This month, as we continue to learn about award-winning books, we are going to be reading the nominees for the NC Children's Book Award. Voting begins March 1st, so I hope to have shared most of the books by then, and we will try to read two books per lesson to help students vote and narrow them down. If you would like to see which NCCBA winners and nominees we have in our library, check out this collection I've compiled in Destiny. You can also read ALL of these books as eBooks through the NC Kids Digital Library! (Click HERE for the link to this collection of eBooks.)
Follow the NC Children's Book Award on Twitter! (@NCCBABooks)

*******************

American Library Association Annual Book Awards Announced TODAY!

Click HERE for the press release to see the winners!

Library Schedule:

January 30-February 3rd--A Week

February 1st--World Read Aloud Day (Resources HERE)

February 6-10th--B Week

February 13-17th--A Week

February 15th--Golightly and Daniels at DTL Mtg at ECHS (return by 12:00)

February 20-24th--B Week
February 24th--Golightly off-campus a.m. for countywide Middle School Battle of the Books Competition @ WCHS

February 27-March 3rd--A Week AND Read Across America Celebration

March 1st--Virtual Learning Day

Books:

K:

• Dozens of Doughnuts by Carrie Finison
• How to Give Your Cat a Bath in Five Easy Steps by Nicola Winstanley

1st:

• Except Antarctica by Todd Sturgill
• The Box Turtle by Vanessa Roeder

2nd:

• Nigel and the Moon by Antwan Eady
• A Song of Frutas by Margarita Engle

3rd:

• It Fell From the Sky by The Fan Brothers
• Eat Your Rocks, Croc! by Jess Keating

4th:

• The Boy Who Grew a Forest: The True Story of Jadav Payeng by Sophia Gholz
• I'm Trying to Love Garbage by Bethany Barton

5th:

• Mars! Earthlings Welcome by Stacy McAnulty
• Watercress by Andrea Wang

Stations/Centers/Activities:

• Igloo Cup Stacking Challenge--Can you design an igloo with cups?
• Giant Coloring Posters (Valentine-themed)
• Guess the Mystery Book (book quote station)
• Book Recommendation Station
• Jenga station
• Boggle
• Spot It!
• Plus Plus
• Magnatiles
• Ride and Read Station
• Puzzle station
• Lego Station: build an igloo, penguin, polar bear, snowman, or snowflake, or you can build a wintery animal habitat! (ex--bear's den)
• "I Spy" station
• Magnet boards
• Bookmark Creation Station
• "Let's Stick Together" Mystery Picture Station

Alternatives for Blocked Websites

As you know we recently have begun the process of removing some services due to student data being stored off site. Here are some of the ones that we have recently found can’t be used and alternative services that can.

Kahoot!: This one might be blocked soon as it has some storage in Germany. It has been a great tool, but fortunately, there is a very similar tool that is also free and even has some additional features. Try Blooket, which is similar to Kahoot!, but also adds in brief games after each round and the ability for students to do the questions by themselves to try and get a high score.

Prodigy and Boddle Learning: Both practice sites, while popular, are no longer to be used on student

devices due to where they store student data. Currently, an alternative is Legends of Learning, which

offers math and science games. There is a free tier, and it appears their premium accounts are based around creating classroom assignments within the service.

99 Math: There have been some questions over whether we can use this service, but unfortunately they store student data in Ireland which is a no go. Instead, consider the awesome website Khan Academy which now has a ton of content including math problems for students to complete with step-by-step assistance.

A Few Housekeeping Items for School Technology

 We MUST make sure we have the student device of any student that transfers or otherwise

leaves the school. Please let Mr. Daniels know immediately if a student leaves and you do not

have their device. (The same goes for library books. Please make every effort to collect all library books before a child withdraws.)

 When students leave, their device needs to be taken to the office so that Mr. Daniels can collect

it. The device may not be given to a new student before it has been updated in the county

inventory system and wiped.

 Due to the way student accounts are created and updated, new students will not have access to

technology services until the day after they enter Power School. Generally, this means that Mr.

Daniels can assign a device on their second day at NES.

Staff Survey:

Mr. Daniels and I are working to create some great tech PD opportunities for our staff, but we want to make sure what we are offering is what you actually WANT, so please fill out this short survey so we know what you want and need for this year! CLICK HERE

****************

Check out the resources on this monthly calendar for some great February literacy activities. If you're not already using Epic! with your students, now is a great time to try it out! There is even a black and white printable calendar that students can color as they complete the activities each day...so fun!

Library Schedule:

January 30-February 3rd--A Week

February 6-10th--B Week

February 13-17th--A Week

February 15th--Golightly and Daniels at DTL Mtg at ECHS (return by 12:00)

February 20-24th--B Week
February 24th--Golightly off-campus a.m. for countywide Middle School Battle of the Books Competition @ WCHS

February 27-March 3rd--A Week AND Read Across America Celebration

March 1st--Virtual Learning Day

To foster interaction with other librarians and educators around the world, I have recently started my own podcast, and I'm working to share things related to books, libraries, and education on a sort-of-weekly basis. I generally release new episodes on Monday evenings, and sometimes include interviews with special guests. If you enjoy podcasts, or know a librarian or book lover who might enjoy this, please take a listen and feel free to share!

(Currently available on Anchor, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, I Heart Radio, and Google)

Click here for my LinkTree!

Email: emily.golightly@carteretk12.org
Website: bit.ly/golightlyreads
Location: 219 Chatham Street, Newport, NC, USA
Phone: 2522234201
Facebook: facebook.com/nesmediacenter
Twitter: @EmilyGolightly3