This year I tried something a little different with my library orientations for 4th and 5th grade. A lot of students have had a hard time connecting the call number on the computer with actually finding the books on the shelf. While I have tried many things in the past I thought I would take something most students love to do, take selfies, and turn it into a shelfie activity.

Students watched short videos reminding them how to use a shelf marker, how to find the section of the media center based on the call number, and how to find the book on the shelf based on the call number. Finally, they completed a Find 3 activity and took "shelfies" of their books. To make sure they understood how to use all parts of the media center they had to find books from 3 different sections. They loved the activity, showed they knew how to find the call number, and were able to successfully locate the books on the shelf. 

Screen shot of a short video on book organization and using a call number.

Using call numbers to figure out which section the books belong to. They also watched another video that focused on the 2nd part of the call number.

Students received a Find 3 card, filled out their find 3 slip using the Media Catalog, and worked with a partner to locate their books on the shelf and take their shelfies.
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One of the things I love to do with teachers and students are long term projects that take more than one setting to complete. It allows the students to fully immerse themselves and allows time for me to get to know the students better.

Project #1: Mo Willems Author Study
Right now kindergarten is doing a Mo Willems author study. To make sure they get the entire Mo Willems experience I collaborated with the technology and art teacher to expand the project. In technology they will visit the Mo Willems website, listen to stories, draw a picture of the pigeon on the computer, and make their own monster (inspired by Leonardo the Terrible Monster) on Build Your Wild Self. In art they will explore the Knuffle Bunny books and recreate the artisitc technique of using real backgrounds with a drawing on top. 

Their visits to the Media  Center will span 4 weeks which will allow all 6 classes to come.
Week 1: Read Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs and then sort, count, and graph dinosaurs. 
Week 2: Pigeon
Listen to Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late and The Duckling Gets a Cookie. They will then use the tablets to explore Don't Let the Run this App.
Week 3: Elephant and Piggie.
Watch Mo Willems make slop and then read I Really Like Slop, Waiting is Not Easy, and We Are in a Book. Students will choose which character is their favorite and make an Elephant or Piggie headband. They will also receive an Elephant and Piggie sticker.
Week 4: Celebration
After exploring so many Mo Willems books it is time to celebrate. Students will listen to I Am Invited to a Party and That is Not a Good Idea. They will also play bingo, receive an activity book made from the numerous activities available from Mo Willems site, and eat a chocolate chip cookie.

Project #2: Stop Motion
I have a 3rd and 4th grade special and see the students about 6 times during a 9 week period.  With so much time we are diving into stop motion. Students will work with a partner to make a stop motion to review a science topic they learned about. When I explained to the students what we were doing they were very excited and most had never heard of stop motion. They were even more excited when I shared examples I found on YouTube.

Here is our 6 week plan.
Day 1: Research the topic and find 6-10 facts.
Day 2: Complete the storyboard to plan out the project.
Day 3: Work on background and props.
Day 4: Use Stop Motion Studio to take pictures for the Stop Motion movie.
Day 5: Finish taking pictures and record narration.
Day 6: Finish pictures, narration, and select background music.

Here are a few pictures from the beginning of the projects.

And the winners are...
The Mock Caldecott and Mock Newbery club did a wonderful job reading a variety of books to select their winners.

Two 2nd grade classes and two 3rd grade classes listened to the 14 books on the Mock Caldecott list and then critiqued the pictures and words to decide which one deserved to win the Gwin Oaks Mock Caldecott Award. Students were also able to connect via Skype with other Mock Caldecott groups in Florida and Maine.

Mock Caldecott Winners

Mock Caldecott Honors

The Mock Newbery Award was decided by a class of 4th graders. I met with them once a week to discuss and blog about the books. Students read from a list of 10 books and even connected with one of the authors, Jennifer Jacobson, author of Paper Things. 

Mock Newbery Winner
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Mock Newbery Honors

The 4th grade students worked on a 3D printing project to coincide
with their Native American unit. This was a great way to see students demonstrate their understanding in multiple ways. 

This project was inspired by one done at Barrow Elementary.

Step 1: Research
Students used an interactive PowerPoint I designed to locate the information for the Native American group they choose. Their research focused on the location, environment, food, and clothing of their group. 

Step 2: Draw design on paper
Once they completed the information for their Native American group they created a design. The design could focus on the location, environment, clothing, food or any other aspect of the group they found important. Some students choose to be literal with their design, while others took a more abstract approach.

Step 3: Scan design with Shape Maker App
Once their designs were completed they used the Shape Maker App to turn their designs from 2D to 3D. The students were amazed at the transformations. Occasionally, we ran into problems with the app when it would not capture the design correctly. Students simply tweaked their designs as needed until it was able to be used in the app.

Step 4: Print Projects
Since Shape Maker is a Makerbot product their captured designs loaded into the Makerbot program. To help keep items organized I renamed the design files with the teacher and student name. I also printed a master copy of the designs from the Makerbot Library to keep track of which designs were printed. Since there are approximately 180 4th graders it took quite a while to have all of the projects print. On average it took 2 days for all the projects from a class to print and about 3 weeks for the whole grade level. Since the printers were constantly printing we ran into extruder head jams. Makerbot was very helpful and sent out replacement parts.

