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Website address change!

8/12/2014

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I am going to be moving one of my schools this year - staying at Brewster School which is K-2 and also working at John Lyman School which is K-4. My website address had been the name of my 2 schools and that just wouldn't make sense anymore. So I have decided to keep it simple and just use http://mrslussier.weebly.com. In addition, Mr. Klimas, who will be working at Korn School, will be adding a blog page to this site to share what he is doing each week. I apologize in advance for any confusion!
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Amazing Shark Scientist!

7/3/2014

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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


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A Little Light Learning this summer . . .

6/19/2014

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Take a look at these ideas to keep your learning going this summer!

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World Read Aloud Day 2014 (ok, it was a whole week!)

4/15/2014

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One of the times of year that I look forward to most is World Read Aloud Day. It has turned into an exhausting week, but the fun we have more than makes up for that! This year we celebrated with 31 Skypes: 3 authors and 28 classes from around the United States. Part of the fun is meeting all these new friends and connecting with old ones! Many thanks to LitWorld for sponsoring this amazing event! 

Both of my schools had activities going on to celebrate Dr. Seuss's birthday throughout the week, starting off with Brewster's "Wheel of Seuss" on Friday which I had the honor of emceeing. Korn classes had many different guest readers coming in to share favorite books. Tuesday afternoon brought guest readers to Brewster School for Brewster Loves to Read. I love to see all of the different ways we show that we are communities of readers!

Bonus this year - no snow days! Happily we were able to fill in for schools who did have some winter weather to contend with!

Monday, March 3

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Author Bob Shea
What an amazing way to begin our week! If you get a chance, Skype with this author/illustrator. We had so much fun laughing with him as he read Don't Play with Your Food to Miss Zauner's 1st graders. A big thanks for answering all kinds of interesting questions from these kids. They were so inspired to draw after meeting him and I now have several drawings to send off to him. Best part - he lives only 1 town away. He wrote one of his books at our public library since his in-laws live in our town. 

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Another new connection was with Okle Miller and her students from Valrico, Florida. My class was Mrs. Reeves' kindergarteners so Mrs. Miller's class read us a new book called Ralph Tells a Story. It was a good one! The kindergartner's had practiced reading a poem called Spider Web and shared it with the older students! 

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Our last Skype of the day was an in-state connection with a school in Branford and Mrs. Caramanello's 1st graders. Mrs. Duffy and I took turns reading Precious and the Boo Hag by Patricia McKissack. 

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Our next Skype was with Jennifer Lewis's class from Canton, Georgia reading One Cool Friend with Mrs. Ghoreyeb's 2nd Grade class. This book always brings a lot of giggles. We had a great time and I hope to connect with her again!

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Author Ame Dyckman connected with Mr. Bernabeo's 2nd grade and Andy Plemmons' class from Athens, Georgia. It is always so much fun to Skype with Andy and his students, but adding Ame to the mix was awesome! Ame read Tea Party Rules to us and we asked questions and shared favorite books (Ame always has lots of great ones!) 

Tuesday, March 4

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It was a snowy day in much of the mid-Atlantic region, so we were thrilled to connect Sherry Gick and Gretchen Welk's students from Indiana with Mrs. Loffredo's 1st graders. We read Elephant & Piggie together! What could be more fun?

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Ms. Stewart's class had to be quick and check out library books because we had one more Skype for them with Sarah Staudt's class from Mason City, Iowa. We read The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt. I think we might have read the peach crayon page twice! Lots of laughs all around.

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Students in Jennifer Reed's class in Newton, MA were Mrs. Brand's 2nd Skype and we took turns reading Mary Ann Hoberman's You Read to Me, I'll Read to You: Very Short Stories. I love trying new things with Mrs. Reed!

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Mrs. Protz's kindergarteners had so much fun reading Bunny Days with Mrs. D'Elia and surprise guest Mr. Callahan and their students in Burlington, MA! For this Skype we used the terrific resource We Give Books. They have so many wonderful books that you can read online for FREE!

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Our next Skype was a special one because Ms. Stewart's 2nd grade connected with my daughter's 1/2 class from across town! Mrs. Sibiskie's class has been studying Asia this year and when Meghan Nels suggested we read Take Me Out to the Yakyu by Aaron Meshon later in the week, I decided that would be the perfect one for this Skype too. I love that it has a little boy going to a baseball game with his grandfathers, one in America and one in Japan. Great for talking about perspective.

