There was an Old Lady...

"Where is that old lady book?" was my favorite library question last week! After chuckling for a second and thinking about what they were asking, I realized the students wanted to look at our collection of The Old Lady Who Swallowed ... books.  These are great books that you can use to teach sequencing, compare and contrast, vocabulary, prediction, retelling, and more.

Looking for good lesson ideas utilizing these great books?  Check out the links below!

Write a new ending

Old Lady who Swallowed Leaves - Lessons for multiple subjects

Who, What, When, Where, Why

Pinterest ideas

Rhyming Activity

Manipulatives

Teachingbooks

Little Old Lady Probablity

Enchanted Learning

Midi Accompaniment

Collaboration Friday: Non-Renewable/Renewable Resources

Friday, November 21st the 4th and 5th Grade students at CE had the opportunity to see and example of a renewable resource and a  non-renewable resource at work. These types of resources can be an abstract idea to students that have never seen these resources at work.  We wanted to create a mental picture and connection between our lives and the uses of natural resources for our students. Through Face-Time Theo and Frank showed students solar panels and a natural gas plant.

Students were able to see solar panels on Theo's house.  Theo explained how a solar panel hot water system works and the benefits this system has for his family.  The students were also able to see the pipe and heating system fueled by his solar panels.
Great questions were asked like:
*How much money did the system cost? How much money does it save you?
*How much water is heated from the panels?
*Do the panels work on cloudy days or snowy days?
*What temperature does the water reach?
*What happens if a pipe breaks?
*What material is the solar panel made of?

 



Frank showed our students a natural gas plant.  He explained how gas is brought up from the ground, purified, and then sold to electric companies to make electricity. They were amazed at the size of the plant!
They also had great questions for Frank:
*How long have you worked on the machines?
*Is it dangerous?
*Does natural gas smell?
*How much gas goes in the pipes?
*Why do we use a non-renewable resource?
*What happens when it runs out?
*When does your company think it will run out?
*How do they know when it will run out?

Thank you 4th and 5th grade for joining us in the library for Collaboration Friday!  And a huge thank you to Theo and Frank for sharing your knowledge of natural resources with us!

December Library Newsletter

Collaboration Friday: Thanksgiving Letters from a Turkey

Gobble. Gobble to you! This is one of the many sounds associated with Thanksgiving feasts in America!  As we prepare for our thanksgiving break, we read our students one of my favorite Thanksgiving stories, 'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving by Dave Pilkey.

Students in Mr. James and Ms. Vitela's class have just begun working on the skill of writing a letter, so we challenged our students to write a persuasive letter from the turkeys point of view.  Students were working on the sections of a letter; a salutation, body, and closing.  Check out a few of their creations in the Haiku Deck below.

Thanksgiving Letters - Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires


Thank you Mr. James and Ms. Vitela for collaborating and joining us in the library for Collaboration Friday!

Collaboration Friday: Force and Motion

Kiya! 

 

With the help of The Three Ninja Pigs by Corey Rosen Schwartz & Genesis Jiujitsu, our students learned about force and motion during our collaboration Friday!  Students enjoyed a puppet show on a classic tale with a Ninja twist. In this fun story the three little pigs each train in a martial art specialty- Aikido, Jiujitsu, & Karate. The first little pig got bored and quit, the second little pig learned only one move, and the third little pig mastered them all.  You can guess the pattern of the story that followed in this book. 

Following this fun puppet show, we learned about motion and force seen in martial arts. Albert Hughes from Genesis Jiutjitsu shared martial motions with the students.  Throughout the video we were able to see patterns of motion and the force needed to create a motion.



Thank you Albert, Rudy, & Genesis Jiujitsu for helping teach our students about force and motion!



Next the students developed their own martial arts moves demonstrating: round and round, back and forth, push & pull, up and down, straight line, zig zag, & slow and fast.

