April Choice Board and HAPPY SPRING BREAK

The finish line is in sight! I hope everyone has a really great, safe, and happy SPRING BREAK! We are hitting the roller coaster circuit, so expect some pretty funny pictures of me in different states of terror. Maybe one day I will get over my fear of heights. Until then, I guess my family will continue to drag me all over to visit the different roller coasters just to record as many funny pictures as possible! 

When we come back from spring break, we will be celebrating NATIONAL LIBRARY MONTH, which is pretty exciting. This is the infographic I created for my school; it will be a fun month celebrating our library. 

I have also created some CREATE digital stations and a virtual classroom for the month of April. 

Click on the image below to check out and view our April digital CREATE stations. 
If you would like to make a copy, so you can make changes, feel free to use THIS LINK. 
 

If your students like to be surprised with different clicks and activities, here is the April bitmoji classroom. You can click on the image to view it. 

Feel free to make a copy if you would like to make changes for your students.

I hope everyone has a wonderful spring break. When we return, we will be looking forward to book fair and CHICKS in the library! 

First Grade FICTION vs. NONFICTION: Frog Life Cycles in the ART STATION

                                        

Spring time means studying life cycles, and in first grade, we look at the life cycle of the frog as well as different animal habitats.  This is a lesson we have done many times, and we will be completing it this year in April. 

A great way to begin this lesson is by reading, A Frog Thing by Eric Drachman. There is a great video you can access for this book (click on the image below and it will take you to the video).  

This year we will also be reading the nonfiction selection, Frogs which is part of our extremely popular Animal Kingdom series published by Abdo. 

These books rarely stay on the library shelves, and I highly recommend them! You can check out this book and others like it on the ABDO website. 

After reading the book, we discuss the differences between nonfiction and fiction. What makes A Frog Thing a fiction picture book? How do we know? What examples can we provide? 

What makes Frogs a nonfiction picture book? What are some facts we learned? What are some text features we noticed that aren't in a fiction book? 

Finally, what is the main difference between a fiction book and a nonfiction book? Student are always able to make the connection that our nonfiction books provide facts and information.

Next step in the process: students select an Animal Kingdom book of their choice to use in the library and read about their animal. Task ONE...figure out which of these animal habitats their animal lives in: 

Ocean

Desert

Wetlands

Grassland

Woodland

Polar

Rain Forest 

After that, they record ONE fact about their animal and then put this fact in their own words. If you would like a copy of this lesson with the lesson plan standards, I CAN statements, procedures, and worksheets, you can access them here: Animal Habitat FREEBIE.

 

Next up? We access our PebbleGo database. We segue into animal habitats since this correlates with the first grade VA SOL: 

SCI 1.5: The student will investigate and understand that animals, including humans, have basic life needs that allow them to survive. Key ideas include:

• animals need air, food, water, shelter, and space (habitat);
• animals have different physical characteristics that perform specific functions; and
• animals can be classified based on a variety of characteristics.

FINAL STEP....turning our picture into augmented reality and watching the frog evolve from an egg, to a tadpole, froglet, and frog! I have this library station outlined HERE. This freebie includes the library lesson plan (that also be used as a sign at the library table). 

Want more information on the Quivervision dashboard? There is a great presentation that you can access to get you started: Getting Started Kit.

CREATE Stations...A is for ART - A Second Grade Library Station

 

It is no secret....second graders love dinosaurs. We had the best time listening to Dinosaurs Before Dark by Mary Pope Osborne. We were able to listen to the author read the first chapter aloud on the Brightly Storytime website, and it was a great way to get the story underway. 

Similar to my earlier CREATE station posts, the novel is accompanied with a short research project activity where students have the opportunity to access print encyclopedias or a database. If we are using print encyclopedia, this research activity is best completed in small groups, and it is part of my Explore station.  The small group can each choose a different dinosaur and have their own encyclopedia volume.  

If we are all accessing the database, then we can work in a whole group setting with students on their chromebooks. When we use databases in second grade, we access Pebblego. It is the perfect database for this age group, and they all seem to really like it. 

Feel free to access my EXPLORE STATION HERE. This is a freebie that will allow you to print and/or edit the materials and lessons to suit your needs and make changes, so it works for your resources. 

Now for the next part....the really fun activity....the students get to pick a dinosaur coloring sheet. 

Quivervision is very engaging and gives a WOW factor for the students. Here is a link to my station that has directions, standards, and Quivervision sheets: Quivervision Art Station.

Be sure to check out the Quivervision Education Dashboard if you would like to research subscriptions for your classes.  

I also have this sign below that I use as a visual for my art station; it covers K-2. Feel free to click on it and make a copy. 

CREATE stations: A is for ART....a THIRD GRADE STATION

Third graders are studying aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems and their diversity. These Quivervision coloring sheets have so many options. When the animal turns 3D, students can see in vivid detail the animal as well as the ecosystem surrounding the animal. 

The art station has become one of our very favorites. If you are interested in the free station signs, standards, and "I Can" statements, you can view and download the signs HERE. 

