Happy New Year!

 

Every Other Thursday, you’ll get this short, fun, relevant newsletter.  It will contain a quote or smile about the library and those who love it, an idea you can use to promote your library or reading in general, a Common Core implementation idea and a shameless plug for the programs I offer.  Enjoy! 

 

If you are new to EOT or have missed any previous issues, you can read them all at www.smartlibrarians.com. And please tell your friends about it!

 

In this issue:

Good advice for the new year

Promote Reading – Rewarding summer readers

Common Core – collaborate and be a superhero!

Shameless Plug

 

Library Quote/Smile

Here’s some good advice for the new year!

Promote Reading – from 45 Ideas in 45 Minutes

16. Develop a tradition of rewarding your summer readers! – We all know that kids who read over the summer start school better prepared than non-readers. One way to encourage summer reading is to develop a tradition of rewarding summer readers. Once your students understand that they will be recognized and rewarded for reading over the summer, more of them will get involved as students report back to their non-reading friends how much fun they had! As your reputation for awesomeness grows, more students will read and the entire school benefits!

 

Ideas that I have seen that worked:

• Have a party in the media center including snacks and decorations
• Reward the readers with some “Cool School Tools” that you and your friends have purchased over the year at Dollar Tree and office supply stores that have the penny promotions. Most office stores will allow teachers to purchase larger quantities of these low priced items than the ad states. Just ask!
• Ask your PE teacher to help you with a kickball game or fun outdoor activity just for summer readers.
• Give them a book from your collection of giveaway books. (Don’t have a collection of giveaway books? Stay tuned! Soon EOT will give you several tips for building this REAL treasure box!)
• Allow summer readers to be the first to check out books, so they get the best selection!
• Call me and schedule a reading show that features magic and puppets and a strong message about reading!
• DON’T just give them a certificate and hope that it will make the non-readers green with envy.

 

Common Core Tip

If you are not already attending collaboration meetings with your teachers, you are missing an opportunity to become even MORE valuable to your colleagues and the success of your school. So much of Common Core is literature based and chances are many of the teachers in your building are unaware of the vast, rich resources that exist in your/their media center.

Ask your principal and academic coach about being in those meetings, and ASK the teachers what resources they need. Better yet, TELL your principal and academic coach about how important the media center can be to the other teachers in the building and INSIST that they give you a chance to help! You’ll see positive results in the first meeting and then word will spread! Pretty soon everyone will know what a rock star they have in the media center!

 

Shameless Plug

There are a lot of open dates in September to reward your summer readers or to kick of your 2014-15 reading emphasis! Chance are, I have a show that fits your theme! And if I don’t, I have SO much material that promotes reading, I can probably customize a show just for you! Give me a call and let’s see what we can do to get your students excited about reading!

 

Here’s what your colleagues have to say about the programs I offer:

 

“WOW!  Tommy Johns is fantastic!  Through magic, puppets, games, music and lots of volunteers from the audience, his enthusiastic personality encourages students to be READERS.” 

Janie B. Vaden, Ed.S, Media Specialist, Varnell Elementary, Dalton, GA

 

Let me know how I can help! See you in two weeks!

 

Encouraging kids to read, I am
Tommy Johns
Educational Entertainment Specialist

PS – Don’t forget to share this newsletter and blog with your colleagues!

 

www.TommyJohnsPresents.com   tommy@tommyjohnspresents.com 
Call (770) 640-6509 or Toll Free at (866) 490-READ
------------------------------------
Your peers appreciate your advice about quality programs. Please tell them about your experience working with us. Our best sales people are our many loyal clients.

 

You are receiving “Every Other Thursday” because you have attended one of my workshops, invited me to your school, or registered for a free half day of assemblies at a conference. If you’d like to unsubscribe, simply click reply and let me know.  Have a WONDER-Filled Day!

Every Other Thursday - April 24

April 24, 2014

Every Other Thursday, you’ll get this short, fun, relevant newsletter.  It will contain a quote or smile about the library and those who love it, an idea you can use to promote your library or reading in general, a Common Core implementation idea and a shameless plug for the programs I offer.  Enjoy! 

