If you are ever short for ideas for your book fair, look no further than Shanna Leonard at Tyro Elementary. Thanks to Shanna for sharing this blog post! If you would like to have your book fair featured in a blog post, please let me know. We enjoyed the Paws for Reading Book Fair last week at Tyro Elementary. We kicked off the Book Fair with a Teacher Preview Party offering staff a chance to view the new books, create a wish list, and enjoy tasty snacks. Snacks included:
The Library promoted a Paws for Reading Book Fair contest that involved students creating an animal using a water bottle and craft items. To go along with the project, students researched the animal on worldbookonline.com to create a fact card. All Tyro students were given a chance to vote by choosing their top two water bottle animals. From the votes, a winner from each grade level was selected to receive a $10.00 gift card to the book fair. Book Fair Decor:
Our students had a ball purchasing new reading material at the Book Fair.
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Thanks to Lorie Steed for writing this post, Brene Duggins for putting together the toolkit and for the other HS SLMCs for their hard work putting together this awesome list of titles, now in it's third year! One of the best things about being a school librarian is putting great books into the hands of students, and one tool we as DCS high school librarians use to do so is our annual DCS Teen Lit Top 10 list. This year marks our third of putting together such a list, and as usual, it was both fun and challenging to come up with ten titles to recommend to our high schoolers.
Check out the FAQ below to learn more about this program and to find out what books we decided to highlight for the 2018-2019 school year! What is the DCS Teen Lit Top 10? The DCS Teen Lit Top 10 list, first implemented during the 2016-2017 school year, was created to give Davidson County high school students options to explore quality young adult titles through a list curated by their school librarians. How is the DCS Teen Lit Top 10 Different from Battle of the Books? The Battle of the Books is a great program, but a more flexible format works better for DCS high school students. Many high schoolers have jobs, take advanced classes, and participate in extracurricular activities, which makes finding time for pleasure reading and after-school BOB practices a challenge. With the DCS Teen Lit Top 10, students simply read the books from the list that appeal to them, and share and discuss their favorites. One thing we love about this approach is that it mirrors the way we read and interact with fellow readers in real life. How is the Top 10 list created? DCS high school librarians choose books based on a variety of criteria to create a list that we believe represents a wide range of reading tastes, diverse perspectives, social issues, and cultural significance. For inspiration, we often look at Goodreads reviews and award information, though winning an award is not a requirement. We are most concerned with creating a well-rounded list that has the power to engage and enlighten. Where can I get the books? All titles will be available at DCS high school libraries, as well as through the North Carolina Digital Library, which students can access with their NC Cardinal/public library account number. This is a great time to sign up NC Cardinal access if you haven’t! See our Smore (https://tinyurl.com/DCSTLT10-18) for more complete information and detailed summaries of each book, and our Toolkit (http://tinyurl.com/DCSTLT10Toolkit2018) for a printable poster, bookmarks, and handouts for students to rate the books they read. What does it mean to participate? Students can read as many or as few titles as they wish, and activities will vary from school to school. This is meant to be a flexible opportunity for readers to participate at the level they feel comfortable with. We realize that not every book is for every reader, and that’s okay! How can librarians help? Middle school librarians can inform their current Battle of the Books teams of this opportunity, while high school librarians can spread the word to their feeder schools, teachers, and patrons. Suggestions? We’re still figuring out the best way to give our students an opportunity to build a reading community that reaches across our schools. We’d love to hear suggestions about how to invite further participation--please share your thoughts in the comments below. Happy reading! Are you needing some fresh ideas on how to collaborate with teachers? Tired of doing the same old thing or wanting to make some new connections? Then check out some of these super cool lesson ideas from ITF, Marley Knapp: BreakoutEDU:Since January, several Art 1 and Art 2 Classes in our district have been doing a fun activity from the BreakoutEDU Game Concept to explore the Elements of Art and the Principles of Design. I developed this breakout game with Melinda Hedrick, Art teacher at East Davidson High, and we planned to use it as a review activity before the final exams. During the activity the students completed some Cryptograms, Matching Puzzles and Vocabulary tasks for the Elements and Principles and had to transform them into codes to open the locks. They were tasked with opening a 3-Digit Lock Box, A 5 Letter Word Lock and a 5 Direction Lock. Since then we have had two other Art teachers use the Breakout Activity in their classroom. Kathryn Sweeney at South Davidson high decided to use it as a kickoff for her classes at the beginning of the semester. This was a challenge for the Art 1 students so we placed some textbooks and chromebooks out on the tables for