USING MULTIMEDIA TO ENGAGE

President Obama visits Falcon Launch Site

Using multimedia offers many opportunities across all subject areas. Long a proponent of using a variety of media to engage my readers, today's technologies makes it so much easier than in the past. The challenge is in knowing how to format, pace and integrate appropriate sources. Media can add dimension such as movement that cannot be done with still pictures. Please do not use any media that you have not viewed in its entirety in advance. 

Depending on the age of your students, subject area and your objectives, the idea of space exploration from rocketry to cold war, studying the solar system can take many forms. For K-2 see Ms. M's Materials and my use of the First Graders From Mars series. One could easily add a short video of the Falcon Heavy launch (and I mean short - less than 5 minutes these are 1st graders after all). They will ask to "see it again" and that's fine but one of the biggest mistakes when integrating video is playing a "long" video. 

Visit your library or shop your local indie bookstore.

There are many books for elementary students and Emily Lakdawalla offers years of reviews on Emily’s Recommended Space Books for Kids Ms. Lakdawalla checks every book for factual information and while she stopped doing lists in 2022 one can send her an email if there's a book you want her to review. Older Than the Stars by Karen C. Fox, illustrated by Nancy Davis is on the list. Perfect for early elementary in its repetitive rhyme about the Big Bang Theory. The Planetary Society is an amazing resource itself, "Cofounded by Sagan. Led by Nye. Powered by you."

Visit your library or shop your local indie bookstore.

The movie Hidden Figures based on the book of the same name by Margot Lee Shetterly can provide engagement on many levels. There are a ton of resources for middle and high school students studying the Cold War. Journeys in Film not only offers a free downloadable viewing guide for the move, but will send teachers a free DVD. Also checkout NASA for the story behind the story and see some "Modern Figures," rocketry and many other resources.

Visit your library or shop your local indie bookstore.

Regardless of the direction of your discovery, when integrating media be sure to be clear on your objectives and make sure that your materials are age appropriate. Video, texts and hands on activities can be mixed together to foster maximum engagement by your students and/or plan a fun family activity. Have an idea but struggling to format it? You don't have enough time to pull all the resources together? Think you've got it but want to virtually brainstorm with you? I can help. Inbox me and turn ordinary lessons in to engaging discoveries.

MORE INSPIRATION MONDAY!

If you missed the 2018 Youth Media Awards click here to see the ceremony and get more information and inspiration!

AWARD WINNERS, CHALLENGES AND REREADING

Brightly

A quick post today to suggest other ways to find a book to read. Brightly is a blog started by publisher Penguin Random House in 2014 to help parents and educators connect kids with the right books at the right time. The layout of the blog makes it extremely easy to use and provides some great ideas to make reading fun. They also have a newsletter that you can subscribe to. Be selective about what sites or blogs you follow. Manage your social media. If you find you are not getting great suggestions for you, then it's not a fit and unsubscribe. There are so many great places to find ideas today but don't get lost in the forest of social media time waste. Focus on that book a week or challenge of your choice for maximum pleasure.

Another place to find inspiration is on the ALA (American Library Association) website. You can follow them on all the regular social media outlets, but check out their "Award, Grants and Scholarship" pages and create your own reading challenges from the comprehensive Award Lists. Perhaps this year you will see how many Caldecott Award Winners you can read in 2018! Book Riot author Laura Sackton offers 50 DIY Reading Challenges to Make 2018 the Best Reading Year of Your Life! There are 50 great ideas here including number 8 "Read 52 comics - one comic per week!" or how about number 10, "Think of one or two authors who have written at least one book that  you've loved. Now read everything else those authors have published." (Madeleine L'Engle was "her" first!).

Visit your library or shop your local indie bookstore!

