Virginia Readers Choice!

I was so excited to see some of the books that I ordered and loved this year made the list!  I mean, how funny is a book about a dog being swallowed by the book???  So, since I had some of the books and hit up the Green Valley Book Fair for most of the others (I found all but 2 of the Primary and I'm still missing one from the Elementary list), I decided to go ahead and work on lesson plans, even though it's still summer (but it seems not much longer!  Yikes!).

We've spent part of the summer coming into the library for the high speed Internet to help my 15 yr old make it through summer school.  Algebra I.  Yeah, it's as bad as it sounds.  15 days, 3 days a week, from 8-2:30, he has to go to school to JUST do Algebra.  On a good note, it's a computer-based program, so it's at his own pace.  Bad note - he gets easily distracted and bored.  So, since he didn't make it through during the year, we're doing it now.  The deal is - one hour working with his program on Algebra, the rest of the time he can play to his heart's content and watch videos.  It's helped with the motivation!  It also helps, I think, to have someone sitting with him and helping him.  Being 15 and a boy, of course he won't ask for help in class :(

But, I digress.  You're not here to hear about Algebra.  Sorry if it brought up any bad memories!  Hah ;)

I'm excited to share my packet again this year!  Like last year, there are bookmarks, videos, AR quiz numbers, memory books, lesson plans....this year, I added a last minute addition I did this Spring with my kids.  You know those sudden inspirations you get that just work really well?  I did a March madness type bracket when I started reading the books to my K-2 group in January.  It really helped them to see the covers on the poster, as well as vote along the way so we had two semi-finalists.  They got really excited about it!

For Elementary, my 4th and 5th graders who read at least 5 out of the 10 books, get invited to an ice cream sundae social, where I presented the brackets and they voted on the ones that they had read.  It was a fun way to come up with a winner!  For the students who read all 10 books, I had books I had purchased from the book fair and let them choose a brand new book to keep!  It was a big hit.  I'm excited because I had almost a whole 4th grade class come to the party, so I hope they keep motivated for 5th grade!  Some of my 3rd graders last year started looking at the books in my special area in the library and started reading them!  I'm hoping to have a HUGE turnout with student readers this year!

Another thing I did this year, at the end of the year, was go through my shelves and label all past Virginia Readers Choice books.  I tell students that they're the "best of the best", and they've enjoyed reading some from the past.  I have several students who like to read books together, so it's nice the multiple copies still come in handy!

I also had the opportunity to order some of this year's books and getting them in before the end of the year, so I already have students who are working on reading them!  The Lion Who Stole My Arm has been a BIG hit with my boys!

So, here's some sneak peeks below of my packet.  If you're interested in seeing more, feel free to head over to TPT or Teacher's Notebook where it's listed.  Also, I put my past year's Virginia Reader's Choice packets on sale.  There are some great books from year's past you might have in your library and be able to use in a lesson!

Catching Up

It's been a different year so far.  To quote one of my newest favorite characters, Iva Honeycutt, not "bad-different, interesting-different."  In my second year in the library, things are falling into place but I still find myself staying late, coming in early, and spending part of my weekends at school.  Granted, I have two kids with me loving to use the high-speed wifi (and sometimes a dog for companionship!), but I just wonder when I'll catch up!

This past week, we had a two-day visit with Candice Ransom, which was AWESOME!  She was able to come two days (Thursday and Friday), so we could work with smaller groups in the library (roughly, two resources classes per day for K-5).  I guess the "bad-different" part was that I was so engaged with her talk and the kids' writings that I completely forgot to take pictures!  I'll instead share some of the display and the two books I've been reading with my 2nd-5th graders in preparation for the visit (all the sticky notes are bookmarks for the different classes - we're still working on the books!).  I have to say, if you've never read Rebel McKenzie, it is now one of my favorite books!  Excellent for older elementary as well as the young adult audience.  Read it and you'll see :)

We've had some great lessons this year, but I still feel behind where I should be.  Have I introduced "Adopt-a-Shelf" yet?  No, and my shelves and the treatment of them shows that!  I JUST got the teachers to agree to send my former library helpers in this past week (we've been in school since August 12) due to the earlier start of the academic day (they only come 1 day/week).  After I "refresh" their training, I'll open up applications for new helpers for 3-5.  I also haven't introduced Virginia Readers Choice to my 4th and 5th.  I know they have until the beginning of April to read the books and vote, but the books are in and waiting on them! :)

What HAVE I done?  I think I did a pretty good job of introducing/reintroducing Dewey Decimal System to 2nd-5th, refreshed 3-5 and retaught 2 how to use our online catalog, Destiny.  We've done an author study in anticipation of Ms. Ransom's visit.  The first week of school we did a refresher on library rules and book care.  Why do I feel like this isn't enough for almost the beginning of October???

Ah well.  I sit looking at my "to-do" list and realize I need to get to the point!  One thing I've been working on today is uploading some of my younger students' lessons/activities.  We have 3 Autism classes and a 4 yr old PreK and a 2-3 yr old PreK.  Not exactly a Dewey audience!  However, I realized I had 6 lessons I had done with them that were pretty fun and successful, covering different skills, that I hadn't shared!  Please feel free to peruse them using the link to TPT (they're also on my TN site as well).  Be SURE to download "Gus, the Dinosaur Bus" since that is a freebie!

If you'd like to know more on what Candice Ransom did with the students (the focus was on writing - wish my teachers had sat in, it was amazing!), please let me know and I'll do a separate post on it!