Check out the Ninja Videos below:

November CE Library Newsletter

Collaboration Friday: Monster Goose Vs. Mother Goose

Your favorite Nursery Rhymes have been transformed into creepy, scary, icky tales in the book Monster Goose by Judy Sierra.

Mary had a Vampire Bat, There was an Old Zombie who Lived in a Shoe, & Twinkle Twinkle Little Slug are just a few of the titles represented in this creepy, fun book!  Students at Castleberry Elementary School had the opportunity to enjoy a Google hangout with Monster Goose & Mother Goose.  Each took turns sharing their version of infamous Nursery Rhymes.

Following the Google Hangout, we compare and contrasted the original Mother Goose rhymes to the Monster Goose Rhymes. 

Students found that the setting changed, the problem changed, and some of the characters changed in many of the rhymes Monster Goose shared with us. Although many things were different, there were many similarities including the main characters and rhyming lyrics. After each story the students voted on their favorite rhyme. Monster Goose was vary popular and prevailed on most stories, but there were many students that were Mother Goose fans and would even cheer for her after each story.

In addition to our Monster Goose Vs. Mother Goose activity, we enjoyed Character Parade at CE. The Specials team enjoyed sharing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle books with the students.  One of my personal favorites in the parade was Ms. Richerson's class. They depicted Henry and the Bucaneer Bunnies!!  This is one of my favorite books to read to students in regards to the importance of books and reading!

The Theme in the library this year is Minecraft! Many students enjoy playing Minecraft and instantly feel welcome in the library! 

At book parade, there were even Minecraft themed outfits!  This student was a Mathelete representing the Bluebonnet Nominee book Mathelete Vs. Athelete!

And of course, we can't forget about Creeper!!  One of our CE students found me at my church's fall festival and we had to get our picture taken together!

Collaboration Friday: Questions & QRs

Dogs, cats, and Abby, oh my!  CE Kindergarten students enjoyed Facetime with a community helper today in the library -  My sister, Abby Morton, a Veterinarian Technician at Athens Animal Clinic in Athens, Texas.  Students learned about all of the different operations within a Veterinarian clinic. They saw teeth cleaning tools, an x-ray machine, boarding areas, examination rooms, and some "really cute animals".  

Some of my favorite questions the Kindergarten students had for Abby were "Which animal is easier to care for, dogs or cats?" "What is your favorite part of your job?" "What do you want to be for Halloween?" and of course many of them let Abby know that her "Animals were cute!"

Abby - Vet Technician at Athens Animal Clinic

Abby and Mitt

   

A picture of an x-ray

Following the Facetime with Abby, Kindergarten teachers sent the students on a QR scavenger hunt around the library!  Students were to Identify the different community helpers found when the QR codes were scanned.  They did a great job identifying all of the different members of our community that help us everyday.

Their favorite community helpers were Mrs. Lancarte and Mr. Johnson!  They loved finding a picture of their Principals!

Thank you so much Kindergarten teachers for collaborating with the library to create an interactive, technology infused lesson for our students!

Thank you Abby and Athens Animal Clinic for sharing your clinic, knowledge, and love of animals with Castleberry Elementary School students!  We appreciate your service to the community!

QR Codes Made Easy!

QR Codes are a fun and interactive way to get our students engaged.  They are also fairly simple to create, however http://www.classtools.net/QR/ has made it even easier!

You type all of your questions into their form,
they create the codes immediately, and the codes can be used without internet connection!!












Additional QR Code sites to check out:
http://qrcode.kaywa.com/
http://www.qrstuff.com/ - color and shape QR codes
http://goqr.me/
http://www.qrexplore.com/generate/ - bulk generator
http://qr.snipp.com/
http://www.qrcode-monkey.com/#maps - QR codes using maps
http://www.visualead.com/  allows for photos, but only 3 codes created a month- example below

Great Resources for using QR Codes in the classroom:
http://www.schrockguide.net/qr-codes-in-the-classroom.html

Collaboration Friday: Spending Time with The Grouchy Ladybug

Thank you Fabulous First Grade Teachers for joining me for Collaboration Friday!