Speaking of Madeleine L'Engle, reading or rereading a book you've already read is another way to keep your reading on track - especially when a movie is about to come out! I'm not certain how many times or when I last read A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L'Engle -  you can see by the cover photo it's an older version! I'm rereading the book so I'm ready for the March 9th release of the Disney movie. If you follow this blog, you know I am a firm believer of reading the book FIRST. For me, I won't even watch the trailer before I finish rereading the book...but if you want to entice your students or child, by all means watch the trailers.

JUST RIGHT BOOKS

Good choice!

How do you find a book that is right for you, your child or your student? A book that one will read from cover to cover can be a daunting task for new readers. For this post, I would like to provide some guidance on getting the right books in to the hands of new and emerging readers. 

Let’s start at the beginning with a comprehensive, well researched article by Pamela Paul and Maria Russo (The New York Times Books) entitled How to Raise a Reader. If you are a parent, it's never too late to start but showing by example is extremely important. If you are a teacher of students that may not have had the type of access this article suggests from an early age, I want to invite you to think about your classroom as your home with your own child or children. How could you use these same strategies and ideas to modify how you teach? One example that is fun at home or school is to "read and repeat." My kindergarten and first grade students love doing this. “I say it first, you say it second.” The Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems are great for this as are Ring! Yo? and Yo! Yes? by Chris Raschka. 

Shop your local indie bookstore.

Determine your objective and identify resources to meet your objective. If you have a FREE or classroom library, be sure to include age appropriate anchor charts or reading checklists (for students who are already reading and writing) to guide your reader. Every classroom library should have an anchor chart that guides selection that you have hopefully reviewed multiple times with your students. 

Even after having library class for several years and some of the greatest rock star classroom teachers, my library students would stand in line to check out a book they had not even opened! You can not reinforce how to find the book that's right for you enough. On the flip side there are those students who will look at every book in your classroom library or take the entire class period in library and NOT find a book. This is a skill that requires lots of practice. For my upper elementary students I would often make reading passports and they would be challenged to read a book from multiple genres throughout the year and earn stickers for each. Access to a variety of reading materials must be matched by knowledgeable guidance and example!

Shop your local indie bookstore.

Visit Reading Rockets a national multimedia literacy initiative offering information and resources on how young kids learn to read, why so many struggle, and how caring adults can help. Choosing and Using Kids Books is a great section with information for parents, caregivers and teachers alike. A sister site in Spanish is Colorin Colorado.

You may also enjoy reading The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller and Passionate Readers – The Art of Reaching and Engaging Every Child by Pernille Ripp. Add more reading minutes to your day by listening...try Audible and get your first two books free!

Please note: I do not earn an affiliate commission for ANY purchase.

READING AND WRITING IN 2018

My first blog post of the New Year challenged you and yours to read, read, read. Without becoming overly political or verbose in this space, I have watched far too many school years pass where students and teachers did not read or write very much. I’ve heard tons of “reasons” for completing just one or two books in an entire school year. Classes spend inordinate amounts of time reading passages and answering multiple choice and short answer form questions in an English class that meets 5 times a week! While this post is primarily focused on the role writing can and should play, I would like to inspire you with a quote from President Obama from the 2005 ALA Annual Conference address;

"At the dawn of the 21st century, where knowledge is literally power, where it unlocks the gates of opportunity and success, we all have responsibilities as parents, as librarians, as educators, as politicians, and as citizens to instill in our children a love of reading so that we can give them a chance to fulfill their dreams." 

Good readers think about their reading and what better way to reflect on good reading than writing? As a library media specialist for the last 9 years, I could always tell which students would pass a high stakes test and those who wouldn't just from their reading and writing habits. I have also watched as scheduling and a lack of understanding of school libraries support the plummeting of student success – but I digress and tempt you to come back another day for a future post about the importance of school libraries and the role certified library teachers play in whole school progress. For this post I'm asking you to recognize what distracts you and your students. How many times a day do you look at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or text someone something that just happened? Parents: you have a role in this too–your child should have time everyday for reading and writing. 

Shop your local indie bookstore.

