KidLit TV: Explore the World of Children's Literature

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Summer arrived this weekend, just in time for summer break to start in a few days.  As I have shared out summer reading lists and other resources to help students keep reading all summer, KidLit TV has podcasts, book trailers, activities and crafts through some of the following highlighted aspects to bring children's literature into your classroom.  This resource is great for teachers and parents to help connect students to great stories by fantastic authors and outstanding illustrators. 

• STORYMAKERS, our flagship series, is an entertaining talk show highlighting bestselling authors and illustrators in the kid lit world.
• READ OUT LOUD – Enjoy story time with authors at KLTV HQ!
• READY SET DRAW! – Get inspired to draw with talented illustrators from children’s literature.
• FIELD TRIP – Our crew hits the road to explore the world of kid lit.
• PHIL’S FAST FIVE – A fun, fast paced Q&A hosted by author Phil Bildner.

Enjoy the summer with many adventures through reading!

International Children's Digital Library: A Library for the World's Children

International Children's Digital Library

In watching a webinar titled Technology to Aid the Struggling Reader, I learned about this digital library where the mission of the ICDL Foundation is "to build a collection of books that represent outstanding historical and contemporary books from throughout the world." 

ICDL recognizes that language barriers and programing for language learning students continues to grow.  As noted in the website, "a fundamental principle of the Foundation is that children and their families deserve to have access to the books of their culture, as well as the majority culture, regardless of where they live. The ICDL Foundation's goal is to build a collection of books that represents outstanding historical and contemporary books from throughout the world."

In searching the digital library I found some fantastic books!  I searched by authors/illustrators where I found books by Molly Bang, Walter Dean Myers, Louisa May Alcott, David Shannon, and many more.  I encourage teachers to share this with families, and hope it is another digital book resource used in the classroom.

May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

In celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and encouraging Reading Without Walls, some books to highlight in the article 13 Must-Read Titles for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month include:

Hello Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly - I plan to read this along with the award winning book Land of Forgotten Girls by Erin Entrada Kelly.

Amina's Voice by Hena Khan - I look forward to reading this book this summer.  The setting is in suburban Milwaukee.

Flying Lessons & Other Stories edited by Ellen Oh - This is a wonderful collection of stories written by many authors highlighting and connecting with diverse readers.

Learning more about the 2016-2017 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature Selected by APALA (Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association) here are winners/honors for elementary and middle school readers:

The Children’s Winner: The Land of Forgotten Girls by Erin Entrada Kelly,

The Children's Honor: Momotaro Xander and the Lost Island of Monsters by Margaret Dilloway,

The Picture Book Winner: Puddle by Hyewon Yum 

Reading Aloud to Kids, Read Aloud Books, and Fantastic Book Lists for Summer Reading

Reading Aloud to Kids, Read Aloud Book Lists, and Fantastic Summer Reading Book Lists 

The following three articles (Why Reading Aloud to Kids is so Important..., 20 Read-Aloud Strategies for Grades 4 and Up, and Read2Me Tonight) that I recently read emphasize the importance of reading aloud, and provide great read-aloud strategies to promote vocabulary development, fluency, reading with expression, and supporting ideas with text evidence.  The ideas in these articles are great to share with parents along with reading lists to give them and the students in your class ideas for summer reading.  The information from Scholastic: Read2Me Tonight provides a list of 100 Best Read Aloud Books that can be conveniently sorted by age, and a great collection of curated parent articles.

11 End of Year Books to Bring Your Class Closure highlights books to help in the transition from one routine to another (school to summer) , and in saying goodbye for the summer.  The part of this article I found to be important to consider is where it makes suggestions for after reading each book with talking about the kind of endings (straightforward, implied, unresolved, twist, and tie-back endings) in these books, and ask the kids to share what ending they wish would happen this school year.

