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For my first and second grade library classes, I printed simple outlines of a chicken and a sheep. I showed the students how to follow the outline of their animal with a push pin on the library carpet. When they were finished or wanted to check their progress, they held the pinhole artwork in front of the projector screen while the projector was on. They were very engaged.

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This has a nice slideshow which can save you some time and give you some ideas. We provided students with choices: research Vietnam (draw or take notes), design a sweater, learn to sign your name in ASL (cut/paste images of the letters).

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I got a bunch of small flashlights. I am going to tape a "constellation" on the end of each one, and we will see how the view is impacted by increased and decreased light. Trying it next week (March).

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We read Tricky Chopsticks last week (w/o Feb. 2) with K-5 and used chopsticks. This week we will expand on the book by learning about Lunar New Year. I made this display on Canva. Here is the template. https://www.canva.com/design/DAG_t98_9Rw/9MzU5I_Kh70PpvUxtcqBNg/view?utm_content=DAG_t98_9Rw&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=publishsharelink&mode=preview

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I plan to introduce the term, and focus on the use of onomatopoeia in this book. We can then brainstorm other common examples of onomatopoeia (boom, pop, woof, hiss, etc.). Finally I will encourage my K-2 library students to be aware of other examples of onomatopoeia that they may use or hear throughout their day.

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At the root of this book is the message of making a difference through simple acts kindness and love. I am giving students the choice of a heart shape or a dove shape to color and add a message of love and kindness.

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This .pdf of interdisciplinary lessons and activities was linked on the publisher's page as a resource for educational activities. I found it a little too late but thought I'd share :)

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A good, short article on WCK in TIME (for kids)

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WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN

Andrés owns popular restaurants in the United States. He's also the founder of World Central Kitchen (WCK), a nonprofit group that provides freshly made meals to people affected by natural disasters and other emergencies.

"We will make it to everyone who needs food, one way or another," Andrés told TIME for Kids from the Bahamas. At press time, WCK had served about 300,000 meals there.

Chefs in Action

WCK began the disaster-relief phase of its mission in 2016. That's when Hurricane Matthew hit Haiti, leaving many people without access to food.

WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN

The food served by WCK is fresh and healthy. When possible, dishes incorporate local ingredients. Recipes are designed to appeal to the tastes of the region.

Over the years, WCK chefs have developed shortcuts for cooking large amounts of food quickly. Andrés grew up in Spain, where cooks use massive pans to make a rice dish called paella. He realized paella pans could be used for all kinds of food. Now WCK cooks use them for everything from pasta to jambalaya. They can cook for 500 people at a time this way.

"When there's a medical emergency, who do you send in? Doctors, of course," says Nate Mook. He is WCK's executive director. "When there's a food emergency, we should send in the people who know food best-and that's chefs."

WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN

Better Together

WCK has about 25 staff members. But much of its work is done by volunteers. Many are from the affected areas. Twenty thousand volunteers served almost 4 million meals after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, in 2017.

Andrés told TFK about a 10-year-old girl there named Lola. She ran an entire section of the kitchen on her own. "She became a general in my army of volunteers," he says. "She's my hero."

Last year, WCK fed survivors of 13 emergencies around the world.

BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI-AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Clean Cooking

In Haiti, it's common for school meals to be cooked indoors over open fires. This can be dangerous. And it's not healthy for the students, teachers, and cooks to breathe smoke from the flames.

WCK wants to help. The group has built or renovated more than 140 schools in Haiti. In many, it has installed gas stoves. It has also installed sinks and water lines to make cleanup easier. This has made schools cleaner and safer for more than 65,000 people.

Looking for the cover quiz? After you sign in, click on the Resources tab to search Teaching Resources for printable versions of all our quizzes.

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In late August, Hurricane Dorian formed over the Atlantic Ocean. The storm made landfall in the Bahamas on September 1, leveling buildings, flooding neighborhoods, and killing 51 people. Whole communities were left without power or water. As soon as the...

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Packing MRE's and doing math in the library

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Packing MRE's and doing math in the library

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Working with 1 or 2 others, students have to pack a meal kit following a recipe (3 bags of rice, 2 bags of beans, 1 bag of corn, and 1 piece of fruit (pom-pom). They are challenged to see how many they can pack in 5 minutes (3 minutes for older students). Afterward they have to figure out how many of each item they used (ie: if you packed 10 kits, how many bags of rice did you use?). Great use for all the rice and beans I just happened to have in the library.

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Trying to connect the challenge of learning a new language with other challenging tasks, we are giving our brains a workout by using our "follower" hand (non-dominant hand) to color a picture. We talk about how challenging it is to learn a new language because it requires us to teach our brains how to do something new.

