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Friday, April 27, 2018

Guest Post: Miss MacLaughlin, Student Teacher

Hello! This is Mrs. Mann’s student teacher, Miss MacLaughlin. I have been in the library since the end of February and I will be concluding my student teaching this week. I wanted to share some of the things we’ve been working on in library for the past couple of months.

Second and fourth grade have been working on coding using code.org. We collaborated with the second grade teachers on this unit; we did two “unplugged” activities to help students build coding skills without using a computer. The first lesson was a perseverance experiment--build a structure at least 6 inches high that can hold the weight of a notebook for ten seconds. The catch was that they could only use toothpicks, craft sticks, and gumdrops!

























Our second unplugged lesson was building paper airplanes using a set of picture instructions. This was to introduce the concept of algorithms, which is following a set of steps in a certain order to complete a process. We got many successful paper airplanes, collaborated with classmates in groups, and had a lot of fun!
 Fourth grade explored algorithms by playing a dice game and recreating the step-by-step instructions in their own words. This was an introduction to looping, which is a difficult concept, but our coding curriculum emphasizes persistence and I was very impressed by their efforts.


First grade has been working on algorithms as well. We read Audrey Wood’s Sweet Dream Pie, then wrote and shared our own step-by-step recipes to reinforce the concept of steps needing to be in the right sequence in order to achieve a goal.


















Kindergarten has been working on ways to show friendship and be a good classmate. We read The Adventures of Beekle, the Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat and wrote about all the kind and fun activities we can do with our own (real or imaginary) friends!




















Third grade has been learning about call numbers, Dewey Decimal, and using our Destiny Quest catalog. Soon they’ll be able to search the catalog independently to satisfy their own information needs.
























I have had such a wonderful time working with Mrs. Mann and the students of Ashaway Elementary. I’m going to miss you all!



Saturday, April 14, 2018

Reading Week 2018: Readers Are Leaders!


Reading Week 2018:
"Readers Are Leaders!"



We enjoyed another amazing week celebrating readers and reading!  Events were planned for every day, and I'm so happy to share some of these incredible memories!!





Kick-Off: Illusionist David Garrity
Students and staff enjoyed a hilarious and eye-popping magic show presented by the vary talented David Garrity.  His pro-reading message was the perfect kick-off to a week of fun and surprises!  (Huge thanks to our PTO for sponsoring this terrific event!)

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Tuesday: Guest Reader Day
Community leaders and special guests visited classrooms and shared a favorite story with our students!

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Wednesday: Pop and Swap
Our PTO sponsored another successful Pop and Swap after school.  Students and their families were invited to pop in to select from an enormous number of donated books and, while there, enjoy a popsicle, a lollipop and some popcorn!  Games and activities were also available, and everything at the event was absolutely FREE!

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Thursday: Reading Buddies
Some wonderful book sharing took place as older students read aloud with younger students!

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Friday: Family Read-In
Families were invited to come in to the school to enjoy some reading time together!

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ALL WEEK: Spuds in Duds
My student teacher, Miss MacLaughlin, got this idea from another librarian and we agreed to bring this fun new activity to Ashaway School!  Students were invited to dress up a potato (yes, a real potato!) so that it resembled a book character of their choice.  The response was incredible, and everyone enjoyed the display throughout the week in the library.  We knew they wouldn't last forever, so I took lots of pictures to preserve the students' creativity and hard work!  Awesome job, kids!!!

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Thanks again to everyone who contributed to making this year's Reading Week an enormous success, ! 
It was truly a spectacular celebration!