Summer Reading Lists help give students and parents great book ideas.  Below are to share with students or send home to parents:

ALSC (Association for Library Service to Children) Summer Reading Lists by age group:
Birth - Preschool
Kindergarten - 2nd grade
3rd through 5th grade
6th through 8th grade

More Summer Reading Lists:
Historical Fiction for Tween Girls: Our 10 Favorite Picks
Historical Fiction for Tween Boys: 10 of Our Favorite Picks
15 Life-Changing Middle Grade Books

Keeping up with Children's Literature with The Yarn

Keeping up with Children's Literature with The Yarn

Are you looking for a wonderful way to promote fantastic children's authors and engage students in outstanding literature?  The Yarn is a wonderful podcast for teachers, librarians, and lovers of children's literature, and another way to promote summer reading.  Travis Jonker, an elementary school librarian, and Colby Sharp, an elementary school teachers began this podcast series in August 2015. Since then Travis and Colby have chatted with many wonderful authors about their books, including:

Kevin Henkes and his book titled Waiting;  

Jon Klassen and his books - I want my hat back, This is not my hat, and We found a hat;

Mo Willems and the Elephant and Piggie series;

Jason Reynolds and the first book in his new series - Ghost;

Javaka Steptoe with his Caldecott winning book titled Radiant Child

Summer Reading

Summer Reading
I love encouraging students to read everyday all summer (actually all year).  While presenting the ALA Youth Media Award winning books, I encourage students to read daily all summer long.  In promoting the Caldecott winners and honors, I share that this outstanding illustrator award is in honor of Randolph Caldecott, a nineteenth century English Illustrator.  This award celebrated it's 79 anniversary this year.  This means that there are 79 Caldecott winning books that students could read!  What a fantastic manageable reading goal while gaining great appreciation for the art in the illustrations of each book.  Here is the list of Caldecott Winners and Honors since 1938, many of which can be checked out at the local public library.  This year, I will promote this with students in grades 3-5.  

The Theodore Seuss Geisel Award honor Dr. Seuss and recognizes authors and illustrators of the most distinguished American books for beginning readers.  The 2017 Geisel winners and honors and past winners provide fantastic lists of books for students in grades K-3.

Students will receive these lists among others during the month of May to promote and encourage summer reading.

Children's Book Week - May 1-7, 2017

Children's Book Week - May 1-7, 2017

As read in the Children's Book Week (CBW) website, "CBW is an annual celebration for young people and the joy of reading. "  "CBW was established 98 years ago and is the longest-running literacy initiative with the belief that children's books and literacy are life-changers." 

The downloadable and printer friendly 2017 Children's Book Week Poster was designed by the award-winning children's book illustrator, Christian Robinson.  This year's slogan is "One World, Many Stories."  The back side of this poster includes: Official events, celebrations, and activities.  Here you can download and print bookmarks illustrated by artists.  As a part of CBW, children and teens can vote @EveryChildaReader.net for the Children's & Teen Choice Book Awards.

2017 Children’s & Teen Choice Book Awards K – 2nd Grade Finalists

2017 Children’s & Teen Choice Book Awards 3rd – 4th Grade Finalists

2017 Children’s & Teen Choice Book Awards 5th – 6th Grade Finalists

2017 Children’s & Teen Choice Book Awards Teen Finalists

With only seven weeks of the school year left,  CBW is a great way to start thinking about and adding these lists to students summer reading lists!  Encourage students to have a reading goal this summer or join the summer reading program at the local public library.

April is School Library Month

April is School Library Month

April 2017 is the 32 Annual School Library Month. How is School Library Month celebrated not only during the month of April, but all year long in SDSM school libraries?

• The school libraries provide materials for teachers and students that will encourage growth and knowledge (accessing print and digital materials through Destiny, online databases - PebbleGo, KidsInfoBits, CultureGrams, Discovery Education, and evaluating websites);
• The school libraries provide materials that will promote a reading culture through author and illustrator visits, increasing knowledge about children's book awards (Wisconsin's Golden Archer Award, Newbery Award, Caldecott Award, Coretta Scott King Award, Pura Belpre Award, Theodore Seuss Geisel Award, Sibert Award, and Schneider Family Award);
• The school libraries provide books to encourage children to read for pleasure;
• The school libraries continue to evaluate the library collection through deselection and selection of the library collection to better meet individual needs, varied interests, abilities, and diverse characters and stories for the students served in the school district;
• The school libraries are a fun place for students to go where library centers encourage students to collaborate, problem solve, communicate, and expand learning opportunities.
• The school librarian continues to develop relationships with students, teachers and staff to collaborate with teachers to teach digital literacy and information literacy.

