Friday, June 27, 2014

Librarians Gone Wild: ALA's Annual Conference #alaac14

I'm headed to Las Vegas (108* by Sunday -- gasp!) to attend the American Library Association's annual conference. I love this time to see friends, meet authors and connect with publishers. I definitely get teased at home about Librarians Gone Wild, but it's really so much fun.
This year I'm excited to present two fabulous sessions as part of the conference:
AASL's Best Apps for Teaching and Learning
Saturday, June 28th, 3:00 pm
Las Vegas Convention Center
Room N 264
Come find out about twenty five of the best apps to use with students. Check out last year's recommendations here. I can't wait to share the fantastic array of book apps, STEM science and math apps, and more!
CC IRL Text.jpgCommon Core IRL: In Real Libraries
Sunday, June 29th, 10:30 am
Las Vegas Convention Center
Room S 228
Throughout the U.S., schools are implementing the Common Core State Standards. Two key shifts are particularly important for our teaching and learning; the call for balancing informational and literary texts, and the focus on helping students read increasingly complex texts.

Our panel sessions will focus on how school and public libraries can provide both stimulating read-alouds and just-right books of increasing complexity, while focusing on interesting, engaging nonfiction. I'm excited to present this session with good friends Alyson Beecher (Kid Lit Frenzy), Cathy Potter and Louise Capizzo (The Nonfiction Detectives duo)

Thursday, June 26, 2014

Summer Reading Favorites: 5th grade suggestions

Summer is definitely in full swing for us, with plenty of time to play with friends, hang out with siblings and explore new places. I keep encouraging my kids to find a little quiet time to get lost in a book. Whether it's escaping into your imagination or just having time away from the frenzy, it's important to keep reading in the summer. Here are some of my favorite books to recommend for kids who have just finished 5th grade.

Exciting Adventure and Fantasy
Fascinating Nonfiction
Stories that Touch Your Heart
Funny Stories
  • The 26-Story Treehouse, by Andy Griffiths (library - Amazon)
  • The Adventures of Nanny Piggins, by R.A. Spratt (library - Amazon)
  • My Life as a Book, by Janet Tashjian (library - Amazon)
  • Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made, by Stephan Pastis (library - Amazon)
Graphic Novels We Love!
Do you like these? Print out the whole list to take to the library or bookstore! Share it with friends!


Check out all of the 2014 summer reading lists I developed for grades K through 5 through SlideShare or this page.

If you make a purchase using the Amazon links on this site, a small portion goes to Great Kid Books. Thank you for your support.

©2014 Mary Ann Scheuer, Great Kid Books

Monday, June 23, 2014

Summer Reading Favorites: 4th grade suggestions

School is out for us--hooray! Our first outing was to get ice cream and visit the local branch of our public library. Do your kids wander about needing suggestions about what to read? Here are some of my favorite books to recommend for kids who have just finished 4th grade.

Note: Our schools use the Fountas & Pinnell reading levels to help indicate "just right books" for students. I like to band these levels together, to look at a group of similar books.

Having Fun with Chapter Books (level O-P-Q)
  • The Gumazing Gum Girl!: Chews Your Destiny, by Rhode Montijo (library - Amazon)
  • Bowling Alley Bandit, by Laurie Keller (library - Amazon)
  • Dragonbreath, by Ursula Vernon (library - Amazon)
  • Ferno the Fire Dragon (Beast Quest series), by Adam Blade (library - Amazon)
Adventure & Historical Fiction (level Q-R-S-T)
  • Al Capone Does My Shirts, by Gennifer Choldenko (library - Amazon)
  • The Shark Attacks of 1916 (I Survived series), by Lauren Tarshis (library - Amazon)
  • Turtle in Paradise, by Jennifer L. Holm (library - Amazon)
  • The Invention of Hugo Cabret, by Brian Selznick (library - Amazon)
Exciting Fantasy (level Q-R-S)
Funny Stories (level R-S-T)
  • Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Summer Vacation, by Tommy Greenwald DiTerlizzi (library - Amazon)
  • Flora and Ulysses, by Kate DiCamillo (library - Amazon)
  • The Templeton Twins Have an Idea, by Ellis Weiner (library - Amazon)
  • Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made, by Stephan Pastis (library - Amazon)
Stories that Touch Your Heart (level R-S-T)
New Graphic Novels!
  • Cleopatra in Space: Target Practice, by Mike Maihack (library - Amazon)
  • Fairy Tale Comics, edited by Chris Duffy (library - Amazon)
  • Happy Birthday Babymouse, by Jennifer L. Holm (library - Amazon)
  • Smash! Trial by Fire, by Chris A. Bolton (library - Amazon)
Fascinating Nonfiction
  • Barbed Wire Baseball, by Marissa Moss (library - Amazon)
  • Baseball Legends in the Making, by Marty Gitlin (library - Amazon)
  • Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker, by Patricia Hruby Powell (library - Amazon)
  • Separate Is Never Equal, by Duncan Tonatiuh  (library - Amazon)
Do you like these? Print out the whole list to take to the library or bookstore! Share it with friends!


