March
@your school library
March Madness @your school library!
Did you know that March is Women's History Month, Red Cross Month, National Irish American Heritage Month, National Peanut Month and my favorite....National Craft Month!
Happy Birthday Dr.Seuss!
As most of you already know, March 2nd is Dr.Seuss's birthday. But, did you know that he coined the word "Nerd"? Dr. Seuss used the first recorded instance of the word, "nerd", inIf I Ran the Zoo, which was published in 1950.
***If you'd like to read a Dr. Seuss book and cannot find it on our shelves (because they are flying out the door), please check out this symbaloo that was created by a colleague of mine. It contains books in English and Spanish being read aloud!
Read More trivia about the Dr: 15 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Dr. Seuss |http://thefw.com/things-you-didnt-know-about-dr-seuss/?trackback=tsmclip
Libraries, Literacy and Local Events.....Oh My!
I truly love me some Hansel and Gretel, it can be such a dark tale! We have several versions in the library. Anyway, I digress, the Kathy Burks Theatre of Puppetry Arts will be presenting Hansel and Gretel, March 4 - April 3, at the Dallas Children's Theater. It is a bit pricey at 24-26 dollars a pop but for this beloved fairy tale, I'm considering it. More deets here: http://www.dct.org/
*May the luck of the Irish be with you.........but you don't have to be Irish to enjoy craic (Irish for fun and entertainment)!
The North Texas Irish Festival is March 4 - March 6 at Fair Park and will include bagpipers, dancers, Irish draft horse demos, storytelling, food, a celtic village, "tastings", dog friendly events, and much more! I am soooo there!
Slán go fóill
Full STEAM ahead: Denton Public Library (South Branch) will host the Perot Museum's TECH Truck on March 12, 2:30 - 4:30 pm. There will be maker-based science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM) experiences to bring out children's creativity and critical thinking skills. The program is described as best for ages 8-12. I know I have a son who would so love this! Let me know if you can join us!
Techie Tips
This great little article highlights 9 iPad Apps that Assess Student Learning (summative and formative). If you are needing some fresh ideas, check it out: http://blog.whooosreading.org/9-ipad-apps-that-assess-student-learning/
Who else is totally into Augmented Reality???? Anyone? Anyone? I am fascinated by it! Let me know if you'd like to work cooperatively on a project integrating AR into your curriculum, I would love to be a part of it! AR Flashcards are a fun way to dip your toes in and get your feet wet. You can reinforce basic math facts and for the PK and Kindergarten ladies.....the alphabet, colors and shapes too! Your lil's will love this! http://arflashcards.com/
This is just the beginning....I will be writing about many other Augmented Reality tools next month!
Literacy and Learning in the Digital Age!
The following Non Fiction Sites are a great way to keep your students up to date with current affairs and important happenings in the news. These sites can be used with the whole class regarding a particular topic or in a station to cover one of your literacy\reading stations and social studies at the same time!
Dogo news - This very kid friendly website is so informative and appealing at the same time. Kids can read about science, social studies, world, "green", and sports events to just name a few as well as view videos about newsworthy and current events.
Read Works.org
Click on the reading passages tab, and you can select any topic, and apply a grade, reading, and/or skill level and even a different text type if you choose. http://www.readworks.org/
Newsela is an amazing tool that can be used to teach current events, research and comprehension skills. Some of the articles include quizzes for summative assessments as well. You can click a button and select another reading level for differentiated learning. There are articles in spanish too! You can sign up (to create a class group) using your district google account and it is very easy, I know because I already did! *Right now, you can even "rock the vote" with your students in the primaries.
TTribute - This is a free online educational service created by the Smithsonian that is great for working on various non fiction topics with your students. You can set up a class, and it offers a Monday Morning Newsletter, quizzes, lesson plans, videos, different reading levels and it also has articles in Spanish. It is available as TTribute for k-4 students and Tween Tribute for 5th graders. This is another one that you can sign up for and create a classroom account to get a variety of features that are very cool.