As you read through these opportunities consider collaborating with Betsy Daniels at the high school or me at the elementary and middle schools.  Betsy and I want to continue to promote that school libraries empower students. My dream for the SDSM school libraries is to develop the energy and a culture of reading as seen in this video Traveling school librarian spreads enthusiasm for reading as John Schu does as he travels across the country sharing the message to students, teachers and parents to allow students to read what they want.

More Ideas for National Poetry Month

More Ideas for National Poetry Month

Introducing poetry through books such as those written in Verse Novel like Kwame Alexander, Jacqueline Woodson, Karen Hesse, and many more is a great way to change the culture of engagement in students as readers, but poetry is also a wonderful way to express thoughts, ideas, and feelings.  This post suggests three website resources brimming with poetry, poetry, and more poetry!  Enjoy the month of April celebrating National Poetry Month with your aspiring writers!

The first website is from Scholastic - Celebrate National Poetry Month where you can bring Poets such as Jack Prelutsky and Karla Kuskin into your classroom to celebrate.  Scholastic also has ideas and poetry printables for inspiring poets in your classroom for students in K-3 and 3-12.

Read Write Think: April is National Poetry Month! shares lesson plans and student interactives for grades K-12 to introduce a variety of poetic forms to your students. If you are looking for even more poetry ideas, Read Write Think offers four more websites to explore.

Poets.org offers a plethora of materials for teachers including 30 Ways to Celebrate National Poetry Month to Poet's Glossary and finally celebrate with April 27, 2017 - Poem in Your Pocket Day.  With this you can celebrate poetry all year round. 

April is National Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month

I attended WEMTA (Wisconsin Educational Media and Technology Association) Conference last week.  I met several Wisconsin authors and illustrators.  One illustrator/artist I visited with was Anne Horjus, a Dutch artist living in Baraboo, WI.  I was drawn to him and the magnificent puppets he brought to display.  In visiting with him, I learned about an eye-catching and intricate book/project he illustrated.  This book is titled Sleep by Charles Anthony Silvestri.  Silvestri wrote the poem for this book upon the request of Composer Eric Whitacre.  Originally, Whitacre wrote a choral work using Robert Frost's poem, "Stopping By Woods. "  He was not able to secure legal rights to use the Frost poem for publication so he asked his friend Charles Anthony Silvestri to create an original text.  From this poem Whitacre composed a spectacular Virtual Choir 2.0 performance of Sleep.  In learning more about Whitacre's Virtual Choir, singers from around the world record and upload their videos where the videos are synchronized into a single performance to create a virtual choir. 

I am amazed how poetry, music, and art intertwine in this impressive and unforgettable book and performance.  If you are interested in this book, there is a copy in each elementary library.  Be sure to connect with these artists in the various linked sites in this post. 

Natural Egg Dying

Natural Egg Dying

At the beginning of my teaching career I made natural egg dyes to color eggs with my second grade class as a part of a learning unit.  I cooked spinach, tea, coffee, onions, and much more.  I remember my neighbor (now my husband) across the hall in the apartment knocking on my door to tell me how smelly it was in the apartment building.  

I was absolutely delighted to recently find this article: How to Dye Easter Eggs Naturally With Everyday Ingredients.  I like how this article highlights some other ingredients for egg dying.  Some other ideas to consider experimenting with include: blueberries, cranberries, cayenne pepper, chili powder, coffee, spinach.  I am excited to try this again and I think this would be a fun, engaging experiment to try again with students.  How does natural egg dying make connection to science?  Research how colors in nature were once used by great artists for great works of art. Why is vinegar important in egg dying. Consider how long an egg should sit in the dye to obtain a subtle or rich color, predict how white eggs will produce a different color than brown eggs, and use a white crayon to draw a design on the egg before dying. 

