Celebrating World Read Aloud Day is a joy and a thrill each and every year! No matter how many times my students and I connect with authors and classes from around the country, I am constantly reminded about just how special these connections are. Spending the week skyping and reading terrific books brings together what I love best about the library: inspiring readers. 

Tuesday, 3/3:
Ms. Stewart's 2nd graders shared Interrupting Chicken with Ms. Lindeman's 3rd graders from Babylon, NY. This was a new connection for us, and we had a lot of fun! Reading Interrupting Chicken is hilarious! 

Next, Mrs. Brand's kindergarteners read My New Friend is So Fun by Mo Willems with Ms. Hendrix's class from Asheville, NC. This was a great one because there are 2 extra characters and a surprise ending! 

WRAD would not be complete without a connection with the amazing Mr. Winner and his kindergarteners from Elkridge, Maryland. There was much laughter and fun as we read Mo Willem's Waiting is Not Easy! 

Of course we had to draw some Pigeon pics! Who can resist?!? The tremendous Mo Willems was the keynote at MSLA and I learned that drawing is simply about shapes. I'll stick to reading thank you, but these kids were amazing!

Our day wrapped up with another new connection - Ms. Uribe and her students from Austin, Texas skyped with Mrs. Loffredo's 1st graders. Elephant and Piggie starred again as we read We Are in a Book. 

Wednesday:
Mrs. Canning's kindergarteners came to library for a very special connection: Author Erin Dealey! She connected with us all the way from California! She had to get up pretty early AND the moment we were connecting, her power went out! Unbelievable. But after a couple minutes everything got back on track and we were treated to a very special skype. Ms. Dealey shared her passion for reading with my students and even taught them a little song! I had brought two of her books to Mrs. Canning to share with the kids before the skype so they were familiar with her work and she read Little Bo Peep Can't Get to Sleep to us. There is something so special about an author reading their work aloud. We were even treated to a bonus book, Deck the Walls: A Wacky Christmas Carol. What a pleasure it was to meet this special author!

It was a long time coming, but Nancy Jo Lambert and I finally connected! She and her students from Frisco, Texas read The Book with No Pictures with Mrs. Lundt's 2nd graders. It was the first time either class had heard the book and my first time reading it aloud. It was fabulous! We laughed and laughed. 

Mrs. Reed's students from Newton, MA also connected with Mrs. Lundt's 2nd graders. It was a busy day! We decided to read The Adventures of Beekle. No matter how many times you read this book, there is always something new to notice and talk about. There is a reason it was this year's Caldecott Award winner. What a special book to read together for World Read Aloud Day.

Friday
So thrilled to connect again with Ms. Uribe's class! This time we read The Day the Crayons Quit with Mrs. Francis's 3rd & 4th graders. It is such fun to read aloud!

Mrs. MacDonald's 4th graders connected with Mrs. Greco's 3/4s and together we read Wolfie the Bunny by Ame Dyckman. This was new to all the kids and the surprised looks on their faces and giggles was wonderful! 

Crankee Doodle by Tom Angleberger with all of its laugh-out-loud humor was a hit with Ms. Lambert's 5th graders and Mrs. Sorensen's 3/4 class! 

To end our week, Mrs. Kozlik's 3/4 class shared Interrupting Chicken with Mrs. Nels and her students. Another classic read aloud!

Mrs. Novak's class was thrilled to be able to connect with Mrs. Scrimgeour and her students from Essex, Vermont!

Then we had two very special guest readers joining us on our WRAD 2015 make up day.

Mrs. Sibiskie's 1/2 class had the great pleasure of connecting with the amazing Deborah Freedman. Deborah Freedman lives right here in Connecticut and is the author/illustrator of Blue Chicken and The Story of Fish and Snail, as well as the soon to be published By Mouse and Frog (ok, since it has taken me forever to write this post it is now published!) We were so excited because Ms. Freedman read us By Mouse and Frog! It was a super special sneak peek of this fun book! 

