Still Learning to Read: Setting Up the Digital Classroom Library

This is one of a series of blog posts that continue the conversation around Still Learning to Read--teaching reading to students in grades 3-6.  This series will run on the blog on Tuesdays starting in August 2016.

School starts in a little over a week. My classroom set up is coming along (of course there is always something to do when it comes to setting up a room!)  This weekend, I worked on revising and updating the digital classroom library that will start our school year.  For kids to make intentional decisions, they must have choice.  I used to introduce a few sites for reading at a time and built over the first few months of school but last year I created a page on our Weebly with all of the sites kids could read. This year I revised it a bit by adding new sites and getting rid of those that were outdated or no longer active.

The Reading page of our Classroom Weebly is here.  I've found that Weebly is an easy website for young children to navigate because of the design and the visuals.  I am certain it will grow and change as the year goes on and I have no idea which of these sites kids will be most interested in this year (every class is different). But this is where we'll begin so kids know that digital reading is an option during Reading Workshop. They'll also have access to these sites at home by accessing our website. 

These are the sites that my 3rd graders can access from our website:

A few years ago, our class created a Symbaloo of Authors We Love.  We created this one day when we were playing with Symabaloo and it's become a great resource.  This Symbaloo links to many authors that kids love. It DEFINITELY needs updated and it seems like a good project for us once the year is started.  

Kidsreads is one of the best sites I know for kids to learn about books, authors, and series.  The website is packed with book reviews, announcements for new books and author interviews and it is perfect for middle grade readers.

Wonderopolis is a favorite source for shared reading and independent reading.  If you don't know this site, you should spend lots of time exploring!  There is a new wonder posted each day along with an article sharing the answer and more.   The site is searchable so kids can find past wonders that match their current interests. 

LivBits is a new addition to the Weebly this year.  Olivia has videos, Instagram post and more sharing her thinking about books, authors and reading. These are great videos by a reader close to my students' ages.  Love this site!

SI Kids, the Sports Illustrated site for kids has a variety of great reading material for kids.  The site is full of articles, videos, interviews and more and is easy for kids to navigate.

DOGONews is a kids's news sites. Articles are accessible to kids and most are about topics they are most interested in.  There site also includes book reviews "for kids, by kids".

Pebble Go is a membership site that is one of the best nonfiction sites I've seen for primary readers. There are several categories of nonfiction and kids learn to navigate for information in an authentic way.

Toon Book Reader shares early graphic novels with kids. We have many of the hard copies of the books in our classrooms.  Readers can choose to read on his/her own or to have the books read aloud. There are options to change the language from English to Spanish, French, Russian and Chinese also.

Friends with Fins is one of our favorite video sites for informational videos.   I know that learning from videos is important to digital reading so sites like this are critical for my students.  Watching videos to learn (as opposed to for entertainment) is new to many of them. The focus of this is on Ocean Conservation and the videos are the perfect length for middle grade readers.

I could spend all day on ZooBorns. The site focuses on baby animals in zoos around the world.  Each day there is an update about some baby animal somewhere in the world. So it is fun site to check in with on a daily basis. Or, readers can search by animal or zoo which adds to what is possible.  The photos on this site are fabulous!

Big Universe is another site that our school subscribes to for nonfiction reading. Students have an account and can read ebooks on a variety of topics.  They can log their reading, add books to their to-be-read shelf and more.

NewsELA is a site filled with news articles, text sets on current issues and more. There is so much to explore here! 

Animals for Smart People is another site of informational videos by author, Jess Keating.  These are a perfect length and the visuals she includes are supportive to understanding the topic.

Smithsonian TT Junior has daily news, photos audio and video. This has a good variety of interesting information for readers.

We discovered Emily Arrow last year and created a Padlet of her videos. This became one of our most popular sites as Emily Arrow is the best and the way she interprets books through song is fabulous!

I feel like this part of my "classroom library" set-up is as important as the bookshelves in my room. Knowing sites that are accessible to my middle grade readers and expanding what they "count" as reading is an important early-in-the-year message. I feel like we'll be off to a good start.

Are there any other sites you include in your digital classroom library?

(You can follow the conversation using the hashtag #SLTRead or you can join us for a book chat on Facebook starting September 1 by joining our group here.)

Our new edition of Still Learning to Read will be released on August 15 but you can preview the entire book online at Stenhouse!

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Live Blogging from #Nerdcampmi Monday and Tuesday

JWe know we didn't do such a great job of live blogging from All Write, as we had planned. But Franki will be at #NerdcampMi and she'll be adding live updates to the blog as the throughout the event. This is one of our favorite events of the year so we'd also recommend following it on Twitter if you are not attending.  (We will update on the top of the post each time we update so read from the bottom up!)