Check out all of the 2014 summer reading lists I developed for grades K through 5 through SlideShare or this page.

If you make a purchase using the Amazon links on this site, a small portion goes to Great Kid Books. Thank you for your support.

©2014 Mary Ann Scheuer, Great Kid Books

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Summer reading favorites: 3rd grade suggestions

School is out for us--hooray! Our first outing was to get ice cream and visit the local branch of our public library. Do your kids wander about needing suggestions about what to read? Here are some of my favorite books to recommend for kids who have just finished 3rd grade.

Note: Our schools use the Fountas & Pinnell reading levels to help indicate "just right books" for students. I like to band these levels together, to look at a group of similar books.

Having Fun with Chapter Books (level N-O-P)
Graphic Novels We Love
Funny Stories (level Q-R-S)
Stories that Touch Your Heart (level Q-R-S)
Exciting Adventure and Fantasy (level Q-R-S)
Fascinating Nonfiction
Do you like these? Print out the whole list to take to the library or bookstore! Share it with friends!


Check out all of the 2014 summer reading lists I developed for grades K through 5 through SlideShare or this page.

If you make a purchase using the Amazon links on this site, a small portion goes to Great Kid Books. Thank you for your support.

©2014 Mary Ann Scheuer, Great Kid Books

Monday, June 16, 2014

Summer reading favorites: 2nd grade suggestions

Hooray for summer time! Here are some of my favorite books to recommend for kids who have just finished 1st grade. Make time to read together, enjoying picture books. Also get some books for your child to practice their new reading skills.

Note: Our schools use the Fountas & Pinnell reading levels to help indicate "just right books" for students. I like to band these levels together, to look at a group of similar books.

Beginning with Chapter Books (level K-L-M)
  • Katie Woo and Friends, by Fran Manushkin (library - Amazon)
  • Ivy & Bean, by Annie Barrows (library - Amazon)
  • Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robots, by Dav Pilkey and Dan Santat (library - Amazon)
  • Stink: The Incredible Shrinking Kid, by Megan McDonald (library - Amazon)
Graphic Novels We Love
Having Fun with Chapter Books (level N-O-P)
  • Amy and the Missing Puppy, by Callie Barkley (library - Amazon)
  • Make Way for Dyamonde Daniels, by Nikki Grimes (library - Amazon)
  • Rise of the Balloon Goons, by Troy Cummings (library - Amazon)
  • Trouble at Trident Academy, by Debbie Dadey (library - Amazon)
Picture Books Full of Imagination
  • Awesome Dawson, by Chris Gall (library - Amazon)
  • Battle Bunny, by Jon Sciezka and Mac Barnett (library - Amazon)
  • Little Red Writing, by Joan Holub (library - Amazon)
  • Xander's Panda Party, by Linda Sue Park (library - Amazon)
Fascinating Nonfiction
  • Bone by Bone: Comparing Animal Skeletons, by Sara Levine (library - Amazon)
  • Martin and Mahalia, by Andrea Davis Pinkney (library - Amazon)
  • Miguel Cabrera, by Matt Doeden (library - Amazon)
  • No Monkeys, No Chocolate, by Melissa Stewart (library - Amazon)
Do you like these? Print out the whole list to take to the library or bookstore! Share it with friends!


Check out all of the 2014 summer reading lists I developed for grades K through 5 through SlideShare or this page.

