Lewis and Clark Learns

I was very fortunate to be asked to present at the NEKLS [Northeast Kansas Library System] annual school librarian conference in Lawrence, Kansas.  My presentation was centered around Integrating MakerSpaces into School Libraries .  I am really glad that I attended the entire day as I learned a lot as well.  In the morning there was a great presentation about teaching students to recognize fake news and a really good session on new books for elementary library collections.  Following a really tasty lunch, there was a crowd sourced book talk for secondary library collections.  I then shared my info about MakerSpaces and the day ended with a public librarian sharing her MakerKits that rotate from library to library.  It was probably one of the most organized and informative one-day workshops that I have ever attended.  Anna Foote was in charge of the event and she did an amazing job! Part of my presentation was a bit of hands-on learning.  We...

I recently returned from my first ISTE conference...it lived up to ALL my expectations!  For years I have heard about what an amazing learning adventure ISTE is and I am so glad I got the chance to experience it first hand with friends.   San Antonio was a fabulous city.  I loved visiting the Alamo and seeing the River Walk in person.  I loved spending time with 4 other librarians from my district and I loved trying a couple of new things that pushed me out of my comfort zone. We participated in a Global Collaboration Network Scavenger Hunt.  The first part took us all around the convention center (we totally rocked that part) the second part took us out onto the streets of San Antonio (we totally didn't rock that part) but we did have fun, made it to the final destination, and we didn't come in last! We also attended (not participated in) the Ed Tech Karaoke event at the beautiful Aztec Theater just off the River Walk.  It was so fun just watchi...

These sweet kiddos set up a lemonade & cookie stand in their neighborhood and donated their $82.00 to our MakerSpace!  They will get to decide what should be purchased for the MakerSpace when we get back to school in August.   How lucky am I to spend my school days with such great kids!

1.   Research 3 different insects using PebbleGo, nonfiction materials, and online Britannica Encyclopedia. 2.  Use great note-taking skills to record what is learned. 2.  Select the best parts of those 3 bugs to create a new SuperBug. 3.  Give your SuperBug a name, decide what it eats, and determine where it lives [based on what has been learned through inquiry] 4.  Draw that SuperBug. 5.  Gather supplies from the MakerSpace. 6. Make the SuperBug.

Second graders at LC participate annually in a Caldecott reading challenge.  This is a great way for me to share information about the Caldecott Medal and give kids the opportunity to focus on award winning books across the years.  It also gives them a glimpse into the GKCReading program that 3rd graders in the Kansas City area read.   After an introduction about the Caldecott Medal, the kids read 12 Caldecott winning books of their choice.  We pull all of our Caldecott winners and have them on a cart only available for our second graders.  We have so many kids reading that I also let our local public library know when the program will start so they can gather more books from their branches.  To celebrate our reading, we have a good old fashioned milk and cookie party.     

Because of a Liberty School District Foundation grant, a group of LC students had the opportunity to share our robotics grant with Liberty community members attending a LSDF breakfast on the William Jewell College campus.  All three schools involved in the grant brought students to the event and demonstrated how each of the grant robots work and what they have learned about coding and programming.  The students who represented Lewis and Clark did a fantastic job talking to community members, LSDF representatives, and LPS employees.  It was a great experience!  

To finish out the school year with a reading focus, each year I issue an A to Z Mystery challenge to my third graders.  The goal is to read each of the books in Ron Roy's A to Z mystery series.  The kiddos below met that goal and were invited to a mystery party.  When they came to the library for the reading celebration, they found that they needed to answer clues based on the A to Z mysteries and books in our library in order to open the box with the party inside!  Each of those nine pieces of tape could only be removed if the clue was solved.  I am happy to say they did it!