Book Egg is about hatching.
Hatching out tips about terrific books to read.
Hatching out fun and informative activities to go with those books.
Hatching out ideas to help educators and families assist kids on their reading journeys.
Book Egg is about sharing because learning is sharing your knowledge.
I am a Picture Book Month Ambassador. Which means I get to read lots and lots of wonderful picture books and read some aloud to kids and in general have free license to shoot my mouth off about how much I love picture books and how they are great lesson starters.
When my principal put me in charge of morning announcements this year she did not realize that I had been wishing for this very thing to come true. I seize my chance to start morning book talks along with the weather report and daily reminders. The great thing is...no one got upset about my little book commercials, in fact the reverse was true. Teachers and students begin to ask me "Do you know that book you talked about this morning about counting monkeys?" or "May I borrow that book about that biography, Black Elk that you talked about this morning?" I am so glad teachers and students are getting these micro book reviews each morning. What surprises me is that I never seem to run out of ideas for presenting books for the day. I love my library and try to squeeze in as much time for cataloging new books each week as I can possibly mange.
Join us Tuesday, November 18th 12:30 CST/1:30 EST for acollaborative Picture Book Month Smackdown. The following educators will be joining us along with their picture book loving students to share favorite book titles and brief summaries. Here is the PBSmackdown link or watch below. Twitter hashtag is #pbsmkdwn
Participating schools include:
Andy Plemmons, school librarian in Athens, Georgia
Jenny Lussier, school librarian in Durham, Connecticut
Cathy Potter, school librarian in Falmouth, Maine
Kathy Kaldenberg, school librarian in Solon, Iowa
Shawna Ford, school librarian in Weatherford, Texas
Julee Murphy, school librarian in Corpus Christi, Texas
Christina Brennan, school librarian in Pennsylvania
Once upon a time, American children couldn’t borrow library books. Reading wasn’t all that important for children, many thought. Luckily Miss Anne Carroll Moore thought otherwise! This is the true story of how Miss Moore created the first children’s room at the New York Public Library, a bright, warm room filled with artwork, window seats, and most important of all, borrowing privileges to the world’s best children’s books in many different languages.
Read this wonderful New Yorker news article entitled "The Lion and the Mouse" which details the influence of Anne Carroll Moore on children's literature.
I am thankful for children's literacy pioneers like Anne Carroll Moore who saw a need and found a way to satisfy it. Her efforts made a positive change in the world. What a great blessing.
Readers compare pairs of objects and decide which one has the attribute the questions asks to be answered. This concept book is simple and fun but offers a cute twist at the end of the book. Bright, happy read. Lots of fun.
Count the Monkeys by Mac Barnett has been one of my favorite Read Aloud books this year. Imagine a book about counting monkeys but the book itself is missing the monkeys! This book includes kids in on a joke that grownups don't see. Love it!
This week was Recycle Week for our city so I invited the Recycling Education representative out to share a storytime and tips on how to reduce, re-use, and recycle. Our kids loved it and they each received a canvas bag to take to the store in order to reduce the amount of plastic waste in our community. Here were the two books Dawn Stubblefield read to students.
Dawn Stubblefield gave an excellent presentation. She really knows kids and even when one kid tried to show off a little she expertly drew him back into the lesson. She incorporated multi-media, mnemonic devices, and showmanship to deliver an rememberable lesson.
Every student and parents who attended were each given a canvas grocery shopping bag to use in order to reduce the amount of plastic waste in our community.
Books I Read and Blogged about this Past Week:
Click on the image caption to see the review and activities for each book.
This week, we have been exploring the meaning of being thankful. Our good friend Bear helped us understand the concept of being thankful for friends, food, and home.
Below are some nice books to use for teaching Thankfulness
I also started reading YA Fiction Guitar Notes by Mary Amato.
I feel very blessed that my work environment is filled with amazing literature for young people. I feel like I am a key holder to the gates of the Kingdom of Imagination. "Come seek your fortune and fame here at my gates, rest your weary heart, grow your mind and spirit"-yesh, librarians can be really corny sorts of folks. What a marvelous job I have-children of all ages walk through my library doors and their eyes come alive with happiness or memories of books once read. The following are ten well presented books that capture our imagination and help us to understand what really goes on in the world of libraries and of the librarians who manage these magical worlds of books and resources. The information that follows comes from an article I wrote for BonBon Break, an online magazine for busy women.
