Book Club - Al Capone Shines My Shoes by Gennifer Choldenko

What do you do when your neighbors are a bunch of hit men, con men, and mad dog murderers? Well, if you're Moose Flanagan, you ask the most notorious convict of them all, Al Capone, for help. But when that convict comes through for you and then asks you for a favor in return. Suddenly it's a whole different ball game. Picking up where the Newbery Honor winning Al Capone Does My Shirts left off, this lively second romp featuring Moose, his friends, and some of Alcatraz's "finest" is just as satisfying as the first.

This is the book the kids are reading in book club.  The kids are really getting into this historical fiction book.  Living on an island with gangsters is interesting.  The know there will be a catch.  What does Al Copone want for a favor from Moose?  Hmmm we shall see.

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein

What I am reading now.  Gr 4–8—The world's most famous game maker, Luigi Lemoncello, has just designed a brand-new, state-of-the-art library in his hometown, and he's invited 12 lucky seventh graders to stay the night just before its grand opening. Avid gamer Kyle Keeley jumps at the chance to meet his idol and see a real live library. After the previous library's demolition, this is the first library this small town has had in 12 years. Kyle is elated when his essay is chosen, and he gets to be among the first to wander the halls of one of the most interactive libraries ever. Kyle and the other contestants have 24 hours to find a secret exit out of the building and win a spectacular prize, and when the doors shut, the games really begin. Love of literature is a must if you want to escape. Librarians will fall in love with Mr. Lemoncello's library. This title is filled to the brim with witty literary references, an education on the Dewey Decimal System, and zany word puzzles. Narrator Jesse Bernstein expertly brings to life each character from the whimsical Lemoncello to the pretentious bully Charles Chillington. Insatiable readers who pick up on all the references will adore this book, as will general puzzle and mystery enthusiasts. The antics are similar to Patrick Carman's Floors while the puzzles are relatable to Blue Balliet's Chasing Vermeer.

http://goformative.com/

http://goformative.com/

Create incredible online assessments, classwork or homework.

Beyond Multiple Choice

Students can type, show their work with drawings or submit images.

Formative Everything

Frequent formal and informal checks for understanding guarantee student growth.

Real-Time Intervention

Know exactly what each student needs as they learn and take immediate actions.

Socrative.com

Socrative lets teachers engage and assess their students with educational activities on tablets, laptops and smartphones. Through the use of real time questioning, instant result aggregation and visualization, teachers can gauge the whole class’ current level of understanding. Socrative saves teachers time so the class can further collaborate, discuss, extend and grow as a community of learners.

Easel.ly

http://www.easel.ly/

What is Easel.ly?

Easel.ly is an easy-to-use infographic creator.  Infographics include flowcharts and visual aids that elaborate on a particular subject and make it more attractive for the student to understand and/or learn.

How can I use Easel.ly in my classroom?

●        Have students present a topic or an issue through an infographic.

●        Encourage the students to create a timeline infographic. It’s a great way to remember important historical events.

●        Ask students to present the past, and present of a place using a map and other graphics.

●        Ask students to use an infographic to present a news article or even a book review.

●        The possibilities are endless. Infographics can be used in every subject in so many creative ways to bring life to your curriculum.

Show me some examples of Easel.ly!

●        Nerds vs Geeks

●        Top Songs 1940 - 2010

●        US History

●        Smart Teaching

●        Managing a Classroom

I need this! How do I use Easel.ly?

●        Here’s a quick video tutorial you can share with our students.

○     Easel.ly

●        If you like the paper how-to, check this out.

○     How to Use Easel.ly

Plickers

https://www.plickers.com/

What is Plickers?

Love the old individual whiteboards that students held up with answers?  Here’s a new techie spin called Plickers!  You can think of Plickers as paper clickers; it’s a neat student response system that uses a teacher's iPad or Android tablet in conjunction with a series of QR codes to create a student response system. Students are given a set of QR codes on large index cards. The codes are assigned to students. Each code card can be turned in four orientations. Each orientation provides a different answer. When the teacher is ready to collect data, he or she uses the Plickers mobile app to scan the cards to see a bar graph of responses.

Check out this fun 40 second video.  :)
https://youtu.be/mI-eBHhEqzs

How can I use Plickers in my classroom?

●     Quickly take the pulse of a class before, during, and after a lesson.

●     Exit ticket

●     Reading homework check

●     Class polls or making class decisions

●     Review game

●     Take attendance

Show me some examples of Plickers!

●     Plickers in the Classroom (Video)

●     Mrs. Stasiak’s Plickers

●     Plickers!

I need this! How do I use Plickers?

●     Here’s a quick video tutorial you can share with our students.
Plickers Tutorial

●     You can also check out the help menu on Plickers site.