Groundhog Day Freebie

It's almost Groundhog Day and although I won't be celebrating it this year as our Book Fair Preview Day is on Groundhog Day, I wanted to share a freebie with you that you might be able to use.

Source

I made this freebie a few years ago to go with Gail Gibbon's book Groundhog Day.

You can download the freebie HERE from my TpT store.  I'd love to hear what you think of it.

*I'm an affiliate for things I've bought or used personally.  If you click through any referral links (if included), at no cost to you, I will earn a commission if you make a purchase.  Thank you for your support in this way.

2018 Reading Goals

Every year since 2012, I have participated in the Goodreads Reading Challenge.  Some years I read more than others, but I always have managed to meet my reading goals.

Last year, my goal was to read 150 books and I ended up reading 160 books.  Here are some of my favorite reads from 2017:

         

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This year, I have set my reading goal for 150 books.  I have already made a big dent in that goal, reading 20 books in January, thanks in part to almost a week off due to snow.

Here's a peak at some of what I've been reading:

          

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I also like to let my students know about my reading life.  I keep a reading goal poster up on a wall need the circulation desk.  I update it with book covers of what I've been reading.  I have my reading goal highlighted on the poster.  My students like to look at what I've been reading and also will point out how close I am to meeting my reading goal for the school year.  It actually helps keep me on track and motivated to reach my calendar year goal.

My original goal was to read 100 books by the end of the school year.  I met that goal during our snow days last week, so I had my classes help me determine a new goal to set-because we don't stop reading just because we met our goal. We keep challenging ourselves.  My new goal is now 150 books by the end of the school year.

Do you set reading goals for yourself?  Are you on Goodreads?  You can follow me on Goodreads.  I am Jnase1 on Goodreads.

*I'm an affiliate for things I've bought or used personally.  If you click through any referral links (if included), at no cost to you, I will earn a commission if you make a purchase.  Thank you for your support in this way.

Football Fun

It's almost Super Bowl time so it's the perfect time for some football themed centers.

This week, second graders practiced shelf order with my football themed shelf order center.  I first reviewed how and why books are organized in the Media Center and then we moved to tables to practice shelf order.

To make it more like a game, we played the center in Minute to Win It style.  I set a timer I found on YouTube and students raced to be the first to finish putting cards in the correct order.  We played it several times and they begged to play it again.  It was a big hit!

You can purchase a copy of my football themed shelf order centers in my TpT store. There are three different levels of difficulty in this center: easy, average and challenge. Click HERE to see it now.

I also have a football themed call number sorting center.  This center asks students to separate their cards by call number type.  Click HERE to see it now.

Are you doing anything special to celebrate the Super Bowl in your Media Center?  Let me know in the comments below.  =)

Paws for Books

Our Scholastic Book Fair is coming up soon and the theme for spring is "Paws for Books." I am doing some fun things to build the excitement for our book fair.

I created these fun freebies that I am going to use with my Kinder and Firsties this week.  

You can edit them to add your book fair information on the right side where the open book is.

I will also have the bookmarks available during our book fair.  You can download this file for free in my TpT store by clicking HERE.

I am also going to be having a selfie contest to help build the excitement of the Book Fair.  I am asking families to use a dog or cat photo filter to take a selfie and post it on our school's Facebook page for a chance to win a $10 gift certificate.  These fun filters can be found on free apps like Facebook Messenger, Instagram, Snapchat, and the MSQRD app- most of which parents will have already on their smart devices.  Our school's facebook page is private, so it will be completely safe for our families to share these fun selfies.  

A fun way to advertise for you Book Fair is through e-invites.  A cool site to use to make e-invites is Paperless Post.  You can choose from their designs or even upload your own.  They have templates for flyers that are free and easy to customize.  You can check them out HERE.