A session about writing for The Nerdy Book Club blog by Donalyn Miller and Cindy Minnich.

We love that we can connect with people all over the country at Nerdcamp!  But we also love having time to learn within Dublin colleagues.

Session on Nonfiction Mentor Texts led by Jen Vincent!

I went to a great session led by John Scovill on Reading Engagement in the Upper Grades.  You can access the resources from this session here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_dS9WjknquqGINy8VY40Ss5uoVKBRiNGxy0vmvm9yLs/edit_

Look what I got!--DAY 2

Dublin's very own, Jessica Ardela was the first female to finish the Nerd Run 5K!! wooohoooo!

Team Saunter ready for Nerd Run!

Really, there is nothing better than hearing John Schu (@mrschureads) talk about books!! 

So happy to have s chance to hear Brad Wilson (@dreambition)) talk about digital writing!

Amazing kickoff to Nerd Camp today!  Brilliant talks by Ruth Ayres, Pernille Ripp,  Sue Haney, Lisa Graff and Donalyn Miller.

After dinner, Jillian (@heisereads) invited us to see all the new picture books she got at ALA last week.   Katie (@katiedicesare) and I went down. And we made new friends over books--, Aliza (@alizateach) and Kim (@fins025) Such a fun way to end the day!

Within minutes of arriving, we ran into one of our fave authors  (and fave #teamsaunter teammates) Jess Keating (Jess_Keating).  She happened to have her two upcoming books in her bag--wow!  We are excited about both of them. The third in her Middle Grade Novel series and a new nonfiction book, Pink if for Blobfish)

Marisa (@MarisaReads) pulled out her new Selfie Stick--purchased jut for the occasion!

About 30 of us started off the fun with dinner at Klavon's.  Our annual #nerdcampmi tradition now!

November-December Mosaic

I can't believe I spaced my November mosaic! But, since November and December were a blur this year, maybe it's appropriate to blend them together.

ROW 1: It had been ages since we went to the art museum, but there was a special exhibit on the art of picture books that gave us the perfect excuse. Because they are doing construction, we had to park a block or so away and I got to see this amazing mural by local artist Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson. I found a great quote in one of the exhibits, and spied the last gingko leaf hanging on a tree outside the museum.

ROW 2: This iconic sculpture acts as a sort of entrance to the Columbus College of Art and Design. The A spans a city street at the base. In other November news, the Parental Paparazzi were out en force at our 5th grade fall concert. The day after the concert, I left for NCTE. The absolute highlight was presenting with Vicki Vinton, Frank McVeigh, Julieanne Harmatz and Steve Peterson. It was also great to meet lots of blogger-friends in real life (IRL)!

ROW 3: Jon Klassen was the speaker at the CLA Breakfast, and the students who created the table decorations knocked it out of the ballpark! I loved that bear so much that I bought him for my classroom! I knew I would need to be early to the graphic novel panel led by Mr. Schu. I had a front row seat and was there when the panelists arrived. Lucky me -- I got to sit next to the daughter of a famous author. She took this selfie of us. After the last session Sunday, Mr. Mary Lee and I did some shopping at the nearby outlet mall (I replaced my failing rolling briefcase at a NICE price). Gorgeous views of National Harbor on the walk back to the Gaylord.

ROW 4: Sunday night we took the ferry across to Alexandria for dinner, then on Monday, we drove into DC to visit our favorite bookstore/cafe, Kramerbooks, and visit the WWII Memorial.

ROW 5: More shots of the WWII Memorial. Back home, I finally had the right combination of decent weather and a bit of time, so I got the garden beds cleaned up and pulled the morning glory vines off the back fence.

ROW 6: Breakfast with a friend, writers with their work spread out, a crossword puzzle created with multiple-meaning words we found in our government/economics unit (and others from our master list).

ROW 7: A new holiday tradition is to spend an afternoon at the Orvis Store doing charity giftwrap for Casting for Recovery. We raised over $200 in two weekends this year! 'Tis the season of indoor recess -- these are all the trading cards I've saved over the years from the classroom's Sports Illustrated Kids magazine subscription! I have baked cookies for my students to decorate every year of my teaching career. This tulip was a gift from a student who knows I LOVE purple!

ROW 8: Mom's little Christmas tree (so wonderful to spend a week with her at the holidays), the joy of finding one of my favorite Indie bookstores (Tattered Cover) at the Denver airport, Christmas lights in the Short North across from Goodale Park, New Year's Eve at Z Cucina for the 6th year in a row with dear friends -- great way to usher in a new year!





