Creating a Classroom Library Here's how I organized my classroom library. There is no right or wrong way to organize your library and these ideas are simply how I choose to organize mine. Just below is a picture of my second grade library in progress. It is amazing how it transforms! I have combined my library and my meeting area. You can see the bright cheery carpet, lamp and tons and tons of books! Getting started Mark the books I highly suggest labeling the books as coming from your library. Decide on your sorting system One of the most difficult things to figure out is how to sort all of your books. In my classroom I have chosen to sort by books by topic and author. I am also a big fan of keeping books in books bins. Here is a close-up of my book bins (or book baskets): Decide on the book categories When I first started my classroom library, I did not have any preconceived categories that I wanted to use. Here are some of the categories into which I have decided to divide my books: Catalog the books Creating the labels
Blog About Balancing T1D & Everyday Life Highland Park Central - home Triton Lite｜2012-03-09 No More “What Did You Do this Summer?”: 8 Questions We Should Ask Our Students as We Start the Year | jennyfroehle School begins this month in millions of classrooms, and as teachers begin to build a learning community with 25-180 unknown humans who will enter their classroom spaces, many of us will ask some version of the question “What did you do this summer?” I know what you’re thinking. “No we won’t. We are so beyond that.” We will. It might sound like “tell me about your family” or “tell me something you want me to know about yourself” or “tell me what you’re good at” or “interview/introduce the kid sitting next to you.” And this is fine. And I’d be missing the boat just a bit. (Apologies to those of you who hate sentences beginning quite ungrammatically with coordinating conjunctions. New research shows that the students I will greet next week likely will not work in a traditional economy. They will need to be constant learners and scanners of “what’s out there?” What questions do I ask the people who will live and work in that world as they come through my classroom door for the very first time?
Resources for Assessment in Project-Based Learning Project-based learning (PBL) demands excellent assessment practices to ensure that all learners are supported in the learning process. With good assessment practices, PBL can create a culture of excellence for all students and ensure deeper learning for all. We’ve compiled some of the best resources from Edutopia and the web to support your use of assessment in PBL, including information about strategies, advice on how to address the demands of standardized tests, and summaries of the research. PBL Assessment Foundations 10 Tips for Assessing Project-Based Learning (Edutopia, 2011) This comprehensive guide from Edutopia goes over many best practices for assessment, including authentic products, good feedback, formative assessment, and digital tools. Back to Top PBL and Formative Assessment Practices PBL Pilot: Formative Assessment in PBL (Edutopia, 2015) In another blog post from Matt Weyers, find great tips on using formative assessment within the PBL process to drive student learning.
SLR_EnablersandInhibitors_V18.pdf Level the playing field Veteran journalist and documentary filmmaker Soledad O’Brien tells how technology can help overcome barriers and close achievement gaps. “Education is the next civil rights,” said Soledad O’Brien in her opening keynote address at ISTE 2015. This story appears in SmartBrief’s digital publication, SmartReport on ISTE 2015. To see more features, tips and our Tech Showcase, download it now. Seventeen-year-old Maria Castro had a dream: to attend Stanford University and study solar engineering. Determined, Maria set out to get the course she needed. Unfortunately, despite Maria’s hard work, her story didn’t have a fairy tale ending. This is “unfair” and “criminal,” said veteran journalist and documentary filmmaker Soledad O’Brien. “Maria should have access to online classes and high-speed wireless networks to do research,” said O’Brien. Education today is the next civil rights battle, O’Brien said. Personalize the learning experience This is a serious issue, said O’Brien. Exposure and mentoring
5 Minute Librarian: 15 Viral Content Ideas for Your Library's FB Page! What works on a Library's Facebook Page? What is considered "Viral Content" for library patrons? To find this answer, last January I created a Facebook Group for librarians to share their viral content (The Shareable Clique). And throughout the six months, librarians shared posts that scored high reach. The ones that were generic, other libraries have reshared, many receiving the same great results. There is a science behind posting on Facebook. So, what works? 1. Patrons love their local history (and this can be city/town or even state). 2. Is there any other image that pulls at the patron's heart strings than kids learning to love reading? 3. Patrons love to read articles that support their reading habits! Can Reading Make You Happier? 4. People love to laugh! 5. Share words of wisdom from our clever writing friends. 6. What patron can't relate? 7. Quick articles that help readers learn a little more about themselves through the lens of books. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15.
