Pirate Pals

When one of your students realizes their school librarian loves pirates *almost* as much as they do... And you have matching costumes. Best day of kindergarten. Ever.

As soon as this picture was taken, we talked pirate-y to one another and then I pulled a pile of pirate books from the library. Some of my favorites are:

• The Pirate Jamboree by Mark Teague
• Magic Marks the Spot (Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates) by Caroline Carlson
• Pirates Don't Change Diapers by Melinda Long
• Pirates Love Underpants by Claire Freedman
• A Year on a Pirate Ship by Elizabeth Havercroft
• Pirates Past Noon (Magic Tree House) by Mary Pope Osborne

Ahoy, Matey! Pirate Day

I missed the boat (ahem, I mean, pirate ship) in September for International Talk Like a Pirate Day and after helping several students locate swashbuckling books in the library, I was inspired to have an impromptu Pirate Day with first grade. Saying they "loved it" would be the overstatement of the century.

How does one host an impromptu Pirate Day, you ask? Well, it's simple...

 

First, gather together the following:

-Black, long-sleeved shirt

-Black pants or skirt

-Plain white t-shirt that has been "distressed" to look pirate-y

-Several red scraps of fabric to use as a belt (aka-sword holder) and headband

-An eye patch (what librarian DOESN'T have an eye patch?)

-Gold chains

-A menacing look

I also happened to have a pirate chest and gold coins in my office (oh, the things you can find in my office. Seriously).

The choices for pirate-themed books are endless (as are the options for fun accents when reading said books):

Pirates by John Matthews

Pirate: a DK Eyewitness Book by Richard Platt (I love to include non-fiction books for these thematic lessons. I pick small sections of text and the kiddos are always fascinated by what they learn)

Pirates Love Underpants by Claire Freedman and Ben Cort

No Pirates Allowed Said Library Lou by Rhonda Gowler Greene and Brian Ajhar

How I Became a Pirate by Melinda Long and David Shannon

 

We finished up by creating these too-cute pirate decorations using paper plates, black construction paper scraps and red fabric. They were displayed in the hall and were a big hit.

Well, matey, might it be time for your own impromptu Pirate Day? Me thinks so!

Little Book Lover

Now, that is one excited reader. Check out her (lengthy) list of completed books. And for fun, no less!

This list is now hanging proudly on our library wall.

Westward Expansion Bulletin Board

My fourth grade students do a huge Westward Expansion and Lewis and Clark unit with their general studies teacher. In an effort to support what is happening in the classroom, I created this bulletin board:

I purchased these awesome Westward Expansion Trading Cards from the Technology Integration Depot on Teachers Pay Teachers. Each card has a graphic and a short blurb of information, I am constantly finding kiddos standing in front of the board soaking up new facts.

The trail routes on the Westward Expansion map were made using yarn (and lots of patience). The mountains are just little construction paper triangles with a dab of white paint to look like snow. Lastly, the rivers were made by twisting strips of blue tissue paper to make a sort of rope, the "rope" was then adhered to the map with glue.

The best part of this whole display? I've now seen the fourth grade general education teacher bring her students to sit in front of the bulletin board two different times to enhance her lesson. Yaaay for library resources.

Preschool Storytime: Owls

I. Love. Owl. Storytime. Between the plethora of resources, the adorable owl crafts and the way that even my youngest kiddos enthusiastically say, "Hooooooot," it's easily one of my favorites.

The owl books are so popular that when I shot the photo for this post, a number of the books that had been included in the Owl Storytime had already been checked out by excited little readers.

 

My top picks for owl books are:

 

Little Hoot by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Jen Corace

Little Owl Lost by Chris Haughton

Good Night, Owl by Pat Hutchins

Owl Babies by Martin Waddell and Patrick Benson

Owl Moon by Jane Yolen and John Schoenheer (for older audiences)

The Owl and the Pussycat by Edward Lear and Jan Brett

 

Today's felt board rhyme came from Leah and Mollie over at Sunflower Storytime, their "What a HOOT" storytime post is adorable.

 

Five Little Owls

Five little owls sitting in a tree

One flew away! How many do you see?

One, two, three, four.

 

Four little owls sitting in a tree

One flew away! How many do you see?

One, two, three.

 

Three little owls sitting in a tree

One flew away! How many do you see?

One, two.

 

Two little owls sitting in a tree

One flew away! How many do you see?

One.

 

One little owl sitting in a tree

 She flew away! How many do you see?

 Zero!

 This was a big hit!

 

Before the kiddos left, they made these adorable (and very easy) owl handprints. Once the handprints dried, my lovely library assistant and I added the darling details. I am in love with these! I was also thrilled to discover that I could feed construction paper through the printer and would be able to add the titles of the books for our parents to reference.

Geronimo Stilton, Say Cheese!

And to think, some people have to wear a suit to work everyday. Not me!

I. Love. Scholastic. Costumes.

Layers of the Earth Clay Models

Do you remember studying the layers of the earth when you were in elementary school? Yep, me neither. If I had made a clay model of the earth that was later cut open to expose the layers, that might be a different story...

This project came about after talking to the third grade classroom teacher and the art teacher, we all worked together to incorporate our areas of expertise into one cool experience for our kiddos. The students have been learning about the earth for a few weeks now so the kids have a great deal of background knowledge.

Before this project even began, I bought (lots) of Crayola Model Magic, this stuff is great to work with, dries over time and comes in lots of fun colors. I bought six colors, one for each of the layers of the earth the students were asked to represent:

I then divided the clay into individual bags, one for each student. I also included handouts for all of the tables and made my sample earth model:

After a very short period of instruction, students set to work on making their models:

I purposely did not give the kiddos much direction, they discovered that if they make a ball for the very center of the earth and then wrap the remaining colors around that ball, it works well:

They loved this project!

The earth models looked great, they wanted to immediately cut them open to expose the layers, but I made them wait until the clay had a chance to dry.

Sadly, because we had a few weeks without library time, the earths got a little too dry and the seams started to crack. Fortunately, the models still held together and looked good:

After meeting with the art teacher, we decided these models should go on display for the entire school community. Therefore, we needed backdrops... What a great opportunity to re-visit the layers of the earth. The art teacher worked with the kiddos to create a diorama (of sorts) that both held the model and showed the layers of the earth:

Next step, cutting the models open, yaaay! And, yes, I let them wield the knife (brave, I know, but I watched them closely and they were so careful knowing this was a big responsibility):

It was so fun to see the variations in the layers!

After cutting open the models, the students made labels of the different layers of the earth using sticky envelope labels and toothpicks (the simplest supplies are sometimes the best option):

The models turned out GREAT and the kids were so proud!