If you make a purchase using the Amazon links on this site, a small portion goes to Great Kid Books. Thank you for your support.

©2014 Mary Ann Scheuer, Great Kid Books

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Summer reading favorites: 1st grade suggestions

Hooray for summer time! Here are some of my favorite books to recommend for kids who have just finished 1st grade. Make time to read together, enjoying picture books. Also get some books for your child to practice their new reading skills.

Note: Our schools use the Fountas & Pinnell reading levels to help indicate "just right books" for students. I like to band these levels together, to look at a group of similar books.

Beginning to Read (level G-H-I)
Developing Readers (level J-K)
  • Buzz Beaker and the Cave Creatures, by Cari Meister (library - Amazon)
  • Frog and Friends: Outdoor Surprises, by Eve Bunting (library - Amazon)
  • Mercy Watson to the Rescue, by Kate DiCamillo (library - Amazon)
  • Penny and Her Marble, by Kevin Henkes (library - Amazon)
Exploring Animals All Around
Beginning with Chapter Books (level L-M)
New Picture Books We're Loving
Do you like these? Print out the whole list to take to the library or bookstore! Share it with friends!


Check out all of the 2014 summer reading lists I developed for grades K through 5 through SlideShare or this page.

If you make a purchase using the Amazon links on this site, a small portion goes to Great Kid Books. Thank you for your support.

©2014 Mary Ann Scheuer, Great Kid Books

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Summer reading favorites for Kindergarteners

Summer is here. Kids are excited to have free time, but with that can come the eventual moans of: "I'm bored!" Head to the library and stock up on a pile of books. Here are some of my favorite books to recommend for kids just finishing kindergarten.

Note: Our schools use the Fountas & Pinnell reading levels to help indicate "just right books" for students. I like to band these levels together, to look at a group of similar books.

Beginning to Read (level C-E-F)
Folktales and Trickster Tales
Beginning to Read More (level F-G-H-I)
Exploring Animals All Around
  • Biggest, Strongest, Fastest, by Steve Jenkins (library--Amazon)
  • Fly Guy Presents: Sharks, by Tedd Arnold (library--Amazon)
  • Puppies and Kittens (Scholastic Discover More), by Penelope Arlon (library--Amazon)
  • ZooBorns! Zoo Babies from Around the World, by Andrew Bleiman (library--Amazon)
Picture Books that Make Us Laugh!
Do you like these? Print out the whole list to take to the library or bookstore! Share it with friends!


Check out all of the 2014 summer reading lists I developed for grades K through 5 through SlideShare or this page.

If you make a purchase using the Amazon links on this site, a small portion goes to Great Kid Books. Thank you for your support.

©2014 Mary Ann Scheuer, Great Kid Books

Monday, June 9, 2014

Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family's Fight for Desegregation, by Duncan Tonatiuh (ages 6-9)

How do we make history meaningful for our children? Make it meaningful and relevant. My students are definitely interested in the Civil Rights Movement and especially the battle for school desegregation, but they always want to know what it was like here in California.

Duncan Tonatiuh brings an important story to life for children in his newest book, Separate Is Never Equal, but really it's about more than being an important story. This is a story that children will relate to, will be able to imagine going through themselves.
Separate Is Never Equal: 
Sylvia Mendez and Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation
by Duncan Tonatiuh
Abrams, 2014
Your public library
Amazon
ages 6-9
*best new book
Sylvia Mendez and her family fought for their right to go to their local neighborhood school in Westminster, California. The school district placed Sylvia and her brothers in the “Mexican school” school because of their skin tone and surname. They filed a court case, eventually winning the first legal challenge to the decades-old practice of "separate but equal."

Tonatiuh combines clear text and folk-inspired art to bring this important story to children. I especially like how child-centered the story is. All children will appreciate how much their parents want the best education for them, and how unfair the segregated system was in California.

I highly recommend a short video available through PBS Learning Media: Mendez vs. Westminster: For All the Children/Para Todos los Niños, produced by Sandra Robbie.
click for link to PBS Learning Media
This short video (8 minutes) combines original photographs with present day interviews. Seeing Sylvia today and hearing directly from her makes the story even more "real" to students. Many students find video a very powerful learning tool, and I consistently find PBS Learning Media and excellent resource. This would be a very effective way to provide more background information to this story, both with primary sources and expert interviews.