Books are not presented in any particular order.
1 The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by William Joyce.
Theme: Inspired by Hurricane Katrina, Buster Keaton, The Wizard of Oz,
and a love for books, "Morris Lessmore" is a story of people who devote their lives to
books and books who return the favor.
Explore the book here
What makes this a terrific read aloud?
It is a simple story that is a highly imaginative and beautifully illustrated.
"Everyone's story matters, " said Morris. And all the books agreed. (Awesome line!)
I will introduce my students to The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore with this Academy Award winning short film.
2 Wild About Books by Judy Sierra
Illustrated by Marc Brown
Theme: A librarian introduces zoo animals to a love of reading.
What makes this a terrific read aloud?
This rhyming adventure begins when librarian, Molly McGrew, mistakenly drives her bookmobile into the zoo and then decides to make the best of a unique opportunity. She launches into a read aloud that has all the animals stampeding to find out about something called reading. It is a fun read aloud and many classic children's book titles are sprinkled throughout. Many libraries adopted a "Wild About Books" theme when this title was first released into the wild.
What makes this a terrific read aloud?
The story is humorous and contains a well crafted rhyme structure.
The story teaches us that we should look for opportunities even when we take a wrong turn like Molly McGrew did when she drove into the zoo.
All the animals become so excited about reading and listening to stories that they decide to turn their zoo into a Zoobrary.
Theme: A library mouse discovers his inner author and writes books for children to discover and read.
Sam is a mouse who lives in a hole behind a wall in the children's book section of a library. At night, he creeps out to read to his heart's content. Then one night, with a mind so filled with ideas and imagination, Sam decides to write and illustrate his own book and add them to the shelves. Children soon discover Sam's little books and love them. The librarians like them too and began to share them through read alouds. Everyone wants to meet Sam and the head librarian invites him to a "Meet the Author Day" but Sam is too shy so he sets up an alternative display to everyone's delight.
What makes this a terrific read aloud?
Great illustrations that clearly show what a library looks likes and even highlights call numbers on the spines of a library book.
It is a fantasy tale that touches on types of literature genres.
Lets children know they can become authors too.
Awesome read aloud for teachers looking for ways to inspire kids to enjoy writing.
Terrific resources to build into a lessons on writing and authorship.
I will be copying Sam's "Meet the Author" tissue box display and let the kids think that Sam created it just for them. This will make for a good lesson prop.
4 Tomás and the Library Lady by Pat Mora
Illustrator: Raul Colón
Theme: A lady librarian befriends and shares books with the son of migrant workers who in turn shares the stories with his family.
What makes this a terrific read aloud?
Families are part of this reading experience. Tomás shares the stories that he reads with his family.
The role of a librarian as a reading advocate is well presented. Librarians are more than a providers of books-they are teachers, counselors, mentors, and good examples of how reading changes lives.
It is realistic fiction based on a true story of a librarian who inspired the boy who became Dr. Tomás Rivera, a national education leader. The library at the University of California at Riverside bears his name.
Theme: A pack horse librarian inspires a young boy to learn to read.
Every two weeks, a librarian on horseback trudges along rocky Appalachian trails bringing books to Cal's family. Although Cal's sister loves the books, he insists he doesn't care anything about reading, but is puzzled why this book woman travels so far on dangerous trails in bad weather just to bring his family books.
What makes this a terrific read aloud?
The characters are interesting especially the librarian who rides on horseback.
This book is a good introduction into historical fiction and students can follow up with research on packhorse librarians or bookmobiles.
Theme: Bats explore the library at night after the doors have closed for the night.
Do you know what really happens when the library lights go out each night? Books and bats come out to read and play. At least author and illustrator Brian Lies would have you think so. In his beautifully illustrated, rhyming story, bats come out to read classic tales, splash in the drinking fountain, and celebrating the joys of reading.
What makes this a terrific read aloud?
Are you kidding? What's cooler than bats reading books?
This fantasy story will motivate children to want to learn more about real bats.
The illustrations are rich and beautifully created.
The rhyme structure adds to the fun of the book as a read aloud tool.