This blog is about solutions and Ralph Fletcher’s A Writer’s Notebook, got me thinking. What if everyone put down their device and picked up a pen or pencil and followed Mr. Fletcher's ideas for “unlocking the writer within you?” If you are a teacher this book offers ideas you can use immediately with your students. The 12 chapters could be divided into 12 or 24 weeks of writing–that’s close to a school year! I've given you a link to buy the book on Amazon, but I would be surprised if there wasn't one of these books in your school already. If you are new to teaching, this book could guide you very easily in your first year...inbox me and I'll help you with your lesson plans. If you are a veteran teacher and are noticing that your students are not progressing, I suggest you take a quick read of Mr. Fletcher's books and see some of his tips on his web site. I believe if you mastered teaching with this book, you would see student improvement in reading and writing. 


 After 40 years of teaching and learning, writing curriculum, and running many successful programs, I respectfully conclude that the answer IS simple–to create readers and writers we must read and write and give our students the time to read and write. I have seen so much money and time spent on new “researched programs” on what works including re-training staff sometimes every year brought about by changes in administration and low test scores. If you have taught or been an administrator for a short time you know what I am talking about. We must make the time for students to read and write everyday and guiding them should not take hours of training an already educated certified teacher with a complicated, expensive “researched” program. If you are hiring a teacher and they are not a reader–move on. If you are an administrator and you are not a reader and a writer–you lack two of the basic skills to lead. If you are a parent struggling to get your child reading - read with them. Let them see you as a reader. So friends, put down your devices and get serious about reading and writing for yourself, your students and your children. Simply stated, readers and writers pass most tests easily and the most important test of living a fuller, more informed life is aced.

P.S. Reading this blog counts as reading!

RESOLVE TO READ MORE IN 2018

As you reflect on 2017 don't forget to ask yourself about how many books you read and think about why reading is important for you. Serious Reading has a great article that gives us 30 Reasons to Read Books including being inexpensive entertainment, reducing stress, and improving your brain but that article is no longer available. I'm sure you can think of a few reasons that are meaningful to you. Resolve to STOP the distractions and check out this article in the LA Times by Jessica Roy on How to read more books in 2018 - but you'll need a guest account since I first posted this. No excuses in 2018. You may want to make your reading a more social affair, try one of my ideas in Form a Book Group Challenge a post from September 2017 and see how 2018 can be one of the best years ever...because you are reading!

WOLF HOLLOW

Shop your local indie bookstore.

Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk is a 2017 Newbery Honor Book. A great addition to coming of age stories like Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson and The Crossover by Kwame Alexander. The story begins with Annabelle, the main character saying “The year I turned 12, I learned how to lie.” It's a touching story where Annabelle learns that even though we may feel insignificant in the world, "The year I turned twelve, I learned that what I said and what I did mattered." Tons of ways to use this book in your middle grade classroom or as a family read. 

HOUR OF CODE

Last year my 7th and 8th grade Media Class students participated in Hour of Code and we all learned so much. Hour of Code became more than an hour and it was a lot of fun as well. As a teacher or parent you do not need to know how to code to participate and use the Hour of Code materials.  A nonprofit group Code.org has put together everything you need to participate and it's FREE. There is something for everyone K-12. Watch the introductory video and then get involved!

Book Fair Update

Tuesday, January 17th will be the LAST day of our Annual Book Fair. Thank you to everyone who has supported our Book Fair; excited students, supportive parents and patient OG teachers that help our students organize their orders and send them to the Library.

I love this photo of two of our students sharing their purchases with each other. Many thanks again to all for your support. All proceeds go to purchasing NEW library books for all OG students to share in our Library.

The Book Fair is Here!

Our Annual Book Fair will run from January 9th through January 17th. My Media Class Students did an amazing job setting up the Fair this year. They made special sections for shoppers including a "Shopkins," animals, graphic novels and heroes and history areas. The Book Fair is open to all Orchard Gardens students and their families. Students generally purchase books during their regularly scheduled Library Class or after school. The Fair will be open until 5:00pm every day. ALL proceeds from the Fair go to purchasing more BOOKS for our library. Your child should have a flyer for the fair. You can also preview titles and purchase books online CLICK HERE PLEASE. 