 This week CE First Grade students were working on telling time to the hour. As an extension activity, the students came to the library and spent some time with the Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle.  While watching a reading of this wonderful book, we set our own clocks to the time depicted at each stage in the story.

Following our practice of keeping time with the book, we then played a game to see if we could match time represented in both analog and digital formats,

Each student received a card with either a digital or analog clock and had to find a person with the same time.

Collaboration Friday: Puppet Show!

Do, doo doo do, do do doooo! A Royal Announcement from the Town of Left & the Town of Right:

Students at AVCato, Joy James, and Castleberry Elementary School enjoyed a puppet show this past Friday, The Marshmallow Incident written by Judi Barrett. Being the first puppet show for many of the students, laughter and enjoyment seeped out of the library! Our puppets - Bob, Sally, and the Ambidextrous Knight, showed students that reading is fun!

Check out one of the 10 performances below.

Not only did students see the joy in reading, but also discovered that they are scientist!

TEKS covered: Matter and energy. (5.C) The student knows that matter has measurable physical properties and those properties determine how matter is classified, changed, and used. The student is expected to predict, observe, and record changes in the state of matter caused by heating or cooling.

Following the puppet show the students hypothesized what they thought would happen to the physical properties of a marshmallow in -heat -water - and ice.

They discussed: the size, shape, texture, temperature, and color changes in each environment.


Check out the video showing how the physical properties changed below:

Talk Like a Pirate Day

Ahoy, me Hearties!

All Buckaneers should check out what Ye Library has been up to on Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Buckos from Castleberry Elem., AV Cato, and Joy James joined Renee Smith-Faulkner, Stephanie Martinez, Kelly Kelso, & Jessica Batchko on Google Hangout to see and hear a pirate read poems from the book Pirates by David L. Harrison.

Then the landlubbers at CE created thier own scallywag stories focusing on story elements: Characters, setting, problem, solution. Awesome creations using Pirate Cam and Chatterpix! Savvy?



Our guest Pirates:

Our Pirate Creations
focusing on the story elements of Characters, Setting, Problem, and Solution:

3rd and 4th grade Pirate Story creation - Captain Intermill, Captian Stapp, Captain Adams, and Captain Harper crews

Captain Mejia's Pirate Story

Captian Yzaguirre & Captain Hendrix crew

Captain Hazard, Captain Mcmillion, and Captain Jaresh crew

Captain Parks and Captian Remis Kindergarten crew sing ABC's

                       Captain Munion                                                           Captain Gadberry

Collaboration Friday: 2nd Grade ELA/Social Studies

Today the CE 2nd grade students had the opportunity to interview a Fire Chief and RN via FaceTime in the Library! Prior to attending the virtual field trip, students in 2nd grade have been studying community helpers and the ELA skill of comparing and contrasting.  Students brainstormed interview questions for the Fire Chief and RN, interviewed both during a FaceTime session, and then completed a Venn Diagram comparing and contrasting the two community helpers.

During this virtual field trip students were able to meet Fire Chief Brad Hargrove and visit the Crowley Fire Academy (trainingdivision.com).  Brad showed the students a fire truck and gear in addition to answering interview questions from the students. Following this interview students had the opportunity to interview nurse Karen Fimbrez.  She gave the students information on her tools, daily activities, and the college experience needed to become a nurse.  

Thank you so much Brad and Karen for helping our students learn about the importance of community helpers and how to compare and contrast!

Thank you 2nd Grade team for collaborating with the Library! I look forward to Collaboration Friday: Talk Like a Pirate Day - Next Friday - Sept. 19th!!

CE Library Newsletter

ThingLink

I don't know if you guys have heard of ThingLink, but it is a great tool available for infusing technology into the classroom. 