Brian Lies has written a series of Bat books: Bats at the Beach, Bats at the Ball Park, and Bats at the Library.
Curriculum Connection Activities
Brian Lies "The Bat Wing" a collection of everything batty-photos, activities, and bat facts.
Bats in the Library Reading Guide
7 Waiting for Biblioburro by Monica Brown Illustrated by John Para
Theme: Teacher, Luis Soriano, brings reading education to children in rural Colombia on the backs of his donkeys, Alpha and Beto.
What makes this a terrific read aloud?
Children are not only surprised to learn that a burro can deliver books but that some children are rarely or never exposed to books or libraries.
Spanish words are incorporated into the story.
Introduces children to other cultures and experiences.
The story is useful to compare and contrast with The Book Woman, Tomás and the Library Lady and stories other about libraries and librarians.
The story allows children to see that librarians will go to great lengths to put books into the hands of readers.
The story was inspired by a real person helping children in rural communities.
Curriculum Connection Activities
Watch this CNN video to see the real Bibliotecario who inspired this story.
8
Our Librarian Won't Tell Us Anything by Toni Buzzeo
Illustrated by Sachiki Yoshikawa
Theme: A librarian teaches children an important lesson in library research skills.
This colorful librarian won’t tell them anything because she
wants the students to learn how to find things themselves in the library
by using the catalog and learning how to access appropriate
information.
What makes this a terrific read aloud?
The story is a good introduction into ways to conduct research.
The story demonstrates how librarians guide instead of telling students how to research.
Children learn that they can find answers by themselves with the right tools for learning.
Out Librarian Won't Tell Us AnythingCurriculum Guide:
Research Project for learning about Animals in the Natural Habitats.
9
The Wonderful Book by Leonid Gore
(This is a book about a read aloud but it must be included)
Theme: Animals discover a lost book in the woods and try to figure out what it is.
Deep in the woods, a rabbit finds a mysterious thing. “What is this?” asks the rabbit. “It looks like a wonderful house for me.” So he wriggles inside and there he stays until a big grumpy bear lumbers by. “What a beautiful hat,” says the bear..
A lost book in the woods is discovered by a series of animals trying to decide its purpose. Is it a home, a table, or a hat? A boy walking in the woods finds it and begins to read it aloud. The animals all gather around to hear the wonderful story.
What makes this a terrific read aloud?
Younger children will find the animals amusing as they try to figure out whether the thing they found is a hat, table, or a house.
The story evolves into a read aloud within the story.
It is a story that celebrates reading.
The story can serve as an introduction into learning what a book is and the parts of a book.
Curriculum Connection Activities
Parts of a book dictionary from School Home Link-a letter and activity for families to complete together.
10
What Happened to Marion's Book? by Brook Berg
Illustrated by Nathan Alberg
(currently out of print)
This is the book I use for Kindergarten-second grade library orientation. I purchased it with my Scholastic dollars earned through school book fairs.
What makes this a great read aloud?
Children connect well with Marion because they have also gotten books dirty or torn a page.
Marion learns that her librarian is an understanding and forgiving person.
It comes with lesson activities for educators and printable templates and a coloring page.
There are printable band-aid bookmarks and Marion finger puppets that will help children retell the story to their families of how Marion learned to take care of books.
The story supports library learning objects on care and treatment of library materials.
Curriculum Connection Activities
Here is the awesome "What Happened to Marion's Book" Library Lessons
Thank you to all the librarians in the world who work hard to make books a wonderful adventure for everyone.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Library Decor Tip: Shelf Markers
"Miss, where are the folk-tale books? I can't find them,"
For students trying to figure out the Dewey Decimal system, trying to figure out the right location for a book can be a frustrating experience. After seeing a similar idea on Pinterest, I decided to create a set of colorful, easy to spot shelf markers to assist students in finding sections of our library. It all began after I rescued and re-purposed some old magazine holders someone had thrown in the recycling bin.
Easy to Make Shelf Markers
Materials:
cardboard magazine holders
colored craft/butcher paper or wrapping paper
scissors
pencil
contact paper or laminating film
tape-I prefer storage tape (its super strong and I use it for all my displays)
title of section boldly printed on computer paper
Step 1 Measure your paper and cut it.
Step 2 Attach label and laminate the paper or cover with contact paper.