One of my favorite things about Ms. Freedman's work are the pictures. There are so many things happening on the page that are important to notice as they help tell the story. This book really captured the students. Following the story, the kids had a chance to ask lots and lots of questions. I love it when an author or illustrator is up for answering questions, because it is not always easy. Sometimes questions are asked more than once - 1st and 2nd graders are so full of curiosity and wonder. There is a wide variety of questions too - from specific ones about being an author or illustrator to others about their family, pets, and more. Deborah Freedman was so gracious and passionate about her work - we were indeed very fortunate to have the opportunity to talk with her. Thank you again for taking time to read with my students!

Students at John Lyman Elementary are embarking on an adventure! During library, the 3/4 students started reading the 1st chapter of The Great CT Caper. Other classes may be reading along in their classroom. 

The CT Humanities Council has an amazing adventure for us! Starting in January and being released every 2 weeks is a new chapter in the mystery. There will be 12 chapters in all, each written and illustrated by an author and illustrator from Connecticut. 

If you would like to read at home, click here and select the chapters link at the top.


For ideas and contests, click here.

For fun and games, click here.

The "making" has begun! As I have written about before, I have become pretty excited about the idea of makerspaces and getting kids (and adults) to create and innovate. Last year, I was fortunate enough to have a Makerbot 3D printer grant funded (thank you Makerbot and some amazing donors!) and my third and fourth graders worked hard as they learned about creating and failing and trying again. In the spring, I applied for and was awarded a grant from a wonderful local group, the Coginchaug Valley Educational Foundation, for makerspace items. This summer, I got to work ordering some amazing items such as Raspberry Pi, littleBits, MakeyMakey, and Makedo. The librarian in me could not forget about the books and there are beginning to be more and more great ones available. To complement the maker items, I added books such as Rosie Revere, Engineer, Iggy Peck, Architect, and the Nick and Tesla series (mysteries with some making happening in between chapters). 

EdcampCT took place on August 16th this year and the first session I went to was a Maker session with William Ian O'Byrne (Twitter: @wiobyrne), professor at the University of New Haven. He brought some simple supplies and got people making! The project was a LED nametag. Here is his blog post with ideas and directions. People had a lot of fun experimenting and trying to get them to work. It was a little tricky, because the LED lightbulbs are TINY and you have to get things just right in order for the circuit to work. But that challenge is part of the fun.

One of the first grade teachers at Brewster School didn't get to go to that session, but was so inspired and wanted to try it with her students. So we went for it! We only had 30 minutes that first day, which in hindsight was way too short. When the students arrived in the library, I got them seated and started out by reading Rosie Revere, Engineer. We had to skip some parts, but I wanted to establish a purpose for our project with them. 

I had pre-cut card stock and students selected the color they wanted. Mrs. Loffredo helped the use a craft punch to punch a small hole in the card. Copper tape with sticky backing was given to the kids, as well as a button battery. We helped them place the 2 strips of copper tape parallel to each other and get that LED bulb in the right place so that the circuit works and the bulb lights up! Such excitement on the faces of the kids when that bulb lights up. It is not easy, which makes it all the more worthwhile. 

We only got 4 of the students' nametags completed during that 30 minutes, but Mrs. Loffredo took the supplies to finish up in her classroom. She continued the experience by having students write about it in their journals. It was a wonderful way to begin another year of collaboration in the library! 

Special thanks to the Coginchaug Valley Education Fund for supporting us!

Ms. Hendrix and her 5th graders from Asheville, North Carolina connected with Mrs. Novak's class of 1st/2nd graders. We had a lot of fun sharing trading cards and morse code with them! I can tell we will be doing more connecting in the future.

Mrs. MacDonald was back again with her second graders connecting with Mrs. Sibiskie's 1/2s. We shared Randi Zuckerberg's book Dot together and then shared some trading cards. Off we went to get library books, but then came back toward the end of class to do a quick Skype with Mrs. Reed and her grade 5 students who had a cancellation. Her students did a very quick buzz read of The Dot for the 1/2s! Fastest read ever!