them to have as a resource. It was interesting to see which resource they chose to use, most of them grabbed the textbooks. Vanise Goodnight at Central Davidson High also did this Breakout with her Art 1 and Art 2 classes. Although we were a couple of weeks into the semester it still made a good kickoff activity. In all of the classes most everyone Broke-in to the box in the allotted time. With only 3 locks we decided to give the students 25 minutes to Breakout. As different groups played the game we realized that 30 minutes was better, especially with the Art 1 students. All of the students in these classes did a great job and had a blast doing the activities. Here is a Link to the Breakout Game Plan with all the resources you need to try it yourself. Enjoy: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1J4yU16vFIpilJ3hjv8mVRghrOmRIpO5xMqvGjeFnYzA/edit?usp=sharing Getting "hyper" with Hyperdocs: There are some teachers in DCS that have been doing some great lessons and they have been delivering the content using a Hyperdoc. A Hyperdoc is a document (Google Doc, Google Slideshow, etc.) that a teacher can use to share all expectations, plans and resources for a lesson with the students all packed into one place. The teacher shares that one document with the students (via Email, Canvas, Google Classroom, etc.) and they have all the information they need to move through the lesson or project tasks. If changes need to be made the teacher just adjusts the Hyperdoc and the changes reflect automatically for the students. The Hyperdoc Website has several different templates for several different types of lessons/projects. Their website also has lots of completed hyperdocs that have been shared by other teachers that you can download and use or tweak for your needs. Using this delivery method opens up the door to some great ways to deliver content. Its very open to Inquiry Based and Student Driven learning and allows the teacher to really differentiate their lessons. It is also a great way to get organized and makes things very easy for the teacher. Once the Hyperdoc is created, the lesson/project just runs itself, even when this teacher was out with the flu for 3 days the project never stopped. The students knew just what their tasks were. Regina Spach, BioMed 1 and Health Team Relations teacher at Oak Grove High School, has developed some really great lessons using the hyperdoc and is blending it with Inquiry Based learning and Student Choice. Here are just a few of her lessons and the Hyperdocs she shared with the students. Animals in Biomedical Research As an Introduction to Animal Research, students were required to complete pre/post-discussion questions related to animal research using Padlet. Students then chose 8 medical advances and completed a summary of their findings. In class we further discussed animal testing using a slideshow presentation. Students were then placed in groups based off of their ability and reviewed prepared text to create posters which were shared with the class in the form of a Gallery Walk. Finally, as a reflection portion, students were required to choose whether they were for or against animal testing and prepared a paper reflecting their stand using knowledge gained. Objective covered – BMT 2.0 Animals Careers in Biotechnology using Pecha Kucha In order to address the Careers section of BioTechnology I, students were first asked introductory questions related to BioMed Tech Careers using Padlet. Students were assigned one of the careers listed in the Career Pathway: Focus on BioTechnology resource provided as part of the course. After reviewing the Career Information assigned, students were asked to create a Pecha Kucha (SOS Strategy thru Discovery Education) and create a slideshow using 20 images that describe the career. Each slide was to contain only 1 image per slide, and students presented their Pecha Kucha in class for discussion. Objective Covered – BMT 3.0 Non-Profit/Volunteer Agencies using Pecha KuchaThis project is very similar to the Careers project above but addressed Non-profit and volunteer agencies that are available and the students were able to chose a non-profit or volunteer agency that was important to them. Instead of 20 images, in this activity the students used 10 images that describe the agency chosen. Objective Covered – Unit C – 03.02 Getting "wise" to research: blending hyperdocs with the eWISE modelMelinda Hedrick, Art Teacher at East Davidson High, has been doing a study of Artists with her Art 1 classes. We developed a great research project that uses the eWISE Research Model. The eWISE Model has 4 main steps (Wonder, Investigate, Synthesize and Express) and students evaluate themselves throughout each step of the process. We used a Hyperdoc to develop the plan for the project. Feel free to take a look at the Hyperdoc linked below. Students were asked the question “How might my artists work be different if they started painting now – in the 21st century?”