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Mrs. Brand's kindergarteners also had 2 Skypes! First, a quick snow day makeup with Mrs. Keith's students on Cape Cod. We read Elephant & Piggie's There is a Bird on my Head! I love that the kindergartners can read a lot of the book with us! 

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Miss Mashel's 1st graders were in for a special treat when we met with Nancy Edwards and her students at St. Matthew School in Seattle, WA. They had been studying the Iditarod and read a story to us and showed us some artifacts from the race! My students were fascinated and I quickly had to find our books on the Iditarod to share with them!

Wednesday, March 5

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Ms. Amolo's class from Grayson, GA connected with 2 of our 3rd grades - Miss P's class and Miss Montepara's class that morning! It sure was busy. Two girls from Miss P's class read Hey, Little Ant by Philip Hoose aloud, followed by a quick switch of classes and then reading Elephant and Piggie together, taking turns with the characters. Third graders still LOVE Mo Willems!

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Mrs. Grenier's class had a special surprise at the end of their Skype that morning. They got a visit from their teacher who had taken a new job as a tech specialist mid-year! They were so glad to see one another! We met Mrs. Kroeber and her students from Branford, CT and read some of Mary Ann Hoberman's You Read to Me, I'll Read to You Very Short Stories together. It is always fun to connect with towns nearby!

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Matthew Winner of Elkridge, Maryland asked if my 3rd graders could read Baby Penguins Everywhere by Melissa Guion (wegivebooks.org) to his kindergarteners and we had a blast doing so! All the 3rd graders were smiling as we read this book about a penguin who finds a hat full of baby penguins!

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Miss P's class came back during their regular library time to have a little fun with Mrs. Macdonald's students in South Burlington, VT. Drew Daywalt's The Day the Crayons Quit was our read aloud and we had so much fun! Check out their video vine.co/v/MAIqX9tFgFd - don't you love their costumes? 

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Author Patricia Newman met with a group of fourth grade students who came in during their recess to connect and learn! We were fascinated by her new book Plastic Ahoy! The students had great questions to ask her about the island of trash floating in the Pacific Ocean. As a librarian, it is always amazing to hear about how author's get interested in their topics and then research them. Patricia is always so passionate about writing and sharing with students! 

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We connected with Kurt Strohs from Michigan and his students. The Day the Crayons Quit was a HUGE hit and Mr. Strohs was thrilled to read the peach crayon page! 

Thursday, March 6

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Our first Skype of the day brought Mrs. Zastawsky's 4th graders together with Ms. Smeltzer's class. We had a great time sharing book titles, including The Power of Poppy Pendle by Natasha Lowe. Ms. Smeltzer's class is from Salem, New Hampshire. We would see them again later on in the day.

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When was the last time you read Fox in Socks by Dr. Seuss? Phew! Mrs. Durkin's grade 4's were joined by Janine Johnson's 4th graders from Redding, CT and we took turns reading LOTS of rhymes! 

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Mrs. Smeltzer's 2nd grade class from Salem, NH listened as 4th graders from all the classes at Korn read aloud Baby Penguins Everywhere by Melissa Guion (wegivebooks.org). Fourth graders did a great job reading aloud! Lots of laughs all around!

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Mrs. Schlicker's 4th graders were excited to connect again with Mr. Plemmons' class from Athens, Georgia. This class has Skyped several times with Mr. Plemmons and it has always been lots of fun! Remember Talk Like a Pirate Day? For WRAD14 we shared Tom Angleberger's Crankee Doodle. Mrs. Lussier was the horse and Mr. Plemmons was the cranky guy. It is such a fun book to read aloud and the 4th graders loved it! We had some time to share book ideas and we are now enjoying Game Over, Pete Watson by Joe Schreiber. 

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I always love reading Same, Same but Different with students and Mrs. Kilroy's class shared this wonderful story with Mrs. Sikes' class from Forsyth, Georgia. No matter how many times we read it, this book by Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw makes us smile. Update: Mrs. Sikes' class made us photo drawings! What a wonderful surprise! I just got these last week! I can't wait to share them with Mrs. Kilroy's class!

