(More Than) Three for Your Library: Lighten Up with Picture Books

When the #stayathome began, I asked my son who teaches third grade, "What do you think might make some great read alouds for our students right now?"

"Maybe they just need books that will make them laugh," he replied without missing a beat.

I was ready to solve the world's problems with picture books.  Isn't that what you do?  However, he had an excellent point.  Our students are away from their friends, there is much uncertainty, and all the joys of being five, seven, or nine have been placed on hold in many ways.

Since then, our #stayathome orders have been lengthened.  We are all trying to learn to teach in this new abnormal.  (Sorry, I just can't call it our new normal as there is nothing normal about it.)

Thankfully, my picture books are here with me.  If I had been in the classroom, instead of my current role, my picture books likely would have been left on the shelves of my school.  I probably would have filled a bag or two for good measure, but I would be without a lot of them.  With libraries being closed right now too, the challenge of getting books is amplified.  We've been grateful to have these books at home over the last month+, but it always makes me think about teachers who may be home without their books.

Yesterday, I hosted a Zoom opportunity to talk about picture books.  It seemed a good idea to lighten things up a bit - okay, maybe I needed to lighten up a bit.  Picture books not only solve any world problem, they also lighten things up.  They're good therapy.  I tried to consider that we are all stuck at home without access to books.  Some of the titles you see in the S'more are only available for delivery, but many are available digitally.  I found several of these titles available digitally in our local library - some weren't even currently checked out.  That's a win.

Here's what you'll find in the S'more:
Five New Picture Books:  There are many great picture books coming out right now.  While not as easy to obtain in this crisis, it is possible to order them for delivery and a few can be found digitally.  Yep, I might still be ordering books on occasion.  You've gotta support small businesses - and authors right now, right?! These are five titles I currently love. 

Five Books to Lighten Up:  My son made such a good point that I went to my shelves looking for lighter titles.  I was pleased to come up with a nice stack of funny books.  It was hard to reduce this list to five, but you'll find a few suggestions here. 

Five Digital Resources for Remote Learning:  When this situation began I started collecting resources on a Padlet.  It seemed the first thing we tried to figure out as teachers was how to maintain the read aloud.  Before authors and publishers started granting limited permission for use, I went on a quest to find some ways to get stories to kids.  This search included some of the spaces we all know and love such as:  Storyline Online, Tumblebooks, and BookFlix.  You'll find a few others, I have since discovered in the S'more.

Five Digital Spaces to Remember:  Many of us have subscriptions to digital spaces that provide books, articles, and other reading material.  These spaces are important to remember right now.  (Of course, you'll want to check into copyright:  COVID-19 Reference from SLJ:   Multiple Publishers Fair Use Policy.)  Here are a few I have found helpful in this situation.

I hope you find this resource helpful.  If you have something new, something light, or something digital you love right now, please share some of your favorite's in the comments below. 

Three Read Alouds for Your Library: Let's Make Them Digital

In the first days of teaching our students from our homes, the scramble began for read aloud.  I have always found the read aloud to be the glue of my classroom community, but this has sealed the deal on that.  In our remote learning environment read aloud is till holding our community together, making us laugh, leading our instruction, and mentoring our writers.

With the temporary adjustments made by many publishers, teachers are finding ways to still read aloud with their classes.  Whether it be on temporary video or in a live session, many teachers have discovered their learners love seeing them.  Read aloud can certainly help maintain connection while we are away from our classrooms.  With libraries closed and books at home limited, bringing books into the living rooms of our children's homes is as essential as reading aloud in our classrooms.

Of course, as teachers, the number of books we have at home is limited too and reading aloud every day, when it requires video recording or gathering a large group, has its challenges.  There are a variety of created materials and websites that can help fill the need for read aloud at this time.

Here are three I love for your digital library:

Saturday by Oge Mora  I was excited to find one of my favorite books of this year available in read aloud....and by the author!  That's a win.  This story talks about a Saturday that doesn't go quite as planned.  As all of us are stuck at home, I think we'd love a Saturday as disastrous as this one.  Kids will love the repetitive structure of this day that has gone wrong - but then turns right.  I found this read aloud on a post by Romper:  Famous People Read Aloud.

Of course, this post led me #operationstorytime in YouTube.  Oh my goodness!!!  So many read alouds tucked in here!!!





Big Bad Baby!  by Bruce Hale and illustrated by Steve Breen.  This one made me laugh.  I hadn't seen it before, but loved all the trouble caused by Big Bad Baby.  Sometimes a little lighter picture book can certainly help us all right now and this book might be just what everyone needs.  Who knows?  Maybe one of your students is home with Big Bad Baby right now.  Ha!