. Working in teams, students were able to choose an artist from a list of the top10 most influential artists. During the four steps of the research process they Wondered what they should ask in order to answer the main question. Students use Padlets to share what they already knew and Answer Garden toexplore questions they needed to ask. They Investigatedinformation about their artist using a variety of sources and citation tools. During the Synthesize step of the project they had several resources to help them organize their thoughts to prepare for their writing and develop their presentation. Their final step was to Express what they learned in a creative presentation. They were given 5 different types of presentation styles to choose from: Google Slideshow, Canva Poster, Green Screen Video, Paperslide Video and Face Facebook Page. The students did a great job. They worked hard on their investigations and developed some amazing and creative presentations. Each team presented their project to the class, even if their presentation was a finished video like a green screen or paperslide. It turned out to be a great project and the students did some impressive work. Click Here to see the Hyperdoc with the Project. Student project samples are linked on the document. Click Here to see the Hyperdoc Template for the eWISE Model. Feel free to make a copy of the template to use for your project. Every year, all 18 elementary schools in Davidson County Schools make the trek down to Denton Elementary to participate in the annual Battle of the Books competition. This year a special guest added a whole new dimension to the event. After the traditional Pledge of Allegiance and opening greeting, students were told they were going to have a big surprise. Some clues were printed on the cover of the program. Some coaches were wearing overalls. They were also asked, "In which book did the father give his overalls to his oldest daughter when he went to go fight in WWII, because she was now 'the man of the house'?". All at once, many of the students gave the correct answer: "BLUE by Joyce Moyer Hostetter" When the author stood up from the front row and turned around and waved, the crowd went absolutely wild. Mrs. Hostetter came on stage to greet the students and to invite them to the media center to visit with her and collect their very own signed copy of BLUE. Every team had 10 minutes to visit with the author, take pictures and ask questions in-between rounds. Volunteer and retired teacher, Carolyn Jones, said, "It was so inspiring to see hundreds of kids insanely excited about a book and meeting the author who created it. And to see so many parents and grandparents so fully supportive of Battle of the Books! I was excited to be there!" This year was really something special thanks to cooperation with the Curriculum Department, the Technology Department, the staff at Denton Elementary and our elementary media coordinators. Although the author visit was funded by the county office, each school library media coordinator secured funding to purchase each student a book. 27 rounds were played in both the gymnasium and the auditorium. Final scores were both close and impressive, but first year SLMC Carly Smith coached the winning team from Wallburg Elementary. Following a close second was Churchland Elementary and in third place was Friedberg Elementary. Wallburg Elementary will go on to represent Davidson County and to compete against 17 other teams in the regional competition in Guilford County on May 8th. For more photos, be sure to visit the Davidson County Schools website: www.davidson.k12.nc.us/apps/albums/school/0/194091?uREC_ID=0&backTitle=&backLink=
A great time was had by all at the 2018 Middle School Battle of the Books. In 21 rounds, North Middle conquered all to take the title of Davidson County Schools champs for this year. NDMS will go on to compete in the Region 5 competition in East Bend, NC on Thursday, April 12th. 2nd place went to Oak Grove Middle School and 3rd place to Tyro Middle School. For some added fun this year, all 7 teams traveled to downtown Lexington to compete in the auditorium at the historic Cecil School Building at 301 E. Center Street. The house was packed as many parents and family members attended to see students compete. Following the competition, students enjoyed a Chick-fil-a lunch coordinated by their team coaches. A very special thanks goes out to:
Readers are Leaders!If you want to get on the Augmented Reality train, I encourage you to explore the universe of Metaverse- a free, online AR experience that anyone can learn to use. My first experience with Metaverse was in October at a session for NCDLCN. Two of my favorite tech people, Jeff Crews and Dean Phillips, were sharing new ways to “play” with technology. One of their favorite new APPs was Metaverse. They gave us a brief overview and I came home determined to learn how to do it! Metaverse is an AR experience built in a drag and drop work space.You can build simple or complex experiences for students to access on an ipad, phone or even some Chromebooks. Students scan a QR code that the APP generates for you and they are off! It gets your students up and moving, and allows them to problem solve, research and explore in a new and interesting format. I was so excited to present on Metaverse at NCTies- here is the link to our presentation- http://bit.ly/2F9GBcH - and I feel so fortunate to have established great communication with the creators of the APP- I email them all the time to ask questions and get advice. And my co- presenter and I, Allyson Medlin, are skyping with members of the Metaverse team to be interviewed about how we use the APP. (If only there were money in this!) But the beauty of Metaverse is that no new equipment is required- just your brain and your creativity. If you are not sure about the educational applications I encourage you to read the article in the link below. https://www.edsurge.com/news/2018-01-22-five-ways-teachers-can-use-and-create-augmented-reality-experiences And go ahead and experience it for yourself- scan the QR code below. You will FIRST need to download the Metaverse APP onto your phone. Open the APP and click on the arrow that says SCAN. So not everyone got to go to NCTIES, including me! So this year I asked @dcsnc staff that attended to share some of their takeaways.
