Read. Connect. Share. Inspire.

I believe in the power of story. I believe in the power of connection. It's in the moments where these overlap that magic happens.

Today Kevin Emerson very graciously offered to Skype with a 5th grade class for World Read Aloud Day. He read to us from his new book, The Fellowship for Alien Detection, and revealed that he had once worked in a bank about a mile from our school! The questions came fast and furious and with each answer Kevin won over the hearts of these young readers (and this not-so-young librarian!) He fielded each question with seriousness and humor (from "Were you fired from the bank or did you quit?" and "How could there possibly be aliens in the world?" to "Do you REALLY believe in aliens?" and the one that gave him most pause, "What do you like better, reading or writing?") Kevin made some lasting connections by sharing that one of his favorite authors is Sharon Creech and favorite books include the His Dark Materials series (this might make us secret soulmates). He sparked a hold list a mile long not just for tFfAD (fad! What a great acronym!) but for the book he shared as his current read- The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom (another gem).

To see 20 5th graders sit for 30 minutes as we chatted with an inspiring author was powerful. It really felt like he was in the room with us just hanging out.

I think they might flip when I tell them we will have to Skype again to hear Kevin's live version of The Fellowship for Alien Detection song.

I believe in the power of connecting with the creativity behind the story. And my students do, too.

ZERVCOTT votes are in!

Oh my, this blog has had a serious hiatus. Not for lack of awesomeness happening in the library, but from a complete lack of time for this library teacher to write up events. It spiraled when I then felt like the blog was missing SO MUCH and I froze. Like writer's block, but more like blog freeze. Trying to fix that now! I will breeze by (and come back to) Picture Book Month (some amazing cross-country connections!), Brian Lies' author visit, 5th Grade Bookclub starting, and more. What is pressing now are the results of our 2nd annual MOCK CALDECOTT (aka the ZERVCOTT medals!)

Let's begin.

I had a hard time not including amazing picture books on the mock list, so we had 30 (yes 30!) in our first round of voting.  Here they are in all of their cover glory:

Starting in November (the aforementioned wonderful Picture Book Month), I shared these books during library classes and talked them up to teachers. Throughout December, 1st graders learned a lot about the Caldecott medal and had lots of time to peruse the pages of these gems. Grades 2-5 had lessons and chances to view the books and all grade levels voted on their favorites in early January. I then had the 1st graders and 5th graders serve as my "Zervcott Committee" members and re-vote for their choices from a Top 6 generated from the first round voting.

Here are the Top 6:

First graders also designed medals that the 5th graders voted on.  Without any further ado (or my rambling) - here are the results.

Zervcott honors (and their medals!):

Chloe and the Lion - Zervcott honor 2013

Zervcott Honor Medal by Alyssa

Green - Zervcott Honor 2013

Zervcott Honor Medal by Suvi

And the 2013 Zervcott Winner is......

This is Not My Hat- Zervcott WINNER 2013!

Zervcott Medal by Thomas

Our kids LOVED This Is Not My Hat. Will it win a Caldecott? I'm not sure. But it won the hearts of many students, and that's what counts!  Look for future posts with student reactions/responses to Green and a video homage to This Is Not My Hat!

It's Picture Book Month!

Wow. Is anyone else feeling like time is flying by? For all of November, we have been celebrating Picture Book Month - reading, sharing and creating all things picture book. There has been Skyping, reader's theater, story sharing, book trailer watching and bookmark creating.  I'm hoping the students are having as much fun as I am reading, sharing and tracking some amazing books.  Here's a little peek at what's been happening:

Green by Laura Vacarro Seeger - you've GOT to watch this. Booktrailers ROCK.

4th graders Skyped with 2/3rd graders in Sharon, MA. Thanks Ms. Drew! (@erinlibrary)

2nd graders answer the question "Why read picture books?"

5th graders rank their TOP TEN picture books via google form

Our community picture book reads!

1st graders wrote sentences from "found" words - based on a word hunt inspired by Rocket!

5th graders create a VoiceThread to verbalize thoughts about picture books.

Picture books are... AWESOME!

2nd graders Skype with 4th graders in Onalaska, WI. Thanks Ms. Brunelle! (@librarygirl2)

Our first Mystery Skype!

This past Wednesday, one class of 5th graders came into the library to find they had a puzzle to solve. With just 10 minutes of planning and prep time, we called a classroom in an unknown location via Skype, with the intention of figuring out where they were. At the same time, that classroom would be trying to locate us!  The students stepped right up to the challenge. We established roles and jobs to make sure we were successful.  Here's what we came up with:

The big picture!

Google Earth and Google Maps provided instant updates

• Researchers: Students ready to analyze clues on Google maps and Google Earth, along with students manning print atlases and looking at globes and printed out maps.

Note taking in action

• Note-takers and Clue Trackers: Students took notes on each question and answer asked, with special focus on the clues.

• Runners: Students literally ran between groups, synthesizing answers to questions, passing these on to the Researchers and sharing ideas with the Questioners. 

• Questioners: Students presented strategic questions to the mystery classroom to try to narrow down their location and answered the questions that were posed to us.  We took turns - they asked us a question, then we asked one back!

• Photographer: Documenting the event with photos and perspective. (Evidence here! Pics by Eliza and Olivia)

• Videographer: Documenting the well-oiled machine we became! Complete with insider interviews :)

• Greeter: Introduced our class at the beginning of the Skype call (without revealing our location!) and answered follow up questions after each class located the other!

