Parent Information
First Grade eBooks
012 hours ago
Now two years running, one of my favorite projects of the year is creating eBooks with the first graders. These books turn out to be a really great culminating activity for first grade literacy skills, where the students write, draw, type, and record their own complete electronic books. It’s a wonderful way to get an authentic look at the students’ writing skills, artistic abilities, technology skills, and reading fluency.
- Mrs. Guanci’s Class Narratives
- Mrs. Hayes’ Class Narratives
- Miss Smith’s Class Narratives
- Miss Smith’s Class Tidepool
If you need help viewing these books, please see this post with instructions for both computers and iOS devices like the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch.
Saying Thank You Doesn’t Seem Like Enough
01 day ago
For the first time this school year, the LTC employed the help of nine parent volunteers to run the circulation and clerical parts of the library. Looking back on this year, I can see all that Mr. Callahan and I were able to accomplish knowing that the library was in the good hands of the volunteers.
 Mrs. Mahoney |
 Mrs. Mirra |
 Mrs. Coram |
 Mrs. Daly |
 Mrs. Downie |
 Mrs. Churchill |
 Mrs. Detzel |
 Mrs. Barnstein |
 Mrs. Desmond |
Let me take a moment to highlight some of the truly amazing feats that these stellar volunteers accomplished this year:
- Checking out, checking in, and reshelving 22,908 books,
- Pulling, filling, and managing 1,643 holds (although we’re still trying to figure out how that Hold system works! Right, Lisa???),
- Changing the call # and spine labels on the entire Easy Nonfiction collection (that’s close to 1,000 books!),
- Stamping and barcoding approximately 600 new books that were added to the collection,
- Smiling through every task,
- and making every single person who walked into the LTC feel welcome.
There is so much more that I have not mentioned here but I think you get the picture. I could not have done all of that on my own and still teach students. Thank you for your time, thank you for your willingness and dedication to Pine Glen, and thank you for helping to make the LTC an inviting space and an invaluable resource.
Second Grade Culture Projects
01 day ago
This year our really big library and technology project with the second grade was the culture project. Inspired by work shared by teachers at Fox Hill during a Social Studies Curriculum Council meeting, this was an in-depth project involving instruction by the second grade teachers, librarian, and technology specialist. Students researched and learned about one of the cultures their family came from, nonfiction text features, and finding appropriate images online, then inserting those and text into a finished electronic book on the iPad. Many students also used their voices to share some of the words they learned in the language of the country that they studied.
Click on the links below to access the books created by the second grade students!
If you need help viewing these books, please see this post with instructions for both computers and iOS devices like the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch.
Reading ePub documents on your iOS device or Computer
01 day ago
Later this week I should be posting lots of student projects from this year that I haven’t had a chance to post yet!
Many of the projects this year were created in Book Creator for iPad, which creates an ePub file, which is an electronic book format. The advantage of the electronic book format is that it allows students to insert audio and video into their books. The negative is that there aren’t many options for how you can read those books. Up until a couple of months ago, your only option was using iBooks on an iOS device. Now, fortunately, there’s another option on the computer. This post will describe both ways of reading student work created in Book Creator.
iOS (iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch)
First, you’ll need to download iBooks from the App Store. It’s completely free!
Next, you’ll need to find an ePub file to download. Here’s the first grade graphic novel that I posted earlier this year!
After tapping on the link, you’ll see a screen that gives basic information and gives you a download button that you should tap.
This will bring you to an Open In screen. If it says Open in iBooks, tap that. Otherwise tap Open in… and then choose Open in iBooks from the list that pops up.
iBooks will open up with your new book ready to read!
Computer (PC or Mac)
If you don’t have it already, you’ll need to download the Chrome web browser by Google.
Download the ePub file and save it somewhere easy to find again. I use the Downloads folder or the Desktop.
You’ll then need to add the Readium Extension to Chrome. In order to add it, you’ll need to be signed in to a free Google account.
After downloading, it should create a New Tab on the Apps page. Click on Readium.
Click the Add Items button
Click Choose Files, then find your epub where you had saved it. Then click Add Book. Now you can read your book!
Later this year, Apple will release a new version of Mac OS X that will have iBooks built in, so this is just a temporary measure for reading on Mac. After that it will work much more like iOS.
Where Can I Find Books to Read This Summer?
01 week ago
Find links to all of the recommendations listed below (and more!) on the “Summer Reading” Symbaloo page.
Glen Picnic and Book Fair, June 12
All books will be Buy One, Get One Free. Great chance to stock up on summer reads!
Got Books? Book Cart
Pine Glen now has a Free Lending Library Book Cart in the lobby filled with gently used books from the Used Book Superstore of Burlington. They are free so take one or donate one (or two or three)! Only available while school is scheduled.
Burlington Public Library
Not only do they have a great Summer Reading Program but you can check out books, magazines, graphic novels, and ebooks all year long! It’s free!
iReady
Pine Glen students can continue to use iReady at home over the summer. Just use the same student login you use at school. Free to use.
Tumblebooks
Pine Glen’s database of digital picture books available to students and their families all summer long. Free to use.
WeGiveBooks.org
Sign up for a free account and you and your family will have access to a great collection of web-based, digital books you can read online. Plus! for every book you read, one book is donated to a world literacy cause. It’s free!
Used Book Superstore
Lots of great deals all year long!
