April 18th Blackboard Session main page

 

source: http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/70/022_00107_5F~Reading-is-Fun-Posters.jpg

 

Add your "general, any grade level" ideas to this page. 

Add your grade-level-specific ideas to these pages: 

 

Lesson Ideas for Primary Grades (K-2)

 

Lesson Ideas for Intermediate Grades (3-5)

 

Lesson Ideas for Middle School & High School (6+)

 

A General Idea

 

Helping the Classroom Teacher with Writing Narratives.

     This is an idea I got from a writing class.  It is really intended for use with the primary level, however, I have used it with my 5th graders with great success and fun.  I would use it in a library as a way to support the classroom teacher with writing stories in the classroom.  When the classroom teacher knew they would be writing a story the SLMS could use this lesson several weeks prior to introduce and/or during the week or story writing to reinforce the story elements.

     When students write a story, it is important for them to know the elements of the story: main characters, setting, what the character wants, the problem and the solution. Everyone in my school uses the same symbols for the 5 elements:  characters - smiley face, setting - house, what the character wants - heart, problem - lightening bolt, solution - sun.  These came from Eloise Genty who is a fabulous teacher.

     Choose a story that is familiar to the students that you know they enjoy.  For older students get some ideas of their favorite stories they used to enjoy when they were little.  You might want to give them several choices and let them vote.  Give students the symbols for the 5 elements.  Have them color and cut them out in one lesson.  If you want to save time during class or need to do this in one session, have the symbols colored and cut out.  If you want to use them multiple times, laminate them.  Each student should have a copy of each symbol.  Read the story through once.  Read it a second time.  This time students hold up the symbol that matches the story element as they hear them.  Example:  When they hear the main character's name, the hold up the smiley face.  When they hear something about the setting, they hold up the house.  You can stop at points to ask why students are holding up certain symbols.  Another way to do this is to divide the class into groups of 5.  Give each students in the group a symbol and proceed to follow the rest of the lesson.  Students in the group can then help each other if they need it.

Christy Starinskas     

 

 

Hello Everyone!  As a new librarian this year, I sometimes find myself grasping at straws when a student asks me for a book about a certain topic or with certain characters.  (For instance, right now I have a 6th grade girl who is not a real strong reader looking for a book with some romance in it.)  With two boys of my own, I have a better sense of the "boy books" out there, so I feel particularly weak making a good link to "girl books." (Even though I read constantly, it still feels that I do not know enough books to be confident in recommending just the right one to different students.)  So I have come to rely on an online readers' advisory resource.  I have checked out many different options, but my favorite is at the Hennepin County Library site.  I usually have the site open on at least one computer in the library so that I can direct a student to it when she/he is looking for a book and I don't have any good ideas popping right out.  The graphics are bright and clear, and the listing of books offers a short synopsis of the plot as well as the number of pages.  Book covers are shown, which is often helpful, and there are options for award winning books, beginning reader books, and author resources as well.  I find that I am slowly getting better at having an idea for a book that matches something that the HCL recommends!  --Kate

 

 

The interest and energy that is apparent among our students during "Read Across America" week is something that I'd like to duplicate at other times during the school year.  Every student seems to enjoy reading Dr. Seuss, but what other author can generate such reading enthusiasm in pre-kindergarten to eighth grade students?  I think Roald Dahl fits the bill.  Because Dahl was such a prolific writer of children's books, it is possible to choose appropriate titles for all grade levels, Pre-K to 8.  I envision a school-wide reading program:  "Never Dull:  Readsboro Reads Roald Dahl!"  The classroom teacher and the SLMS would select a Dahl title for each grade level and books could be read and discussed in classroom book groups, or in "read alouds" done by the SLMS or the classroom teacher.  Some possible selections:

          Pre-K and Kindergarten                              The Minpins

          First and Second                                       Esio Trot     

          Third and Fourth                                        James and the Giant Peach

          Fifth and Sixth                                          Matilda

          Seventh and Eighth                                   The Witches 

Every class could present their Roald Dahl book in a create way during our weekly school-wide morning assemblies.  Some possible ways to "book talk" would be to re-enact a scene from the book in a skit, retell an episode in the person of one of the characters, or use Dahl's poems in a poetry jam.   Laura A.

