Forest of Reading - An Update!!!

There's so much going on at school right now. The library has been booked solid for the last three weeks.  The Forest of Reading has been incredibly successful. I ordered a total of 80 books for just the Red Maple category of the Forest of Reading and right now all 80 books are checked out. In total I purchased 170 titles for the Forest of Reading. I have kids requesting copies left right and centre. I've included a link to the Forest of Reading brochure. People can access and see all the categories and all the titles in Forest of Reading. If anyone were to donate some of these titles particularly the Red Maple category, that would be fantastic:))

The Forest of Reading has been very popular this year. I currently have 176 students signed up to participate in the voting, for the winning books. This is a huge number. I certainly didn't anticipate having this many students interested in the program and am feeling a little overwhelmed by their enthusiasm.

Students can participate in the Forest of Reading in a number of ways. My goal was to make the program accessible to everyone and make it easy and fun to participate. I would like to see every student in the school pick up a Forest of Reading book sometime during this year and enjoy reading it. If students do this then I will consider the program to have been a success. Of course this isn't the only thing going on students have the following options for participation.

1. Read any of the books for enjoyment.
2. Read any of the books for enjoyment then speak to one of the participating teachers about what they have read.
3. Read any of the books and come to book club on Tuesdays or Thursdays. 
4. Write a message on the Graffiti board. 
5. Rehearse and discuss their book while I film them for our Forest of Reading video.
6. Read 5 books from one of the categories and document their reading on a passport, then participate in the voting at the end of April. 

I want students enthusiastic about reading and enjoying what they read. I believe that literacy is best promoted through positive encouragement.Students all read at different levels so it is important to make the books and success accessible to all. Hopefully, the variety of options that I have presented to students will encourage them to keep reading and above all enjoy it.  

Bitstrips for Schools and Learning French!

Part of my job here at Lagerquist is to work as a resource person for other teachers. Part of my job is to have a fairly wide base of knowledge about technology, curriculum, and teaching strategies. Hopefully, I have fulfilled this role by helping Mrs. Albrecht to plan and learn how to use Bitstrips for Schools. Bitstrips for Schools is a fantastic little resource which allows teachers to create virtual classrooms and structure assignments for students in which students create comic strips to display their learning. Mrs. Albrecht has chosen to have students create a comic strip for her grade 7 french class.

Here's a link to a video about Bitstrips. Bitstrips on Vimeo


Mrs. Albrecht came to see me in December to discuss the project. She wanted to try and add a technology component to her french program. She admits to not having a strong knowledge of technology but very much wanted to try a new activity and to learn some more about technology. I took her to the Bitstrips website and showed her all the features available on the site. We talked about setting up an account for each students. This is a fairly daunting task as Mrs. Albrecht has 6 french classes and it was a going to take a fair amount of time to set up individual accounts for approximately 150 students. She was committed to the project however and seemed very eager to start setting up the virtual classroom. Mrs. Albrecht was fantastic she was open to suggestions and really wanted to learn. We discussed the length of time it would take to introduce the program to the kids, get them set up and then an appropriate amount of class time for the project. We booked the students into the library computer lab for 3 periods for each class. It was refreshing to discuss a french project with her as most activities I work on are science, history or language based.

The assignment required students to use their reading comprehension skills to read a collection of sentences and choose 15 sentences to order into a cohesive story. Students were then brought to the library and I instructed students on how to use Bitstrips. Students were given the option to create an electronic comic or a hand drawn version. Most students chose the electronic option. Bitstrips is fantastic because students can also access their virtual classroom from home. This means that most students can complete their work here at school or at home. For those with limited Internet access Study Hall provides that extra time to work on computers.

It's been a lot of fun working with Mrs. Albrecht and her 6 classes of french. I look forward to another partnership in the near future and will certainly post some of the students comics as they complete them.

Getting Back into the Swing of Things

The holidays are coming to a close and it's time to start fresh with new energy and enthusiasm for the New Year. Despite the current political climate I'm looking forward to seeing the kids and hearing about their holidays. Many of them will have some pretty silly stories to tell and I will share a little of my holiday with them. It will be good to touch base again and see them smile as they walk through the library door. That's one good thing about all this. We adults will get caught up in the money and the politics, the kids will stay kids regardless. The reality is they just want to have fun and learn. I plan on focusing on that. What else can you do?

So what exactly did I do with my holidays? Well......

