What should we read next? Use our 5th gr. Book Trailers to help you figure it out.

My fifth graders are learning about BOOK TRAILERS.  This is a foundational lesson for many book reviews and projects to come. We spend time as a class watching other book trailers and talking about copyright.  I have many 6th graders who came back this year and asked me things about making videos.  Students have to work in groups to come up with a book they have all read.  They then have to create a script of what they want their book trailer to look like.  The scripts have to be approved before they can begin looking for images for their trailers.   

Here are the forms we use while planning out our trailers.  All of these are completed through Google Docs.
The first scriptSo I would show them this book trailer and then I would show how my script matches the finished trailer.
Example of first script....

1. __Imagine yourself alone in the wild________________________________
2. That’s Me.  My name is Squirrel.  I am not a Squirrel but I am a stray.  A stray dog.___________________________________________
3. My brother Bone an dI know how it feels.  We’re strays trying to survive._______________________________________________
4. We know how to hunt and find food.  Our mother taught us before she disappeared._______________________________________________________
5. _We try to hide from humans.  They could be mean and leave us on the side of the road.__________
6. But we always had each other.
7. Until Bone got adopted and I was left all alone._
8. Scare and hunger I wondered through the woods.  Looking for a place to stay.
9. _________I tried to track Bone like my mama taught me.
10. I miss him.  I want a home too and I’m really hungry.
11. Wait, I hear something.
12. Oh, no they look hunger too.
13. Will Squirrel ever find Bone?  Will she ever find a good home?  Find out by reading Ann M. Martin’s A Dog’s Life: The autobiography of a Stray.__________________________________________

After the students have their 1st script approved they then move towards gathering their digital pictures. We spend a lot of time discussing copyright and citing sources. We also learn how to use the Advanced Search Features of Google to find copyright free pictures. Here is an example of a digital storyboard.

Here are our book trailers. They are still coming in so be sure to revisit.

day BoMondayok Tra

                                                                 

Tuesday Book Trailers

                                                               

(not linked yet)

ThursThursdayrailers

(not linked yet)

Friday Book Trailers

Moving kids from DIGITAL CITIZENS to DIGITAL LEADERS

Likes this article ALOT so I wanted to share it on my blog.  Many of my kids are HEARING what is means to be a good digital citizen (that doesn't mean they do it all they time)but now I need to move them to the next step of becoming a digital leader. This visual helped me understand the concept better.

Moving Students from Digital Citizens to Digital Leaders

On the RIGHT track..

I received some confirmation today that the Forest Hills Media Specialists are moving towards the right direction with our Reinventing the Library program.  The White House came out with their National Educational Technology Plan and many of the concepts we are building into our district media curricula were listed on this plan.  This graphic was extremely helpful to understand the directions that our country wants to follow when implementing technology in our schools.

A few important concepts I pulled out from the plan were:

Technology also can help capture learners’ attention by tapping into their interests and passions.

Technology can enable personalized learning or experiences that are more engaging and relevant.

Technology can help organize learning around real-world challenges and project-based learning—using a wide variety of digital learning devices and resources to show competency with complex concepts and content. 

Monsters took over Summit! Reading will give you Goosebumps!

  

We placed a random monster leg on the stairway to get the students thinking about what the theme could be this year.  

We just completed our fall book fair!  The air was filled with monsters as students competed in a Monster Mash contest, in which they were asked to create a monster at home out of everyday objects.  The students would then vote on their grade level  monsters and the winner would receive a gift certificate to the book fair.  Take a look at the monsters that were created.

  

  

Noah and Nolan were our 1st and 2nd gr. winners.  

More Amazing Monsters

    

  

  

Mr. Devine's 6th grade class led the pack for our All for Books Contest.  This was a contest where we collected extra money to buy books and materials for the Media Center and the classrooms.  Together Summit raised $459.01.  This is also a service project because Scholastic will match that amount and donate that amount of books to kids in needy or distressed situations.  

 

Our top contributors to the All for Books got to help mummify the principals on our morning announcements.  The principals then visited the classrooms so students could enjoy the MUMMIFICATION!  This was a reward for Summit students selling over 1,000 books at the fair.  We sold 1556 to be exact.  That equals 280,080 minutes read.  Congratulations to all!

I love listening to students discuss books from the fair.  This is a memory I have from my childhood and I want them to have it also.

i

Christmas came early in the Media Center......the gift of Coding!

So my gift to my 1-6 graders this year is the gift of becoming coders.  They are becoming better students because of the skills they are learning through THE HOUR of CODE

This will definitely be a must in the future of my profession for the month of December.  Not only is it so motivating for the students that I am not scraping them off the ceiling as our winter break approaches but they are using so many skills as they learn how to code.  They are problem-solvers, critical thinkers, collaborators, creators, along with increasing math and reading skills.  I LOVE IT!  Here are some pics from the week.  Be sure to notice our wonderful fire in the background, which relaxed the students and let them enjoy their coding experience even more.  You can't enjoy it but there was also light Christmas music playing the background.  

Kindergarteners showing off some of the titles they 

are checking out.  

Explode with Code......They hour of CODE has hit Summit!

Our bulletin board outside the Media Center.  It got students and teachers talking about CODE!

We started the week before discussing what CODE is.  We talked about how we have 60% of jobs in our country in the Computer Science field but yet we don't have near enough people graduating with Computer Science degrees.
We also discussed how next week over 1,000,000 people will be participating in the Hour of Code.

We then watched two inspiration videos that hopefully inspired students to code.   Students enjoyed seeing famous people talk about why coding is important to them.

So now the Hour of Code week has arrived....all students, grades 
1-6, will get a coding experience this week.  Grades 4-6 will use code.org and begin with Course 2.  Grades 1-2 will use Tynker.com because I felt the activities were more suited to their grade level.  

Art of Presentation with 6th Graders

     So we have been through one round of S.O.L.E. with my 6th graders and have discussed the need for research to support opinions and the art of presentation.  After my students all shared their first S.O.L.E. the students took time to reflect on what makes a great presentation.  In the beginning students want to stand up and read slides to us.  They want to use font colors that are hard to read on distracting backgrounds.  We take time to talk about why these decisions do NOT work.  Things will get better with the second S.O.L.E., not perfect, but better.

Tips students mentioned that make a better presentation:

1.)  Talk to us don't read slides

2.)  Eye contact

3.)  Voice tone

4.)  Enthusiasm in your voice

5.)  Use images and animations with caution...don't want them to be distracting

6.)  Choose backgrounds that don't overtake the words

7.)  Be sure to include a Citation page

8.)  Support your opinions with RESEARCH

Examples of our 2nd S.O.L.E. 

   Questions:  Should America help other countries?