 

 I had fun this year finding videos to go along with some of the Red Clover books. After I would finish reading the books I would show a very short video on the Smartboard.  I was able to find videos on Japanese gardens, Tuskegee flyers, owls, cows and chickens. Just this week, after reading parts of the DCF book, Tracking Trash, I was able to find a video on Youtube on the Garbage Patch in the Pacific Ocean The students really like watching the videos and it really helps them conncect with the books. After reading the books and watching the videos the students were always very excited to discuss the stories. Barb

 

Harping on Poetry Month, I read Runny Babbit by Shel Silverstein last week, k-4.  I was amazed at how quickly even the first graders "translated" his spoonerisms.  (It's much harder for me; I need to SEE the letter reversals, while they could do it 100% auditorily.)  

 

Before I tackled the tongue twisters, I played 5 or 6 poems from a tape of Shel reading from A Light in the Attic.    (Kids love the gruesome cover illustration there...)  Hearing his voice, the drama in his reading, enhanced by sound effects and a bit of music really made the man seem real, and an already familiar/beloved poet became even more so for fans.   (It also highlighted our woefully under-explored audio section.)  I must have referred to him in the past tense, and they were dismayed to hear that he had died.  This led to a teachable moment- I showed them the publishing info. and author's lifespan was right there. 

Especially for the younger grades, I used the 811 spine label to point out all our other poetry and recommend that section, and we talked about Shel as an author and illustrator. 

 

Finally, we spoonerized our own names and made colorful nametags.  I actually heard some of them using the "Runny Babbit" names calling eachother at recess.  (Hint: If I did this again, I'd check for "Friar Tuck" type names among the students BEFOREHAND!  I didn't happen to create any obscenities, but you know what they say about an ounce of prevention...)

 

-Len Jinck

 

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I think that I have mentioned before both my love of radio programs as well as how I think that they can be a powerful inroad to literacy for disaffected students.   I think that radio is special in this age of information overload because the absence of images constrains both the speed and volume of presented information.  While this might be helful in keeping the class on topic, radio is still engaging (at least for me) in that it requires strong imagination to reconstruct the implied meaning.  Much like reading, the audience is left building images and opinions of the characters and events.

 

While most radio program podcasts are appropriate for grades 9 - 12, I would not rule out the possibility of finding audio programs geared towards younger audiences.  My favorite program and a program that is already used by a handful of teachers across the nation is "This American Life" from Chicago Public Radio.  This link (http://icespide.com/thislife/classroom.html ) is from a website that demonstrates how some teachers have integrated the program into their curriculum. 

 

In addition, there are a number of other radio podcasts (such as "On the Media") that might be a springboard to investigating commonly overlooked sources of information that kids may find boring (such as newspapers or journals) from more critical, thoughtful perspectives.  I think that many young adults do not want to be spoonfed information, so giving them the tools to become thoughful critics would seem like a sensible alternative to allowing them to ignore or dismiss mass media altogether.

 

== Caleb Gilbert 

 

Hello,

For K-3 I used the Red Clover Program, I love it.  I use or adapt discussion ideas/activities in the Educator Guide for each read-aloud and I also use the list of companion books to "showcase" more books (and for collection development --- it helped me improve the non-fiction dinosaur section).  I also shared the program with the teachers and 2 collaborations occurred.  The 2nd grade teacher did a unit on dinosaurs and I read "Everything comes with dinosaurs" and did a "fiction vs non-fiction" challenge with the students, and the art teacher was teaching collage when we read "The Chicken-chasing queen of Lamar County".

 

I used Red Clover's "Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal" story to spring into a Fairy Tale unit.  For a month (only 4 classes) we read fairy tales then we talked about elements that happened in all the stories.

-Nicki

 

Hi all

I am listing this in general because even though it is a picture book the layers of meaning can be dissected into high school.  One of my all time favorite books (a red clover) is Larky Mavis by Brock Cole.  The story is off-beat and sad and uplifting.  The book can be used in a variety of ways starting with character development, to predicting what will happen next in the story.  On a higher level you can use this book to talk about how people treat each other ( as you know, a big push in Vermont to stop bullying), how people treat others who are different or as Jena M. Green reviewed, "the importance of loving things you don't understand."  

