Where Did September Go?

It's already October.  I feel like I totally missed all of September.  It is such a blur.  I had to leave during the end of August, right before the start of our book fair for a family emergency.  I had to leave so quickly, I didn't even get a picture of the final set up before the fair started. However, I felt very blessed to have some wonderful co-workers and some great volunteers who ran the fair while I was out.   I was out for 6 days and it seems like it took me forever to get back to a routine.

Just as I thought I was about to catch up, the annual West Georgia RESA Technology Conference was upon me and I was out another two days with that.  It was a good conference.  I got to talk with my friend Shannon Miller and I even won a Keurig, although I don't drink coffee. But it's all good because the hubs does drink coffee and his birthday is coming up.

So I thought my luck was changing, but the next week I got two flat tires...in less than 12 hours!  But PTO brought cupcakes that day (my favorite!) and I got an email confirmation that I am registered for my favorite tech conference in November. That made the situation a little less stressful.

The awful back luck continued last week when a nasty viral infection struck me down on Tuesday afternoon. Hard.  I started feeling bad and within an hour I was down for the count.  Although it wasn't the flu, I can't imagine that the flu would have felt much worse.  Everything hurt and then came the sore throat, runny nose, cough, nausea.  I was a walking bedridden Nyquil commercial. I am starting to feel better today, which is good because I really do not need to miss any more work.

In between all the bad luck, I did manage to teach some classes including

Kindergarten and First Grade First Checkouts of the Year

Second Grade Library Centers

You can purchase a copy of the library centers I use HERE in my TpT store.

Third Grade Dictionary Skills

You can read about the Dictionary Dudes and download a free copy HERE.

Fourth and Fifth Grade Fiction Book Hunt with Aurasma

You can read more about the Aurasma book hunt HERE.
NOTE:  Aurasma is now HP Reveal. 

Fourth Grade Non-fiction QR Code Hunt

You can read more about the QR Code Dewey Hunt HERE.

So that was my September.  I really hope that October is less eventful.

QR Code Dewey Hunt

Last week to help the fourth and fifth graders understand the Dewey Decimal system a bit better, I created a PowerPoint and a QR code scavenger hunt.  You can get a copy of the PowerPoint I used by clicking HERE or on the picture above.

After I went over each of the Dewey sections, students broke into groups and followed clues to QR codes.

They used the QR code app i-nigma to scan the codes to see if they were correct and then they read their next clue.

You might remember from THIS post last year, that I taught the Dewey Body Buddy to 2nd grade last year to help them remember the different sections.  I reviewed that lesson with 3rd grade this year and also taught it to 2nd grade.  You can get a free copy of the PowerPoint I used by clicking HERE or on the picture above.

They each took home a Dewey Body Buddy study sheet that they completed during the lesson as well as a bookmark to help them remember the sections. If you'd like a copy of this lesson, you can click HERE or on the picture above.

How do you teach the Dewey Decimal System or have you ditched Dewey altogether?

Do the Dewey

This month the Media Center is featuring non-fiction as the Genre of the Month.  I have been teaching non-fiction lessons to second through fifth grade classes for the last few weeks.  I found some great resources on the Internet and tweaked them to fit the needs of the students at my school.

It's tough to explain to elementary students what fits into a category called Generalities or Philosophy and Psychology.  But I made some reference sheets for them as well as a bookmark for them to refer to.


Today I made a Dewey Body Buddy worksheet based on a Highsmith poster (got permission from the company to do so) to go with the lesson for second and third grade.   Just click  HERE or on the picture below to snag your FREE copy.  I'd appreciate your feedback in return.  =)