…changing the world, one reader at a time.
What goes on in my library? Check out the Teaching category to get all the details on library lessons, computer science collaborations, library interns, middle school electives, social emotional exercises, book clubs, resource lists, and more.
It’s Fall Family Book Club time, and we’re adding a pinch of magic to our Book Club recipe! Students and their families are invited to read Love Sugar Magic: A Dash of Trouble, by Anna Mariano. Family Book Club is designed for students and their parents/families to share the story together at home. After completing the novel, all […]
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Do librarians use lesson plans? What kind of planner do you use? How do you plan for so many different classes every week in the library – and how do you keep it all straight? I’ve gotten a few questions recently about how I plan, so I wanted to share my current system. Planning as […]
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What does a writer look like? Students are building their vision of the world based on what the see at school and at home. When I was in school, there was only one picture of a writer in my head: an old, wealthy white man. I never knew that a writer could look like […]
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Let me introduce you to the NO, NO, NEVER NEVER! box, the easiest, most ridiculous, shouldn’t-work-but-does-every-time idea in the world. It’s easy to recreate: Fill your No, No, Never Never Box with a mix of things that are notoriously bad for books (scissors, juice) and things that fit how library books are used best (a […]
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What fits your brain and body best when you want to read? Do you like laying down or sitting up? Being squished or having space? A silent area or soft music playing? Every reader is different! Last week, first graders used the Noticing Tool to observe new things in the library. At the top […]
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How do your readers talk about books? For years, I never bothered to teach students how to talk about books. I didn’t spend class time on it, but I sure would get frustrated when readers would say things like, “It was good.” I wanted them to dig deeper and share more, and was so frustrated that […]
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This week, first graders broke out the Noticing Tool for the first time! Part of our Life Tools Toolkit, the Noticing Tool challenges students to look closely and carefully at the people and world around them. Readers told me that they use it often to stop and notice how friends are feeling on the playground, […]
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It’s week 4, and I’m already changing everything 😉 (Do your best to hide your shock!) We started out the year with our mantra, “In our library, we care about people.” The mantra was inspired by the book Unselfie, and hung on the wall to reinforce our library’s focus on social emotional learning and integration. This […]
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You know by now that I love weaving literacy and computer science together to create programming and experiences that are exciting, hands-on, and engaging for kids. So when Shenanigans Toys reached out to me about offering free high-quality storytimes with a science, technology, engineering, and mathematical twist, I was so thrilled! We’ll be working together […]
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Last year, inspired by Pernille Ripp’s Reading Rights idea, I decided to bring a kind of Library Bill of Rights to my middle school readers. I loved the idea of creating a set of norms and holding both my readers and myself to them throughout the year, even when the schedule got busy and things […]
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