Jody

 

Hi Everyone -

 

I enjoy reading books about social responsibility and instilling the idea of land stewardship.  I want to raise my son with an awareness of these ideas and shelter him from consumerism as much as I can.  So, my idea is to incorporate two stories I enjoyed reading as a child and one newer story into three storytime sessions.  The books are:  Farewell to Shady Glade by Bill Peet, 1966; The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton, 1942; and Where Once There was a Wood by Denise Fleming.  Bill Peet and Virginia Lee Burton are two of my favorite children's authors because their use of language and vocabulary is so exceptional.  The images they create in their words added with the visual cues make the stories so engaging. So, my literature teaching idea would be to read each of the three books over three storytimes.  I would set the stage for the children by asking them what similarities and differences they observe between the books.  We could do a thinkpairshare activity or I could take open comments (raised hands).  I asked my five year old this the other night and he came up with some good answers..."...how the land is being used up" and "...the animal habitats are gone...", etc.  He gets it.  Susan Ames

 

Hello,

I am still wearing my multicultural hat and I did a reasech project for my other class on how students can create more empathy for people from other cultures through literature. So I am stealing the idea from an article I read and would like to introduce a multicultural reading club in the library, where students get to choose a book from a culturally different bachground and keep a book journal. When they have read the story it will be discussed in the group. The purpose is mainly reading for fun and widen the knowledge about other cultures. The discussion lead by the librarian should be as unbiased as possible for the students to discover how they judge people from their own point of view,which might be different than the person in the story. An open discussion where everybody is comfortable to express freely is a basic necessity for this project.

 

This is a webpage that lists of books for such a multicultural book club:

This is an example for Asian American literature,

http://kids.nypl.org/reading/recommended2.cfm?ListID=57#13

 

http://www.isomedia.com/homes/jmele/joe.html#laanch is another multicultural booklis, that page gives many titles including reviews

 

The article:

Dressel, Janice."Personal response and social responibility: REsponse of middles school students to multicultural literature." International Reading Association May 2005: 705-764

 

Conny Thoma

 

 

Stories without words

 

I am not sure if any of you will see this since I am posting so late in game but here's my offering:

    "Read" a wordless picture book. I am posting under general because I think all ages can benefit from this. At the earlier levels, concepts like setting or character can be the focus. Students in the middle grades can explore a wordless book for story development or dialogue. And the higher grades can adapt any wordless book into their own form of creative expression, perhaps "writing" the story.

     In any case wordless picture books offer students of any age a chance to develop vocabulary, disect story structures, and expand thier creative intelligence.

 

Eric M.

 

MY WONDERFUL  IDEA (that others have thought of as well, because there is already a program for it)

 

I read, The Time Warp Trio, books by John Scieszka, to a group of 2nd graders.  I read with a lot of expression - including facial and body movements (pretty much, when the book so motivates me - I act a story out!).  I get so excited that I usually include the kids in it, too, and they love it!  When I saw how much this group loved acting the story out with me, I began assigning them the roles for the dialogue in the book.  Each week, I had to alternate so that everyone got a turn.  Had my subbing time lasted longer, we were going to rewrite the story in script format and then present the play to either the entire school, a selected classs, or to their families.

 

So, the idea is to turn a story that the kids love and are excited about, into a script that they write and then perform.  This would entail going into script formats, changing story elements around - without changing the meaning of the story, and creating scenery - all elements that will address many learning styles!

 

I haven't investigated Reader's Theatre but I believe this would be along those lines.

 

Kelly Ford 

 

 

Hook the hands-on learners by reading Grandfather Tang’s Story by Ann Tompert, illustrated by Robert Andrew Parker.  This timeless story is about two “fox fairies” that try to outdo each other by transforming themselves into different animals.  So many lessons could be done using this book and it could compliment a class studying China.  I usually introduce students to Tangrams (an ancient Chinese puzzle consisting of seven pieces), when I share the book with them.  Prior to the  lesson, I assemble the shapes of the animals in the book and trace the outside border of the pattern with a pen then photo copy the patterns for the book and put them in a folder in order.  Next, I pair up students and give them each a set of Tangrams and one set of patterns (you can probably borrow enough sets of Tangrams from a teacher in the school).  As I read the book, the students take turns trying to fit their Tangram pieces into the outlines they are given.  I usually read about a couple animals and then stop to let them work.  If they need help they can ask their partner or I can give them hints (as the answers are in the book).  The visual-spatial kids love this and the book lets children “create the pictures” just like the grandfather in the story is doing for “Little Soo,” his granddaughter.  Students feel great when they are able to complete the puzzles.  The students also have fun guessing what animal the foxes will change into next.  I have done this lesson with third graders, but it could also be done with other grades it usually takes more than one class period.  Careful not to do it with children that are too young, they may get frustrated and discouraged and the puzzles are not that easy.  For other lesson plan ideas for this book just Google “Grandfather Tang’s Story.”  I hope you enjoy this book as much as I do.                          ~ Dorothy

Image of Tangram rabbit taken from: http://www.teachnetlab.org/miami/2003/concepcion2/Grandfather.htm