Julie Faria, ETS/Media asst., Friendship I am so excited to learn new ways to broadcast the Morning News Show. I realize our equipment is antiquated so seeing new technology at work is reassuring and exciting. I also loved talking to the students who totally create, write, and produce the show. Very inspiring. Friendship's Chuck Bullins won the ipevo document camera on Friday. Our district had 4 people (out of apprx.15) at drawing...we are always looking for was to get ahead! And lastly I enjoyed seeing educators connect nature to literature and technology. Brene Duggins, SLMC - Oak Grove High School The networking and sessions were great but one of my favorite parts this year was the Student Showcase. Being able to hear about a project or activity from students themselves gave not only excitement, but really gave me great ideas of activities to bring back to school and share with teachers and use in the Media Center that will be engaging and exciting for students. Dru Davis, ETS/media, Tyro Elementary I loved this year's session on Creative Ways to Check Understanding! Lots of great ideas to get students engaged using our chrome books! Daniel Everhart, SLMC - Southwood Here is a great session on #FakeNews and #Alternative Facts: https://www.smore.com/j653z.www.smore.com/j653z Kristi Allred, SLMC, North Middle The theme I kept seeing in various sessions and workshops was about giving students the tools and the time to reflect and express themselves. Seen though that lens, the technology becomes less about being a "cool tool" and instead is much more meaningful. I loved seeing new, fresh ways to use existing tools, like SeeSaw, Flipgrid, Google Apps, and Padlet. Sue Tobin, ITF There were over 4,000 attendees at this years conference. The opening keynote speaker Kristin Ziemke did an amazing job of pointing out the great things students are doing in schools and how important it is to highlight their work. There were also lots of concurrent sessions on Google and ways to use it more efficiently. Robin Snider, SLMC, Churchland Elementary I love going to NCTIES each year because it gives me a chance to recharge and get energized by discovering new ways to integrate technology at my school. I love taking what I learn back to the teachers and finding ways to collaborate with them so the students can experience a variety of technology tools. Of all the sessions I went to, I enjoyed the one on Drones the most. I'm excited to purchase some of these and get our students working with them. I also learned better ways to incorporate Dash and Dot into the curriculum. And lastly, I really enjoyed a session on Digital Breakout Boxes and can't wait to try and create my own! I would love to see our District represented more at this conference. It's not just the media coordinators and technology facilitators that can benefit from NCTIES. I think it would be amazing if we would send more regular ed teachers, administrators, and district admins along with Media, ETS, and ITFs so everyone can experience the fire for learning that ignites in yourself and your students when you realize how to effectively integrate technology into the curriculum. Joanie Williams, SLMC, Midway Elementary As always- Jeff Phillips and Dean Crews were AMAZING- they presented on Google tools- and showed some new cool things. (The new Google Earth is locked here- I was a little embarrassed when I could not open it at their presentation.) I also enjoyed a coding workshop and the keynote speaker was great. Google MY Maps was an awesome presentation- you can create adventures where you find clues and explore the map- a lot like break outs, but no box required.