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I have shown the other video suggestions but like this one as well for younger classes. It really shows how they feed so many people.

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109+ million meals served - The WCK Way in 2024

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We are watching this after discussing what students already know and want to learn about when learning about refugees. Our school community is overwhelmingly white and rural, so this will be new information for many/most.

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What is a refugee? (or a displaced person)

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In almost every class I read Clever Crow to, a student mentioned this Mark Roper video. I haven't watched it all yet, but Roper is a former NASA enginner and the creator of Crunch Labs, so I feel confident passing it on!

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I set out a globe with both Vietnam and Maine marked off. The kids enjoyed exploring the globe.

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I put this on a screen for the kids to watch as passive programing.

The kids love it and stop in to see it.

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Live Birds In 4K! Cornell Lab FeederWatch Cam at Sapsucker Woods

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I put this on a screen for the kids to watch as passive programing

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Live Birds In 4K! Cornell Lab FeederWatch Cam at Sapsucker Woods

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BROWN SCHOOL: LUIGI AND FIND THE FICTION

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BROWN SCHOOL: LUIGI AND FIND THE FICTION

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FIRST GRADE

Because the book is longer than most, we just played “find the fiction” whole group. I held up four books, one being fiction and students had to guess. Four cat books, four spider books, etc. This would be fun for students to do as an extension using just the titles and the library catalog search. PROMPT: find four books on a topic, make just ONE fiction.

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The Great Backyard Bird Count is Feb 13-16. Has anyone ever done this at school? I could see myself organizing interested classroom teachers to taking classes out at different times that day and recording/reporting birds they see and hear. I would collect the data and submit for the school. https://www.birdcount.org/group-counts/

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Birds are everywhere, all the time, doing fascinating things!Participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count for four days in February to watch, learn about, count, and celebrate birds. People from around the world spend these four days in their favorite places, connecting to the birds around their homes and in their community. Whether you see one bird or hundreds over the weekend, we want to share in your joy of watching birds and connecting to nature. Count the birds you see for as little as 15 minutes on one of the four days. Then, submit your bird list to be part of a global movement to better understand how bird populations are doing. Your participation matters. Il est important que vous participiez! Tu participación importa. Your participation connects you to the beauty that lives around you while helping scientists better monitor and protect birds around the world. Work with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, National Audubon Society, and Birds Canada in the annual Great Backyard Bird Count. We look forward to spending this fun, special event with you. Join us! Únete a nosotros! Soyez des nôtres!

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Birds are everywhere, all the time, doing fascinating things!Participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count for four days in February to watch, learn about, count, and celebrate birds. People from around the world spend these four days in their favorite places, connecting to the birds around their homes and in their community.

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We are going to attempt finger knitting! Has anyone tried the 5 finger kind (see the video) with K and 1?

An alternate version - maybe better for littles - is one that makes a simple chain ( actually more crocheting) is this one, which also includes a cute song: https://www.communityplaythings.com/resources/articles/finger-knitting

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Laura Miller, Publisher of Macaroni Kid Appleton-Waupaca-Oshkosh, Wisc.

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Finger Knitting for Kids: Developmentally Important and Lots of Fun | Macaroni KID National

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At my daughter’s school, one of the first handwork projects they learn is finger knitting. They learn how to weave the yarn, using only their fingers, to…

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This was our first Chickadee this year, and we did it just before Thanksgiving. We talked about who the helpers are when there is a disaster, and for grade 2 and up, we showed this About World Central Kitchen video and looked at a map of all the locations where mentioned in the video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUOotFAdA2k .

Students then drew or wrote their answer to, "How will you change the world?" which made a very nice and uplifting display!

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I found this idea on an RSU 18 page. This book feels longer than the other Chickadee books, so I am wondering how much time I will have at the end. I might use this extension activity (choose a creature that you are afraid of and transform it into a cute friendly creature). We might go around and everyone can say what creature they are afraid of before book checkout and then students who finish early can begin drawing.

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Raising Readers at RSU 18: Luigi, the Spider Who Wanted to be a Kitten - RSU 18 District

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Join Mrs. McCormac, of China Primary School, as she shares Luigi, the Spider Who Wanted to be a Kitten by Michelle Knudsen! Students, we are giving away one copy of... Read More

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With K-2, students created their own Mavis. They could also create Sandra the Sheep. This is a great way to encourage retelling of the story, and the students really enjoyed the process of the craft.

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Looking for more in Learning resources?