One of my favorite bloggers, Lisa Johnson is the author of the TechChef4u blog, posts many ideas and tips on using ThingLink in your classroom. So, what is ThingLink? It's a tool where you can insert links into a photo or created graphic.

Check out what it looks like by clicking the target links below. This ThingLink was created by TechCef4u in helping elementary classrooms infuse technology.




ThingLink has now released ThingLink for video!  You can now link information to points in a video.

Click here to check out a recent blogpost for more information!


Here is a quick video showing four ways a teacher used Thinglink for a video with her student created books!




Interested in trying it out? Let me know! I would love to collaborate with you!

-Sallee Clark

Odette's Secrets

                                                        
                  




Like the book on facebook and recieve 6 chapters free to read online. Click here.

This is a sweet, poetic prose, story of a young Jewish girl in France during WWII.  Odette's world changes as her father, mother, community, and country are affected by war.  Change creeps in at first and then overtakes young Odette.  Fear and lies turn into a beautiful life of hiding for Odette and other Jewish children in France.  Will the lies become truth for these children? Will they survive? Find out by reading the Texas Bluebonnet Award Nominee, Odette's Secrets!
-Mrs. Clark



Reviews:

School Library Journal

This story opens as World War II is beginning and the persecution of Jews in France is escalating. After Paris falls to the Nazis, Odette is rushed to the countryside, where she hides in plain sight by living with a family and pretending to be Christian. There she struggles with her identity. The strength of the novel lies in MacDonald's meticulous research, which is explained in an author's note, of the real Odette Meyers, whose photos are included. The author weaves in facts about Odette's life and the events taking place at the time with imagined scenarios in which Odette may have found herself. However, the author's free-verse prose style makes readers acutely aware that an adult is trying to write from a child's perspective, and it sounds not so much poetic as fragmentary and unorganized. This book is a good introduction for children interested in how the war and the Holocaust affected the everyday lives of kids their age, but in a field with so many classics and reinterpretations of similar stories, such as Judith Kerr's When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit (Collins, 1971), Lois Lowry's Number the Stars (Houghton, 1989), Jennifer Roy's Yellow Star (Marshall Cavendish, 2006), and Sandi Toksvig's Hitler's Canary (Roaring Brook, 2007), it's an additional purchase.—Anne Barreca, New York Public Library

Kirkus Reviews

Introspective and accessible, this fictionalized history of a Jewish child surviving the Nazi occupation of France uses an elegant simplicity of language. Odette, quite young, lives comfortably in a Paris apartment "on a cobblestone square / with a splashing fountain." Watching a newsreel, she sees "soldiers march, / their legs and arms straight as sticks. / A funny-looking man with a mustache / shouts a speech." The next day, she sees a Jewish-owned store with smashed windows. Mama and Papa are secular, but "[w]e are Polish Jews because / Mama's and Papa's parents and grandparents / in faraway Poland / are all Jews." Papa joins the French army and is taken prisoner; yellow stars are assigned; Mama sends Odette out of Paris. For 2 1/2 years, Odette practices Catholicism in one village and then another, growing attached to religious ritual and the countryside. Macdonald's free verse uses unadorned images: A blanket from Odette's devoted (Christian) godmother; schoolchildren pounding out "La Marseillaise" on desks with their fists to drown out rowdy German soldiers; those same children rolling Odette in a thorn bush when they suspect her secret. Odette's first-person voice matures subtly as she grows in age and in comprehension of the war's horrors. Based on the real Odette Meyers (née Melspajz), this thoughtful, affecting piece makes an ideal Holocaust introduction for readers.

A Collaboration Project: The Importance of Rules

After learning about the Preamble to the Constitution, Ms. Wilson's class  interviewed teachers and students asking "Why is it important to have school rules?" Check out their fotobabbles below.  We learned that rules keep us safe, peaceful, and help us have fun!

