The Organized Librarian

11/30/2022

The Toe Snatchers is a delightful book! If I wasn't retired I would read it to all my students! This is a book about the Frools that can be read over and over again! The story is told in rhyme,and is so much fun to read out loud ! Children ages K and up will love listening to and reading this book.

The Frools favorite food is fresh picked human toes. At night they go out looking for toes. In one house, they have quite the adventure in tying to figure out how many toes they each will get. Frool #5 comes up with a plan , and they set about counting the toes. And then they have to figure out how many toes they each will get. But Frools don't go to school, so they have trouble figuring it out.

The illustrations are outstanding and very detailed. The Frools and their surroundings are done in comic style. As you read it over and over , you will find interesting details on each page.

This is a book that parents and children can read over and over and come up smiling every time

07/13/2021

The complete post on my blog about career resources-
Libraries both school and public provide valuable resources for career research and job services, At the school level, many middle and high school have career resources, both print and digital,

There are also countless websites to assist students in determining what career they might be interesting in There are also book resources oh specific resources , Several teachers did career research with students . One year when the goal was thinking about careers, our administrator promoted the career resources in the morning announcements.

06/15/2021

Tuesday, June 15, 2021
Building better libraries !
Librarians and Libraries, both public and academic, are the center of building a new future in their schools and communities. We serve as librarians is to promote reading and learning to all users. In our society today is it most important that all continue to learn and grow as technology and information is ever expanding.

We need to showcase what librarians have to offer . Within the pandemic , I think more and more school and public libraries have done just this. I am totally amazed and impressed by my local public libraries and how they have innovated programs and services during this time The dedication to services and information and the connections to the patrons have been outstanding.

The community has responded to the new online programs and also the way we get books and materials, I will highlight in future posts about some of the things they are doing. , I also am searching for ways both public and academic ( schools k- college) have in the past year to answer the need for more up to date, innovative and exciting ways that libraries can bring their importance to the whole community .

What has your library done that is innovative and draws patrons in? If you know of an exciting program , please leave a comment below!

04/22/2021

Bookopolis is a wonderful website to assist teachers and students in their love of books and reading. It is used for students in grades 2-7. Bookopolis give new ideas for reading .Students can also connect with other students about what they are reading.
Students can explore new books, make a bookshelf, recommend books and invite friends to join,
Teachers and librarians can use Bookopolis to build a team of readers in their classroom and libraries. Students can produce book reviews and they can give book recommendations to their classmates and peers ( While doing this they are practicing their writing skills and typing skills) Students can keep a reading logs online.

Bookopolis offers badges and points for students who use Bookopolis to keep book logs, write reviews and report, and invite friends to use the site.B

04/14/2021

Earth day is Thursday April 22. Here are a few sites that have activities that engage students and bring awareness of Earth day and global conservation!

Education. Com
https://www.education.com/resources/earth-day/?msclkid=72ef303863821bc8cebd504f6a6c81cf&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Search%20-%20Spring%20Holidays%20-%20BMM&utm_term=%2Bearth%20%2Bday%20%2Bactivities&utm_content=Earth%20Day

This has some good worksheets and activities for students to celebrate earth day

Tinkerlab

https://tinkerlab.com/fifty-earth-day-activities/

Another site using natural materials for students.

Project Learning tree
https://www.plt.org/educator-tips/earth-day-activities/

Some more interesting activities!

Use these activities to inspire your students to take action this Earth Day, and every day. Earth Day is more than learning about recycling - it's about taking action.

03/30/2021

One online story maker- check my blog for another new one I just discovered!
https://storybird.com/

Story bird’s claim is that anyone can produce visual stories in seconds. Illustrators and artists around the world have their art work available for use by creators of stories. Families, student’s & teachers, and authors use story bird to create & publish their own stories.

Visitors to the site can read books from their favorite writers. They can create their own stories and share them with friends and families. Teachers can help their students use Story Bird to have them learn the art of writing and have them produce their own books. (This encourages reluctant writers and readers) Authors use story bird to give them a growing audience and connect with more readers,

Become a better writer with Storybird’s creativity tools. Online courses, challenges, and reader feedback will help you improve your writing.

