Destiny Quest

Come On In...Welcome to my blog entry about Destiny Quest!

Destiny Quest is an online catalog that houses every book owned in my school library.
As a teacher, I use this resource to find books that are available for check out in our school media center. Before I begin teaching a unit of study, I access Destiny Quest to find books that relate to my unit of study. For example, last week I was teaching about Black History month, so I was able to login to Destiny Quest to see what books were available. One cool feature is that it lets me know if the book is "IN" or "OUT". Do you know how much time that saves me? Since I'm a visual learner, I love the fact that Destiny displays the book covers. I use the "My List" feature to drop and drag book titles, which helps me create a resource of book titles for future use. Destiny also has ebooks! My students love when I project an ebook on the white board, because they know that I'm going to choose someone to read the book out loud to the class. The ebooks allow me to connect with my 21st Century students, who are reading books on their Nook or Kindle.

Parents and students can also access Destiny Quest from any computer with reliable internet connection. They can view every book that is available for check out in our school library. Most parents and students use this wonderful resource to select AR books. Destiny displays title details, call numbers, AR levels, awards, and more. Students can also create a "My List" bookshelf  in order to make a resource list.

The best thing about Destiny Quest is that it's easy to use. The kid-friendly interface and design makes finding just the right book easy and FUN!! To check out this amazing resource and login as a guest, click here.  Oh, before you begin, use my Destiny Quest instructional handout that I created for my Preparing Instructional Media class at USF. I hope you have fun browsing for books!
So, between now and next time...Ya'll come back you hear!

Author Visit

Come On In...

 Welcome to my blog entry on how to motivate young children to read through Author visits!

I am very excited about this blog entry because I just found out that Crystal Bowman, a  best-selling children's author from West Palm Beach, will be visiting our school on February 24th. 

I was so excited when I heard the news that I immediately went to our school library and checked out 2 of her books (I wanted to grab all of them,but I thought that would be selfish of me).  Then, I told my students the exciting news! They were so happy to hear about her upcoming visit that they asked me if she were coming today (first graders have no real concept of time :)) so, I explained once again, that she wasn't coming until the 24th, and we could count down the days on the classroom calendar. 
However, in preparation for her visit, I read 2 of her books to my class.
  

First, I read Mommy, May I Hug the Fish. 

    Then, I read Otter and Owl Set Sail 

from the Otter and Owl 

I Can Read Series.

Crystal Bowman loves to write books and poetry. She also writes articles for magazines and songs for piano lesson books. My students will be reading more Crystal Bowman books  before her visit, then they will write Mrs. Bowman a letter letting her know how much they enjoy reading her books! 
I look forward to blogging about her visit in a couple of weeks (I'll post pictures too), but in the mean time read more about Crystal Bowman on her website.
So, between now and next time...Ya'll come back you hear! 

Celebrating AR Success!

Come On In...and welcome back to my next blog entry! 

Today I will share how I reward students who meet their AR goal.

Does the word party, make you feel happy or excited?  

Well, to children ages 6 to 7, the word party brings squeals of delight! So, students who reach their individualized AR reading goal by the end of each quarter, can't wait until PARTY TIME! 

Our 1st quarter AR party, was based on the book... If You Give a Cat a Cupcake, by Laura Numeroff. 

After reading the book, the students enjoyed decorating their very own cupcake with toppings of their choice. Take a look at the pictures below, and you will see how something as simple as decorating and eating a cupcake can motivate children to read!

At our 2nd quarter AR party, students enjoyed a picnic with popsicles, and our 3rd quarter AR party is coming up in March, where students will enjoy a movie with popcorn.  For our final AR Party this year, all students who meet their AR goal will participate in WATER DAY!!
As you can see, motivating students to read is easy with a little party, and those reluctant readers, well... they find out that reading is FUN after all.

To find out more about Accelerated Reader, and to learn about what kids are reading, along with resources on how to build successful readers, visit this link.

Next time, I will blog about Author Studies and how they foster a love for reading! 
So, between now and next time...Ya'll come back you hear!