You can see these photos in larger format on Flickr.



Almost every month, inquiring minds want to know: How do I make my mosaics?

First, I take thirty or more (and sometimes less) pictures every month.
Next, I make a set on Flickr.
Then, I go to Big Huge Labs and use their Mosaic Maker with the link to my Flickr photoset.
Finally, I download, save, insert, comment, and publish!

Google Drive in the 5th Grade Classroom

It was fascinating to read Franki's post about Google Drive in her 3rd grade classroom, and reflect on how different this digital tool looks in my 5th grade classroom.

Before my students ever logged on, I shared a Doc with links to our guidance counselor's survey, and a survey I created to learn about my students' tech use at home (both in Forms). I did that so they would have something waiting there for them when they logged on. I also shared an editable Doc with a list of the characters we had met so far in our first read aloud, Room 214 by Helen Frost. I had them try to add details about each character simultaneously to show them the fun and madness that happens when too many people are working on the same thing at the same time. I had plenty of cleanup to do after we finished, but we continued to use this Doc as a digital anchor chart about the characters all through the rest of the book. In the very first sessions with Google Drive, my students also created Docs for the stories they would write about their Brown Bag item, and learned how to share with me.

The best part of continuing to roll out Google Drive has been working collaboratively with our fabulous Media Specialist, Marisa Saelzler.

When we moved on to comparing and contrasting characters, she taught my students how to use the Draw tools, and they made a Venn Diagram about two characters in The 14th Goldfish.

To introduce them to all of the tools in the universal tool bar, they made "About Me" posters (not sure if those are in Docs or Draw).

The next tool I'd like my students to use is Presentation. Now that I've figured out how they can get the photos and videos they take of their work in Genius Hour from the iPads to their Google Drive via the Google Drive app, I would like them to make a sort of digital portfolio or reflection log about the work they do in Genius Hour. Sure enough, Marisa will be previewing Presentation with my students during their time with her so that we can just jump right in with using the tool.

I've had some pretty spectacular failures with Google Drive. I thought it would be great if the students could share a piece of writing with a couple of friends and have digital peer conferences. Whoa! It was a chat-fest gone mad! A teacher-sanctioned IM party! And to top it off, even though we shared with "view only," they wound up being able to make changes in each others' stories. Not good. We haven't gone back there. Comments are now reserved for a conversation between me and the student. We keep peer conferences out in the open air.

Just yesterday, I followed the advice I gave myself long ago about hallway displays -- if it's something the students can do, let THEM do it (cutting out letters, etc). I like to have a slide show of images to go with the roots/bases words we're working on in word study since for some students they can be spelling words, and for others, they are new vocabulary. I hadn't had a chance to make one for our ped/pod words, so I shared the list of our words with a group of students who had finished their 3 Pigs Variant story (that's another post for another time) and they set to work gathering images.

One final note. Having student writing in Google Drive (and on Kidblog) is a fabulous thing. We can work on their writing in live time. They are much more receptive to revision and editing on a digital piece of writing. And I am flooded with what could be hours of reading and commenting on a daily basis. I am thankful for my somewhat OCD organization inside my Drive. My "Incoming" or "Shared With Me" is a hot mess of files from kids and colleagues that are in chronological order. Not helpful. I bring over the writing they share with me and house it in a folder on my Drive.

Here is My Drive. Nice and tidy.  :-)

Here is a peek inside the 2014-15 Kid Files folder in My Drive. Nice and tidy.  :-)

This has been a long post without many pictures, but thanks for staying with me to the end. Google Drive is an amazing tool with limitless potential. We have barely dipped our toes in the water. What have been some of your favorite discoveries or ways to use Drive in your classroom?

Google Drive in the 3rd Grade Classroom

Our district went Google this year and I've been wanting to take advantage of all the ways Google Drive allows for collaboration and creation.  So a few weeks ago we jumped in. I set up a doc and shared it with various groups of kids to work on.  Everyone signed in at once and it was a chaotic disaster.  I realized that I had forgotten one of the most important things I've learned as a 3rd grade teacher when it comes to new tools--that a shared experience is the best way for kids to see what is possible.  Instead of just sending kids off to explore a tool that they know nothing about, using the tools in shared experience can often give them a vision for what is possible.  So this week, we used Google Docs in two ways.

We did a Google Hangout with Colby Sharp's class on Friday.  We are trying to get together via Skye or GHO regularly about math and this week my students taught his students a math game. It was a game that requires a board and guessing. So, before the Hangout began, I shared the board with Colby in Google Drive. When we were in the Google Hangout, we shared the document on the screen so both classes could fill out the board and watch the game progress. (This is a game where one player/class guesses a number and the other player/class lets them know how many digits and numbers are correct. The kids enjoyed playing but were really excited about the way we both shared the same board and we could see Mr. Sharp's class adding a guess to the board.

