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Inspiring readers - World Read Aloud Day 2015

4/19/2015

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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. 

What did our week look like? 
Monday, 3/2 - Mrs. Lussier was at the MSLA conference in Massachussetts learning a ton and having fun!

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!
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Another favorite to read aloud together is The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt. Ms. Wilbanks and her students from Athens, Georgia enjoyed each and every color. Especially the peach crayon. Go ahead. Giggle. 
Mr. Stroh and his 4th graders from Michigan connected with Mrs. Caramanello's 1st graders. Mr. Stroh and I have a ton of fun every time we connect (remember the Crayons from last year?) This year we read Elephant and Piggie, We Are in a Book which was just as terrific! Reading books aloud together is just pure fun!
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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.
Thursday - SNOW! Can you believe it? Every year. (But we made up some of these the following week!)
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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!
The Following Thursday . . . we had school!!!
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!


If you have not gotten a chance to connect with Julie Falatko yet, just do it. Right now. Get on Twitter and search @JulieFalatko. Julie is enthusiastic, kind, passionate and clearly loves kids and children's literature. I had the great good fortune to meet her in person at nErDcampNNE in Maine this January. We were in a session sharing great book titles and I had a blast learning with her. I asked her if she would be willing to connect with my students and she said, "YES!" Julie will have 3 books coming out in the next few years: Snappsy the Alligator (Did Not Ask to Be in This Book), Bunny's New Friends, and Help Wanted: One Rooster. We can't wait!

Mrs. Ciccone's 1st and 2nd graders couldn't wait to meet Mrs. Falatko. We got skype going and off we went! First we did some introductions - pets too! Then, the reading began! She read a new favorite, I Don't Want to Be a Frog! by Dev Petty and illustrated by Mike Boldt. So hilarious! Julie is terrific at reading aloud! A new one for me was Red: A Crayon's Story by Michael Hall. This was a thoughtful book about a blue crayon who is mislabeled red. 

We got to ask Julie lots of questions too. We also got to meet her daughter!  Bonus book! Goodnight already! by Jory John - such fun! I cannot wait until her books start coming out next year. If you get a chance to have a school visit or skype with Ms. Falatko, you will enjoy every moment! Enormous thanks for spending time with us and celebrating World Read Aloud Day 2015!

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Author Barbara Mariconda brings mystery & personal history to Korn School students & staff

7/3/2014

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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/

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What a hit! Ballpark Mysteries by David Kelly

7/1/2014

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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!
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Thank you Coginchaug Valley Education Foundation!

6/19/2014

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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!

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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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Jarrett J. Krosoczka rocks Korn and Brewster!

5/15/2014

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Inspiring students and teachers all day long, Jarrett J. Krosoczka spent Monday, April 28 with us at Korn and Brewster Elementary Schools. The students were psyched! I haven't seen a Lunch Lady book in either school in months. The waiting lists are long. We couldn't wait!

Jarrett arrived early and was ready to meet our kindergarteners! I loved how he played music as the students were coming in and they settled right down. He shared with them about becoming a writer - how he had been writing since he was a little boy. They loved learning about his newly released Peanut Butter and Jellyfish and were thrilled when he read it to them. They also LOVED when Jarrett did some drawing with them! It was so much fun to have sea creatures have different emotions!

From Brewster, we traveled over to Korn School where Jarrett shared about his author journey with the 3rd and 4th graders. They were very attentive as he talked with them about becoming a published author (it took a while!) and the inspiration for the Lunch Lady series. They asked question after question of him too! They were very disappointed to find out that the Lunch Lady series is finished for the time being. Excitement grew when he talked about the upcoming book, Comics Squad Recess! written with some of the best graphic novelists in the business and showed them the book trailer! We can't wait til July!

Back to Brewster for lunch and then presentations to the 1st and 2nd graders. They loved seeing how Baghead came to be too! It was wonderful to hear from teachers about how much they really enjoyed his presentations and thought that he did an excellent job talking to the students. Jarrett's message about writing and drawing every day was perfect for our Young Author's Day!

After each presentation, Jarrett was able to sign books for students who had purchased them, providing them with a special momento from a very special day.  

Visit Jarrett J. Krosoczka at: studiojjk.com

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Unpacking the suitcase: Jim Arnosky author study

5/15/2014

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Want a great way to catch 3rd graders attention in May? Start with a picture and a mystery. Get a suitcase and take out one item at a time and have them try to figure out what Jim Arnosky does for an occupation. A photograph, a date, a notebook, paint and paintbrush, a videotape of an animal safari, an award and finally a book. Amazingly enough, every year it takes them until the very end to figure it out, even though we are in the library! From the book Nonfiction Author Studies in the Elementary Classroom by Jenkins and White, this begins a series of lessons that incorporate exploration of this amazing author/illustrator with a myriad of language arts standards. Inferencing, skimming, noticing, looking for patterns are just a few of the things students will be doing. 