To get started on this unit, students can research an aquatic animal during their EXPLORE library station. I have an activity for students to research aquatic animals using a Britannica resource pack (you will need to have a subscription to access) or a print encyclopedia. I like both activities for different reasons. The print encyclopedia allows students to find information, identify parts of an encyclopedia and nonfiction text features. Check out the freebie here: EXPLORE STATION. 

Once the research is completed, students can really enjoy the art station and how these animals come to life. If you are interested in this station and the new Quivervision Educational Dashboard, you can access it using this link: QUIVERVISION. 

Looking to start up a Quivervision library station? Here is a great tutorial on how you can get started: watch the video. This is a great slideshow to get you started that you can access here. 

Look at this shark picture! This is definitely a fan favorite among the third grade learners.  When they turn their picture into AR, they see the coral reef habitat as well as the food chain! Our students were awed by the details, and they definitely take their time coloring their sheet. 

Here is the sign that covers the art station for grades 3-5. We use this one at the table for our art stations.

Return to CREATE Stations: A is FOR ART - Fourth Grade Station

The Olympics were fun and our One Book One School launch has been exciting, but now we are back to our regularly scheduled CREATE stations. Our art station primarily focuses on the Quivervision app and turns our artwork into augmented reality 3D images.

Our fourth graders are learning about the solar system and the planets. If you recall, they spent their time in the robot station coding their Ozobot to revolve around the moon. That lesson can be found HERE. 

To continue to learn about outer space in the library and supplement the students' learning, we have our Space Comparison Quivervision art coloring page. 

Getting started....researching and front loading:   

The perfect introduction to this lesson is a Britannica resource pack that focuses on the solar system and planets.  If your school or county subscribes to the Britannica database, then take a look at the resource pack I curated HERE. This is a great place for students to get a basic overview by reading and listening to articles. 

I also have students access PRINT encyclopedias with different articles that cover the various planets. I love having students identify nonfiction text features while they are researching at the same time. It covers so many standards of learning while covering important content. I have an activity that I am sharing here that has our library learners answering questions while accessing these library resources.

Check out this FREE resource from my TPT shop:

Library learners can also complete this quick research activity while in their fourth grade EXPLORE station (more on that coming up in a couple of weeks). Either way, having students read about the planets in conjunction with the Quivervision coloring app is the perfect combination! 

Next step...COMPLETING THE ART STATION: 

Whether the research is used as an introduction to front load your learners or part of another station, the visual effects of the Quivervision app really brings understanding to this topic. When students first arrive at this station, they have a selection of coloring sheets, markers and colored pencils. I try to have at least two coloring sheets for them to complete. One quick tip: do NOT have them color the background of the worksheet; have them focus on the space rocket or the moon. Sometimes when the background is colored in, the app can't read the image and the AR won't work! 

After students color in the worksheet(s), I give them the iPad mini and click on  the Quivervision app. Once it has loaded, they enter our classroom code, find their name and their avatar. Then they use the app's camera mode to scan the QR code to launch their color sheet. Once it is launched, the app continues to in camera mode to scan the entire page. Focus the iPad over the coloring page. Wait for the page to turn red and then blue. After it turns blue, wait for it ...VOILA...you have an AR picture. 

 Interested in this station? Below are the station signs I created that can be used at the students' tables or part of your lesson plan template; hope these help because they include the standards, directions and I can statements. Click on the sign below to access this free resource from my TPT store. 

If you would like a simpler sign that is in a chart form, this one below covers all three art stations at this table. Click on it to make a copy. 

This is not the first Quivervision lesson we have completed. Check out my earlier post about our 5th grade plant cell lesson HERE. These cell worksheets turned out amazing and the kids really grasped the different parts of the cells through coloring, labelling, and discussing it together in their library station. 

March Choice Boards and One School One Book

Today is the BIG LAUNCH....our school is celebrating Read Across America and One School One Book with the Adventures According to Humphrey.  Our school community will be reading a chapter a day while completing fun activities across every grade level and resource class. The website, Read to Them, provided discussion questions, trivia, activities, and guidance for how to host a successful program. Highly recommend! 

To set the scene for the book this week, students dressed in pjs so they could "snuggle" with a good book on Monday. Tuesday students brought their favorite stuffed animal. Today, Wednesday, students and staff are dressing like pirates. The big title reveal was announced this morning during our daily morning announcements. Everyone is ready to celebrate our reading adventures with Humphrey the hamster!

To supplement the activities, I created a choice board for students to access over the next couple of weeks both from home or at their literacy station at school. It follows the same CREATE format that I have used with my other library stations. I included the image below, but you can check out the board and the links on the library website here: According to Humphrey Choice Board on the Website

If you would like a copy of the board to make changes, click HERE. 

I also created a virtual classroom that combines several March themes. If you would like to view it on the website, click HERE. 

If you would like to make copy of the classroom, so you can modify it, click HERE. 

 A third choice board option is one that focuses on springtime and March. This choice board also includes links to other choice boards from other librarians (credit is given on their slide). 

Feel free to make a copy HERE. 

I am excited about our reading adventures, and I know the kids are going to love having a pet hamster that will live in the front office to greet all of our visitors and students. Hopefully March will be full of warm days and sunshine!