Start experimenting with your students!  

The Reading Without Walls Challenge

The Reading Without Walls Challenge

Reading Without Walls is a nationwide program celebrating diversity and reading by the current National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, Gene Luen Yang.  Just as prescribed, Reading Without Walls challenges readers to 1. Read a book about a character who doesn't look like you or live like you; 2. Read a book about a topic you don't know much about; and 3. Read a book in a format that you don't normally read for fun (a chapter book, a graphic novel, a book in verse or an audio book).

As I have written in the past, I like to encourage students to expand their reading diet.  In considering the three criteria for this Challenge, readers will expand their reading diet along with learning about diverse characters to help better understand diverse students; students will also learn about new topics, and broaden student experiences reading a variety of genres. Consider downloading the Activity Kit to support Reading Without Walls for your classroom, including posters, activities, and completion certificates.

Pi Day 2017

Pi Day 2017

Some students think math is boring, other students hate math, thank goodness for those that love math!  One day a year, March 14th is a great day to show students that math is not boring and there is something to love about math.  Celebrate Pi Day! 

In researching Pi Day, I found the website TeachPi.org.  In highlighting some parts of this website, I feel Pi Books is a great place to explore.  If you have not read Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi (A Math Adventure), this story of Sir Cumference, Lady Di of Ameter, and Radius is a wonderful way to introduce the mathematical concept of pi.

TeachPi.org has activities, stories, songs, and much more! Some activities include crafts, contests, fun with digits, great eating activities, lessons, and projects. If you are looking for some great ideas to celebrate Pi Day TeachPi.org is a great place to start. 

                                                  

The Schneider Family Book Award

The Schneider Family Book Award

Many books are awarded each year at the ALA (American Library Association) Youth Media Awards at the Mid-Winter Conference.  Annually the Youth Media Awards come with great anticipation to hear the winners and honors announced for the Newbery Award, the Caldecott Award, the Pura Belpre Award, the Coretta Scott King Award, the Theodore Seuss Geisel Award, the Robert F. Sibert Informational Book, and the Schneider Family Book Award among several other awards. 

The Schneider Family Book Award is a favorite of mine because it honors an author or illustrator for a book that portrays the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences.  What I never realized is that this award was established by Dr. Katherine Schneider and her family.  Her legacy, as written in I Love Libraries - The Schneider Family Book Award: A Legacy of Inspiration comes from her own experience of being born premature and blind.  I also did not know that she graduated from high school  as valedictorian and a National Merit Scholar.  She earned her doctorate from Purdue University and became a clinical psychologist and a university professor, teaching psychology courses at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, as well as counseling, supervising and administering counseling services there.

The Schneider Family Book Award enhances awareness of diversity, specifically through disability.

This award is presented to three age levels: birth through grade school (ages 0–8), middle school (ages 9–13), and teen (ages 14–18). 
The 2017 winners include:

Six Dots: A Story of Young Louis Braille by Jen Bryant

as brave as you by Jason Reynolds

When We Collided by Emery Lord

I have read many other outstanding Schneider Family Book Award Winners you may consider reading to for your own enjoyment, reading aloud to students, or suggesting to students in your class.

Emmanuel's Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah Written by Laurie Ann Thompson with illustrations by Sean Qualls.

           

Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

The War that Saved My Life

by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin

A Dog Called Homeless by Sarah Lean

Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick

The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen

Jerk California by Jonathan Friesen

Things Not Seen by Andrew Clements

Dr. Seuss's Birthday (March 2nd), Read Across America and Author Visit - Kwame Alexander

Dr. Seuss's Birthday (March 2nd), Read Across America and Author Visit - Kwame Alexander

Dr. Seuss's Birthday (March 2nd)
This year Dr. Seuss would be 113 years old (March 2, 1904)!  I am always amazed that Theodore Seuss Geisel was told by his high school art teacher that he would never succeed in art because he broke the rules in art.  Yet we still celebrate his outstanding success as an author and illustrator.  Over many years of celebrating Dr. Seuss's birthday, I am fascinated with rereading his books over and over considering how he appeals to children preschool to adult.  Finding the connections to the political side of his career and books he wrote and published to "speak" out against the injustice of our world.  Below are alternate titles for some of Seuss's books.

