Book fair is just around the corner! We have been busy planning an awesome book fair for this spring. Our opening day is Monday, March 9th, and we have the pleasure to have author/illustrator Floyd Cooper. Mr. Cooper is a Coretta Scott King Award winner! His illustrations are amazing! This past week, students were in groups and read several of his books and presented a summary, their favorite part of the book, and their favorite illustration. Spring Book Fair Events! The first week for using library centers began this past week. Students in the primary (K-2) started using the different centers this week. I created computer, 3-D, art, writing, reading, and an iPad center. It was great watching the students using the different centers and wanting to explore the ones they didn't visit! Several wanted to go to the art center, where I used the COLar Mix app after students created their own dot from the Peter Reynolds book "The Dot". All the centers were theme based around the fall season, or based on the books we have read in library. We have also started the Global Read Aloud with another library in Raleigh, NC. This year, the books in the Global Read Aloud include: Author Study of Peter Reynolds, The Fourteenth Goldfish, by Jennifer Holm, and The Miraculous journey of Edward Tulane, by Kate DiCamillo. The library centers also focus on these books that we will be reading over the next few weeks during the Global Read Aloud. The Global Read Aloud is a program where educators all over the world read books to their students and have discussions based on those books. I am so excited to be partnered with Mrs. Jane Miller from Yates Elementary to share this experience. If you are interested in the Global Read Aloud, there is a Weebly website and Google group set up to find out more information. Our book fair was amazing this year! Our themed dress up days were: Favorite Fairytale Character, Hat Day, Favorite Book Cover Day, Super Hero Day, and Extreme Spirit Day! We had great participation in our dress up days! Our book fair sales goal was $12,500 which we hit! The library raised over $4000 to purchase books, materials, and technology! It was a great week to put books in the hands of students!
As the second week of school approached, it seemed as though the class schedule was beginning to line out, and things were beginning to fall into place. However, I wasn't feeling very well due to what I thought was a strained calf muscle. After suffering with it for about three weeks, and two doctor visits, I finally decided to go to the ER because the pain was immense. After some tests, the doctor found a deep vein thrombosis, or DVT. A DVT is a blocked or partially blocked vein. Unfortunately, the blockage partially broke away and settled in my lungs, which is why I didn't feel well. Needless to say, my plans for the second week of school were cut short. Normally, I would have introduced the students to Destiny Quest, had them set reading goals, introduced my centers, and assigned leadership jobs. However, the library was run by a sub (which did an awesome job!), and I had to put my introductory to the library on hold. However, starting this week, I am hoping classes will be back to normal and I can settle into my routine again. So, with all that being said, I have introduced one of the Kentucky Bluegrass Award nominees to the second grade classes. The Watermelon Seed, by Greg Pizzoli, has been a hit so far. Here is a book trailer of this fun book. Students also learned what "renew" means using a Whole Brain technique of "Mirrors & Words" to edit. I also added a fun Rocket Reading corner in the library, too! I am hoping to have everything back on track by the end of this week. So, while I was ready to hit the ground running, I had to take a step back and regroup, but it will all come together in the end! Today I finished the library and I am ready for open house! I am so excited about some of the new centers I will be using, as well as some of the displays I have for this year. Thanks to my great friend, David, who is a Photo Shop whiz, I have a Libraryopoly board that I will be using as a reward for student that take quizzes on books they read! Students that pass a book quiz with an 80% or higher can roll the dice, choose a card, answer a question, and win a prize! Look closely and you will see the property names are actually famous author names! Also, Water Works, Electric Company, Luxury and Income Tax are now library events that happen throughout the year like Banned Books Week, D.E.A.R. Day, Read Across America, etc. I can't take credit for this idea, though. I found this idea here from a middle school librarian that used it in April during National School Library Month. Her motivation was different than mine, but either way, if it motivates kids to read, I am all about it! I am also assigning seats this year, which is different for me than last year. I have tables with 4 chairs each and would have two boys and two girls sit at tables. Now that I am doing centers, I feel like I need to ensure all students have an opportunity to participate in ALL the centers, so I need to track where they are sitting and which rotation they are doing each week, so assigned seats seems to be the way to go. On to Open House! Can't wait to meet new students and parents on Sunday at Open House! This is my Positive Reinforcement Board! My plan is to reward students for exhibiting positive behaviors in the library! The books that are attached to the board are placed using Velcro. When a class comes into the library, there will be no books on the board. Then, as students are positive, using correct procedures, or being a leader in the library, as a class they will earn a book on the "Think Win Win" side. If students are not following procedures, or have negative behaviors, then a book will go on the "Try Again" side. At the end of class, if the "Think Win Win" side has the most, then the students receive a L.E.A.D slip, which is used as a reward system in the classroom. I am trying this out for the first time, so I am hoping for positive results that will deter behavior. My plan is to be proactive, instead of reactive when an unacceptable behavior occurs! Wish me luck in this journey! This year I have decided to do something new! I will be doing centers in grades k-2. I also plan on having 3-6 do two projects each 9 weeks. I am REALLY excited about doing centers this year and have a couple of permanent centers that will constantly change, but remain the same, too. One of those centers is a Boggle center. Here, students will try to see how many words they can find with touching letters. At the end of the week, I will award a prize to the student that finds the most words! Another center is Where is Dewey? Each week I will have a special Dewey Decimal number posted and challenge students to find that number on the shelf! A surprise will be waiting when they find it! Another center I will have this year is the Question of the Moment center. This center will not change as frequently, but I am hoping that students and STAFF will get involved! The Question of the Moment is, "What is the nicest thing anyone has said to you?" You can answer this question in the library by using the sticky notes and pens located by the question and by placing your answer in the library window! I am excited to see some of the answers! I really look forward to seeing all the smiling faces next week when we will officially start school! I hope everyone has a great first week!
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Mrs. Dee Dee Webb
My name is Mrs. Dee Dee Webb and I am the media specialist at Jody Richards Elementary School. I enjoy reading (of course :), spending time with my family, camping, studying history, being frugal, and incorporating technology into the library! Archives
August 2016
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Mrs. Webb's
Library Blog
This blog will discuss the day-to-day happenings of the media center at Jody Richards Elementary, as well as ongoing and future programs and events!