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Caldecott Medal 2023 Predictions

The 2023 Caldecott Medal award winner will be announced January 30, 2023, which means it’s time for my predictions on which book will take home the top prize and who will be runner-up. The ALA awards will be given out sometime in mid-January. Members of the Caldecott committee work hard all year to choose the book they think is deserving of this distinguished award. Members of the committee read thousands of picture books throughout the year. Then they must narrow their choices down to 7 titles each. Once they have this much smaller list, they spend hours debating about which book should receive the top honor. Every year I always come up with my own list of titles that I believe will be contenders. This year I have come up with 15 books that I believe should be on the list (although I have not read nearly as many

5 Christmas Around the World Activities for Elementary Students

As Christmas approaches, you might be on the search for resources and activities to keep students engaged. Let’s face it – the holidays can bring about lots of distractions! Students are looking forward to vacations, presents, and sleeping in. So, why not bring the fun and celebrate the holidays. That’s why I love using Christmas around the world activities. What is Christmas Around the World? People around the world have different traditions they associate with Christmas. With Christmas around the world activities, students can explore different cultures, traditions, foods, and more. It’s a great way to bring together literary and social studies skills. Christmas Around the World Activities Luckily, planning your Christmas around the world activities doesn’t have to be challenging. And once you nail down a few favorites, you can use them year after year. 1. Read Alouds An easy way to bring different Christmas traditions to your

20 Library Reward Ideas Students Love

It’s likely you’ve found yourself wondering at some point how you can motivate students. Maybe you want to encourage positive behaviors or help struggling students meet a goal. In these cases, offering extrinsic motivation may help! Before I share my different library reward ideas, I want to make it clear that rewarding students isn’t the only way to motivate them. I also advise against simply throwing around awards, especially for expected behavior. But for special goals or when a little extra motivation is needed extrinsic rewards work well. Here are some of my favorite library reward ideas that students love. When Should I Use Library Rewards? Library rewards can be used in various instances, but here are two I use most often in my library. First, there are class incentives. I may have a particular group that struggles to stay on task or clean up the library. If they

10 Tips on Classroom Management for Librarians

As a librarian, you might find yourself sitting in PD sessions on classroom management or reading books thinking, “This doesn’t apply to me!” As a librarian, we interact with students in a unique way, and the same classroom management techniques that work for classroom teachers might not work for us. However, I’ve compiled tips on classroom management for librarians that I’ve seen success with. You’ll find that you can use these strategies whether you see students multiple times a week or even sparingly. You can also use them no matter the size of your library, or your access to resources! 1. Mystery Student This is one of my favorite techniques because you don’t need an involved system or even an explanation. For example, you might say, “I have a mystery student. Do you know who it is? This person is quietly reading their book.” When you say this, you’ll

How to Create a Library Substitute Binder

Whether you are planning ahead for a vacation, or want to be prepared for those inevitable sick days, having a library substitute binder is a game-changer. Instead of hours spent preparing for a day out of the library or a frantic call to school trying to organize things for a day off, you have a ready-to-go sub binder. What is a library substitute binder? Think of this binder as the holder of all your library secrets (or just the really important stuff). It’s the one-stop-shop for your essential class information. It allows anyone to pop into your place, and pick up where you left off – with ease. If you’ve ever had to cover a class, you know how challenging it can be when there is no information present. Sometimes you’re lucky to get a class roster! It’s confusing. Suddenly, you’re depending on the students to know what they

How to Teach Text Features in NonFiction

When you think of reading, charts and graphs probably aren’t the first things to come to mind. But when reading nonfiction texts, these elements play a role in understanding the text. Many times I’ve asked students to read a caption or refer to information from a chart, only to get a blank stare back. This just tells me how important it is to directly teach text features in nonfiction. What are nonfiction text features? Text features are the elements of an informational text not found within the main body of the text. This includes elements that come before and after the text (such as the table of contents or glossary) and the elements surrounding the text (such as labels and graphs). To help students understand the importance of text features, I like to give them a few examples. In one example, I will have them read directions to another

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Caldecott Medal 2023 Predictions

5 Christmas Around the World Activities for Elementary Students

20 Library Reward Ideas Students Love

10 Tips on Classroom Management for Librarians

How to Create a Library Substitute Binder

How to Teach Text Features in NonFiction

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