Read Across America

20 years ago, National Education Association (NEA) kicked off Read Across America to get kids excited about reading.  This annual event is launched off with the celebration of Dr. Seuss's birthday.  This year we celebrate as a nation of diverse readers.  To help you celebrate check out NEA's Read Across America 2017 Classroom Activity Guide. Read Across America Artwork & Downloadables or celebrate all year round with Read Across America Calendar.

Author Visit - Kwame Alexander

This year at South Milwaukee Middle School, we have the great honor of celebrating Dr. Seuss's birthday and launching Read Across America with the over-the-top excitement of National Award Winning Author, Kwame Alexander (@kwamealexander).  He will promote reading, writing, through his newly released book The Playbook: 52 Rules to Aim, Shoot, and Score in This Game Called Life.  This book quick read is a book readers will return to over and over for motivation.  Kwame divided the book into four sections, much like the four quarters in a basketball game. These sections focus on grit, motivation, focus and teamwork. This books includes part memoir, part poetry and rules, and part quotes from notable people in the top of their game.  

CommonLit: Fiction and Non-Fiction Reading Passages for Grades 5-12

CommonLit: Fiction and Non-Fiction Reading Passages for Grades 5-12

A Library Media colleague shared CommonLit a few weeks ago.  In reviewing this resource, I feel it is worthy of posting on my blog. 

CommonLit is created by teachers for teachers.  It is a researched-based and Common Core aligned resource of free instructional materials to support literacy development. The library of text sets is well organized by grade levels covering a variety of historical, cultural, and political topics.  This resource is great for Social Studies or English Language Arts classes.

In browsing the CommonLit library, you can narrow your search by grade level, theme, genre, literary devices, and standards.  You also can select texts by lexile.  This resource provides text-dependent questions for reading and writing.  As a part of every text,on the right above the Questions, there are icons to access a dictionary, have the article read to the user, highlight important parts of the article, and translate the text to Spanish.

Teachers can register for a free account where CommonLit can be used as a learning platform to assign texts.  With this free account, teachers can analyze student performance. 

The FAQs share that CommonLit is working to expand the library to include texts appropriate for 3rd and 4th grade classes. 

World Read Aloud Day - February 16, 2017

World Read Aloud Day - February 16, 2017
The One Book One Day read events held across the district for Literacy Night that was held last Friday clearly illustrates and celebrates a community of readers.  Reading aloud motivates children, tweens, and teens through changing your voice for each character and bringing the story to life.  Reading aloud builds vocabulary, introduces readers to books they may choose to read independently, and increase academic success.

The 2017 WRAD Activity Packet provides great ideas for read aloud books, activities, and statistics.

World Read Aloud Day is celebrated by millions of people in more than 100 countries thanks to people like you who participate and spread the word across the globe!

For more information about reading aloud, here are a few articles to consider:

Beyond the Classroom: The Importance of Reading Aloud to Our Children

The Importance of Reading Aloud to Big Kids - Brightly
Reading Aloud to Build Comprehension - Reading Rockets
13 Good (Scientifically Based) Reasons to Read Aloud with Older Readers - Ch. 2 from Reading Aloud and Beyond

American Library Association (ALA) 2017 Youth Media Award Winners

American Library Association (ALA) 2017 Youth Media Award Winners

As new books are published throughout the year, my "want to read list" grows so I can read as many books as possible.  First, so I can make outstanding recommendations to students, teachers, and friends.  Second, to help in selecting books to purchase for the school libraries.  Finally, throughout the year I think about my own predictions and considerations about books that I feel are potential award winning books. 