Step 3 Cover and secure tightly with storage tape.
Step 4 Display and enjoy!
Graphic Novel section
Biography section
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
25 Best Websites for Teaching & Learning- 2012
The American Association of School Librarians has released the new listing of 25 Best Websites for Teaching & Learning. The resources are free and user friendly sites which are grouped by the correlating Standards for the 21 Century Learners.
Students participating in my Bluebonnet Book Clubs have been using Comic Master for the past couple of years to show off their writing skills. I will also be introducing Animate Alice to students this coming school year. I would like to hear their opinion on this digital novel. What ideas do they have for creating their own interactive novel?
Today, I will be working with the media sharing site called Jux. I encourage you to explore these 25 websites and see if they are a good fit for your educational plan.
I have been so wrapped up in organizing lesson plans for upcoming Texas Bluebonnet Award nominated books that I have neglected my poor ole Bookegg Blog. Each school year, Texas students in grades 3-6 read from a selection of twenty high quality children's books and vote on their favorite. Students must read a minimum of five of the nominated books to be eligible to participate in the Texas Bluebonnet Award voting process. Books are nominated by a panel of librarians, teachers, students, and parents. View the Texas Bluebonnet Award master list for 2010-2011 and learn more about the TBA program.
This upcoming school year's crop of Bluebonnet books are terrific! I was disappointed at first, classically judging a few of the books by their covers. Boy was I wrong! I have been so amazed by the beauty of 14 Cows for America and really kept hope alive in Home of the Brave. I am predicting both Mudshark and Calvin Coconut Trouble Magnet to be kid favorites. The sweet story of Sparrow Girl is one of my top contenders too. This crop is ripe for learning opportunities. Take a look at a wikispace web site that I designed to help me present Bluebonnet Books to my students. Kids Book Club Click on the 2010-2011 Bluebonnet Book Club link on the left side of the page. Lots of video clips and story connection activities. Share what you have with me and take what you need from me. Collaboration is a great tool. (bluebonnet photo: Julee Murphy/2010)
flying through the starry sky (sweep, sweep, sweep)
looking for the Baby King (sweep, sweep, sweep)
leaving presents for the children (sweep, sweep, sweep)
created by Julee Murphy/2009
*La Befana Fingerplay: children act out sweeping motion while saying sweep, sweep, sweep) I act out the motions using my hands to show movement across the sky, placing my hands above my eyes to simulate looking for the Baby King, and act out setting presents out for the children.
Wonderful book for teaching Holiday Traditions Around the World
The Legend of Old Befana by Tomie DePaola.
Old Befana is a cranky, old woman who sweeps her home and walkway all day. She is not not welcoming to guests, and children do not like her. One night as Old Befana tries to sleep, a bright light floods into her bedroom. The light is a bright star that has suddenly appeared in the night sky. The next morning, a glorious procession of camels, horses, elephants, and three kings stop at her door to inquire if she know the way to Bethleham. The three kings are guided by the bright star as they search for a Baby King. Cranky Old Befana is too busy sweeping and is of no help to the kings, so they travel on their way. A little boy encourages the old woman to come with the procession in search of the Baby King who has come to change the world. Old Befana decides to follow but first bakes cookies, cakes, and candies to bring as her gift to the Baby. Upon leaving, she decides to first sweep her house clean. Old Befana has to run to try to catch up to the procession and soon tires out. The night sky is suddenly filled with angels singing about a night of miracles. Old Befana rises to her feet and begins to run, crying out to the angels to help her find her way to Bethleham. Suddenly, Old Befana begins to feel lighter as she rises up and miraculously begins runing through the night sky. Old Befana never found the Baby King but every year on the Feast of the Three Kings, January the sixth, Old Befana runs through the night sky. She brings gifts to children and then sweeps their rooms clean. She does this in hopes that one of the children might be the Baby King of Bethleham.
I have decided to let my library classes (grades 3-5) decide which Piper Reed book trailer will be uploaded to Teacher Tube. Two songs both seemed to fit "Piper". One is upbeat and perky like Piper and the other has a homey and family feel about it. Hmmmm, I wonder which one will be chosen. I think I have decided on my choice.
Kids will receive a score sheet that allows them to rate the music chosen for the video.
Using a scale score from 1-3 (three being a best music-video match).
