Elementary Librarian

Library lesson plans and ideas for the school librarian. Lessons incorporate Common Core and AASL standards.

Ed Tech Tuesday: Wikispaces Review

Today's Ed Tech Tuesday focus is a Wikispaces review. Wikispaces allows people to create wikis. According to the Wikispaces website, a wiki is "a space on the Web where you can share work and ideas, pictures and links, videos and media — and anything else you can think of." We've all heard of Wikipedia, and Wikispaces is similar to that - a place ... Continue Reading...

Ed Tech Tuesday: Wordle Review

Today's Ed Tech Tuesday feature is a Wordle review. Wordle creates word clouds from text or a web address. The word clouds generate based on word frequency. The more frequently used words will be larger, and less frequently used words will be smaller. The Wordle above is for my website, Elementary Librarian. Using Wordle is pretty simple. Just ... Continue Reading...

Ed Tech Tuesday: Prezi Review

Today's Ed Tech Tuesday feature is a Prezi review. Prezi helps you create slideshows. It's similar to Powerpoint, but much better, in my opinion. Your presentations can zoom, twist, turn, and just do really interesting stuff. Check out the bottom of the Prezi website to see samples of really cool looking Prezis.  There are even templates you can ... Continue Reading...

Challenges for the Upcoming School Year

As the school year quickly approaches, I've been doing a lot of thinking about how it's going to go.  I had a pretty good year last year, especially considering I started a few weeks after the school year had begun and I felt like I was constantly behind.  Even though the past school year was a good one, I am always trying to find ways to ... Continue Reading...

Ed Tech Tuesday: LiveBinders Review

Every Tuesday, I will review a web tool or app that can help you in your library. Today's Ed Tech Tuesday focus is a LiveBinders review. I've recently started using LiveBinders and I must say it is pretty cool. It's a virtual three ring binder - basically like bookmarks on your browser that you can share with the world (or just those you choose to ... Continue Reading...

Summer Reading Programs

We started a summer reading program at my school this year.  I've been pretty pleased with the results so far.  We open the library from 10:00-12:00 every Tuesday so students can come in, read, and take Accelerated Reader tests.  We've had around 30 students each week, which isn't bad for summer. Some other schools in the district are doing more ... Continue Reading...

Worth more than I paid!

"I am so glad I found the Elementary Librarian lesson plans! The fact that these plans were easy to use and were aligned to both the AASL and Common Core ELA standards made them worth far more that what I paid for them!"

All the work is done for me!

"This will be my 7th year and until your plans I have been spinning my wheels trying to come up with solid plans each week. I had planned on spending all summer trying to figure out my “years” plans, but you have done all the work for me."

My students are engaged!

"I was thrilled to discover your treasure trove of resources. After two years of doing it “my way,” I decided to utilize the center approach and do it “your” way. The students are engaged and I see them using the knowledge the lessons give them."

My principal was impressed!

"Your lesson plans with the Common Core and AASL 21st Century Standards were a life saver! My principal looked through my plan binder and was completely floored that EVERY lesson had both sets of standards."