This week I introduced two new projects for 3rd - 5th grade. While I am teaching Media I am also taking online graduate classes to further my own professional learning. One class I am taking is about gamification - making learning more engaging by using gaming concepts and practices. The students seem pretty excited about our two new projects that came out of this class. The first project is BlogCraft. If you couldn't tell, this was inspired by my students' love of Minecraft. We have WordPress blogs that we use as a learning portfolio. To get kids excited about posting in their learning portfolio, I've created a game called BlogCraft. Each post that meets the minimum criteria will earn the student a new pickaxe. What fun awaits you when you earn all six pickaxes? You'll have to get writing and find out! Our second new activity is called Project Z! My third graders research animals every year in their classrooms and in Media. I teach them how to access online resources through MeL (Michigan eLibrary) so they have access to loads of books, articles, and encyclopedias. To make this a little more engaging this year we've added some new features. First, students will be learning how to make sketch notes instead of traditional note taking. Then, after we do our research, we'll be using materials in the maker space to build habitats for 6 animals that will be visiting our school from the Detroit Zoo.
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There were some amazing books on this year's Youth Media Awards list. Congratulations to all the authors and illustrators who won. Hamilton students learned about how the Caldecott Medal committee has to read loads of books and then vote on their favorites. We even practiced voting. Since we had so many days off for weather and holidays, unfortunately we didn't get to do a lot of preparing before the medal was announced. However, some classes got a sneak peek at this year's winner last week: Big by Vashti Harrison. This is a well-deserved win for a beautiful book about the harm of body-shaming, and the importance of loving yourself and being kind to others. Per tradition, I will be sharing this fabulous book with all K-2 students to celebrate Vashti Harrison's big win.
It's cold outside! When you're stuck at home because of winter weather, why not curl up with a great book? Here are some of my favorites this year:
Welcome back and Happy New Year! In January I like to introduce (or revisit) the concept of book awards. Just as it is about to be awards season for actors, directors, movies and television shows, it is also about to be award season for books, authors and illustrators! Kindergarteners begin by learning about the Caldecott Medal. This year we read a fun picture book biography about Randolph Caldecott. Students thought it would be pretty neat if a book about Caldecott won the Caldecott medal. We'll find out in a few weeks! First and second graders also learn about the Caldecott medal, but we start to learn about the many other book awards out there as well. This month we'll read books that have won the Corretta Scott King award, the AAPA award, the Pura Belpre award, and the Siebert award, just to name a few. At the end of the month we'll find out who the big winners are for 2024. It's an exciting time!
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AuthorMrs. Henderson is the School Library Media Specialist at Hamilton Elementary. In addition to being a book-lover, she is also a gamer, a crafter, and a mom. She also shares a lot on Twitter: twitter.com/lhendersonreads Archives
April 2024
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