Another thing we did this week was to preview our next read aloud.  We'll be starting The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane this week and I wanted to give kids time to preview the book before we begin. So I took photos of each piece of the book that one would preview (the epigraph, cover, illustrations before the title page, first page of the book). I included these in a Google Doc and gave kids the link for commenting.

These two things have given kids ideas for what is possible.  Doing a few things in a shared way always gets kids to play around and then imagine what else can be done with a tool.  This week in math, we'll use Google Forms for some surveying with a data lesson.  There are so many tools I am comfortable with and that I really don't even need to think about using in this shared way. Google is not one of those tools....yet. So I am trying to be better about embedding it naturally into what we do so students can see what is possible for their independent work.

My husband, Scott Sibberson, has lots on his blog about what Google offers. I need  to really dig into this more over the next few weeks.

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

I haven't had time to read as many upper middle grade/young adult books that I'd like to this year. There have been a few 2014 books that have been on my radar but that I haven't had a chance to read.   I am trying to make time to read more of these books lately--at least the few that everyone seems to be talking about.

Last week, I read The Crossover by Kwame Alexander.  I had started this book a few times but didn't get past the first few pages. I picked it up last weekend and was hooked in just a few pages. (I always find it so interesting how important timing is when we read books!)

This is a novel in verse. It is a powerful novel in verse intended for upper elementary/middle school kids.  It is one that is being talked about as a good one for boy readers but I see it as an amazing book for all readers.

The book is about basketball. But more importantly it is about basketball player Josh Bell and his twin brother Jordan. They are stars on their school basketball team and basketball is clearly their passion.  The story revolves around the two of them and their parents--a family you come to love immediately. And a family that will stay with me for a very long time.

But things are changing for both boys-as they grow older, discover girls, and face life issues.

This is an amazing book. A must read for anyone who likes to keep up with great books for this age. A must read for teachers and parents trying to stretch their upper middle grade readers to try something new. So glad I took the time to read this one. Once I was hooked, I didn't get off the couch until I had finished.

An incredible and powerful read.

Math Monday: Resources for Opening Routines

So excited that Mandy began a weekly time for us, as bloggers, to share our thinking about math teaching and learning.  Today is the first Math Monday!  You can find the round up on Mandy's Blog, Enjoy and Embrace Learning.

Last year, our Math Workshop went pretty well.  But not as well as I had hoped. One area I knew I had to work on was Opening Routines.  I had read Number Talks the year before and used the Number Talk routine daily. But I found that it became very rote when it was the only routine I relied on. So I have really focused on new routines and have found some great resources to kick off quick routines and also to build on those routines through the year.

I started in the spring exploring the Howard County website. There is a whole section on routines for 3rd grade so I read about some new routines that would support math learning.

Then I revisited Number Sense Routines: Building Numerical Literacy Every Day in Grades K-3 . This is a book from Stenhouse that I was familiar with but revisited this summer with 3rd graders in mind.  As more of an intermediate teacher, it was helpful to remember all of the math tools that support kids when making sense of number.  3rd is on the upper end of primary but I find so many kids need more support than I think they do at this age. Lots of great ways to support number sense.

Finally, I discovered my favorite new resource for math routines.  It is Minilessons for Math Practice, Grades 3-5 (there is a K-2 version, also) . I bought this book because Mandy had recommended it and I thought it would be filled with mini lesson ideas. But as I browsed through, they seemed more like opening routines to me.  I noticed that the blurb on the back of the book said, "Designed to use during transition times, mini lessons require little or no preparation and take only 5-15 minutes to teach. These activities can be repeated throughout the school year...".  These were the routines I was looking for.

The book focuses on Grades 3-5 and shares 27 routines. Each short chapter focuses on one routine.  Ways to introduce the activity, student examples and ideas for extending the activity are part of each chapter.  This is a great resource! So excited I discovered it!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

For the It's Monday! What Are You Reading? round up, visit Jen at Teach Mentor Texts! Thanks, Jen for this weekly event!

It was a good reading week.  I read more than usual, even though I had other things I probably should have been doing. These are my favorites from the week--these are all MUST READS in my opinion as I loved them all!

PICTURE BOOKS

Elizabeth, Queen of the Seas--This was an amazing story of an elephant seal. It is based on a true story and has great illustrations by Brian Floca. I had not heard of this book but fell in love with it immediately!  A very happy surprise read. This is one that will make a great read aloud in the fall.