Our New Giving Tree!

As promised, the 2016 Giving Tree made by the students and staff at Orchard Gardens from recycled damaged book pages! Hundreds of "leaves" with messages of peace, love, happiness and understanding create the canopy. Watching my younger students' excitement as the tree blooms and "hugging" the tree before they get to our "reading rug" never gets old. My wish for the entire Orchard Gardens Family is that you have peace, love, happiness and understanding each and every day of 2017 and beyond!

The Lion's Den Debuts at December Arts Show

Liliano and Kiareliz greeted our December Art Show guests with programs and the new edition of The Lion's Den. Over 100 students from K-8 are showcased through their writing and visual arts products in this edition of The Den. 
Get your copy today for only $3.00 in the Library at Orchard Gardens.

You're Invited!

Don't miss the December Arts Show!

Wednesday, December 21st

4:30 p.m. Stroll the art galleries

5:00 p.m. Performances in the auditorium by the OG Band, Theater, Dance, Strings, Chorus and Piano students.

The Lion's Den and other Orchard Gardens novelties will be on sale.

Orchard Gardens Welcome Back B-B-Q

Join us! 

Back to School B-B-Q! 

Meet teachers, enjoy some food and order uniforms!

Wednesday, August 31st

2-4 pm

Free Ebooks on Open eBooks

Download the App here. If your child attends a Title I school, the school librarian, reading teacher or even principal may have the access code. This is a great free resource, but you will need the access code for your child's school.

On your mark, get set, READ!

Connect to the Boston Public Schools summer readings lists for ALL grades.

Spring ARTS Festival!!!

Don't miss our end of the year ARTS Festival. Stroll our hallways beginning at 4:00 pm and see original art by our students K-8. Join us in the Auditorium at 4:30pm for spectacular performances by Theater, Chorus, Band, Dance, Strings and Piano students. Thursday, May 26th! See you there.

Storyboarding Social Issues

With a brief but super cool interruption of running the school book fair, my Media Class Students have not missed a beat and T'nysha is ready to shoot her Public Service Announcement on self worth. After getting experience with visually laying out a story, the students create storyboards on a social issue or public service announcement using storyboardthat.com. In addition to creating their storyboards students research their topic and learn to restate three facts in their own words as they write their scripts. A few sample storyboards follow; practice makes perfect by Dejon, Concussion by Joel and Self Worth by T'nysha.

You're Invited!

Stop by the library and visit our Annual Scholastic Book Fair. The fair will run from Monday, January 11th to Tuesday, January 19th. Books may be purchased during your child's normally scheduled library class and after school. The fair will be open every school day until 5:00 p.m.
You can preview the fair here. All proceeds go to restocking our library shelves.

Our Giving Tree

Buy me here!

Every December I read The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein to every library class including electives and we create a new giving tree. All students and staff are encouraged to write a message of loving, caring, giving or sharing to someone special in their life. Someone who is like a tree in that they stand tall for them whether they are perfect or may sometimes make a bad choice... this person is a person that loves you without conditions and loves you as much on a Monday as any other day of the week. The messages stay on the tree until June as a reminder of the people that matter in our lives and are always there for us.
In addition to reading the book, we watch the original movie narrated by Shel Silverstein and a short adaptation of the original. Each year we share something special about the people that love us unconditionally and represent our "tree." We also compare the different media for storytelling and our own different understandings of the story as we grow older. The December 2015 Tree is made with leaves from old maps and represents our library theme this year, Reading Takes You Places. As you can see above, our students are never too old to hug the tree.
Previous trees include the December 2014 tree dedicated to Shel Silverstein on the 50th Anniversary of The Giving Tree done in the illustration style of Silverstein; our multi-colored leave tree from December 2013 dedicated to Nelson Mandela and a traditional green tree from December 2012.