03/08/2021

https://wideopenschool.org/ ( Wide Open School) is a new resource provided by Common Sense Media. It looks to me to be a wonderful site for students, teachers , and parents ,to assist students in learning and growing and furthering their education.
There are a multitude of learning activities that will work for students. There is of course, Math, Science, and core school subjects with activity links- there are also off line activities, arts and crafts, digital activities,physical fitness, emotional well being,life skills and virtual field trips.
The neat thing is also a a daily planning page where a day of activities / lessons are laid out. They also provide planning sheets for teachers/ parents/ caregivers to plan their own depending on the student. The plans are based on grade levels so students just pick their grade levels and complete the activities.
The activities ( games, lessons, ect) are shareable with Google Classroom , so if you are a teacher you can send specific activities to your student. The plan lays out each day of the week and activities to go with them, The students are even given a screen break and ideas on what to do!
I think this site will be invaluable to teachers and parents working on virtual learning . The activities would also be doable in the school setting.

A collection of free distance learning activities and resources for kids, families, and teachers.

02/16/2021

StoryJumper.com is a great site ! A few years ago I did a very brief post about StoyJumper. It has come to my attention again , so I decided to really look and see what they had to offer.

I think teachers and librarians would really like to use StoryJumper with their students. There is information on the site for teachers . They give examples of projects for student activities in each subject area.( even Math & Science!!)

There are also ideas for different types of writing: nonfiction, expository, collaborative projects, and creative writing ideas. And there is opportunity to use student art work or use the StroyJumper art work.

Students can have their book published online for free; Of course , there are options for the publication of the book in both hardcover or paperback for a fee.

There is a wide selection of student work,that can be read online, which will also give students a chance for reading and a spark to create their own work,
I

https://www.storyjumper.com/school

Free Online Story Book Platform for schools. Inspiring Lifelong Writers (K-12). Create, Publish, and Promote books you make at school.

02/10/2021

Virtual learning / read aloud ideas
Here are some sites with read alouds and ideas for story times.

Storytime with Ryan & Craig: These two guys have a ton of read alouds The site is easy to use . You can also search for specific titles .

Emily Arrow: Librarian Emily Arrow shares singalongs with music and stories on her YouTube channel. This will give you lots to use if you are doing storytimes this is a good place to look for ideas and songs.

Story Time From Space: This site has stories from space . Astronauts read the stories

These may be helpful if you are doing in person or virtual learning. Do you use any others? I am really looking for more for the middle school age level.

01/31/2021

On February 3rd, there will be a World Read Aloud day with several author volunteers doing a quick virtual read aloud with classrooms around the world to share the joy of reading.

Some of the authors are Tracey Baptiste, Debbi Michiko Florence, Hena Khan, Meg Medina, Ellen Oh, Dawn Quigley, Rajanni LaRocca, Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich, Linda Urban, Anne Ursu, Kate Messner and Renee Watson.

Each author will read a five-minute sneak-preview from one of their upcoming books for readers in grades 3-7. The whole segment will run about an hour.

The link to the video will be on Kate Messner’s site and she will post it a day early so that teachers / librarians can embed in Google Classroom if they want . You could also use it in classrooms or share with parents.

The presentations won’t be long, Kate’s site has the following information.

1-2 minutes: Author introduces himself or herself and talks a little about his or her books.

3-5 minutes: Author reads aloud a short picture book, or a short excerpt from a chapter book/novel

5-10 minutes: Author answers a few questions from students about reading/writing

1-2 minutes: Author book-talks about a couple of other books they love.

Kate Messner is passionately curious and writes books that encourage kids to wonder, too. Kate’s titles include both fiction and nonfiction; she writes award-winning picture books, easy readers, chapter book series, and novels for young readers. Her books are frequently nominated for state book aw...

01/27/2021

Check out my blog to get some ideas on February Bulletin boards.

01/12/2021

Tuesday, January 12, 2021
JeopardyLabs- great tool for library & classroom
You are going to LOVE JeopardyLabs! The site was created by Matt Johnson, while working on his undergraduate degree at Washington State University, Vancouver.

JeopardyLabs makes it easy to create jeopardy games to use with your students. Building one is easy with the template provided. The games can be played online and students will love them!!

If you don’t want to create your own, you search for games made by others. There are over 2 million games on jeopardylabs. You can also keep track of points during play, add more than 3 teams if needed, and edit the games to fit your specific needs.

This is a really useful tool for review, or post/pre testing of skills, vocabulary, or topics.

If you go to the site and search for library skills, reading skills, or literature you will find many games that will be useful for you and your students.

Create your own jeopardy template online, without PowerPoint. Or browse the pre-made templates created by other people!