Jean Darnell: Awaken Librarian

For my research class, I would like to survey those single parents that decided to go back and earn their post-baccalaureate degree! If you fit the criteria of a single, please help me by submitting your experience via this survey! A thousand "thank-yous" in advance! Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world's leading questionnaire tool. Single #Parents : Please complete my survey about your grad school experience. Thanks! https://t.co/UblLpOzbQM — awakenlibrarian (@awakenlibrarian) November 21, 2014

We're celebrating "Turkey Day" by writing LIMERICKS! After "wetting" my students' appetite about a turkey named "Bert" --who was young, foolish and didn't listen to his elder turkey-friend about how to save his life by doing the "turkey dance" (see video below) for the King and Queen --I explained Bert's downfall and, more specifically, how he became my Thanksgiving dinner! It's my clever way to get young 'uns to listen to their elders...part Aesop fable...party my own zaniness! I end the story with a cliff-hanger, the students rapt at attention regarding what happened to Bert. When I've prolonged it time enough, I transition to this limerick below to satiate their "literary thirst!" :) There once was a turkey named Bert, Who thought himself a flirt. He played with his life and met a sharp knife. Now he's the source of my burp! :) Scholastic has this interactive online game for writing lime...

Well...today was a GREAT DAY IN THE LIBRARY!! We participated in Scholastic's LIVE Webcast with Usher and the kids are now saying that "We're MOVIE-STARS!" Honestly, it's kind of hard not to burst their bubbles...they're still young 'uns! And, I won't; because anything that gets them excited about reading, I'm all for it! 21st century technology standard was met today with flying colors! Watching @Usher read If Kids Ruled the World . Thx @Scholastic "Think bigger than your goals."-Usher #sharepossible pic.twitter.com/MqCtC7MMdj — awakenlibrarian (@awakenlibrarian) November 6, 2014 And when Scholastic RETWEETED their photos, they lost their minds... Watching @Usher read If Kids Ruled the World . Thx @Scholastic "Think bigger than your goals."-Usher #sharepossible pic.twitter.com/MqCtC7MMdj — awakenlibrarian (@awakenlibrarian) November 6, 2014

This post does contain frightening and unnerving videos as well as kid-friendly resources. However, please take caution if you're sensitive to scary movies...as there's plenty of that here! This week's one of my favorites for class activities! I like seeing little ones get slightly spooked! Their innocence is exciting and rewarding...:) However, if any of your babies begin acting like these in the video below, then... Creepy Kids - Children in horror from Peter Schneider on Vimeo . Here's a link to a great "skeleton" lesson on " How to Write Your Own Scary Story... " And to follow suit, here's a wonderful reading of Edgar A. Poe's "The Raven." Click on the little sound icon on the top left of the page. To get the students EXCITED about SPOOKTACULAR reads, I created the following display and gave this Scary Stories to Read hand-out : Anyone one of my kiddos, who paid attention in the library, KNOWS why I...

In the library today, the students completely "lost their marbles" when we celebrated the invention of slime (a combination of glue, water, food coloring & borax...see the video below) and the molecular marvels of science! The Secret Science Project That Almost Ate the School by Judy Sierra My rating: 4 of 5 stars My students loved this book! I thought it a great cross-curricular read in the library. I followed it up with the "creation of slime!" The kiddos went bonkers in the library and I couldn't get them to hush-up because their were electrocuted with slimy excitement. The book's an easy and enjoyable read. I used this years ago when it first came out. When I saw it on the shelf in the library, the flashback of fun that I had with my high school kids came flooding back. The illustrations are dynamic and unpretentious. I like the fact that the characters have a kind of wicked theme to them! The kids laughed and "eww(ed)" where appropri...

Today is National " The Day the Crayons Quit Day " Here are some great lesson ideas and our experience with it below: The Crayons will not Quit! #CrayonsDontQuit Take a look here for some great resources & work from my library kids: http://t.co/2hjqiUfiRa — awakenlibrarian (@awakenlibrarian) September 30, 2014 And...because I miss Mister Rogers so much--- Yes, I'm a kid from the 1980s --here's a "how-to-video" of how crayons are made! Enjoy!

This week, we're having our Book Fair...see the pictures below! Because of the dreaded ROTATION SCHEDULE I must balance entertaining the students while, governing the book fair and finding books. Nevertheless, being the warrior that I am, I did find this cute video (including interesting facts) on YouTube by M Demaio :