I am excited to share the two oldest children book awards: The 2017 John Newbery and Randolph Caldecott  award winners:

I loved this magnificent fantasy!  The moon, the magic, the love, and the characters draw you in.  The injustice, the heartbreak, the sorrow keep you hoping and hoping and hoping for justice and more.  As I read this book, through the complex plot, I felt it was definitely Newbery worthy. Very few of the Mock Newbery lists that I looked at had this title listed even as an honor.  I am excited that the John Newbery Medal winner this year is "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" by Kelly Barnhill.

The Newbery honors include: "Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life by Ashley Bryan" written by Ashley Bryan; "The Inquisitor's Tale: Or, The Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog" by Adam Gidwitz; and "Wolf Hollow" by Lauren Wolk.

The Randolph Caldecott Medal winner, honoring the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children is  Javaka Steptoe for his illustrations in "Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat."  Javaka Steptoe also illustrated the story "All of the Above" by Shelley Pearsall, the visiting author coming Friday for Literacy Night. 

The Caldecott honors are: "Leave Me Alone!" illustrated by Vera Brosgol; "Freedom in Congo Square" illustrated by R. Gregory Christie; "Du Iz Tak?" illustrated by Carson Ellis; and "They All Saw a Cat" illustrated by Brendan Wenzel.

Your Reading Life

Your Reading Life

I saw a colleague make a poster of books she read so far this year, and it got me thinking about the books I've read this year and what it looks like in a visual.  Click here to see the ones I remember I've read: Mrs. Konjura's Reading Life 2016-17.  Students might be surprised to see what they have read this year too!

Why should we keep track of what we read? Why should we ask our students to keep track of what they read?  I found a couple of articles that helped me to realize that in addition to modeling to students what we read, to reflect on what they've read to help them to broaden their reading diet, and to realize how many books they've read, authentic ways of keeping track of our reading lives can have other educational benefits that support literacy learning.

The article, All the Wonders: Tracking Your Reading Life, Books Between illustrates reasons to keep track of your reading life.  From this I encourage you and your students to consider looking at:
1. A sense of accomplishment in how many books or pages you've read.
2. Noticing patterns in what you read:
    a. Do you read books that are mostly written by male or female authors?
    b. Do you read books in one genre or another rather than across several genres?
    c. Do you only read books in a series?
3. Do you have a "want to read" list and a "have read" list?  I think a "want to read list" is important so you are never left with the "I have no idea what I want to read next" feeling.  Another part that I liked about this article is where she focused on three school centered novels to discuss three things she enjoyed about each novel.  What a great way to entice students to want to read these books! 

Like the first article, Enhance your reading experience by keeping track of what you read. provides a list of 12 ways to keep track of your reading life:
1. Keep a log
2. Keep a rating system
3. Add additional tidbits
4. Write a book summary
5. Write an Amazon review
6. Keep a book quotes journal
7. Track your books on Goodreads
8. Try your hand at Literary Criticism
9. Get yourself a book journal
10. Research the author
11. Start a book blog
12. Keep a Books-to-Read list

Many of the ideas on this list are the same as in the first article but I like the idea of having students occasionally write a literary criticism.  As with anything it is important to be purposeful in what you do in your class, and to not over do.  The article The 40 Book Challenge Revisited by Donalyn Miller notes how her 40 Book Challenge has been modified by teachers to where "the original thinking behind an instructional idea becomes lost when it’s passed along like a game of Telephone." 

Keeping track of your reading life or that of your students can be motivating, inspirational, and a great sense of accomplishment.

Martin Luther King Day and Presidential Inauguration 2017

Martin Luther King Day

Tomorrow celebrates Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.  For the classroom, many activities and lessons help us learn about who Martin Luther King, Jr. was, and why we celebrate his life.  The following websites are great resources: Scholastic: MLK Day and National Geographic Kids: Martin Luther King Jr. 

