Reading & Connecting with Read Across America & World Read Aloud Day Day Part 1

We had a wonderful week full of reading and connecting! It was busy, but since it was our 2nd time to celebrate these two events, it was even more fun than last year, if that is possible! Like most great events, this began with a Google doc & Twitter! :)

Our celebration actually started on the Friday before as we enjoyed D.E.A.R. time and an early Dr. Seuss Birthday. Curtis readers cuddled up with their favorite stuffed animal and read or listened to a story. As I went around the school snapping pictures, it was fun to see the teachers in the older grades taking time to read aloud to their students. The days are always so full for these kiddos, and sometimes teacher read alouds are left behind.

With Monday came a late start for us due to weather, but cancellations for many others. The two author Skypes were still a GO, so I was excited! A favorite trilogy of my middle grade readers is The Ascendance Trilogy by Jennifer Nielsen.

Our entire 5th grade was able to participate in a Skype visit with Jennifer NielsenIt was fabulous to be able to visit with her and have her share her thoughts about the characters and the story of Sage and how this trilogy began. Our students were able to ask Nielsen questions. They were also excited to find out that there would be a signed copy of the new release, The Shadow Throne, put in a drawing for one lucky reader! 

The day ended with a Google Hangout visit with Ame Dyckman! She is always so energetic and fun for our students! What was even more exciting was that I was able to bring in another school from our district. Seguin Elementary librarian Lori Tucker agreed to join us after our other group had to cancel. I don't think this will be her last GHO or connection!

Ame read Boy + Bot to our kinder students and they LOVED it! It is always so much fun to see the students reaction to Ame's hair color. 

I'm always amazed at the kindness of authors and how they connect with their readers. It means so much to our students, AND I can't keep their books on the shelves after a connection! ALL books by both of these authors are checked out! 

Day 3 of Dot Day WEEK!

Just when you think you have had the BEST Dot Day connection, another one comes along! Today our 3rd graders Skyped with 3rd graders in Texas and Connecticut. We shared dots and thoughts and had lots of fun!

Our first visit for the day was with my Twitter friend, Mrs. Alaniz. After we introduced our school to our friends in Coppell, we showed off our cool 3-D dots we made with the colAR Mix app.  We created our dots and then scanned them with the free app. They look like this, but they spin and play music with the app! We had great time sharing and connecting! 

Our friends in Connecticut had made some great trading cards, with dot art on one side and a challenge on the other. They will be sending some to us, so we will create some to send to them! We shared information our our schools and communities.

Probably high on the cool factor was discovering that the colAR Mix app works through the screen! We had the app, but no pictures (they were in the classroom) and Mrs. Lussier's students had the picture, but not the app. We decided to see if we could scan the picture through the computer screen and IT WORKED! 

The most exciting part of our day had to be our Google Hangout with Matthew Winner's kinder friends AND author Ame Dyckman! Matthew is a librarian in Maryland and helped organize a lot of the connecting for International Dot Day! Ame Dyckman wrote BOY+BOT and has a new book coming out in October called TEA PARTY RULES. The students were lucky enough to have Ms. Dyckman read her new book to them! It is a really funny book and we can't wait to have it in our library! 

Ame Dyckman also shared with us her dot picture, which she used hair dye to create! A fun thing about Dyckman is she loves to color her hair vibrant colors like purple and blue! The students enjoyed her hair, her energy & excitement and also her stories! It was a fabulous way to celebrate Dot Day!! 

There was time for questions from the students, who were very excited to be able to talk to a real author! 

Our Curtis students were definitely interested in all that Ms. Dyckman had to say! It was an incredible experience for all of us! ;)

And when it was all over, the students even got a goodie bag with bookmarks, stickers, and a BOY+BOT bracelet that Ame sent for them! 

I wonder what Day 4 of Dot Day WEEK will bring?!?!?!

International Dot Day Celebration

We are getting excited about the connections we will make this week for International Dot Day! We will read the book, THE DOT by Peter H. Reynolds and then Curtis ES students will connect with students in Texas, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Vermont, Wisconsin AND (thanks to Matthew Winner) we get to Skype with Ame Dyckman, author of BOY+BOT and soon to be released, TEA PARTY RULES! It is going to be a GREAT week!

Check back throughout the week to see pictures & read all about the fun!