My Teacher Is a Monster! (No, I Am Not.)-Every Peter Brown book is a MUST READ in my opinion. I so love this new one about a boy and his teacher. Love the way the story unfolds and I find new things in the pictures every time!

Pardon Me!-Thanks to Beth at Cover to Cover for sharing this book with me during my last shopping spree.  This is an almost wordless picture book. A fun story with great illustrations.  Kids will love it and I don't think you can ever have too many good wordless (or almost wordless) picture books.

MIDDLE GRADE

Rain Reign-This is definitely one of my favorite reads of the year.  This is a great story of a girl named Rose and her dog Rain.  Rose is diagnosed with Asperger's and she is character who will stay with me for a very long time.  This is the perfect middle grade novel--great issues to discuss without being too heavy for 4-6th graders. Love this one. (It doesn't come out til October and it seems unkind to share it when you can't really get it yet, but it is so good that you should order it right away and block off some time on its release day to read it!)

PROFESSIONAL BOOKS

The Revision Toolbox, Second Edition: Teaching Techniques That Work-I loved Georgia Heard's Revision Toolbox when the first edition came out so I was excited to see this one. This one is the same great thinking bout revision and the importance of changing our students' stance about revision. Georgia also includes lots of specific ideas for narrative, informational and persuasive writing which I needed as I think ahead to the school year.

And I am currently reading Digital Leadership: Changing Paradigms for Changing Times by Eric Sheninger. I have followed the author on Twitter (@NMHS_Principal) for a while and have been hearing lots about the book. Even though it is intended for administrators, I am learning lots and seeing the impact technology can make on a whole school.  I have not read much but I already have lots to think about.  

Central Ohio Blogger Breakfast to Kick Off to 48 Hour Read and Book-A-Day

Our last day of school is on Monday, June 2.  We are having lots of conversations in our classroom about summer reading and the joys of having extra time to read. Even by 3rd grade, some of my students already see summer reading as a chore so they looked a little confused the first two times I shared my excitement for the 2014 48 Hour Read and Summer Book-A-Day (#bookaday). 

Mother Reader started her 48 Hour Book Challenge many years ago. Although I have never participated as a challenger, I have participated many years just for fun. For me, it is like a Hallmark Holiday--if Mother Reader says that June 6-8 is the 48 Hour Read, then I have a great excuse to read.  You can read more about the challenge in the link above. Mother Reader also posted 48 Hour Challenge FAQs last week.  If Donalyn challenges me to read a #bookaday, I give myself the gift of reading time each day.

I think one of the reasons I love the 48 Hour Book Challenge is that it is a great way to kick off summer reading and #bookaday..  No matter how much I read in the winter and spring, there is less and less time to fall into a good book during the last few weeks of the school year.  With all of the end-of-the-year things there are to do to close out the school year and to focus on the classroom community's last few days together, taking time for my own reading, always takes a backseat for a while. So, the 48 Hour Read and the #bookaday challenge help me make time to jump back into my reading life.

Another reason I LOVE the 48 Hour Read is that we often kick the weekend off with a Central Ohio Blogger Breakfast and Book Shopping Spree.  (If you are a Central Ohio blogger and would like to join us, email one of us and we'll give you the details!) We started this little tradition a while ago and it is amazing how it has evolved.  Funny thing is that many of us have become great friends through blogging and the fact that we all live close enough to get together once in a while is quite fun.  The morning is always filled with great talk, lots of laughing, delicious food and very heavy bags of books!  In 2008, I began the 48 Hour Read alone, getting my hair colored. In 2009, we decided that in Central Ohio, we might need to change the name of the challenge to the 48 Hour Shop! And in 2011, we discovered the fortifying power of granola, thanks to Bill Prosser.  I am sure 2014 will bring lots more fun and great books!

Now on to the reading plan.  I don't feel like I have a lot of 3rd grade-ish books to catch up on.  I spent lots of last summer reading transitional chapter books and feel like I can keep up with new ones easily. I've also kept up on lots of great new nonfiction as I've been trying to build my library in that area. But I seem to have fallen behind in my middle grade, YA and adult reading. I have already created a mental TBR stack that is bigger than anything I can read in one summer alone. But I do have a stack that I want to read early on in the summer. 

These are my summer MUST READS so far.  

The Forbidden Library

The Crossover

Upside Down in the Middle of Nowhere

Boys of Blur

Another Day as Emily

Circa Now

Hope Is a Ferris Wheel

Revolution (The Sixties Trilogy) 

The Riverman

We Were Liars

My New Friend Is So Fun! (An Elephant and Piggie Book)

Where'd You Go, Bernadette: A Novel