A view into our mystery classroom - see any clues?

Notes were taken via Google Docs and shared with me

Students poured over atlases & maps!

The final question to determine our city!

We had such a great time! I basically stood back and watched the students work together as a TEAM. Everyone had a job, and when we finally figured out their state (Missouri!) and town, there were cheers and fist pumps. The 5th graders totally rocked this! I was so impressed with the questions each group came up with to narrow down the mystery locations. It was definitely an experience I'm hoping to replicate across the upper grade levels! Thanks to Mrs. Venosdale (@ktvee) for guiding us through our first Mystery Skype! It was wonderful to meet and connect with such an enthusiastic group of 5th graders!

We're going on a Word Hunt!

First graders extended their connections with Tad Hill and his Rocket books today by going on a word hunt!  We first brainstormed WHERE we could go (and outside was a popular choice, but it was a little too chilly without sweatshirts), HOW we would find inspiring words (and about what inspiring even means!) and WHAT our word hunt would look like and sound like (so as to not disturb other classes!) The kids grabbed a clipboard, a pencil and some sticky notes and we were on our way!  Some wonderful words were hunted and gathered, and finally shared over a projection of Rocket's word tree! Next up - can we make a story from these words?  Stay tuned!

Writing and walking!

Comparing found words

Walking and sharing!

Some of the word gems we found

Our very own word tree!

Stephen McCranie Skype Visit!

On Friday, two 4th grade classes had a special visit from cartoonist Stephen McCranie!  He is the author/illustrator of the graphic novel series Mal and Chad (click on the link to find out more about his books and comics!)  Stephen started out by introducing himself and showing the students the computer he uses to create his art.  

Cartoonist Stephen McCranie!

He then shared his screen with us, so we saw him creating as he talked! Stephen shared drawing tips and story ideas. He took ideas from our classes and created a story starter and a custom drawing!  Zervas 4th graders had many questions for Stephen and he answered them all while drawing away for us. It was an experience the students will remember! I had borrowed some Mal and Chad books from the public library and those went home with eager readers. I already have holds on the books that I've ordered that haven't even come in yet. We were able to video some of the visit (with Stephen's permission!) to share with Mr. West's class who couldn't make it to the presentation. It was a great way to spend a Friday afternoon in the library. Thanks for a great visit Stephen!

The students all wanted to know about the program he used to draw for us!

Our character, Kate, who built a cupcake eating robot to help her win a music competition!

The 5 Best Things...

....About TODAY!

(This is a copy of the post I just sent to the staff at my elementary school - it was sparked by the idea of sending out a monthly? weekly? 5 Best Things... tech tips email or post and then was overrun by all of the wonderful things that happened during my day. Skip to the bottom for the pictorial evidence.)

1. I got to meet Newbery Award winning author Sharon Creech. She is lovely and talented and one of the best storytellers I know. Love. That. Author. She hugged me and asked me to write down my Twitter name (SEE?!) - OK, that was just bragging.  The message I really wanted to send is: Want to connect with authors? Talk to me about Twitter.

2. In the hallway after my 2nd grade classes, a boy walked by and asked if I had seen the joke book he had checked out in library.  I told him I hadn't, but I HAD heard him laughing, so he should remember some to tell me later.  As he walked away he said (and I CAN'T MAKE THIS UP) "I have quite a crush on that book!".  Message: Our students are AWESOME and I need to get that quote on a poster, stat.

3. After school I sat in 45 minutes of traffic to get to an Educator Appreciation event at Wellesley Booksmith.  I got to hear about a whole bunch of new books, AND I left with a bag full of free books and book-related swag.  Message: Independent bookstores rule and often give teachers free stuff. And, if you're looking for a Captain Underpants temporary tattoo, I'm your lady.

4. While I was there, I was finally able to purchase 2 copies of The One and Only Ivan and use my nifty random number generator to choose the winners.  Drum roll please....... The two lucky staff members to win a copy of this amazing story are Lisa McLellan and Jen Toran!  Message: Zervas staff rocks and I love to give stuff away. I'm already plotting my next raffle.

5. Tip of the Day: You can send pictures from your phone to your computer via the Bump app.  It is ridiculously easy.  You literally tap your phone on the spacebar. And - DONE! I heard about it yesterday and I just did it.  Message: Learning about this made me want to pass it on to all of you, which made me think of doing a "regular" 5 best things... for Tech Tips, which then made me think of all of the other highlights of the day and I coudn't stop typing.  Sorry! 

These are in no particular order because at any given moment that was the BEST part of the day.  You know those days that you really love your job and it makes up for all of the frustrating times? This was literally like a 10 star day (because I didn't even mention meeting Peter H. Reynolds and him signing his new book Sky Color for us, OR the awesome Skype session 2nd graders had with 2nd graders in Maryland about The Dot (also Peter H. Reynolds)).  Message: Do you want to try Skype in your classroom? Talk to me!  Do you think you would read/benefit from a 5 Best Things.... post? Talk to me!

Your nerdybookclub representative,

Erin 

Skyping with @MatthewWinner's class in Maryland!

How would YOU make your mark?

Dot creation!

Happy Dot Day-ish!

Love that Author!

The Great Unexpected - a picture with Sharon Creech!

Where all the magic happened... An amazing store!