In this issue:

Library Quotes

Promote Reading – Rewarding Readers at the end of the year

Common Core - preparing for next year

Shameless Plug  

Library Quote/Smile

“We read to know that we are not alone.” — C.S. Lewis

“It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.” — Oscar Wilde

“Good books, like good friends, are few and chosen; the more select, the more enjoyable.” — Louisa May Alcott

Promote Reading – from 45 Ideas in 45 Minutes

9. Design and print READ posters for top readers, classes, administration, and staff with favorite books. I have designed a series of READ type posters you can use for your top readers and others in the school. I usually print these 11X17 so they are big enough to see, but affordable. Most big office supply stores run specials so that an 11X17 color copy of one of these posters is less than $2.00. This is an excellent way to reward your top readers and will be kept MUCH longer than a certificate. You could even make them up and put them in the halls until the end of school and give them to the students after they have become Reading Rock Stars! For templates and instructions, go to http://www.tommyjohnspresents.com/posters.htm, and have fun!

Common Core Tip

As we approach the end of the school year, it’s time to start laying the ground work for your contribution to your school’s success for 2014-2015. Go ahead and ask your principal for some time in pre-planning to address the faculty and let them know about the resources that your media center has to offer. Go ahead and begin talking to grade level leaders or department leaders about collaborating with them next year and start finding out what type of support they need from you. Be proactive about what the media center and the media specialist can do to help your school and your students succeed.

You and I know that you manage an absolute treasure chest of resources and possibilities. It’s time to make sure your colleagues at your school know just how valuable you are. Don’t wait to be asked – get in there and OFFER to help! Being proactive is one way to make sure that you will be SEEN to be as valuable as you are!

Shameless Plug

There are still a few dates open for end of the year reading programs. I would LOVE to come to your school and help you celebrate your students’ success! Give me a call and let’s see what we can work out!

Here’s what your colleagues have to say about the programs I offer:

"Go Wild makes learning FUN - the students recall words from the presentation for weeks following.  This is the BEST educational show I have ever seen thus far.  The students were learning plus entertained.  Well worth the cost!"

Sue Ensley, Media Specialist, Morris ES, Lake Worth

“WOW!  Tommy Johns is fantastic!  Through magic, puppets, games, music and lots of volunteers from the audience, his enthusiastic personality encourages students to be READERS.” 

Janie B. Vaden, Ed.S, Media Specialist, Varnell Elementary, Dalton, GA

Let me know how I can help! See you in two weeks!

Encouraging kids to read, I am
Tommy Johns
Educational Entertainment Specialist

PS – Don’t forget to share this newsletter and blog with your colleagues!

www.TommyJohnsPresents.com 
tommy@tommyjohnspresents.com
Call (770) 640-6509 or Toll Free at (866) 490-READ
------------------------------------
Your peers appreciate your advice about quality programs. Please tell them about your experience working with us. Our best sales people are our many loyal clients.

April 10, 2014

Every Other Thursday, you’ll get this short, fun, relevant newsletter.  It will contain a quote or smile about the library and those who love it, an idea you can use to promote your library or reading in general, a Common Core implementation idea and a shameless plug for the programs I offer.  Enjoy! 

If you are new to EOT or have missed any previous issues, you can read them all at www.smartlibrarians.com. And please tell your friends about it!

In this issue:

Library Quotes

Promote Reading and Common Core COMBINED

Shameless Plug  

Library Quote/Smile

“I still love books. Nothing a computer can do can compare to a book. You can’t really put a book on the Internet. Three companies have offered to put books by me on the Net, and I said, ‘If you can make something that has a nice jacket, nice paper with that nice smell, then we’ll talk.’ All the computer can give you is a manuscript. People don’t want to read manuscripts. They want to read books. Books smell good. They look good. You can press it to your bosom. You can carry it in your pocket.”  

Ray Bradbury, author

"In the nonstop tsunami of global information, librarians provide us with floaties and teach us how to swim."

Linton Weeks, Washington Post writer

Promote Reading and Common Core Tip COMBINED

This week I have had the wonderful opportunity to listen to an audio recording of Ron Clark’s The Excellent Eleven - Qualities Teachers and Parents Use to Motivate, Inspire, and Educate Children. WOW! I really enjoyed his ideas and examples! One of my favorite strategies that he discusses comes from the Reflection chapter (I think it was reflection. It’s hard to “thumb through” an audio CD to find the page!), where he talks about helping students develop vocabulary BEFORE they read particular selections. A quote from this section:

“Teaching kids to love reading and to have all the necessary skills is important, but a key to helping students become successful readers and getting them to perform well on standardized reading tests lies in building their vocabulary.”

As he taught, he realized that one of the big problems with his students was that they were not familiar with the vocabulary in certain standard texts. Finding the challenging vocabulary words and teaching those terms BEFORE the class read the text dramatically increased comprehension, test scores and ENJOYMENT of reading! He went on to develop a list of “1,000 Words You Need to Know to Enjoy Reading This Year.” The list was taken from the texts that the students would be reading during the year and, as expected, reading scores soared!