1.  I took a bunch of days and just had fun with my own kids. (They don't call it holidays for nothing)
2. I hosted Christmas dinner for 28 family members. ;))
3. Just before the holidays we purchased several apps for our iPads. I brought home one of the iPads and spent several days teaching myself how to use the apps. Using resources from YouTube, the web and of course my own kids. I taught myself how to use Garage Band, Book Creator, and I movie. It was a lot of fun. We created some pretty silly books, movies and music. 
4. I created a schedule and sent emails to colleagues about scheduling classes into the library space for their introduction to the Forest of Reading.
5. I read several blogs on technology and teaching. Just hoping to stay up to date. 
6. Enrolled in a photography course and set up a photo website.
7. Sketched out my photo ideas for an upcoming cover I'm going to shoot for the Library Association's Teacher/Librarian magazine. 
8. I read three books for our upcoming Forest of Reading program.

To date I have finished....
 The Tiffin - a story set in Bombay, India which chronicles the quest of one young man to find his mother and his family.











All Good Children  - is a dystopia story about a boy living in New Middleton with his mother and sister. In this story kids are being given drugs that make them behave. No nagging, whining, etc. kids are perfect. It's a parents utopia, no more disobeying. (Sounds good right!!)







This Dark Endeavour - is a remake of the Frankenstein story, sort of. This novel tells the story of Victor Frankenstein as a young man. In essence it's a prequel to Mary Shelley's story.








I really tried to balance school work with pleasure. Yes the books were for work but I do love reading so it's a double whammy of sorts. Several other teachers also took home books from the Forest of Reading. These teachers will be available throughout the next few months to talk to kids about the different books, to hear their opinions about the various books. It will be a lot of fun and kids really do enjoy talking to us on a sort of social level.
Playing around with the various apps was also a lot of fun. We made some pretty silly movies with the app and I'm tempted to post the movie here but it really is just absolute nonsense and I'm not sure that everyone will enjoy watching as much as we did making the movies.


Hopefully, everyone has a had a great holiday and enjoyed their time at home. I look forward to a lot of great experiences here in 2013. :)))

Finished Aboriginal Projects

I would like to display some of our finished projects from the grade 6 aboriginal peoples unit. Please see the blog entry entitled The Actual Assignment Pages to refresh your memory as to what the assignment entailed. Students were very enthusiastic about the assignment. They worked hard to complete the assignment and worked well together. Mrs. Camarda and myself worked hard to have to students conference with each other in order to ensure that each part of the assignment was completed. I have included samples of the students work below.

1. The Cree - this is a power point presentation which has been uploaded to a Google drive file. 
2. The following images display the models of traditional aboriginal wigwams, teepees, longhouses, etc.

Wigwam

A Salish house

A Longhouse

A teepee

Salish Longhouse

A Wigwam

The whole collection

The following images show some of the display boards that students created for their presentations.

A Story board for an Iroquois Creation Story

A presentation board on the Blackfoot

All about the Iroquois

A drawing of a teepee that explains different parts of the structure

All about the Salish

Mrs. Camarda and I consider the project to have been quite successful. The students have learned a great deal. They were able to be creative and  appeared to enjoy the work. They were enthusiastic and confident when they presented to their classmates. This is the first time that we have run this particular project with the students and Mrs. Camarda and I will discuss some things that we plan on changing in the future. This however is what teaching is all about. We learn just as much as the kids do each time we prepare and present a unit. Sometimes the manner in which a project is introduced is changed or the order in which the background information is changed. Each time a unit is taught there are always little changes or tweaks for the better. Teachers analyze and assess the effectiveness of a given unit and then work towards building it into something better each time it is taught. 

Shattered, by Eric Walters - The Culminating task!!!

I have recently begun collaborating with one of our grade 8 teachers on the unit design and culminating task for her novel study unit on the novel Shattered, by Eric Walters. Mrs. Naidu approached me a short while ago to discuss the design of her novel study. We discussed what she hoped to achieve with students as well as her main goals in using this particular novel. We worked on designing different comprehension activities for students to discuss and complete in class.

Here's the book trailer.

Mrs. Naidu wanted students to learn about social issues, to analyze a novel and discuss the themes presented within the novel. We found some graphic organizers that would assist the students in analyzing the novel and then we planned the culminating task.

A culminating task is an activity that wraps up the particular unit and requires students to utilize the skills they were taught as they read the novel. A culminating task should require students to think critically about themes and information and then display what they have learned for the teacher and their peers. Essentially, it is the grand finale of learning.

