The Truth About Bears: Kindergarten Research with PebbleGo

This week, our kindergarten students were introduced to their first research resource...PebbleGo!



We began by reading the Monarch Award book The Truth About Bears.  This cute book features bears giving facts about themselves with humorous comments along the way!



After reading the book, I quickly showed the students on our Clevertouch Board how to get to PebbleGo on their iPads as well as how to find the section on bears.  We learned how to click on the speaker to listen to the text and I pointed out several other PebbleGo features.  Then, students went to their iPads and tried it on their own!



Their task was to find one fact about bears and write it on their paper.  The students blew me away with how well they did using PebbleGo and writing down their facts!



Afterwards, they were free to explore any topic on PebbleGo that they wanted.  They were so engaged in this entire activity!  PebbleGo is an absolutely perfect resource for primary students to use to find information about so many different topics.  No reading is necessary with PebbleGo and the information is simple and easy to find.





I love how we were able to pair a Monarch Award book with a research skill!  We will definitely be using PebbleGo more in the coming months!

What to read next?

"Mrs. Anderson, do you have any book recommendations for me?" This is a common question in our library!  My goal is to get to know each student enough, their passions and their reading preferences, so that I can help them find books that they might enjoy. Sometimes we are successful in their quest to find a new favorite book and sometimes not so much. 

As we head back to school next week, many students will need an extra boost to find a book to read. Some students will have read over winter break, but not all of them. I want to help them find interesting books to jump start their reading year.

Of course, many students will be drawn to their old favorites. Here is a list of the top 25 books checked out in 2019 from the Harrison Library. 

Almost all of these books are graphic novels or heavily illustrated chapter books (like Wimpy Kid).  Graphic novels are wonderful and I fully support our students' right to choose what books they want to read.  However, I also want to challenge our students to find new books and expand their reading lives.  

In 2020, my goal is to do more book talking to introduce students to new books that they might not know about.  I'll begin with some of my favorites of 2019:

As well as several books that I read over winter break:

    

We will discuss the importance of setting reading goals and how to find more time to read outside of school.  What is your reading goal this year?

We'll also begin 2020 with several library activities that will introduce students to new books.  Students will participate in book tastings and book walks during their first few visits to the library in January.  They will watch book talks that our students and staff recorded on Flipgrid last year and many will record their own book talks to share.  I will ask our older readers if they have suggestions for other ways to promote reading with our junior high students.  We will do whatever we can to find new books for students to become interested in.

Hopefully 2020 will be the year that our students find their NEXT favorite book!  Happy Reading!