So, how does this apply to media specialists? As you prepare for the end of the year, collaborate with your teachers and encourage them to develop an essential vocabulary list for next year’s readings. The entire grade level or department could make this relatively simple work, if they all took part. And we all know that when we improve reading comprehension EVERYTHING else gets better!

If you can get a copy of the audio of The Excellent Eleven, I highly recommend it. It runs for a little over 2 hours and you can listen to it on your commute in just a few days. (www.audible.com has a download for $11.95, or you may be able to check it out from the public library. OR you could order it for the Professional Development section of the school media center and be the first to check it out!) I think it would be a very good book study for faculty interested in recharging their batteries.

Shameless Plug

A few words from your colleagues:

“Tommy is a delight to work with, from start to finish.  I appreciated the information he sent ahead of time -- everything from posters to tax forms included in one packet.  I appreciated his flexibility -- he was able to change the time on one of our shows at the last minute, and he was also willing to work in another show the same day for a community group.  Most of all, I appreciated the way he interacted with the kids before and after the program.  He has a magic touch, in more ways than one.

“Oh, and the shows were terrific, too -- full of books, jokes, magic, science, puppets, and audience participation.  The kids and the parents had a ball!”

Jan Daniel, Children's Librarian

Okefenokee Regional Library

Waycross, GA

“You were so easy to work with.  You did exactly what you said you would do.  You were prepared and on time!  Awesome!”

Betsy Simmons, Media Specialist

Oglethorpe Point Elementary

St. Simon’s Island, GA

Call me and you can see what all the fuss is about!

Let me know how I can help! See you in two weeks!

Encouraging kids to read, I am

PS – Don’t forget to share this newsletter and blog with your colleagues!

Tommy Johns
Educational Entertainment Specialist
tommy@tommyjohnspresents.com  
Call (770) 640-6509 or Toll Free at (866) 490-READ
------------------------------------
Your peers appreciate your advice about quality programs. Please tell them about your experience working with us. Our best sales people are our many loyal clients.

www.TommyJohnsPresents.com 

March 27, 2014

SPRING BREAK ISSUE!

Every Other Thursday, you’ll get this short, fun, relevant newsletter.  It will contain a quote or smile about the library and those who love it, an idea you can use to promote your library or reading in general, a Common Core implementation idea and a shameless plug for the programs I offer.  Enjoy! 

If you are new to EOT or have missed any previous issues, you can read them all at www.smartlibrarians.com. And please tell your friends about it!

In this issue:

Library Quotes

Promote Reading – Raise test scores

Common Core – Professional Journals

Shameless Plug  

Library Quote/Smile

“What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet or excite you. Books help us understand who we are and how we are to behave. They show us what community and friendship mean; they show us how to live and die.”

Anne Lamott, author

“A book, too, can be a star, a living fire to lighten the darkness, leading out into the expanding universe.”

Madeleine L’Engle, author

"When you absolutely positively have to know, ask a librarian."

American Library Association (ALA)

Promote (From the “Themes/Events” Section of 45 Ideas in 45 Minutes)

According to anecdotal research, the top five things that principals want are:

1. Increased test scores

2. Improved test scores

3. Better test scores

4. Test scores that are superior to the last ones

5. Enhanced test scores

REAL research has shown that getting kids to read for at least 20 minutes every day can and will increase test scores in all subject areas. Give your principals what they want by instituting programs that get kids reading every day! Find ways to incentivize reading and you can help your students achieve more! Show the research to your administrators and share your vision for encouraging every child to read every night.

Common Core Help

(This tip is for GA media specialists only. There may be a statewide database in Alabama or Florida that does some of the same things. If so, I’d LOVE to hear from you!)

I attended a media specialist training session in January and Karen Minton (not the WSB meteorologist, but the GALILEO expert) shared some of the hidden treasures you can find in Georgia’s statewide education database, GALILEO. GALILEO stands for GeorgiA LIbrary LEarning Online, an initiative of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. GALILEO is an online library portal to authoritative, subscription-only information that isn’t available through free search engines or Web directories. Participating institutions may access over 100 databases indexing thousands of periodicals and scholarly journals. Over 10,000 journal titles are provided in full-text. Other resources include encyclopedias, business directories, and government publications.

Get your professional journals online and save on paper subscriptions! Log in to Galileo and go to http://www.galileo.usg.edu/high-school/. On the red bar, click Magazines A-Z. Search for the journal you want and there it is! You can read full texts of articles, search by subjects or topics, go to back issues and more! You can even access electronic copies of periodicals like ZooBooks and get them on your tablet or e-reader.