The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester Awards: Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year; Booklist Editors' Choice; Utah Beehive Book Award Master List
Piper McCloud was born into a no-nonsense Lowland County family. Actually, while most children were born into the world, Piper "floated" into the world. Piper is not your average girl. She has an itch-an itch to fly. She closes her eyes, thinks of blue sky, and tells herself she is lighter than air and then she flies! Things are fairly smooth until the town picnic when Piper's secret comes out and she is quickly whisked away to a special high tech security learning center to join her new classmates who are just as talented as Piper in their own ways.
This is a sweet tale of a warm hearted girl who is happiest when she is among the clouds (as in Piper McCLOUD) The characters' names tend to reflect their personalities. There is Dr. HELLion who lives up to her name and a shrinking girl named Violet. The learning facility just happens to be named I.N.S.A.N.E. but that's all I can say.
This book was my "lunch break" read and I looked forward to it each day. I highly recommend The Girl Who Could Fly. It will have you wishing for the itch to fly.
Professional development season is here! Two days of dual language instruction under my belt and several more days to go. I look forward to the library refresher. I have been told my teacher tube Texas Bluebonnet Nominees video will be used at the Librarian development day. This will be our school's first year participating in the Bluebonnet voting. I want to make it fun, as well as, memorable for the kids. All suggestions for the best way to run the program are welcome.
I like motivational messages. They really get me fired up. Here is a short, yet sweet one.
I like to learn new things!
This is how I learned, and had fun, making a Diaper Cake.
TeacherTube
I created this one!
Please forgive me if I am not humble here. This is my first Teacher Tube video that I have submitted and I am feeling really good about having created it. I will be using this to introduce the Texas Bluebonnet Nominees for 2009-2010 in conjunction with my kids-book-club wiki.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins Click the above link to hear Suzanne reading an excerpt from chapter 11.
I pulled this clip from Scholastic's web site. I really liked this YA novel and am looking forward to the sequel which will be out September 1st. If you liked the Twilight Saga, you will find The Hunger Games fascinating.
And here is a YouTube video book report someone else created. This is one of the type of projects-video book talks-that I have planned for the upcoming school year.
Rollyo was a nice surprise. No longer will I have to continually create customized print outs of trusted research sites for elementary students, I can direct them to the site, or simply print out my Rollyo search engine list. My Rollyo is called: Librarian's Toolkit. I could not believe the name was available. I inserted several useful websites that I could remember, and within five minutes, I had my very own customized, julee murphy approved, search engine. The only snafu I ran into was trying to set it up on my Foxfire. I believe the answer can be found in the teacher tube video, but my Rollyo account also froze up when I tried to save some edits, so I will have to return to it later.
Did I ever say how much I am learning from the 23 things? So cool.
I am all into Wiki and subscribe to the free and ad-free educational wikis from wikispaces. They are incredibly easy to set up and manipulate. Wikispaces often offers free webinars in real time so you can ask and receive answers from its moderators. They have video tutorials that show step by step methods of creating wikis. The most recent webinar was a cultural education exchange webinar in which an American school collaborated with a school in Hati on a wiki. It was amazing-the learning and sharing that was taking place.
I first used wikispaces a year ago as a way to present at the ME(2) by the SEa Mathematics and Science Conference. I introduced useful mathematics web sites and online games that could serve to help strengthen students math skills by engaging them in fun, but helpful practice. My new wiki is now under construction-a Kids Book Club that I will be using to promoting book discussions, book clubs, book trailers, and book voting.
Wikis are so easy and the possibilities for their uses are practically endless. I am a such a wikifan.
Living life in the future is better than I ever expected! The Jetsons really had it right! A machine for our every need. As a kid having to endure long car trips, I had always wished for a hamburger machine that with the push of a button would produce a hot, delicious hamburger. Boy, that would have made having to play the "don't cross this line" game with my sisters more bearable.
Technology and the ease of internet use have added so much to the field of education. My lessons have more punch as I am able to integrate sound, images, and live action to support the lessons.
Lately, I have created some book trailers as teasers to introduce students to new titles. Introducing students to authors and illustrators via their websites or sites such as Scholastic that also provide games, trivia, and trailers make a teacher/librarian's job much easier and fun! Life in the future is great!
