Some of the Special Guests

When I got the email about who some of the special guests were going to be, I'll admit, I silent screamed and scared a student (I was in my classroom, they were taking a test).  I did a happy dance.

The first two guests to be announced (and what caused the mid school-day freakout) were Michael Gambon (Dumbledore) 

and Robbie Coultrane (Hagrid)

And then it was announced that Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood), and James and Oliver Phelps (the Weasley Twins) were going to be there.  

But, the announcement of these awesome guests only sparked quite the pickle for my friends and I----to be discussed tomorrow.  

What do you think of these special guests?

*Dumbledore, Luna and Twins images via HarryPotter.wikia.com; Hagrid image via wikipedia.com*

Using twitter in your classroom

 

I've been on twitter a while now, mainly to connect with other bloggers, teachers and causes that are important to me (and of course, funny stuff and Harry Potter humor).

Recently, my school division has been on a big twitter kick---all the schools are now tweeting.  And, my school was the only one who wasn't (GASP!).  So over break, the technology teacher and I met and created facebook and twitter (@alesbuzzybees) accounts for our school.  We will now be tweeting positive things that happened at the school, photos, reminders, and about closings and delays. 

Then I got to thinking, wouldn't it be fun to have an account for Luna?  And totally not crazy at all.  To keep it from being crazy, I decided to have my students "translate" for Luna and tweet in her voice.  This way, they are learning about intended audience, voice and author's purpose (without having to do stupid worksheets).  You can follow us at @LunaReaderDog .

We are also using twitter to learn about grammar and spelling mistakes.  They LOVE it!  We've been using celebrity tweets.  Some comments I've gotten from the kiddos about it, are things like, "wow, they make mistakes like we do."  (and of course, "wow, I'm smarter than ----so and so---!  They don't know how to ------ right!"  I wanted to test it out before I got too in depth, so I did a search on Teachers Pay Teachers.  There is some great stuff on there (especially free---anything from logos, to letters to parents, to teaching characterization by using twitter), but for now, like I said, I just wanted grammar practice.  

 

This is the one I downloaded by Caroline Sallen.  

But, I'm wondering, how do you use twitter in your classroom and school?  

 

Reading to Luna

Meet Luna, our new "Frenchton" (French Bulldog / Boston Terrier mix)!

I've been bringing Luna to school with me during our work days, and we both love it!  (and yes, I am getting work done!  My classroom  has never been this clean and organized before!)  Because she loves coming, I love bringing her, and my colleagues love her, I asked my principal if I could bring her during the school year on Tuesdays and let some of my students read to her...and he said, "Yes!"

I know what you're thinking?  Why would you want your students to read to a dog?  Granted an extremely cute dog, but still a dog.  

Well, I've done the research, and studies show that kids in "reading dog programs increase their reading skills by 12% to 20% over kids not in a reading dog program." Teachers also report that "82% students (in reading dog programs) increased their reading skills, self-confidence, and/or class participation." From (http://barkdogs.org/  

I've read that it "builds excitement for reading" http://www.tdi-dog.org/OurPrograms.aspx?Page=Children+Reading+to+Dogs  

And a researcher in Chicago found that "students in the program group… gaining 8 words per minute more on average, but up to 14 words per minute more in some cases, than students in a comparison group. This represents a 20 percent improvement in the program group over the comparison group in oral reading fluency gain.” http://www.fromthemixedupfiles.com/2013/02/ruff-ruff-read/

Now, I know, Luna is still a puppy and that most organizations want a dog to be certified, and that you have to be a year old to be certified, but my thought is, the sooner we get her in a classroom and around students, the more comfortable she will be around them, and will ultimately make her a more calm dog and therefore a better reading experience for the children.

If you would like to donate to my Donor's Choose project to buy dog themed books for the children to read to Luna, please click here

*If you are interested in starting a program like this at your school, please contact me, I can send you my permission form and other information that I've found.*