From another perspective, while researching resources for this post, the article

How Martin Luther King Jr. Changed The Life Of A Street Kid In Kenya - NPR Goats and Soda: Stories of Life in a Changing World helps us see real life stories of people that are living Martin Luther King's life by example.  Read the story of Kennedy Odede  where he tells how Martin Luther King changed his life. He shares "When I read the story of Dr. King, it was a powerful story. Dr. King gave me a reason to believe you can change your own life and change your own community. His idea is that you don't have to wait. Anyone's path can change. For me that was really powerful." 

Reading Rockets: Books for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day help us to celebrate and remember Martin Luther King, Jr. and help us to make the world a better place.

☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮☮

Presidential Inauguration 2017

On Friday, January 20, 2017, the Presidential Inauguration will complete the transition from our current president and our incoming president. Regardless of how we feel about the incoming president, it is important for students to be informed citizens to help them learn now that one day soon they will have the privilege to be a voting citizen too. Some questions students may be asking:

• What is the inauguration? 
• What happens on this day?   
• What does a president do? 
• Where does the president and his family live?

Kids.gov Inauguration provides a basic explanation of the inauguration including the inaugural day's events, an inaugural quiz (for middle school students), as well as the inaugural address, the oath of office, and more. DK Publishing provides inaugural activities, a quiz, and information such as presidential firsts, and kids presidential questions appropriate for elementary students.

Kitchen Science for Kids

Kitchen Science for Kids

When the weather is crazy cold like it has been the last week, kids look for things to do since going outside to play is not safe.  January and February are great months to try some fun kitchen experiments!  The Kitchen Pantry Scientist as well as other kitchen science experiment websites below. Some experiments are edible, others are not but all provide ways kids learn about food chemistry and other science related concepts including physics, astronomy, math and more.
These ideas are great for makerspace opportunities, fun activities for indoor recess, and great ideas to share with parents.

Kitchen Science Experiments for Kids

Science Sparks: 50 Kitchen Science Experiments

Food Science for Kids of All Ages: Simple Experiments and Activities for Youth

What a great way for kids to use literacy, science and math while having fun!

National Bubble Bath Day

Just for fun...did you know that today is National Bubble Bath Day?  According to Mr. Bubble history, Mr. Bubble is 55 years old!  Enjoy and relax!

Using Super Bowl Ads in the Classroom

Using Super Bowl Ads in the Classroom

The Packers are the NFC North Champions!  I have much hope and anticipation for the Packers to earn the opportunity to compete in Super Bowl LI.  Playoffs start next weekend culminating with Super Bowl LI set for Sunday, February 5, 2017. 

Each year the Super Bowl generates much hype. Sometimes the Super Bowl Ads are more entertaining than the game itself.  The infographic/article Stunning infographic charts the skyrocketing cost of a Super Bowl ad provides much to discuss, analyze, and calculate including the 2016 information illustrating that CBS charged $5 million for ads in 2016, or $166,666 per second.  This infographic along with several more ideas below offer classroom ideas and activities to integrate learning about this fantastic American event. 

As we cheer the Packers on through the playoffs, these ideas, lessons, and activities help build excitement leading up to the Super Bowl.

Super Bowl Party Ideas Sure to Keep the Kids Entertained - How about Super Bowl Bingo; Half time activities to get up and moving; Activities to keep kids entertained if they are not able to stay engaged in the football game or ideas for indoor recess.

NASA Turns the Super Bowl Into Lesson in Aerodynamics - A fantastic article explaining the science behind footballs, golf balls and balls used to play other sports.  Understanding the aerodynamics helps players gain a desired outcome in playing a sport.

Super Bowl Themed ELA & Math Questions from Edcite - Edcite provides Super Bowl themed math and ELA formative assessments for elementary, intermediate, middle and high school students.

Top 12 Super Bowl Classroom Activities - The K-12 activities in this article focus on math, history, geography, a sports weather science experiment, and more! 

Teach the Super Bowl: Ideas for Subjects Across the Curriculum - The ideas in this article seem most appropriate for intermediate, middle, or high school classrooms.

7 Super Bowl Lesson Plans and Resources for the Classroom - Another collection of great lessons and resources that seem most appropriate for intermediate, middle, or high school classrooms