As we all deal with the wide spread effects of school closures during this COVID 19 coronavirus outbreak, educators are looking for what is truly best for their students at this time. Many people may panic at the idea of missed instructional time and a possible decline in academic achievement. I believe the more pressing need is to maintain a connection to and among our
Spice Up Your Library Catalog Instruction!
Library catalog instruction can be dull and boring. It can be difficult to motivate students to care about library search and location skills when they’d rather be playing a game. Why not make your library catalog search and location practice into a game with additional activities just as fun as playing a game?! This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience. This means that
TPT Tips for School Librarians
I’ve teamed up with 4 other School Librarians to give you some shopping tips for using the Teachers Pay Teachers website to your advantage! Many of us have tight budgets in our school libraries, so it’s important to save money whenever we can! Take a look at these tips for using TpT… It’s a Blog Hop! You can start at the top and hop on
TpT Tips for Teacher Librarians: Ratings, Comments, and Questions
I love to shop on Teachers Pay Teachers! It is so satisfying to find just the right resource at just the right time and to be able to purchase and download it instantly. More than once I’ve found the perfect activity for my students right when I need it. I’ve found that I can save some money while also helping out the sellers who create
I Love to Read Month in Your Library
February is “I Love to Read Month!” It’s the perfect time for you to celebrate reading in your school! Start with an “I Love to Read” bulletin board and a book recommendation center and you’ll help your students and staff spread the love of reading throughout the school. This article may contain Amazon affiliate links for your convenience. This means that if you click a
Get Your Students Prepared for Tests with Keyboarding Club!
I started a Keyboarding Club for 4th and 5th grade students in my library because keyboarding wasn’t being taught at my school in those grades and I wanted to give students the option of sharpening their skills on the keys before they began the Smarter Balanced Tests in the Spring. I used free websites, and didn’t have my students create the free accounts offered,
7 Tips for a Successful Book Fair
The first time I hosted a Scholastic Book Fair, I eagerly watched the helpful online how-to videos for setting up the book fair. I scoured the book fair toolkit for helpful hints and tips and I was ready for my shipment. When my books arrived, I called my representative asking “Where are the cases?” You know… the cases that you roll to the exact place
Help Your Students Find Book Series They Will Love!
Do you have students who find a favorite book series and then want to read all of the books in order? On any given day in my library, students come in asking questions like: “What’s Magic Tree House number 17?” “Which book is after Rodrick Rules?” “What’s the first book in the Underland series?” Now, I know it is relatively easy to look up the
TRICK or TREAT!
Hello Friends! I’m teaming up with Rachael from The Classroom Game Nook for another fun Blog Hop! I hope you’ll join us for some Trick or Treat fun! One trick that has helped me in recent years is to color code my class materials and supplies. I teach 4 classes each of K – 2nd grades and 3 classes each of 3rd – 5th. To
Do You BITMOJI??!!
If you don’t, you should. Just for a giggle. And some fun. And to impress your friends. AND to have a ridiculous Bitmoji-filled text message conversation with your loved ones! I’ll be honest, my Bitmoji has gotten me through some tough times. It’s helped me say the things I couldn’t really put into words. Bitmoji is a free app that comes from the creators of