in our traditional way with an assembly in the gym. Each class had a chance to walk across the stage to show off their books and costumes. Some classes had a class theme such as “heroes inside of us” or “Chicka Chicka 123” or “Folktales and Fairy Tales” while other classes had students dressed as characters such as Willow Smith, Despereaux, the Grouchy Ladybug, and Where’s Waldo. After the assembly, we continued our yearly tradition of walking to 5 points and back shouting “Read More Books!”.

When we returned to school, classroom teachers planned rotations within their grade level or planned a day of literature activities within their own classrooms. Each class also signed up for one specials class in art, music, PE, social emotional learning, or health. The media center isn’t typically part of the specials rotation, but we were also one of the options to sign up for. Each of these specials planned a literature-based lesson that focused on their subject area.

In the media center, we had skype guest readers. A HUGE “thank you” goes out to all of these volunteers who took time to read exciting stories and interact with our students. Author Laurel Snyder skyped with 4th grade and read Wolves in the Walls by Neil Gaiman. Linda Martin, media specialist at Sugar Hill Elementary in Hall County, skyped with Kindergarten and read Shake Dem Halloween Bones. Kathy Schmidt, media specialist at Rock Springs Elementary in Gwinnett County, skyped with 3rd grade and shared her “boo bubbles” science experiment. Laura Landstrom, former Barrow teacher, skyped from Washington DC with many of her former students who are now in 5th grade. Marsha West, former Barrow media specialist, skyped with 2nd grade from her new home in Nebraska. For many of our students, it was the first time to use Skype, and they were amazed by how it worked. After each author’s session, we brainstormed ways Skype might be used at school and I encouraged the students to share their ideas with their teachers so that we can continue to reach beyond our school walls into the world. For the second half of the media center time, students used the Sock Puppet app on the iPads to create 30-second stories with a partner. Some students also chose to use this time to read on our e-readers. There were some very imaginative and hilarious sock puppet shows that students created in a matter of minutes. It is amazing what students can create and figure out when they have the space to explore.