Fun Poetry Sites

April is National Poetry Month so what better time to share poetry with your kiddos than now?  Have you ever thought about using the Internet to promote/teach poetry?  There are a ton of poetry sites out there that you can share with your students...for free.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Giggle Poetry

Giggle Poetry is a site full of fun poems for kids. They can even rate the poems on a "Giggle Meter" after reading them.  

Splatt Poetry Game

Make your own poetry with these virtual poetry tiles and even send in your poems to the site to be published.

Haiku Creator

And here's one just of Haikus

Kool Kids Write Poetry LiveBinder

Karen Barry of KB...Konnected has created this livebinder FULL of poetry links, lessons, and resources.  I highly recommend bookmarking this one.

And I LOVE this Poem in Your Pocket Day freebie from Karen Barry of KB...Konnected.  You can find it here on TpT.

What resources do you use for National Poetry Month?

Teacher Librarians on the Web

Do you ever feel like you're alone in your profession as a public or teacher librarian?  There are many times when I wish I could just meet and talk with others who are in the same boat as I am.  Since that isn't always easy to make happen, the next best thing is meeting viturally through the Internet.  I have come across some great blogs and Pinterest boards of public and teacher librarians and made some connections through these.  And now Cari of the Centered School Library blog has started a directory just for TLs and MSs.  Just head on over to her blog by clicking here to add your blog or website link and grab your TL badge.  You might even find some new friends in your area.

You can also link up your library blog or website here on Sharing the Shelves!

Just click on the Librarians on the Web link and add the link to your library blog or website.

And thanks for Sharing the Shelves!  =)

Children's Choice Book Awards

It's time to let the kids vote on their favorite books, authors, and illustrators of 2013.

Go to http://www.bookweekonline.com/voting to have your students cast their votes now through May 9th.  Winners will be announce May 13th.

There are some great titles, authors and illustrators nominated this year.  For a complete list of the finalists, go to http://www.bookweekonline.com/2013Finalists

Happy Voting!

Free Online Book/Story Sites

This is just a quick post of some free sites with access to online stories and books.  I have used many of them with my interactive white board in my Media Center, especially for books that we don't have in our collection.

http://www.magickeys.com/books/ 

http://www.mightybook.com/MightyBook_free/Free_Stories_and_Songs.html

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/online-storytime-books-toys/379003588

http://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/Reading/

http://www.readtomelv.com/current-books/

http://www.readtomelv.com/current-books/

http://www.speakaboos.com/index

http://www.storylineonline.net/

http://www.wegivebooks.org/

What are your favorite online book/story sites?  Did I leave any out?

Link Ups

Are you a Teacher Librarian or School Library Media Specialist?  Do you have some amazing lesson ideas, freebies, Library Pinterest boards, Teachers Pay Teacher or Teacher Notebook stores?  Want to share them with other TLs and SLMSs?  Just link up!

Click on Librarians on the Web, Media Lesson Link Ups, Freebies, Pinterest Boards, TpT Stores, or TN stores below the blog banner to add your link to the collection.  This will make finding and sharing resources super easy and super fast.

Thanks for Sharing the Shelves!

Adopt a Book

I borrowed this idea from a fellow SLMS in my county...Adopt a Book. When I weed books, I pull some that I think students might like to take home. These books are usually those that are falling apart because they are really popular with the kids, not because they have been sitting on the shelf being eating by dust and mold. But sometimes I put weeded books that are outdated on the Adopt A Book shelf and those are snatched up, too. I'd much rather have those books being read than sitting on a shelf collecting dust, so I'm happy to have them adopted.

I used some of my Scholastic Dollars earned from the Fall Book Fair to order a small book shelf and created a little sign to advertise the books that are up for "adoption."

The first day I put out these books, all the books were gone by 8:00am. Seriously! The word spread fast!

If you'd like a copy of the sign I made, you can get it here or click on the picture above.


What do you do with your weeded books?

Project 365: Teacher Librarian.

A 365 Project is a photography project, you take 1 photo each day for a year on a subject of your choosing and share it with the world. (from 365 Project blog)

So many of my friends participate in some sort of 365 Project that I felt compelled to see what I was missing. It turns out... a whole lot of fun and connecting and sharing. I made it a personal goal this year to keep a photo journal of my life as a teacher librarian.

Advantages:

- Powerful, visual advocacy tool for my library media program

- Opportunity to participate in a shared experience with other educators

- Flex my creativity muscles with daily photo assignments while also improving my photo-taking abilities

- Photo journal of the year does the remembering so that I don't have to

Disadvantages:

- Time

Imagine your principal asking how your program has positively impacted the school and you being able to point him/her to a photo journal capturing a staggering array of activities and experiences, all in bite-sized easy to browse morsels. 

Compelled? Captivated? Want to dip your toe into the proverbial Project 365 pool and see if the water's ripe for a swim?

Here's a tool kit of what you need to get started:

1. Create an account on 365 Project. It's free and will take seconds to set up. This is where you'll upload your photos
2. Follow your own inspiration or use a photo challenge list. I'm sticking with Venspired's "See the Great in Education" project. CaptureYour365 also has a great list for those looking for more general photo assignments.
3. Download photo editing tools to realize the potential in your images. My go-to favorites for the iPhone or iPad are XNView FX and SnapSeed and both are absolutely free. You could even use Instagram or forego photo-editing altogether. 
4. Find a network to keep you motivated. Whether you're sharing images on Facebook, on your blog, through the 365 Project site, or otherwise, staying connected will help you stay motivated throughout the whole year.

January photo challenges from Venspired.com

January photo challenges from CaptureYour365.com

May the rest of your year be filled with images of discovery, victory, insight, and joy.

- Matthew

busylibrarian.com