When Tammi Rachels told me about the lending program from Rubik's Cube before Christmas, I couldn't wait for an opportunity to try it out. Well, one conversation led to another and I was able to collaborate with the AP geography teacher, Kyle Kester, from North Davidson High to give students a "Breakout" experience that was cross-curricular, utilized digital resources, and stretched students' critical thinking skills.
Tying to Curriculum Sure building a mosaic with 100 Rubik's Cubes is neat, but how is it relevant? We needed to make sure we were tying this activity to the curriculum. I put together a digital breakout using Google Sites and World Book Online with a focus on the life of Nelson Mandela. A Special Visitor Since most of the students don't know me, I introduced myself as the museum curator at the North Carolina Museum of History. I told them that I needed their help with a special project. I had the materials for a special display commemorating Nelson Mandela's 100th birthday, but I forgot the combination to the vault! I needed their help to crack the code before the museum director got there. Students were instantly engaged! World Book Online Only a handful of these students had used WBO before, so the first task was the crack the code for the username and password. Once in World Book Online, they had to research Nelson Mandela to answer the questions to unlock the vault. Students in groups of 2-3 worked collaboratively to read, research and solve the puzzles. Opening the vault! Once the first group finished the digital breakout, we were able to unlock the "vault" (a cardboard box labeled "vault") and retrieve the materials. Each group (after breaking out) received a bag of 7-8 Rubik's cubes with solutions. Each solution has a corresponding number of row and column. Once all the cubes were solved to match, students were then able to assemble the "big picture". Reflections
Teen Tech Week: After keeping the mosaic on display in the front office for a couple of weeks, we are going to give other students at NDHS an opportunity to participate during lunch for #TTW18. We hope to create the Mona Lisa! If you are interested in learning more about the Rubik's Cube lending program, check out: https://www.youcandothecube.com/
NEA's Read Across America is an annual reading motivation and awareness program that calls for every child in every community to celebrate reading on March 2, the birthday of beloved children's author Dr. Seuss. To read more about the history, partners and other resources from NEA RAA, click here: http://www.nea.org/grants/read-across-background.html
If you are wanting some fresh ideas for RAA, check out this list of ideas here: www.nea.org/grants/11-seussgestions-for-a-great-reading-event.html
Kate Lewis from Denton Elementary will be inviting guest readers from the community to read with classrooms again. Last year Kate had county office staff, the mayor of Denton and other local notables to read to children. Joanie Williams from Midway Elementary is also inviting guest readers to share Dr. Suess with their students, including Deana Coley, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum.
Danielle Treadway put together this awesome smore for their activities next week.
Kate Lewis from Denton Elementary will be inviting guest readers from the community to read with classrooms again. Last year Kate had county office staff, the mayor of Denton and other local notables to read to children. Joanie Williams from Midway Elementary is also inviting guest readers to share Dr. Suess with their students, including Deana Coley, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum. Danielle Treadway put together this awesome smore for their activities next week.
Shanna Leonard from Tyro Elementary will be hosting dress up days to match characters created by Dr. Seuss! Each day a student participates in a dress up day, his/her name will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win a poster, bookmark, book, or pencil.
They will include facts about Dr. Seuss and reading during our morning announcements. Other resources include games, activities and resources for teachers and parents at Suessville.com: www.seussville.com/ If you have other ideas to share, comment below. If you do celebrate, be sure to share photos of your acitivites on social media tagging @dcsnc and #readacrossamerica. #114: Brown Middle School hosts 4th annual "Students vs. Staff" Battle of the Books Competition2/20/2018 On Tuesday, February 14th, SLMC Jackie Hunt held the 4th annual Battle of the Books competition for students and staff after school. Competitors enjoyed donuts and a hot chocolate bar with toppings as a sweet treat. Students squared off with the staff in 4 - 12 question rounds. To make the competition more evenly matched, all 10 staff members were allowed to compete at one time. Each staff member was required to read 2 books from the list. The students easily won three of the four rounds and tied one round with the teachers. This fun competition helped give students a chance to practice their battle skills as well as to build enthusiasm for the upcoming competition. Thanks to Jackie Hunt for making reading fun for her students! |
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