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Photo drawings from Mrs. Sikes' class in Georgia

Friday, March 7

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Mrs. Caramanello's 1st graders connected with Mrs. Groden's class from Medfield, MA. We had some fun reading Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. I love when kids just can't decide which animal it is. It was great to meet Mrs. Groden later that weekend in person too!

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Mrs. Canning's kindergarteners were very patient as we tried to connect both Mrs. Reed's class from Newton, MA and Mrs. Flickinger's students from South Burlington, VT.  We were not able to do both at the same time (there was a lot of juggling going on), but we still had a lot of fun! With Mrs. Reed's class we read some of Mary Ann Hoberman's You Read to Me, I'll Read to You Short Stories. It is challenging to read these together over Skype, but lots of fun! I did not take very good notes, so I don't remember what we read with Mrs. Flickinger's class, but we were thrilled to connect with her students for World Read Aloud Day!

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Mrs. Lundt's second grade class listened to Take Me Out to the Yakyu by Aaron Meshon along with Mrs. Nels' class from Dedham, MA. They were fascinated by the differences in the way the little boy got to experience baseball games in each country.

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Our last Skype of the week was with my good friend Mrs. Macdonald and her students from South Burlington, VT. Mrs. Burns' class read Elephant and Piggie There is a Bird on Your Head with the students from Vermont. There was a lot of giggling and fun happening on Friday afternoon! 

What an amazing week and I am so grateful to all who were able to connect! These celebrations of reading and learning provide our students with the opportunity to communicate and collaborate, important abilities for our students to have as they go forward! But most importantly, it is just so much fun!
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Getting ready to meet Jarrett Krosoczka!

4/2/2014

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Having an author visit at your school is one of the most exciting events of the school year! We are revving up the excitement for April 28, when Jarrett J. Krosoczka comes to Brewster and Korn! Extra-special thanks to the BKPTA for making this happen!

So far, we have shared Lunch Lady books, read Punk Farm and Baghead at Brewster School and watched lots of booktrailers at Korn. We have partnered with our local independent bookstore, R.J. Julia Booksellers, to provide an opportunity for students to purchase copies of his books and have them signed when he comes! 

In the next week we will get started decorating and maybe . . . just maybe . . . having some Lunch Lady gadget fun! Be looking for lots of yellow showing up soon!

Jarrett Krosoczka's latest book Peanut Butter and Jellyfish comes out April 8th! Check out the trailer here.

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Did you try the Hour of Code?

12/30/2013

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Students and teachers in Regional School District 13 showed a little courage and a LOT of excitement December 9-15 during Computer Science Education Week. Trying something new that most knew little or nothing about was a big challenge. But the Hour of Code was a huge success! 

Students and teachers in grades K-12 participated. Some used code.org to get to the Angry Bird/Zombie tutorial and learn some basic computational thinking. Some used iPad apps such as Kodable, Light-bot, Daisy the Dinosaur or Cargo-bot. However they did it, these newest coders loved it and wanted to do more. Watching kindergarteners, who, when asked if they thought they would be good at coding said, "NO!", grow big smiles on their faces and try again and again when they got stuck, was an absolute pleasure. Fourth graders jumped right in and helped each other when they were puzzled about what to do next. They were all building stamina and the ability to persevere, even when things got tougher. 

Teachers were taking risks here - big ones! It definitely made them feel better when they were reminded that they really didn't need to know what to do - the kids could do it! When teachers tried it, they LOVED it! Many confided that they became a little addicted themselves. 

The Hour of Code provided a way to show just how essential computational thinking and coding are for the future of these students. I think it truly helped teachers, who had little or no experience with coding, to understand students for whom this is a passion, a little better. I can't wait to see where this excitement takes us next!

Click HERE to see 6th grade coders on Channel 30 news.

Click HERE for article in The Town Times (see pages 14 & 19).

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Picture Book Month video

12/1/2013

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We had so much fun reading great picture books and sharing them with all kinds of friends this month. Especially fun was the Picture Book Smackdown on Google Hangout. What a fantastic way to share. Special thanks to Andy Plemmons, Cathy Potter, Shawna Ford, Kathy Kaldenberg and authors Laurel Snyder and Ame Dyckman.
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Want kids to collaborate & keep track of their reading? Try Biblionasium!