Step 6: Decorate Pinch Pots
Once the designs were printed they were given to the art teacher, Mr. Fields. I also gave him the master sheet I printed from the Makerbot library so he would know which project belonged to which student. With Mr. Fields they created a pinch pot and then used their stamp to decorate their pot. Once their pot decorations were done they were able to take home their 3D print. The students were so excited to have their stamp and they can't wait until pots are fired.

Fifth grade had a chance to explore Civil War artifacts with the rental of a Civil War trunk. I rented the trunk through the Northeast Georgia Museum. They rent the trunks to school for only $25 a week. The trunk came with wonderful primary resources for the students to explore. I decided to divide the items among five tables for the students to explore, discuss, and write their observations.

The five tables were: money, Harper's Weekly newspaper, Civil War clothing, haversack bag and contents, and an ammunition bag with a picture of its contents.

Students were given a sheet and card with discussion questions. I modeled how to examine the artifacts with the canteen for the students. The students would have the same questions on their sheet and discussion cards for each table. They were also instructed not to fill in the response section of the paper since we would discuss the artifacts as a group and what the artifact really was. I also set a 5 minute timer for each table so that the students would have time to go to all 5 tables, but also to keep them focused.

The students loved examining the artifacts. We spoke about how colorful the newspaper was, how itchy the clothing felt, and how heavy the shoe was. They also loved seeing real hardtack, the tooth brush, soap, and the bowl and utensils the soldiers used. They were also most surprised that the black bag was for ammunition and not for medicine or letter writing. 

The students learned so much by seeing the items soldiers and others used during the Civil War. This was my 3rd year reserving a Civil War trunk and based on the learning and excitement of the students I will rent another one next year.

Third graders study Georgia Animals. Since I would see the students for 4 days over their specials rotation I decided a research and technology project would fit into our schedule. 

On the first day students selected a Georgia Animal from a list of 22 that I was able to find videos about (I'll explain why that's important later). They then used Encyclopedia Britannica, PowerKids Science, or Pebble Go Animals to find information about their animals appearance, habitat and diet. They also listed 3 additional interesting facts about their animal. Students did a great job locating their information. 

The next step was for students to select the poster template they wanted to use. I made three choices for them, a wanted poster, a riddle, and a magazine cover. I like making the templates because it allows students to focus on getting their information into their project first and then playing around with text size, color, etc.  They spent the next two days typing their information from their research sheet and adding a picture of their animal. Ahead of time I used Britannica Image Quest and downloaded at least 8 pictures of each animal for students to choose from. The pictures were saved in their teacher's shared drive folder so that the students could easily access them when needed.

The final day was adding the QR codes to the posters. This is why I had to find videos ahead of time for the animals. Each animal had 2 videos that were either linked directly to a child friendly site such as Discover Kids, or downloaded and then uploaded unto my webpage if it was on Youtube. For this step I wish I could have just used SafeShare but my district blocked the site a year ago.

Students were given time to view the two videos so they could select which one they wanted to use in their video. After viewing the video students followed along with me as I showed them how to copy and paste the link into a QR code generator. Shorten the URL to one that was easier to scan. Save, name, and download their QR code. Finally, insert the QR code into the poster. Students did a wonderful job following directions and helping each other.

After the class left I printed the projects for the teacher to hang outside their classroom. I will also upload the projects later to the teacher's website.

Students at Gwin Oaks celebrated completing the summer reading program. At the end of last school year students were given a reading list and selection of reading projects to complete. Gwin Oaks students rose to the challenge and almost 200 of them finished their summer reading and turned in a project. 

To celebrate their accomplishment they were invited to the Summer Reading Celebration. At the celebration they watch the magician David Ginn perform. At the end of the magic show they received a certificate, a free book, and a bag of "book worms".

Students showing off their books and book worms.

This year I decided to do a QR code library orientation like the ones I'd seen on Pinterest for 3rd-5th grade. I made five centers for them to rotate through; using the media catalog, finding a book, using a shelf marker, rules, and putting a book on the shelf correctly. Students worked in pairs to scan the QR codes and answer the questions on their sheet.

The first couple of classes were a little hectic and I learned a couple of things to help with future classes. The first thing I changed with the 3rd graders was to project the tablet onto the projector to walk students through one of the QR codes and using the app. I also had to eliminate a few questions to ensure that they had enough time to complete the QR code scavenger hunt and check out books. Finally, there were also a few times when the wireless slowed down so students weren't able to complete the activity before time was up.

Overall, the orientation was a huge success. The students loved walking around to scan the codes. They also did a wonderful job working in pairs to complete the activity. I loved watching their enthusiasm and seeing them cooperate to find the answers to the questions. We will definitely do more activities like this in the future.

The book for the Gwin Oaks Mock Caldecott have been chosen and are ready to be shared with students. There are so many great books on that it was hard narrowing it down to a manageable list of 15 books.Students will start listening to the books in November to coincide with Picture Book Month and will finish just before Christmas Break in December. 

Students will use the scoring sheet below to keep track of the Mock Caldecott books they listen to. Last year students focused more on the story than the pictures so I am hopeful that the new scoring sheet will balance their judging out more since it helps them to focus on the artwork a little more than the story. Either way this is a fantastic and diverse selection of books and I can't wait to see what the students think of them.