I found this one in a collection of others in this post by We Are Teachers:  The Big List of Children's Authors Doing Online Read Alouds and Activities.  Check it out!



The Bear Ate Your Sandwich by Julia Sarcone-Roach.  I stumbled on another book that I love available in read aloud.  I found this one on Brightly Storytime.  This book is about a bear, tempted by a truckload of berries, who begins on an adventure that takes him right to your sandwich.  Or was it bear that ate your sandwich?  Hmmm....

Of course, I love finding a favorite picture book available for kids in read aloud, but I also appreciated the way Brightly is able to show picture and text together on the screen.  The words are bolded as the reader reads aloud.  What a great way to give our youngest readers the opportunity to see print.  You'll find other read alouds available at Brightly Storytime.




If you have favorite stops for digital read alouds, please share them in the comments below.

Collaborating with Colleagues in a Pandemic: Don't Forget Voxer

My kids have always made fun of me for my love of Voxer. "Mom, it's just a walkie-talkie," they'd giggle as if I had stepped back too far in time.  They'd laugh as I chit-chatted with friends over the app.

Voxer has remained one of my favorite apps across time.  If you asked me to pick five apps and delete the rest from my phone it would likely make the cut.  You see, Voxer lets you have conversations with people that maintain the back and forth, but allow for people to respond as they are able.

I first fell in love with Voxer when working with my team years ago.  So many times we'd get a good conversation going in the hallway or during a meeting and, you know teaching life, we wouldn't be able to finish it. Voxer let us finish it - and it let us finish it together.  It wasn't that one team member talked to another and wrapped up our next steps, it was that the group kept the conversation going until we found the next step together.  Since then, I've maintained my love for Voxer for keeping up with friends near and far.  I've solved some tough challenges with friends on Voxer.

Now, in this remote learning situation, I'm once again reminded of the power of Voxer. In school buildings there are rhythms to schedules. You know the better times to try to reach out and talk with others. In this situation, there is no way to predict someone's schedule. In Voxer I'm able to reach out and have friends respond as their day allows. We can still continue the back and forth of conversation, but slowed down a bit in time.

Voxer also makes it easier to explain your thinking or get different perspectives. Texting can be limiting as it can be hard to explain things in detail or hear the tone of words. Additionally, all of the time on screens makes Voxer a welcome relief.

If you're looking for ways to stay connected, solve problems, or have conversations in groups, don't forget Voxer. It may be just a "walkie-talkie," but it's my favorite walkie-talkie.

Technology Will Not Save Us

This morning as I made a cup of coffee my iWatch sent me an alert:  "Make it happen today."  While I appreciate my watch's optimism, it sounded a little disconnected from the times.  Don't you know I'm under stay at home orders?  Don't you know we are working from home?  Don't you know we are in the middle of a pandemic that is so tragic I am just happy to have gotten myself up most morning?  That's technology.  It attempts to know us, but it doesn't really know us.  

So here we are teaching from home and wrestling with all kinds of new questions.  At the same time, resources to make it all easier are being sent our way.  Companies are opening their platforms so that we can utilize their sites.  It's a little hard to not feel like a kid caught in a candy store.  There are are so many sites that usually have fees for use that have opened.  As I review these sites, I just can't help but be reminded that technology doesn't really know our learners.

You see, I've been fortunate to walk alongside teachers during this unusual time.  I have been so awed by the way they work to find resources that meet the needs of their learners.  As teachers, we understand that putting kids on a program might give them something to do, but it doesn't necessary give them something to learn.  Computer programs can't know a child's preferences the way we can.  Computer programs can't connect learners to their peers the way we can.  Computer programs can't build that love for reading that so delicately must walk alongside the development of skills.

I was recently reviewing a site that touted being "scientifically researched."  Oh, that can mean so much.  I couldn't help but think about the difference in learning for a child jumping on this program and one who has the opportunity to continue to read, write, and connect with their friends and learning community.  I couldn't help but think about the teachers I've been working with who are finding ways to maintain those next steps in building concepts of print, develop knowledge of letters and words, grow the thinking of their readers, support next steps in writing and help young learners continue to progress during this crisis.  In these first weeks, we've been discovering ways to maintain what we know to be essential for our literacy learners while adjusting to their situations.  We are supporting learning in the midst of crisis.

So while sites open their doors, we continue to look for ways to connect our students with their community. We continue to think of ways to support the literacy development of our young learners. We continue to find ways to get students away from their screens as not all learning has to happen there - and right now we could all use a screen break. We continue to value choice and learner agency as we empower students to have opportunities to create instead of consume in this new learning environment.  Most of all, we continue to walk softly and nudge learners forward knowing that now, more than ever, we have to meet them where they are.

You see, technology will never know what we know about our learners. Though it is helping us in this crisis, technology will not save us.