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Who loves to read digital stories with their students and use digital choice boards? If your hand is up, this post is for you. The best part? If you are teaching virtually, keep reading because this post has everything you need for a lesson about the story, “The Day the Crayons Quit” including a link to listen to the story being read online! No paper copy needed! (unless you want it!) I love the story “The Day the Crayons Quit” by Drew Daywalt (affiliate link) because it focuses on teaching students about point of view, which can be a difficult reading trait to teach as well as thinking outside the box which is a good lesson for all students to learn. Students also find it humorous that the crayons write letters to their owner and get upset about being used too much! Story Summary Poor Duncan, the main character,
Do you have a plan for teaching reading strategies to your K-2 learners? I’m talking reading strategies like these: You might be thinking “that is a lot!” How can I teach them ALL of those strategies at such a young age?! The point of teaching K-2 students about reading strategies is to equip them with strategies to help them understand the books they read tomorrow and the day after that. With consistent modeling and guided practice, our students will make these strategies their own. We can absolutely address teaching many of these reading strategies using picture books for this age of students. Is it shocking to you that students can learn advanced reading strategies through a basic picture book? They absolutely can, especially when you find the best of children’s literature! Here are some picture books you can use to teach different reading strategies (affiliate links included): Teaching Main
I began my career many years ago and have worked with all grade levels at the elementary level now. I love what I do, especially my time reading aloud to students, no matter their age. Read alouds bring us together as a family and provide opportunities for all students to participate. It wasn’t always that way. When I first started I thought of read alouds as simply a time to read a book to kids. But over the years I have realized it is so much more! As I journeyed to find the perfect combination to make a quality read aloud I tried many different things. I must say that I made my share of mistakes along the way: too many questions, low-level questions, and covering too much in one book, just to name a few. Since then, I have reflected a lot and now have a much better
Have you tried using choice boards with your students yet when doing interactive read alouds? If you aren’t sure what an interactive read aloud is, I discuss it in great detail in this blog post. This Picture Book Digital and Print Choice Boards February BUNDLE are perfect to help accompany all of your February read alouds! The Picture Book Digital Choice Boards February BUNDLE is great for ages K-2 to accompany 4 different read aloud stories (Affiliate links below) Click, Clack, Moo I Love You! Love, Splat I Am Abraham Lincoln Whistle for Willie Due to copywriting issues, I could not read the stories aloud and include them in the product. So you can purchase the books yourself and read aloud in person or make a loom video or live stream version of your reading if you are teaching virtually. You could also check on Youtube or with your
I admit it. There have been so many new tech tools in the last several years that it’s hard to keep up. Online learning platforms, Zooms and Meets, and even games are everywhere. It’s definitely a good time for edtech! However, one that has stood the test of time for me is Kahoot! This tool is an online quiz platform that allows students to compete, take independent individualized quizzes, or simply review for assessments. Teachers love using Kahoot! in the classroom for formative assessments and review, but Kahoot! also has a place in the library classroom. Using Kahoot! in the library is transformative for your elementary students’ learning experience. Here are a few ways you can start using Kahoot! in your library. Preview New Books Kahoot! is a great way to help students get a little bit of background on new titles in the library or featured titles. Creating
Perhaps, you’ve already started using Flipgrid You’ve signed up, set up your grids, and made topics. Now that you have your Flipgrid account set up, it’s time to figure out how to best utilize Flipgrid as a librarian. Flipgrid has so many uses for your own Library classroom. Check out how to use Flipgrid in the library. Book Talks First, one way to use Flipgrid in your library classroom is for book talks. Start by creating a grid or topic for Book Talks. Model your own Book Talk by sharing your own video review. Book Talks are less about opinions, however, and more of a teaser for a book.  For example, give your review of Katherine Applegate’s latest book, The One and Only Bob, the sequel to The One and Only Ivan.  Your students will see your teaser of the New York Times’ Best Seller and create their own

Keeping Cool in the Library is my blog, where I share my passion for fostering a love of reading with children. As a librarian, I believe reading should be fun and accessible to all students. That’s why I share engaging and interactive lesson plans, creative ways to build exciting library collections, and resources to inspire even the most reluctant readers in any classroom or library. Check out my blog posts and products in my store, and join my email list below.

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