A Collaboration Project: The Preamble to the CE Student Code of Conduct

 Ms. Mejia's class created a Preamble for the CE Student Code of Conduct! Great Job!

September CE Library News

How Can We Assist You?

Technology Integration + Marketing

Technology Integration + Marketing

One of my favorite Educational Technology leaders is TechChef.  She focuses on seamlessly integrating technology into the classroom.  I ran across one of her blog post's that I thought really emphasized the some of the goals CISD is implementing. 

In the blog post by TechChef, she encourages teachers to use best practice by asking yourself:

*Have I aligned this project to my content standards?

*Have I aligned this project to the ISTE NETS or state technology standards?

*Have I published student work to create an authentic learning opportunity?

It is so tempting to want to use new technology for new technology sake, or use technology because we need an infused lesson, but is that helping our students? Are we enabling them to utilize technology to think critically?

When creating technology infused lessons, be sure to challenge students to think critically while utilizing technology. (Analyze, Evaluate, Create)

Quick Links:

Here are a few great lesson ideas linked in the TechChef blog 

CISD Bloom's Symbaloo

Mrs. Clark's Digital Porfolio - ISTE Standards and ways we can collaborate!

One of the last questions we sometimes forget to ask ourselves is:

*Have I shared these projects with parents?

TechChef shared a great idea on how to get parents to visit your site or blog by utilizing stickers sent home from school. Check it out here!

Don't forget-- I would love to collaborate with you to create a technology infused lesson & an extension activity for the Library! 

What are some ideas you have for sharing technology infused creations with your parents? 

Ask Us

Counting by 7's

What matters in your life?
What is the substance of your life?
Friends, video games, television, sports, religion?

Counting by 7's by Holly Goldberg Sloan had me asking the questions: What would happen, if what matters most to me in this life was gone in an earth shattering moment? How would I cope? How would I heal? How would I live?

If you are looking for a book that is heartbreaking and heartwarming all at the same time, this is the book for you.  Warm thoughts and memories flood my heart as I recall the feelings and thoughts I had while reading this book.  It is a book loss and of finding renewal.

Download the first chapter of this book by clicking here!  
Counting by 7's is a 2014-2015 Bluebonnet Nominee!

Check out the book review below: (spoiler alert - the review does give away some of the story :)
- Mrs. Clark

School Library Journal:
Sloan, Holly Goldberg. Counting by 7s

★Gr 5–8—Twelve-year-old Willow Chase lived with her adoptive parents in Bakersfield, California. There in the midst of the high desert, she grew a garden in her backyard, her sanctuary. She was excited about starting a new school, hoping this time she might fit in, might find a friend. Willow had been identified in preschool as highly gifted, most of the time causing confusion and feelings of ineptness in her teachers. Now at her new school she is accused of cheating because no one has ever finished the state proficiency test in just 17 minutes, let alone gotten a perfect score. Her reward is behavioral counseling with Dell Duke, an ineffectual counselor with organizational and social issues of his own. She does make a friend when Mai Nguyen brings her brother, Quang-ha, to his appointment, and their lives begin to intertwine when Willow’s parents are killed in an auto accident. For the second time in her life she is an orphan, forced to find a “new normal.” She is taken in temporarily by Mai’s mother, who must stay ahead of Social Services. While Willow sees herself as just an observer, trying to figure out the social norms of regular family life, she is actually a catalyst for change, bringing together unsuspecting people and changing their lives forever. The narration cleverly shifts among characters as the story evolves. Willow’s philosophical and intellectual observations contrast with Quang-ha’s typical teenage boy obsessions and the struggles of a Vietnamese family fighting to live above the poverty level. Willow’s story is one of renewal, and her journey of rebuilding the ties that unite people as a family will stay in readers’ hearts long after the last page.—Cheryl Ashton, Amherst Public Library

Book graphic and downloadable chapter provided by:  http://texasbluebonnetaward2015.wordpress.com/counting-by-7s/