At my two  Montgomery County, Maryland elementary schools, we celebrated Poem in Your Pocket Day on April 18th and 19th at Brookhaven ES, and April 19th and 22nd at Clopper Mill ES.  We had the opportunity to share some wonderful poems with each other, and were able to Skype with several schools throughout the USA.  Using templates from Homeschool Creations and Scholastic, my students wrote original poems or copied a favorite  poem to share.

We Skyped with elementary schools in Iowa, Texas, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Howard County, Maryland (thanks, Matthew – The Busy Librarian).  Each video chat was filled with  enthusiastic students, teachers, and media specialists.  We learned facts about the states and shared many original poems, riddles, and also two voice poems “Cricket” and “Grasshopper” from Joyful Noise by Paul Fleischman.  We read together selections from Poem in My Pocket by Bobbi Katz, “Whistling” by Jack Prelutsky (we whistled together at the end, of course)!    When one of our video chat sessions fell through because of a scheduling glitch, one of my Clopper Mill 5th grade classes stepped up at the very last second to to share poems with one of my 1st grade classes – and it was a treat for both classes!  My students shared a wide variety of poems — from silly poems about hot dogs and messy bedrooms to Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. What an awesome three days!    Can’t wait for next year’s Poem in Your Pocket Day!

As we try to understand why tragedies happen, and how to help our students cope with their fears and uncertainty, there are many resources available to assist us.   One of the blogs I follow, A Media Specialist’s Guide to the Internet, has a comprehensive set of resources to help educators help their students.  I hope you will take a look at them.

A Media Specialist’s Guide to the Internet: Coping With Tragedies.

April is … National Poetry Month & School Library Month.

At my two elementary schools, we celebrated The Very Hungry Caterpillar Day — all week!   At Brookhaven Elementary School, we created two large caterpillars (one with student hand prints and one with student’s favorite foods) to decorate the hallways outside of the media center.  Ms. Johnson’s kindergarten class had the opportunity to Skype with a kindergarten class in Wisconsin, sharing The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, and Ten Little Caterpillars by Bill Martin, Jr. At Clopper Mill Elementary School, my fifth grade library assistants helped me create our Devour a Good Book bulletin board.