Mrs. Swiantak's class came back to the library for a special treat! A visit with Mr. Winner and his students from Ellicot City, Maryland. His students were in 4th or 5th grade and were thrilled to do a little Morse Code decoding. We created trading cards to send to them, but thought they might be a little small to see via Skype, so we wrote some other messages on chart paper for them. It turned out to be a little easier to read one letter at a time (it almost felt like charades). They were pretty quick at figuring out the words and it was lots of fun for my 1/2s to challenge them! One of the favorites was --•   ••    -   -•  -         -••  ---    -• ••-   - which came straight from the fact that our town will be having our annual fair in just a week. Mr. Winner's folks gave us a short challenge: •-••    ---     •••-    • which summed up what we feel for all of these connections and fun: LOVE. 

Mrs. Ciccone's 1/2s were connecting today with Mrs. Schmidt's class from Dacula, Georgia. Mrs. Schmidt is a New Englander living in the south, so it is always fun to talk with her about the Red Sox. We had made trading cards for this class as well, but we decided to share some of the messages on the chart paper. What fun!

Our final Skype of the day was to be with a school in Alberta, Canada, but unfortunately they were having some technical difficulties. I hope that we can connect with them soon!

Today was a day of meeting several new friends from new places! Mrs. Ghoreyeb's class of 2nd graders connected with Mrs. Crook's class from Gaston, North Carolina. We shared some of the Morse Code messages we had written on the trading cards! 

Mrs. Lundt's 2nd graders met some 4th graders from Chattanooga, Tennessee. It was wonderful to meet Mrs. Kapp their library teacher as well. We read The Dot and shared Trading cards with them. We also learned some interesting facts about their school, such as that it is round!

Mrs. Lundt's class came back after lunch to meet with Mrs. Reed's 1st graders. We read The Dot together and are going to create buddy dots to send to them in Newton, Massachussetts.

Our final Skype of the day brought Mrs. Canning's kindergarteners connecting with Jerilynn Schaefer's kindergarteners in Hawaii!!! We shared art work with one another and also talked about our locations. Both groups were amazed at the time difference. It was 2:30pm EST in Connecticut, but only 8:30am in Hawaii. My students loved the fact that we were getting ready to go home, when our buddy class had just arrived at school. 

I truly cannot think of a better way to have my students develop an understanding of different areas of the United States and the world. Next week in library, we will begin looking at maps to see where our connections live. A great way to learn and grow!

On the 1st day of vacation, my kids and I went out to breakfast and then, of course, we were on our way to the 2 wonderful public libraries nearby. They had a couple of programs they wanted to sign up for, but mostly, we just needed books. I love looking at the new books and deciding which ones to get for my school libraries. My 9 year old son just piled on 6 or 7 Big Nate books, The Candymakers, plus a few others that he just couldn't live without. My 7 year old daughter looks for her favorite Ivy and Bean and then the Candy Fairies. When we got home, we spent at least 5 hours throughout the rest of the day reading. My son kept piling up books as he finished them. They read in the car too. It makes a librarian mother proud. 

I am going to participate in the #bookaday challenge with many other educators (check out that hashtag on Twitter). Some days I read a whole pile of books, some days only one. You'll see children's books, adult books, and professional books. But I'll be reading. And I can't wait to share with you some fabulous finds. Happy reading this summer!

Connecting 1st graders with a shark scientist was one of the most amazing skypes in which I have participated! Jillian Morris, founder of Sharks4Kids, met with Mrs. Burns' class on Friday, June 6. They were so excited to be talking to a real shark scientist. This spring, the students had been learning about oceans and all of the different living creatures that live there. When I saw Jillian's offer to skype with students, I jumped at the opportunity! What better way to learn?

Jillian is a marine biologist and videographer located in Bimini in the Bahamas and is passionate about shark education. Sharks4kids began because she wanted to help create "the next generation of shark advocates through education, outreach and adventure." This came through clearly throughout our skype!

As soon as we connected, Jillian's passion for sharks came through! She shared all kinds of facts and information with the kids, asking them questions and showing them amazing photographs! You couldn't help but get excited! Students were fascinated by all the different kinds of sharks she showed them and the equipment that she uses. They took to heart her message about protecting sharks and many times explained how these creatures are not looking to eat people. Patience is essential when speaking with 6 and 7 year olds. I think the jumping sharks were a favorite!

At the end of the skype, Jillian asked students to work hard to take care of sharks. She challenged them to create posters to share things that they had learned. We got started during library that day. You can see some of the completed ones in the photo gallery below.

