Top 10 Circulated Chapter Books

What chapter books were popular with students during the 2016-2017 school year?  Travis Jonker is an elementary school librarian in Michigan and the author of School Library Journal’s 100 Scope Notes.  He recently posted his student's favorite chapter books.  I was curious about my elementary school, so here are my student’s top 10 most circulated chapter books of the 2016-2017 school year:

10.  Dork Diaries: Tales From a Not-So-Fabulous Life by Rachel Renee Russell

9.  The 52-Story Treehouse by Andy Griffiths

8.  The 13-Story Treehouse by Andy Griffiths

7.  Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul by Jeff Kinney

6.  Big Nate Lives It Up by Lincoln Peirce

5.  The 39-Story Treehouse by Andy Griffiths

4.  Pokemon: Snack Attack! by Tracey West

3.  Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Old School by Jeff Kinney

2.  Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days by Jeff Kinney

1.  Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth by Jeff Kinney

These stats show that my students love the Treehouse books and Diary of a Wimpy Kid, however I'd argue that the Big Nate books are still a favorite as well.

Summer Reading Book Suggestions - 2017

The last few weeks of school I discussed with my students the importance of reading over the summer and encouraged them to participate in the public library's summer reading program.  Students who complete the summer reading program can turn in their reading log to Mrs. Merkle when they return to school in August, and receive an invite to an extra recess party to celebrate Greensview's summer readers. 

To keep in touch with students over the summer months, I will be hosting Teacher Tuesdays at Upper Arlington's Lane Road Public Library.  Students can meet up with Greensview Elementary teachers on June 13th, June 27th, July 11th, and July 25th from 3:00pm-4:00pm.  

To get students excited to read over the summer, I book talked some new and exciting books.  Below are the lists organized by grade level.  All of these books can be found at the public library.

Happy summer reading to all my students!  I hope to see you at Teacher Tuesdays at the public library and can't wait celebrate your reading when we return to school in the fall.  May your summer be filled with exciting adventures and experiences, both real and fictional.  Enjoy your summer, day by day and book by book!