For the culminating task, we wanted to design a task where students had to think about social issues, charity organizations and then discuss these charities. We asked students to find and research a particular charity. They were asked to learn about the mission statement, volunteer opportunities and how the charity delivered its services to the public. Students were then asked to discuss and explain the charity utilizing the iPad  Students could choose from a variety of apps including educreations and explain a website. They were to record their opinions and thoughts about their selected charity.

Students were able to complete their research of the charity in one class and are currently working on writing out their thoughts on the charity and developing a script before they begin recording, filming, etc. their final presentation on the iPad.

I'll be back with more info later. :))))))

Gearing up for the Forest of Reading!!!

We are currently gearing up to kick off our Forest of Reading event in our school. Every year the Ontario Library Association hosts the Forest of Reading, which is a celebration of Canadian Authors. Our Forest of Reading program is funded through our chocolate fundraiser. Each year we use some of the fundraising money to purchase the books for students.

There are several different categories. Our school participates in Silver Birch Fiction, Silver Birch Non-Fiction, Silver Birch Express, Red Maple Fiction, Red Maple Non-Fiction, and White Pine.
Here's an introductory video about the program.

Here's what kids have to say!!!

There are many ways that students can participate in the program, here at RHL. Students can read the books for sheer enjoyment and leave a quick note on our blog or on our comment board in the library. They can choose to participate in our book club which will run during the last half of period 2 on Thursdays. Students may wish to participate in our book reviews which will be posted (with parent permission) on this blog site. Students may also wish to participate in the Forest of Reading contest. The contest allows students to vote on and decide on the best books in the Forest of Reading this year. They must read at least 5 books from any one category in order to be eligible to participate in voting. The winners of the contest will be announced in the spring. We will have a Forest of Reading celebration at the end of the year which will recognize the success of our students.

Researching How Everyday Objects are Made

The grade 7 classes have just begun a new research project here in the library. Students are utilizing their knowledge of mixtures to help them research and understand how everyday items like toothpaste, soft drinks and steel are made. Students are required to research these items using both digital and print resources for information.

The students were taught about mixtures during class time. They were required to read about mixtures from the textbooks, teacher notes and videos. Students then completed questions on mixtures and ensured they understood the content through class discussions. The students then chose a topic and read through the assignment page.The science teachers and I then booked the classes into the library for an introduction to research and then time for researching. Students were given three periods to complete research and to start building the digital presentation of their work.

The important part of this project was to create a framework from which students could organize their thoughts and ideas about the project. When the students came to the library to begin their research we discussed the importance of being focused on what they needed to find. I first talked with the kids about the important piece of understanding we wanted them to gain from this project. The kids were quite perceptive and they were able to conclude that we wanted them to understand how classroom notes and information could be used in the real world. We wanted students to see a practical application for the use of mixtures.

We then set up a framework for understanding the content and got the kids thinking about what they needed to learn. We had students create a KWL chart which stands for "I know", "I want to know" and "I Learned". We established prior knowledge with the kids. We had them assess their understanding of the item they were researching to find out if they knew a lot about the subject or very little. This is the "I know" part of the learning. We then had them think about their items and come up with things they wanted to know about their topic. In other words where were their gaps in knowledge and which parts of the research did they really need to focus on?

Our next step was have students peruse and scan the print resources available in the library. They discovered that there was an awful lot of information in the books and a lot of it was easier to find that information from the internet. Kids started putting information down in the "I Learned" section of their chart. As they did this they discovered that they had more questions they needed to ask. The students showed that they were thinking about what they were reading by adding in new questions and crossing out ones for which they had found the information.  

We also directed students to our Library eResources. The Peel Board has paid for and provides students with access to a wide range of digital resources including encyclopaedias, dictionaries and catalogues. The students were introduced to Britannica Online and began their online research from this site. 

During the second period of their research students we began with a quick discussion about goals and plans for that particular period. We asked students to look at the assignment page assess what was most important to complete that period and to have a quick discussion with us about their plans. Hopefully, this continued to provide students with a framework from which to work and got them thinking about staying focused on the topic at hand. Students were enthusiastic about the project and I had several of them in today working during the lunch on the completion of their research. They are just beginning to build their digital presentations.

Students were told they could use either Prezi, Frames 4 or Powerepoint to help build their presentations. We asked them to utilize the program they were most comfortable using. I plan on posting some of their work once it is completed.