These are just a few ways that I am trying to build the excitement around our Book Fair and get our kids' paws on some great books.  Do you have any great advertising ideas for book fairs?  Share them in the comments below.  =)

Terrific Technology Tuesday

The cooler weather last week inspired me to do a lesson about penguins with kindergarten this week.  So today, a kindergarten class followed along with a nonfiction and fiction pairing of books about penguins that I found on the FREE (for educators) eBook website Epic!  I also found a short but fun FREE  video about penguins on National Geographic Kids. They loved it!  They even walked around like penguins to get to their seats for the next part of our lesson.  At their table, students colored a picture of a penguin that we "magically" made come alive with the FREE augmented reality Quiver app. You can download the penguin picture and many other augmented reality pages for free on the Quiver website.

You can check out their "magical" penguin pictures below.

And best of all, all of this fun learning was FREE!

Are you familiar with the website and app Epic! books?  It is a free resource full of thousands of eBooks.  Educators can get a free account and can add students.  Books can be assigned and students can read those books from mobile devices that have Internet access.  Parents can purchase home access for a subscription fee of $7.99 a month.

I have been using Epic! for around 2 years now and recently became Epic! Certified.  One of my goals this year is to get certified in some of my favorite websites and apps, and this was a quick and easy first step. 

It's super easy to get your certification once you set up your account.  There are only 7 simple steps to go through, all of which are spelled out for you exactly how to complete each step.  If you already have an account, I would encourage you to work on getting that certification.  You'll learn more about how to use Epic!  and you will feel accomplished once you complete it.

Do you use Epic! or other types of technology in your Media Center? What's your favorite website or app?

It's a Cyber Sale!

Teachers Pay Teachers is having their last sale of the year and my store will be participating.

Use promo code CYBER17 to get up to 25% off all paid products on November 27-28.

Happy Shopping!

Mia Lee is Wheeling Through Middle School-A Book Review and Giveaway

A few weeks back I was contacted by a young author, Melissa Shang, who asked if I would be interested in reviewing her book Mia Lee is Wheeling Through Middle School.  Her email was very compelling and as I love a good book, especially middle grade fiction, I said yes. She had her publisher send me a copy of her book in exchange for my honest review.  Here are my thoughts...

Mia Lee is nervous about starting middle school.  Luckily she has her best friend, Caroline, to help her get through her first day of sixth grade and beyond.  Mia is a typical sixth grader in many ways.  Her worries are worries that most sixth grade girls entering middle school have, with one exception.  Mia has Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a form of muscular dystrophy, and gets around with the use of a wheelchair and with the help of an aide, Ms. Jackson. While she doesn't let her mobility issues keep her from having a full middle school experience, other students in her class see her disability as something to make fun of.  She will need all the grit she can muster in order to face mean girl Angela Vanover who seems determined to ruin Mia's chances for becoming Video Production Club President.  But Mia doesn't let a mean girl stop her from pursuing her passion of making videos and even makes a few friends in the process.  Will Mia survive middle school and the mean girl that comes with it?

This story is definitely relate-able.  Middle school can be hard.  And middle school girls can be mean-like, really mean.  Just because Mia is in a wheelchair does not mean that she escapes the clutches of her middle school's mean girl, but she handles her bully with grace and dignity.  I love that Mia keeps her positive attitude even when others want to keep knocking her down.  I also appreciated that the storyline showed how friendships can go through tough times, especially in middle school when you are making new friends with students that may have attended different elementary schools, while still wanting to keep your old friends close.

I enjoyed this middle grade realistic fiction book and was especially impressed that it was written by a middle schooler.  Had Ms. Shang not told me her age, I would have never guessed that a middle schooler authored this book.  It is as well written as any middle grades book I have read.  I would recommend Mia Lee is Wheeling Through Middle School to any of my patrons who like a good story about what it's like to be in middle school and how to face adversity with a little help from your friends-both new and old.  If you would like to read more about why and how Ms. Shang decided to write Mia Lee is Wheeling Through Middle School, click HERE.

Would you like to win your own copy of Mia Lee is Wheeling Through Middle School?  Just leave me a comment on this post about your favorite book genre and you will be entered into the giveaway. This giveaway ends Saturday, September 23rd at 11:59 p.m.

***GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED***

Thanks for reading!