Learning to learn at home

Welcome to the world of learning at home!!  I know at my house, we have been working to get into the groove of school at home.  I think one of the hardest parts is discovering the right schedule and making sure that we get everything done!

Chris Van Dusen has been doing some great read alouds of his books.  You can find them him reading one of my favorites, Hattie and Hudson, by clicking right here.

If you want to practice your library shelving skills, try this shelving game on Mrs. Lodges Library blog!

What kinds of things have you been learning at home?  What have you been reading?  Let me know in the comments!!

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

Today in library we drew the Cat in the Hat, got to take silly pictures in the photobooth, read Dr. Seuss books, and played with Oobleck!  

Here are some of our cats...

I'll Huff, and I'll Puff, and I'll Blow Your House In!

The Three Little Pigs

Each student got a paper with a little pig on cardstock taped to it.  They got a bag of 9 Dots (I bought boxes of the candy at the Dollar Tree) and access to toothpicks.   The object was to build a house to withstand the huffing and puffing of the big bad wolf (a hairdryer.)

I set everything up before the students came in.  

1st grade students generally build buildings that went up...

Another 1st grade structure.

Kindergarten students built houses that weren't connected and they also weren't as successful.

Everybody had fun and this is definitely a project that I will do again in the future!

Swimmy

Today, we read Swimmy by Leo Lionni.  It is a great book that demonstrates the importance of teamwork.  Each student created a fish, that would be part of a bigger fish on our bulletin board.

Luck of the Irish

For St. Patrick's Day we read, "How to Trap a Leprechaun" by Sue Fliess.  

After, the students had a lot of fun building leprechaun traps in small groups.

Before working on our Leprechaun Traps, we also set up a science experiment, so we could watch it's progress through-out library class.

You start with 7 plastic cups.  Cup 1 and 7 are filled with red water, cup 3 is filled with yellow water, and cup 5 is filled with blue water.  Cups 2, 4, and 6 were left empty.

Add a folded paper towel in between each cup...

...and watch the magic!

Elephant and Piggie!

Mo Willems is one of my favorite authors!  When we got a whole bunch of Elephant and Piggie and Pigeon books for my small school libraries this year, I decided to celebrate Mo in the author spotlight!

I got the information about Mo's life from this book Mo Willems: Award-Winning Children's Author and Animator (Britannica Beginner Bios).  The facts are written on different colored pigeons with speech bubbles.  I bought the Elephant, Gerald, and Pigeon stuffed animals at Kohls.

We had so much fun celebrating Mo with read alouds from his books, readers theater, and other fun activities.  

I made a large (poster sized) Elephant and Piggie with a cut out for the students to put their heads through.  Every student that wanted a picture got to take one as Elephant or Piggie (with the speech bubble caption, "we are in a book!")

            

         






The kids also had a blast playing Pin the Tail on the Pigeon!

Snow is Falling...Books Are Calling

Here is a great library bulletin board idea that will get you through a few months (especially if you live in a snowy state!) 

Since I have 2 schools...

The students made enjoyed making the snowflakes to add a wintry touch to the bulletin boards!