I hope that everyone is having a great school year! I know it’s quite different than it has been in the past, but we’re still doing great things and I know that you’re all working hard.

Most of my work and postings this year will be in Schoology, especially for grades 1, 2, and 3 at Lindbergh and River Oaks. You can always send me messages through my blog, email, or schoology and I’ll get back to you as quick as I can.

We’re all getting used to Schoology, and many of you I see during Zoom meetings. I hope you’re all having fun reading, doing your very best on your schoolwork, and enjoying these beautiful autumn days!

Welcome back to the start of a new school year!  This year is starting off very different than any other school year, but there will still be so many exciting things going on.  I hope that everyone had a great summer and is ready to learn.

I will still be using my blog for a little while, but we’ll be using the Schoology program for most everything this year.  It will have all of your teachers information, and you will be able to find most everything that you will need for school.  We will also be using Zoom for meetings, many of us were using Google Meet last year.  We’re all learning these together, so don’t worry if things don’ work the way you want them to at first.

Have a great day, and keep on learning!

Would you like to be an author and an illustrator?  Today you can look at a great website that lets you do just that.  Easy and fun!  You get to use a website to make your own stories by clicking on choices.  These choices will write the story and add the illustrations, depending on the choices that you made.

Click on https://pbskids.org/games/ . There are six choices.  The first choice is the first box, which is Arthur’s Pop-up Theater.  Click on the box and follow the prompts to make funny, spooky, and silly stories!  Go back and listen to the stories you created.  Next click on the third box, which is Storycreator.  Follow the prompts to make stories here also.  When you are done listening to your stories, share them with someone in your house!  Then you can go back to the stories, change the selections, and make more stories.

Let me know about the stories you wrote and if you enjoyed this. Have fun and enjoy being an author!

I hope everyone had a great week and that you were able to enjoy this warm and sunny weather.  We sure did, we went swimming, for walks in the park, ate dinner in the backyard, and of course read books.  

What was your favorite part of the story When a Dragon Moves In?, which was found on http://storylineonline.net?

Mine was when the dragon roasted all of those marshmallows with his super-hot fire!  Wouldn’t that be awesome!  The story also showed us that it’s important to use your imagination, and that if you can dream it it can come true.  Be sure to check out other great stories on http://storylineonline.net .

Learn about some of your favorite animals by going to the website https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/.  

You can learn so much about many different kinds of animals.  Did you know that the giant panda eats only bamboo?  Did you also know that there are only 1,500 giant pandas left in the world right now?  Go to the website, find one of your favorite animals to learn about, and share it with us next week.              

Have a great week, and keep on reading!

It’s a great summer day for the beach or the pool.  However, if you can’t go to the beach, you can read about one, and that’s almost as much fun.  

I read this wonderful book called Mermaid Dance. The author is Marjorie Hakala and the illustrator is Mark Jones. It’s a wonderful tale about mermaids and their adventures at the sea.

Do you like dragons? I sure do!  Read the story When A Dragon Moves In by Jodi Moore, illustrated by Howard McWilliam.  You can find this story on the website https://www.storylineonline.net/.  Find out what happens when a dragon goes to the beach!  Read this story and let me know what your favorite part is and if you liked it.  You can comment here on my blog or send me an email.  

Have a great day, and keep reading!

What a beautiful summer day today!  A perfect day to go to the beach, and take your favorite book along of course.  If you can’t go to the beach, enjoy a book about the beach and being by the water.

How to Code A Sandcastle, by Josh Funk, tells the story of a girl who wants to build a sand castle, with the help of a robot friend.  She soon learns that a robot will only do exactly what you tell it to do, just like when we code in computers.  The computer doesn’t actually know anything, it only knows what you tell it to do.  She does give exact directions, or code, and has a fun day at the beach!  I borrowed this book from our public library, and you can borrow it from the Dearborn Public Library using your Dearborn Public Library card!

Scooby-Doo be doo, here’s a book for you!  Do you like a good mystery?  Check out Scooby-Doo Dinosaur Dig, it’s a picture book, which means you read some words as well as some pictures!

Down to the Sea with Mr. Magee, by Chris Van Dusen, tells about a fun trip out on the water!  A fun and colorful story that you can read and watch on Tumblebooks, which you can access on the Dearborn Public Library site using your Dearborn Public Library card.  Enjoy!

Have a great weekend, and I can’t wait to hear about the good stories you’re reading!

Hello!  How is your summer going and what have you been reading?

I just finished the book “The One and Only Ivan” by Katherine Applegate.  I really enjoy her books.  This is a fiction book that talks about a gorilla who is held in captivity and misses his life and family in the jungle.  This book also won the Newberry Award, which is the award given to one book each year that has the best writing, that’s quite an honor!

I hope you’re having a great summer.  One of my favorite things to do is to read.  Would you like to join the Summer Reading Club?  Just check in here on my blog every Wednesday and Friday. I’ll share some good books that I am reading, and you can tell me what you are reading, or have read this summer!  

This week I’d like to hear about any story you have read, or maybe someone has read to you.  The Summer Reading Club will run for four weeks, and the last meeting will be Friday, August 21.  All you have to do is check in here on your computer, a phone, Chromebook, whatever device you use.   Later this week I’ll give some suggestions of stories for you to read, stories both on line and traditional book forms.

I’m just finishing the book “The One and Only Ivan”, by Katherine Applegate. Can’t wait to hear what you’re reading.  See you soon!

I hope that everyone is having a great summer.  Sunshine, outdoors, and reading of course!   I’d love to hear about the great books that you’re reading and other fun you’re having.  Send me a comment in the comment section below, or you can always use your student email.

I hope everyone has a fantastic summer vacation!  Be sure to check my blog throughout the summer for summer reading suggestions and activities!