You might also find these resources interesting to share with students:
The review copy was kindly sent by the publisher, Abrams Books. If you make a purchase using the Amazon links on this site, a small portion goes to Great Kid Books. Thank you for your support.

©2014 Mary Ann Scheuer, Great Kid Books

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Common Core IRL: Digital Resources for students studying Colonial America

As a school librarian, an essential part of my role is curating resources: selecting, organizing and sharing information. It can be overwhelming for students and teachers to search for good information; the size and scope of the Internet makes this all the more true.


As we have seen with the Common Core IRL project, print resources are not necessarily plentiful on the American Colonies. Digital resources are an essential tool for students.

I created the following Google Doc to share digital resources with our students (you may copy and share the Google Doc using this link). 


To make this document easily findable, I created a visual link on our library catalog, Destiny. You can explore the visual links in our catalog by going to http://library.berkeley.net/ and selecting any of the elementary schools. Click on the Visual search tab on the right. The Emerson catalog looks like this:


Within the History collection, you'll find different types of curated resources: books and encyclopedia articles, websites, maps and more. Keeping these links on the library catalog has many advantages. First of all, it's an easily findable place for students and teachers. In addition, we are training our community that the library is a central hub for information resources. Finally, we can hold onto these resources for teachers to use year after year.

These resources are an essential part of the Common Core standards for both reading informational text and writing. As students delve into these digital resources, they will need to read and identify the main point of a paragraph, page or article. ELA Common Core standard RI.5.1 states 5th grade students will "determine two or more main ideas of a text and explain how they are supported by key details; summarize the text." This is essential when reading websites.

How are you sharing digital resources with elementary students? Are you finding that they are able to read and digest them? Or are they surfing through them, without finding key information?

I am excited to read about other resources my colleagues have found in their search: Common Core IRL -- In Real Libraries. This week, we are excited to share:
If you are going to be at the American Library Association's annual conference later this month in Las Vegas, we hope you can come to our presentation on the Common Core IRL: In Real Libraries. Here are the details:
Common Core IRL: In Real Libraries
ALA Annual Conference
WHEN: Sunday, June 29, 2014 - 10:30am to 11:30am
LOCATION: Las Vegas Convention Center, S228
Hope to see folks there!

©2014 Mary Ann Scheuer, Great Kid Books

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Super Star, Super Connections -- the true power of books

How do you measure the true impact we have on one another? How can I tell as an educator that my work is helping children? Is it test results. Clearly no. Is it the number of books kids read? Well, maybe, but I don't think so. Really, it's whether kids can discover books that mean something to them, that sink in and stay with them.

This spring, my 5th graders have gone **crazy** for Kwame Alexander's The Crossover. As soon as I read the first few chapters aloud, kids were clamoring for it, devouring it in just a few days and passing it to their friends. This book clearly connected with my students' love of basketball, it captured their language and attitudes, and the story sunk into their hearts.

Each year, we host the Emerson Poetry Slam where every 4th and 5th grader performs a poem they have written. This year, two brothers performed a poem that was inspired by The Crossover. Listen to the recording of Marlaun and Mariaun reading Super Star and read the poem below:

Super Star by Marlaun
performed by Marlaun and Mariaun (click for audio recording)

Dunkin like Michael Jordan,
Sinkin threes like Kevin Durant,
Throwin dimes like Chris Paul,
That what they call me.
Crossover so sweet, like Allen Iverson,
Leave you slippin,
Tossin alley, like the fab five,
Step back, so smooth,
Like Dirk Nowiski,
Call me the show stopper,
Like Joakim Alagiuan,
That what they call me.
All net what you hear,
Floater game, Steph Curry
Tony Parker tear drops so good,
Leave you cryin,
Klay and Steph, the slash bros,
Make it rain,
That a shame, what they do,
Slash, slash,
Everybody a star, but not me,
I’m a super star,
That’s what they really call me.
Moments like these, where you can see the way a book speaks to a kid, kindle a fire deep inside me. I think it's because I see the fire spark inside a kid, bringing forth their creativity, their confidence, their ability to communicate their ideas to other people.