I-PICK Book Tasting | Tree Frog Blog! Before I get any farther with this post, I need to give credit where it’s due: thanks to Mr. Plemmons at Barrow Elementary for inspiring this lesson! You can read more about his I-PICK activity here. At our school, teachers use a framework called the Daily Five for literacy instruction in their classrooms. One component of Daily Five is teaching students how to choose good-fit books. A good-fit book is a book that you can read and enjoy independently–and you choose it yourself! To help students build self-efficacy in choosing good-fit books for themselves, many of our teachers share with students a strategy called I-PICK: image from our-cool-school.blogspot.com (click to visit) I always do an I-PICK library lesson at the beginning of the school year with 1st and 2nd grades because their curiosity in the library often outpaces their ability to read everything independently. image from demco.com (click to visit) Padlet for this lesson (click to visit) Like this: Like Loading...
Teaching about Justice through Partnerships with Brown v. Board of Education NHS I (jmf) have been serving as a summer school librarian in an Indianapolis, Indiana high school. In the brief moments that I have a break from the demanding teaching schedule, I have been updating the Information Center’s display cases. I am no artist, but I have been inspired by the changes going on in our country. Working on the cases has made me ponder how often school librarians are involved in educating young people about our country’s history of racism and equal rights. We (jmf & Vaughn) would like to (re)introduce a compelling story of how ordinary people changed the world they lived in for the better – one that you may find will spur discussions and improve understanding of where we’ve come and where we’re headed. WHAT WE KNOW: A BRIEF HISTORY Most are familiar with the landmark United States Supreme Court decision in the 1954 case of Brown vs. Thurgood MarshallPhoto Credit: National Park Service The Visitor’s Center and staff at the Brown V. Photo Credit: National Park Service
The Book - Teaching through Emotions This book is for teachers of all levels, pre-school to post-graduate. In the book, I do two things: * I immerse teachers in thinking about the emotions they have about teaching. When they think about their emotions, especially the negative ones, teachers can actually change their relationships with their students — and, therefore, the learning their students will be able to do in their classrooms. * I describe the kind of non-evaluative, dynamically oriented, utterly confidential support all teachers deserve to help them do this thinking AND (by the way) to feel better about themselves and their teaching. The book is full of real-life stories that will resonate with teachers of all ages and levels. Here’s an excerpt from the chapter on pushed buttons. To get a print copy of this unique and long overdue book, click here: To get an electronic copy for your ereader, upload it from your favorite ebook distributor, including Amazon.com. And please feel free to review the book!
Sears List of Subject Headings - Frequently Asked Questions Sears List of Subject Headings - Frequently Asked Questions Click the link below for the answer to the question. What is the Sears List of Subject Headings?The Sears List of Subject Headings is a thesaurus-like database delivering a core list of headings, together with patterns and examples to guide the cataloger in creating further headings as needed. Since the first edition in 1923, the Sears List has served the unique needs of small and medium sized libraries, suggesting headings appropriate for use in their catalogs and providing patterns and instructions for adding new headings as they are required. The successive editors of the List have faced the need to accommodate change while maintaining a sound continuity. Back to top Where can I find the front matter for the Sears List? You can also directly access the front matter here. Back to top Why do I need the front matter? What is included in this database? Back to top What are scope notes? What is the scope of the Sears list? Back to top
The Brown-Bag Teacher: Finding Nonfiction Articles for Middle Grades Happy Sunday, friends! Today is the 2nd Bright Ideas Blog Hop with a collection of 200 fantastic, product-free blog posts full of ideas/resources that can quickly put into action in your classroom! Today I am sharing with you one of my great frustrations about 5th grade...the lack of resources. We are a curriculum-free school for reading and writing, so in August I walked into a resource-empty classroom. It has taken me months to find my 'go-to' websites, apps, and databases that are rigorous enough (i.e. long enough, with a 800-1000 Lexile Level) and interesting for my students. Without further ado, here are my 3 favorite websites for finding nonfiction articles that are (1) appropriate (2) rigorous and (3) interesting. The first resource my kids LOVE is NewsELA. Every article is available in 4-5 different Lexile Levels that you choose using the blue menu to the right on each article!!!! ThinkCERCA is the 2nd resource I now pull articles from and is very similar to NewsELA. Wow!