Arnosky is a prolific writer with topics like fish, lions, frogs, birds of prey, dolphins and more. These topics are intriguing to kids and over and over I heard, "Cool!" and "Awesome!" and "Look at this!" Students went through a book speed-dating process, looking at books from their pile for 1 minute and then choosing another one. It is chaotic and so much fun! While looking through these books, students have been asked, "What do they notice?" and "What patterns do you see?" They take 3 minutes or so at the end to record their thoughts. 

At this point, they are so curious about Jim Arnosky's life and have lots of questions. We will be using our next library class to learn more about his life and connect it to his writing. 

My favorite part? "Mrs. Lussier, can I take this book home?" I love when they are hooked!

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Science Fair time!

12/12/2013

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On December 4 & 5, Mrs. Martin was a special guest at our library! She came to help us get excited for this year's Science Fair which will be taking place on Thursday, February 27, 2014. Mrs. Martin talked to us about the difference between a demonstration, where we watch something interesting happen, and an experiment, where a question is asked and a hypothesis tested. We are hoping that all students will be presenting an experiment.

For more information and the permission slip, please go to the Science Fair page.
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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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Meet the authors! Bill Thomson, Patricia Newman & Ann Hood

10/30/2013

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It's only October 30 and I am thrilled to have connected my students with 3 fabulous authors! What a way to say to students and families that yes, reading is so important to all of us. 

September 13 brought illustrator Bill Thomson to Brewster School. Bill is a local author who I discovered last year. Even better, one of our staff members knows him well and when she saw his book Chalk being shared in the library, she came right to me and connected us. Bill came as part of our celebration of International Dot Day. He even included dots as part of his presentation. Bill's books are stunning. When I first shared Chalk with my students, as soon as we finished they said, "Read it again!" I knew it was a special book. Bill shared his process for creating books with the students - showing them the thumbnail sketches, the photographs he takes to use as models and how he finishes the illustrations. We even got a sneak preview of his newest book that would be coming out in just a few weeks. Throughout the presentations, Bill connected with the students. At the end, they did some collaborative drawing together, imagining what could be created from a shape that was drawn. Dots were always added. The students were thrilled when Bill hung out with us during library times when he wasn't presenting and even joined first graders for lunch. Probably most amazing of all was the fact that Bill signed each and every book that students and staff ordered and he did in just one night. Each child that ordered a book has something very special to cherish. The icing on the cake was the special gift for our library of a copy of Fossil, his newest book. The students have had a blast reading it and remembering how he shared his process of creating that book with them. To find out more about Bill Thomson, click here.

Our second author visit was of the virtual kind. Patricia Newman and her books were new to me, but I had connected with her last spring and as a thank you, she wanted to do a Skype visit with a class. I found 2 of her books at a local library and knew immediately that these would be well loved books. On October 23 I shared the 2 books, Nugget on the Flight Deck and Jingle the Brass with one of my 3rd grade classes at Korn School. They had so many questions to ask her! We could have talked to her for an hour. At 11 o'clock we were all set to go, having brainstormed questions. We called and had an amazing 25 minutes. Patricia clearly LOVES children and even though she was in California and we were talking through a screen, the students were engaged and so excited. We did a quick introduction but mainly she wanted to hear from them and they asked question after question. Her books are unique with interesting and varied vocabulary which really grabbed all the kids. Patricia gave us a peek at the cover of her new book that will be coming out April 1 - Plastic Ahoy! Investigating the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Very intriguing. Patricia emailed us shortly after our visit and commented on how well prepared the students were and what great questions they asked. To me this demonstrates how important connecting is for our students. To find out more about Patricia Newman, click here.

Finally, on Tuesday, October 29, Korn School welcomed Ann Hood. Many thanks to R.J. Julia Booksellers for arranging this visit. Once again, they introduced us to a new author and what a pleasure it was. While I was teaching at my other school that day, I immediately began to receive tweets and emails about what a wonderful presentation she was giving. Ann Hood is well known for her books written for adults, but her children's books were new to me. I found copies of her Treasure Chest series at a local library and read the first one. Lots of fun. Love that it is set in nearby Newport, Rhode Island, a place that is familiar to many students. My 8 year-old son was so interested that he was reading over my shoulder. As I shared these books with the library classes, they were excited. Many of my students are big fans of the Magic Tree House series and the Treasure Chest books are similar. During Tuesday's presentation, Ann shared about her inspiration for her books and took ideas for her next books from the students. Teachers and students alike reported what a great visit they had with her. Visit Ann Hood's website here.

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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
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    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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