GRADES K & 1

Picture Books

Pete the Cat and the Cool Cat Boogie by James Dean

Peterrific (Pinkalicious) by Victoria Kann

Superheroes Have Bad Days by Shelley Becker

Moo Moo in a Tutu by Tim Miller

Night Night, Groot by Brendan Deneen

Unicorn Thinks He’s Pretty Great by Bob Shea

Bob, Not Bob! by Elizabeth Garton Scanlon

Blobfish Throws a Party by Miranda Paul

Be Quiet! by Ryan T. Higgins

The Case of the Stinky Stench by Josh Funk

The Nuts: Keep Rolling by Eric Litwin

Plankton is Pushy by Jonathan Fenske

Sea Monkey & Bob by Aaron Reynolds

Triangle by Mac Barnett

The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors by Drew Daywalt

The Good for Nothing Button! by Charise Mericle Harper

I Am Not a Chair! by Ross Burach

We’re All Wonders by R.J. Palacio

Not Quite Narwhal by Jessie Sima

Charlotte and the Rock by Stephen W. Martin

You Don’t Want a Unicorn! by Ame Dyckman

Graphic Novels

Adventures in Cartooning books (4) by James Sturm

Narwhal and Jelly books (2) by Ben Clanton

The Great Pet Escape by Victoria Jamieson

The Bad Guys books (3) by Aaron Blabey

Chapter Books

Lego Nexo Knights books (4) by Tracey West & Kate Howard

Disney Princess Beginnings books (2) by Tessa Roehl

Bad Kitty Takes a Test by Nick Bruel

The Princess in Black #4: Takes a Vacation by Shannon Hale

Rider Woofson books (7) by Walker Styles

Magic Animal Rescue books (2) by E.D. Baker

Press Start! books (2) by Thomas Flintham

Goldie Blox books (2) by Stacy McNulty

Moby Shinobi books (2) by Luke Flowers

GRADES 2 & 3

New Books from a Series

Bad Kitty Takes the Test by Nick Bruel

The Princess in Black #4: Takes a Vacation by Shannon Hale

The 65-Story Treehouse by Andy Griffiths

Hamster Princess #3: Ratpunzel by Ursula Vernon

Hamster Princess #4: Giant Trouble by Ursula Vernon

Graphic Novels

Adventures in Cartooning books (4) by James Sturm

Narwhal and Jelly books (2) by Ben Clanton

CatStonauts books (2) by Drew Brockington

The Great Pet Escape by Victoria Jamieson

The Bad Guys books (3) by Aaron Blabey

Caveboy Dave by aaron Reynolds

Funny
Marty Pants by Mark Parisi
Jake the Fake by Craig Robinson

Hamster-saurus Rex books (2) by Tom O’Donnell

Fizzopolis books (3) by Brian Sheesley

Action

Nexo Knights: The Forbidden Power by Max Brallier

Press Start! books (2) by Thomas Flintham

Rider Woofson books (7) by Walker Styles

Fantasy

Third Grade Mermaid by Peter Raymundo

Magic Animal Rescue books (2) by E.D. Baker

Goldie Blox books (2) by Stacy McNulty

GRADES 4 & 5

Fantasy

Trials of Apollo #2: The Dark Prophecy by Rick Riordan

The Gauntlet by Karuna Riazi

Science Fiction

Last Day on Mars by Kevin Emerson

Realistic Fiction

Braced by Alyson Gerber

The Great Treehouse War by Lisa Graff

Historical Fiction

Making Bombs for Hitler by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch

Survival

Horizon by Scott Westerfeld

Mystery

The Goldfish Boy by Lisa Thompson

Graphic Novel

Real Friends by Shannon Hale

Caveboy Dave by Aaron Reynolds

Invisible Emmie by Terri Libenson

Humor

Marty Pants by Mark Parisi

Welcome to Wonderland books (2) by Chris Grabenstein 

65-Story Treehouse by Andy Griffith

Max Crumbly books (2) by Rachel Renee Russell
Jake the Fake by Craig Robinson

Animal Fiction

Hamster-saurus Rex books (2) by Tom O’Donnell

Hamster Princess #3: Ratpunzel by Ursula Vernon

Hamster Princess #4: Giant Trouble by Ursula Vernon

Notable Summer Release
Babymouse Tales from the Locker: Lights, Camera, Middle School! by Jennifer Holms (out on July 4th)

Breakout EDU in the Library & Classroom

“Can you solve the clues to unlock the box and breakout before time runs out?”  Last fall I kept seeing articles and twitter posts about staffs and students using Breakout boxes in schools.  I was hooked by the idea of students answering riddles and unravel complex clues, turning learning to a fun kind of game!  Needless to say, I wrote a grant and received approval to purchase four Breakout boxes for my school’s makerspace and library program.  My experience with using Breakout EDU boxes with students is mostly positive, but there are a few things to consider.

Breakout EDU boxes engage teams of students in timed challenges.  Each kit includes a large and small lockable box, a hasp lock, an alphabet lock, a directional multi-lock, a three-digit lock, a four-digit lock, a key lock, and a UV light.  In teams, students use these materials to solve a series of riddles, challenges, and mysteries.  Each game is designed so players are immersed in the experience and are racing against the clock to break out before times expires.  The Breakout EDU website has a database of predesigned challenges and provides a template for teachers to create their own.  Each kit costs $125 per box.  More information can be found at breakoutedu.com.  

There are many benefits to Breakout EDU.  The experience is fun and engaging to students while teaching critical thinking, complex problem solving skills, troubleshooting, teamwork, communication, and collaboration.  They support all content areas and can be used with students in grades K-12 - even adults enjoy the breakout experience!  

I’ve done Breakout in a variety of ways.  I’ve done a few small group experiences with students in four groups of 5-6 students working with their own Breakout box and materials.  This type of set up doesn’t require a timer since groups of students simply compete against one another.  The benefit to small groups is that all students get a chance to participate and work with all aspects of the game.  The con is that only one team of 5-6 students wins.  I’ve also done a large group Breakout experience with a whole class of students.  I had multiple boxes that needed to be unlocked, but the entire class had to work together to breakout.  This experience requires a timer, challenging the students to complete with the clock.  The benefit to a large group is that everyone experiences the joy of winning (or the agony of defeat) together.  The con is that sometimes there is not enough activity to engage all students, and some students are left with nothing to do.