Our friends at PlayTalkRead have come up with some great crafting activities to help you get the most out of Mavis the Bravest by Lu Fraser and Sarah Warburton, which is in the Bookbug Explorer Bag.
Visit the Bookbug Explorer Bag homepage

How to make Mavis

You will need:

Coloured pens, pencils or crayons

Paper plates

Coloured paper

Feathers

Stickers

Glue stick

Scissors (adult supervision required)

Googly eyes

Instructions

1. Make rocking hens from paper plates folded in half.

2. Decorate with pens, coloured paper, feathers, and stickers.

3. Use a glue stick, scissors, and googly eyes, but you could also decorate your hens with pens, pencils or crayons.

How to make Sandra the Sheep

You will need:

Paper plates

Cotton wool

Black paper

White pen

Googly eyes

Scissors (adult supervision required)

Cardboard

Instructions

1. Make Sandra the Sheep from a paper plate and cover the plate with glue before sticking cotton wool all over the glue for the sheep's body.

2. Cut out a face shape and legs from black paper and add googly eyes.

3. You could also cut out a cloud shape from a piece of cardboard and cover this with wool. Try wrapping the wool round and round the cardboard, in different directions, until it looks like a woolly Sandra sheep.

PlayTalkRead is the national programme and roadshow campaign for the Scottish Government's Parent Club initiative. It showcases, demonstrates, and delivers key messages to support parents and families with young children to play, talk and read together more from birth. Our team travels around Scotland to provide storytelling and play activity sessions for children to enjoy along with their parents or caregivers.

For more inspiration and ideas, or to find out where our vehicles are travelling to next, you can follow us on X @playtalkread. PlayTalkRead is a project delivered by Smart Play Network, a charitable organisation supporting play opportunities in Scotland www.smartplaynetwork.org

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Our friends at PlayTalkRead have come up with some great crafting activities to help you get the most out of Mavis the Bravest by Lu Fraser and Sarah Warburton, which is in the 2024/25 Bookbug Explorer Bag.

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I am going to try this tomorrow, the first day back from vacation. After reading the book, our "Think Like a Crow Stations" will focus on memory: choose to play a quick game of memory; observant: use binoculars to look out the window for crows; tools: using only paper clips, string, cups, and pipecleaners, students will try to create a tool to get a piece of popcorn off the floor without using their hands.

-Beth Andersen

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With the younger students I might focus on crow communication and make a class code. Students can get a chance to be the head "crow" for

1 clap = “I found food” (make eating motion)

2 claps = “Danger!” (hide under table)

3 claps = “Follow me” ("fly" around the library)

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Students are creating and naming their own plant using pipe cleaners. Their plant can be carnivorous or not. I poked a hole in the top of a small paper cup to give the plants a pot.

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I read this book aloud to 4th grade classes last year and it was a huge hit—students practically ran to check out more books about Civil Rights heroes. It’s a great read for upper elementary students.

One small moment to be aware of is that an illustration reproduces a historical newspaper headline that includes the word “Negro.” When I read it, I noticed a brief ripple in the form of exchanged looks among a couple of students, so I paused and invited questions. None came up in the moment, and given our time, I chose not to unpack the word whole-group but followed up afterward with the students who seemed to react.

Wanting our department to feel prepared this year, I checked in with our Director of DEI, who agreed there was no need to pre-teach the word and reiterated that, if questions arise, it’s appropriate to explain that the newspaper reflects language that was common at the time but is outdated today. While the term is not considered harmful in this historical context, today we use the term Black people.

I am looking forward to sharing this excellent book again this year.

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You can purchase carnivorous plants at Terrarium in Portland. Bring your own container to make it affordable.

Also, SciShow Kids on YouTube has short videos about plants with thorns, carnivorous plants, smelly plants, and fungi. For an extension, you can have students watch one of the videos and record some facts. I used SeeSaw to give the students a link to a Google Site with the videos. Here is the link to the SeeSaw activity.

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After reading the book we discuss ways that we can be brave in our every day life. I give the students the example of me trying a new food to give them a starting point. Then, we create "Courage Cards" to hang on our W.E.S. Wall of Courage (the end cap of a shelf as I have no empty walls). I've been surprised at what the students have come up with so far.

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Students can choose to research a type of spider or a breed of cat on PebbleGo -- one of their favorite research tools.

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Students design and create a migrating-bird stick puppet using a bird template, a sheet of paper, a popsicle stick, and tape. If time permits, the class then "migrates" through the library.

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After reading the book, we go back through some of the pages, and I point out that all the illustrations show the view from outside the bus looking in. I ask students to imagine being inside the bus looking out: What do they see outside the bus window? Then, they draw the view outside. They can choose any bus view from the story. Many of them have enjoyed drawing the underwater view.

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I purchased 100 sets of chopsticks on Amazon. After reading the books we tried our hand at picking up pompoms and putting them in cups using chopsticks. Students loved trying chopsticks. In the end I had about 50 sets left and I chose a few names per class and gave those students the extra chopsticks. They are still talking about that day!