As Marlaun and Mariaun prepare to graduate, I'd like to send them with Kwame Alexander's Basketball Rules. (PS: HMH can you please make some posters with these??!!)
If I could, I would send a copy of The Crossover to every 5th grade across the nation. If you have a favorite 5th grade teacher, pick up a copy for them. What a great way to celebrate the end of the school year and the impact that teacher can have on kids.

©2014 Mary Ann Scheuer, Great Kid Books, and Marlaun

Monday, June 2, 2014

Common Core IRL: Life in Colonial America (grades 3-5)

Our older elementary students spend a lot of effort learning how to read and write informational texts, especially in 4th and 5th grades. The Common Core State Standards identify some of the key skills students need to master in this process. Students and teachers often ask their librarians for help finding resources for their research projects.

This year, both Cathy Potter (of the Nonfiction Detectives) and I have helped classes with research projects on the American Colonies. So we thought that we would share some of our resources as part of our ongoing Common Core IRL: In Real Libraries series. Check out these great posts this week:
Life in the American Colonies -- what an enormously huge topic. My biggest challenge in finding resources was helping students who are reading below grade level. They need clear information, well organized and presented, but not too complicated. Two books stood out to me from my search.
Life in a Colonial Town
(series: Picture the Past)
by Sally Senzell Isaacs
Heinemann / Capstone, 2001
Lexile 680 / GRL O
Your local library
Amazon
ages 8-12
Using clear, straightforward language, Isaacs describes daily life in the American colonies, primarily during the years 1650-1750. I especially like the basic introduction Isaacs provides in the first chapter, along with a simple timeline and map.
"A colony is like a small, new village or town. It is created in a country by people from a foreign, or different, country. Beginning about 400 years ago, people from Europe started coming to America to start colonies" (p. 4).
The text is organized into short two-page chapters, each focusing on a different aspect of everyday life. Students will gain a sense of colonists' houses, schooling, clothes and diets. I would recommend this book as a good starting place for students who need a basic introduction. It does not cover several topics my students were interested in, such as the conflict between Native Americans and European colonists, the slave trade, or religion. Here is another example of the text:
"Many colonists built wooden houses. The wood came from nearby forests. Most houses had a stone fireplace. Its fire heated the house. It was also used for cooking" (p. 12).
As students develop a clearer focus for their informational reports, they need books that go into more depth. But how can we do this for students who have trouble reading more complicated text? We have experimented with Capstone interactive ebooks and are liking our initial experience.

The real story about government and politics in colonial America
(series: Fact finders. Life in the American colonies)
by Kristine Carlson Asselin
Capstone, 2012
Lexile 720 / GRL T
Google Books preview
Your local library
Amazon
ages 9-12
Asselin examines how government was organized in the colonies and the relationship between European governing countries and the colonies. Students will find the description of leadership and government in different Native American societies, including the Iroquois and the Powhatan confederacies, very interesting. As the colonies grew, England developed more systematic forms of government for the colonies, with clearly established local roles.

"Each town or county elected two citizens to the colony's assembly."
Students have loved the audio narration that accompanies the Capstone interactive books--with a real human voice, and not just computer text-to-speech narration. These digital books have worked well on Chromebooks in the classroom, and are accessible to all students (we purchased an "unlimited copies" version for our school). We have integrated them into our FollettShelf, accessible through our Destiny Catalog and it has worked very well during our pilot year.

Both of these texts will help students with both reading and writing skills. As students read these texts, they must work to identify the author's main points and learn how to summarize the text (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.5.2). Teachers can use these as mentor texts, showing writing that introduces and develops a topic (CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.5.2). For example, students and teachers could look at the way Asselin develops her main point about the role of governors in the colonies:
Much of the Common Core really continues our work helping students learn to read, understand and write informational texts. It is a difficult job, one that requires providing interesting materials that students can access independently as well as mentor texts we can look at together.

I am excited to read about other resources my colleagues have found in their search: Common Core IRL -- In Real Libraries. This week, we are excited to share:
The review copies came from our district library collection. If you make a purchase using the Amazon links on this site, a small portion goes to Great Kid Books. Thank you for your support.

©2014 Mary Ann Scheuer, Great Kid Books