Students have enjoyed many features of using the Breakout boxes.  Overall, the kids really like the game-like challenge of breaking out.  The activities are a fresh alternative from the typical learning experience.  The tasks require students to apply their knowledge in a fun and interactive way, allowing them to think outside the box (both literally and figuratively).  They love using the UV light, discovering hidden clues, and solving the mysteries.  I’ve hidden keys in fun locations all around the library and required students to read messages written in code.  

However, there are some aspects of Breakout that students don’t enjoy.  When teams successfully work together and win the game, they are genuinely proud of themselves.  But the teams that argue and lose are down right angry that they don’t win.  The first time I did Breakout, I had 5 happy winners and 18 sad students.  I’ve also seen kids experience anxiety as the clock ticks down, and frustration when things get challenging and confusing.  

To make the tough aspects more enjoyable and help students make the most out of the Breakout experience, I have a few suggestions:

1- Organize students into groups based on ability and personality.  Try to make each group a combination of students that are leaders/followers, high academic ability/low academic ability, good team member/bad team member, etc. 

2- Prior to starting the game, provide students with tips for success.  I encourage students to work together as a team, use kind words, be persistent, and remain positive whether they win or lose.

3- When a team wins, the game doesn’t end.  I allow time for the other groups to finish their experience and can even get help from members of the winning team if needed.  This allows all students to walk away with a sense of understanding and accomplishment despite winning or losing.  

4- Only photograph the winning team members.  To avoid capturing sad faces, I only photograph the winning team.  Sometimes that’s 4-5 student for the small group experiences and sometimes that’s an entire class for the large group experiences.

5- Reflect with students afterwards.  I ask students what they liked about the Breakout experience, to list strengths of their group, consider what their group could have done better, and explain what they could have do differently next time.  

I have a few more recommendations to make your Breakout experience easier.  First, use the pre-made games on the Breakout website.  I find organizing these games rather difficult.  As I put the games together I often feel confused.  I keep going and in the end everything makes sense, but it takes me a little time to get there.  So I truly value the Breakout website’s game library.  Second, teach students about the locks prior to starting the game.  I show the students how the locks work and the proper way to align the code for each lock.  Third, use the “Lock Parking Lot” (this can be printed from the Breakout website).  When students open a lock, they need to bring it to the front of the room and place it in the lock parking lot.  If students keep the locks, they are likely to play with them and possibly disrupt the settings or break them.  website’s game library.

Like our makerspace, the Breakout EDU boxes are an exciting addition to the school’s library program.  If you’re looking for a fun way to challenge students, I highly recommend the Breakout boxes.  Break out of the norm and try something new . . . you’re students will love it!

Happy 2nd Birthday to My Blog!

Happy 2nd birthday to my blog!  I’ve been officially blogging for two years now, and I’ve loved every minute of being apart of the blogging community. 

Looking back, I’ve done a lot of entries about my work as a teacher librarian.  I’ve blogged about little free libraries, books, makerspaces activities, and school library programs.  Some of my most popular blogs are:

1 - My #pb10for10 - Picture Books for a Makerspace (from 8/10/16)

2 - 10 Steps to Make a Doodlebot (from 1/16/17)

3 - The Little Free Library (this was my blog’s 1st post on 4/11/15)

In the future, I’d like to continue discussing my work as a teacher librarian with entries about books, makerspaces, and school library programs.  I’d also love to invite some guest bloggers to write on my blog as well - anyone interested?

Many thanks to those who have read my blog and other bloggers who inspire me with ideas and challenges.  I’m grateful to my readers and honored to blog among such talented educators.  

#mustreadin2017

Yay - the first #mustreadin2017 update is here and I have so much to share!  Thank you Carrie Gelson of There’s a Book for That for hosting this reading event.  In January I did a blog post motivating myself to read a variety of books (see picture below), and I'm proud to say that I read all of them.  The title that surprised me the most was Bob, Not Bob! by Audrey Vernick and Liz Garton Scanlon.  It's about a boy with a cold asking for his "mom," but his stuffy nose makes it sound like he's asking for "Bob" his dog.  It is hilarious and had my five year old daughter laughing out loud.  

Besides reading the titles above, I was distracted by new books.  Below are the additional books I've also read in the past few months:

Below are some upcoming titles that I’m looking forward to reading in the near future.  I'll be back in September with an update on my reading progress for #mustreadin2017.