Connecting with a scientist inspired my students to take action! Jillian and the other folks at Sharks4kids have a wealth of knowledge, resources and passion for educators to take advantage of. I hope you take some time and take a look. 

Sharks4Kids website

When I asked students what they liked most about author Barbara Mariconda's visit, 2 answers came to them immediately. Her journals and the family mysteries. Students and staff at Korn School had the wonderful opportunity to visit with Ms. Mariconda in June. Like many authors, Barbara began by telling them a little about herself and how she began writing. It is always fun to see pictures of an author when they are a child and it is really true that they began writing when they were little! It means a lot to the students when they can see that this published author started out just like them.

Barbara talked about all the things that she uses as an author to get ideas and to do her writing, including her little dog! A big point to students: write EVERY DAY! 

A unique part of Barbara is her traveling and her journals. What works of art! One that I walked around with was from a trip to Egypt. The journal was filled with pictures, tickets, writing, colorful sketches, cut-out sections to highlight a particular item and more. Many of us (myself included) were inspired to create a journal of our own about our summer adventures.  

Throughout her presentation, Barbara spoke about questions she has asked, family mysteries, and interesting stories that she learned about during her travels. Students were fascinated by these stories and loved seeing how she made them come alive in her books. Barbara shared an old family photo album which provided writing ideas. As she spoke about the Lucy P. Simmons trilogy, students could see how her trip to Ireland led her to include the legend of the Grey Man. 

At the end of her presentation, in addition to some questions from students, Barbara also did some writing with them (once a teacher, always a teacher). The focus was on helping to create an image through writing. I love how Barbara explained that when you write, you want everyone to get the same picture in their head - so if you are writing about a pirate, describe the pirate you are seeing. What kind of hat, hair, expression on the face, clothing, etc will your pirate have? Students excitedly offered ideas to include in this shared writing experience. Teachers came away wishing we could have Ms. Mariconda visit for a whole day!

For the rest of the day students were clamoring to see if we had copies of the Lucy P. Simmons books and one of the teachers came down and took the copy Barbara left us for her last read aloud of the year. What a wonderful way to end a year of celebrating reading at Korn School!

If you would like to contact Barbara Mariconda or learn more, visit her website:
 http://www.barbaramariconda.com/

Living right between New York and Boston, baseball is a big deal here in central Connecticut. When I saw on Twitter that Ballpark Mystery author David Kelly was doing skypes this May, I emailed him right away and was thrilled when he was able to connect with us! Miss Montepara's 3rd graders at Korn School were a perfect fit since they love reading AND baseball! They read one of his books together in class and came ready to learn and ask questions.

David got started by telling a little about himself and how he got into writing books for kids. My students are always curious about the author's life - how many kids they have, pets, etc. He talked about his first books and shared about Miracle Mud, a really neat book about the mud that is used to make baseballs not so "new" before they are used. We loved how Mr. Kelly shared about how he got his ideas and how he did his research. I love the picture of the mud below! He shared next about his series, the Ballpark Mysteries. These books take place in various baseball stadiums around the United States and star cousins Kate and Mike. There is always some kind of mystery that goes on that they have to solve. Once again, David shared his writing process and how he researches the facts and information that he adds to the story. We had time for lots of questions at the end. 

The students were very excited and left the visit wanting to read ALL of these mysteries. I ordered Miracle Mud for them to read as well. 

I was so pleased to connect with David Kelly and bring his passion for reading, writing, and baseball to the students of our school! I can't wait to share his books with more readers this fall!

A GIANT thank you to the Coginchaug Valley Education Foundation! I applied for a grant this spring and tonight was thrilled to be one of ten amazing grant recipients. My grant was titled Follow Your Passion and Make It! Through this grant, elementary students will be learning, growing, and creating in a Makerspace. We will be making cardboard come alive with Makedo and littleBits. MakeyMakey and Throwies allow students to tinker with circuits. All of these resources give students the ability to design, create, tinker, fail, and try again. In addition, we will be adding books that involve making or crafting to inspire kids! For a great example of a library Makerspace, take a look at the Westport Public Library. 

Come back to read more about what we are doing in the Makerspace next school year. We also will be having a mini-Makerfaire to show all the amazing things!