Thursday, June 15, 2017

Last day love


Hard to believe it's the last day of school.  I have so loved my year in the library and I'm thrilled that I get to do it again next year. <3

Thursday, June 8, 2017

The year in summary

I had a little fun with Canva.com today!
What's Going on in the library? by Tessa Johnson

Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award Ceremony

I took ten lucky readers to the the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award Ceremony today.  The weather was perfect and we had so much fun!!  The ceremony was held at the beautiful Vermont Technical College in Randolph, Vermont.  We took a bus with the White River School librarian and students.

We arrived early enough to have snack in the sunshine before the ceremony.

Group photo on this beautiful day!

Snack and a book?  Yes, please!

Then we went into Judd Hall where the ceremony was held.  We claimed good seats up front, then headed to the book display to pick up some new books.  While the audience was arriving, the Dorothy Canfield Fisher committee had a display cycling through all of the books that have won the award over the past 60 years.  The kids were excited to see many favorites on the list!

Ten kids reading new books while waiting patiently for the speaker.  Best field trip ever!

The ceremony started with recognition for our own Harper Robinson who won the Dorothy Canfield Fisher 60th Anniversary art contest!  She was presented with two different autographed books and a certificate.  It was so nice that her parents were able to join us for the ceremony as well.

Harper (center) with Cass Mabbot, Youth Services Consultant (left) and Hannah Peacock, chair of the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award Committee (right)


The winner this year is The Terrible Two, by Jory John and Mac Barnett.  Unfortunately they couldn't be at the ceremony in person, but Mac Barnett joined us via Skype all the way from Oakland, California!  He was up early and he "even put on real pants for you guys!" (he said has he stood up to show everyone he was wearing blue jeans).  He spoke for a few minutes about the book, about working with Jory John, and about his last trip to Vermont.  He also read a passage from The Terrible Two.  He is a very funny and engaging person.




Then the kids got to ask questions.  We learned that he is having work done on the house and laughed at the contractors coming and going behind him.  We learned that he has a dog, who ended up hanging out in the car for a little while (windows down, no worries!) because he was too noisy in the house.




The kids had great questions.  They asked why he became a writer, to which he replied that he loves books, he loves reading, and he loves sleeping late!  They asked where he gets his inspiration and he said that it's important to figure out what you care about and then figure out how to make others care too.  He keeps a notebook with him and whenever he sees something inspiring or something that tugs at his heart a little bit, he writes it down.  They also asked what is his favorite thing to write about and the audience had a good laugh when he said that he likes writing about people messing up, failing, or doing the wrong thing.  He was a joker growing up and loved playing jokes on his mom.  Now he has fun writing about them instead.

The Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award Committee presented Mac Barnett with a painting done by a local Vermont artist (I didn't catch the name).

It's an award, homage to his book, and painting all in one!

When the ceremony was over we headed back outside for lunch in the sunshine and shade.  Then it was back on the bus and back to school - just in time for recess!!

The fourth graders

The boys

The girls, who were laughing so hard I couldn't get a good picture!

I think everyone had fun!  Most of them came back with a new book and a few funny moments to remember.  I came back with the same number of kids I left with, all in the same good condition, so I consider this, my first field trip, to be a success!!  I'm already looking forward to next year's ceremony!

Tuesday, June 6, 2017

Making comics

Last week 3rd and 4th graders learned about cyberbullying and being CSR online as well as off.  We watched a video, played some games, then the students were tasked with making a comic strip to illustrate the point.  I gave them the option of drawing one, or using the web tool Make Beliefs Comix! to make one online.  We were pressed for time, unfortunately, but they still came up with some awesome comics!








Students will have more time in library this week to work on their comic strips or create new ones.  I love seeing the ideas they come up with!



Monday, June 5, 2017

Blank paper

An adorable first grader comes running over to me today with a piece of paper in his hand.  "Mrs. Johnson!  Can you make a copy of my paper??"  I notice the paper is completely blank, so I ask "Why?"  He replies, "We are all out of blank drawing paper and we need more!"

I slowly reach for the stack of blank printer paper, pulling a few pages off the top, and watch his face as realization dawns.  "Oh." is all he says.  :)


Videos for reading buddies

Fifth graders are making videos of themselves reading for their reading buddies to enjoy next week and all summer!




They are pretty adorable.  I will post links to all the videos when they are finished.

Thursday, June 1, 2017

2nd graders sending email

Second grade learned about email today because next year they will really start using it!  We talked about all the different kinds of messages you might want to send and the different people you might want to send to, and all the different ways to send messages!  Lots of options!  Then we narrowed our focus to email and boy are they excited to get email accounts!!

The kids learned that email is a electronic message sent from one person to another through the Internet.  We played a game with senders, receivers, and email, imagining that the blue rug was the Internet.  The kids had fun sending messages through "email" to their friends.

I have an email for you.

We tried to ensure that no messages got lost along the way.

Ask your 2nd grader how email gets from one person to the other.

Then, the best part, we sent an email TO THEIR TEACHER!!  They were THRILLED!!  We talked about the TO: field, the FROM: field, and the SUBJECT: field.   The kids learned what to put in each field and why.  As a class we sent a very friendly email to Mrs. Smith and Ms. Mac.

We had a few minutes at the end of class so I gave them choice time.  What I love about this photo below is that you can see writing, coloring, electronics, construction, and collaboration all going on at once.  They were focused and enjoying their activities.

There's so much to do in the library.

I have a different plan for next week, but these kids loved email so much that I might expand on this lesson next week instead.