11/29/2013

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Following some great discussions about our reading habits, I showed my third and fourth graders how I keep track of my books: Goodreads. I love almost everything about this site and have a great time reading recommendations and seeing what my friends are up to in their reading lives. I am continually inspired. My students thought it was pretty neat too! They were so thrilled when a friend on Goodreads had read and reviewed a book that we had just read too!

So I decided that I really needed to get Biblionasium going with my kids. Biblionasium is an online bookshelf for kids. I love how kids can keep track of what they are reading, recommend books to one another, find ideas, and so much more. I have been thinking about using it for over a year, but wanted to be sure it was safe. Another reason I decided to go for it was being able to hang out with its founder at AASL in Hartford. She was amazingly passionate and wanted to know what kinds of things we would want to use Biblionasium for and what would make it better.

So when I returned from AASL, I got busy putting the classes in - and boy was that easy to do. Just have the information in an Excel spreadsheet and it just goes right in. I also love that multiple teachers can be added to each class. That way myself, classroom teachers, reading teachers, special education teachers, the principal - can all be involved with creating that culture of reading and sharing books.

The kids LOVE it! They had so much fun choosing an avatar, adding books, and then recommending them to each other and their teachers. It has been one of those weeks that is so much fun because they were so into it. Many of them went home and spent time doing more.

I can't wait to log in and check out some of the great book ideas they have sent me.

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Reading Habits - Are you a wild reader?

11/13/2013

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Inspired after reading Donalyn Miller's new book Reading in the Wild last week (and the latest Diary of a Wimpy Kid book birthday), I began talking to my 3rd and 4th grade classes about Reading Habits. Things that perhaps they never really thought about before - I certainly didn't. I shared with them how I "read around the edges" - with 2 kids and a job, I don't often have huge chunks of time for reading. They went off to think about their "edge" times and here are the results!
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I want to know more! What's in my professional library.

8/27/2013

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I have a burning desire to know and understand things. All kinds of things - so I read. A lot. That's a subject for another whole post. But I have been curious lately about what books people love - those books that as an educator, you just find yourself turning to over and over again for inspiration, ideas, and a desire to understand. Here are the ones I have been attached to in the last year or so. What others do you have that you cannot live without?




1) The Book Whisperer by D. Miller
2) Igniting a Passion for Reading by S. Layne
3) Readicide by K. Gallagher
4) Energize Research Reading and Writing by C. Lehman
5) Comprehension and Collaboration - Inquiry Circles in Action by S. Harvey and H. Daniels
6) Connecting Comprehension & Technology - S. Harvey, A. Goudvis, K. Muhtaris & K. Ziemke
7) What Readers Really Do by D. Barnhouse & V. Vinton
8) Summer reading - R. Allington
9) Book Love by P. Kittle
10) Notice and Note by K. Beers & R. Probst
11) The Daily Five by G. Boushey & J. Moser
12) The CAFE Book by G. Boushey & J. Moser
13) Real Revision - K. Messner
14) Mindset by C. Dweck
15) Teach Like a Champion by D. Lemov
16) Teach Like a Pirate by D. Burgess
17) Make Just One Change by Rothstein & Santana
18) The Reading Zone by N. Atwell
19) Invent to Learn by S. Libow & G. Stager
20) Children's Book-a-day Almanac by A. Silvey

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    Mrs. Lussier is a Library Media Specialist at Brewster Elementary School in Durham, CT.  I am passionate about getting kids reading (ok, everyone!), wondering, using technology and having FUN!
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    Jenny's books

    Dangerous Deception
    Tales of Bunjitsu Bunny
    Bugged: How Insects Changed History
    Bramble and Maggie Spooky Season
    Nest
    The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
    Mouseheart
    Me Want Pet!
    Queen of Christmas
    The North Star
    Kate the Great, Except When She's Not
    Tap to Play!
    When the Silliest Cat Was Small
    Cows Going Past
    Vote for Me!
    Snowmen All Year
    Uni the Unicorn
    Chickens to the Rescue
    Wazdot?
    The Nuts: Bedtime at the Nut House


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