And remember to check out www.CurriculumDivas.org for lots of resources for your school!

Shameless Plug

It’s not too early to be thinking about rewarding your readers for their great work this year or doing something to encourage summer reading. There are several shows at www.tommyjohnspresents.com/programs.htm that will help you celebrate the end of the year! Give me a call or email me and let’s book something for your students. As a matter of fact, if you call before April 10 (when the next EOT comes out) and mention EOT, I’ll take 10% off the price of any booking!

Let me know how I can help! See you in two weeks!

Encouraging kids to read, I am
Tommy Johns
Educational Entertainment Specialist

PS – Don’t forget to share this newsletter and blog with your colleagues!

www.TommyJohnsPresents.com 
tommy@tommyjohnspresents.com
Call (770) 640-6509 or Toll Free at (866) 490-READ
------------------------------------
Your peers appreciate your advice about quality programs. Please tell them about your experience working with us. Our best sales people are our many loyal clients.

March 13, 2014

This issue is a week late, because LAST week was Read Across America Week, and I was wonderfully busy, doing shows all over Alabama and Georgia! I started the week with a show at the elementary school I attended in 5^th and 6^th grade, where I met the girl who would become my wife. The school hasn’t changed a lot, except that you can’t buy chocolate milk for 5 cents from the machine in the hall any more and they have LOTS of computers now. Such a fun week!

Every Other Thursday, you’ll get this short, fun, relevant newsletter.  It will contain a quote or smile about the library and those who love it, an idea you can use to promote your library or reading in general, a Common Core implementation idea and a shameless plug for the programs I offer.  Enjoy! 

If you are new to EOT or have missed any previous issues, you can read them all at www.smartlibrarians.com. And please tell your friends about it!

In this issue:

• Library Quotes
• Promote Reading – Money!
• More Common Core help from Galileo!
• Shameless Plug  

Library Quote/Smile

“Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them.”

Lemony Snicket (aka Daniel Handler)

“We read to know that we are not alone.”

C.S. Lewis

“It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.”

Oscar Wilde

Promote (From the “Money” Section of 45 Ideas in 45 Minutes)

24. Money is tight and getting harder to come by. Collect Box Tops for Education and Labels for Education and use funds for media center needs. Have a couple of label drives each year and reward classes that collect the most. My wife’s school collects over $1,000 each year in BTFE for reading incentives and programs and got equipment for the school using LFE. Get a volunteer to collect, sort, tally and turn in the labels. You do NOT have to do this yourself. What would YOU do with $1,000?

Common Core Help

(This tip is for GA media specialists only. There may be a statewide database in Alabama or Florida that does some of the same things. If so, I’d LOVE to hear from you!)

I attended a media specialist training session in January and Karen Minton (not the WSB meteorologist, but the GALILEO expert) shared some of the hidden treasures you can find in Georgia’s statewide education database, GALILEO. GALILEO stands for GeorgiA LIbrary LEarning Online, an initiative of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. GALILEO is an online library portal to authoritative, subscription-only information that isn’t available through free search engines or Web directories. Participating institutions may access over 100 databases indexing thousands of periodicals and scholarly journals. Over 10,000 journal titles are provided in full-text. Other resources include encyclopedias, business directories, and government publications.

There are hundreds of unlimited access DK informational full color e-books that are tablet formatted and ready for use by your students and teachers! 

• Once in GALILEO, scroll to the bottom, and click on GALILEO Kids.
• At the top of the page, click on For Educators.
• Click on Elementary Educator Resources.
• Go to SIRS Discoverer, Educator Resources.
• Login and look for Database Feature, Nonfiction Books.

This should give you access to full color DK resources for research and leisure reading for students and teachers! Enjoy!

BONUS! – On the Educator Resources for Elementary page there are some VERY handy Common Core Curriculum Standard tools. Check them out!

Next time – Get your professional journals online and save on paper subscriptions!

And don’t forget to check out www.CurriculumDivas.org for lots of resources for your school!

Shameless Plug

Got a STEM event coming up? I have two science shows that promote reading as well as teaching about the science that is all around us! I’ll let a recent happy client tell you more in this unsolicited letter she sent to her colleagues in Paulding County. I did “Go Wild!” for her students.

“Just wanted to share some info with you...  Some of you have probably had him perform at your school already, but we had Tommy Johns at our STEM (aka Science) Fest on Friday and he was GREAT!  He had two sessions and was enjoyed by ALL grade levels--which can sometimes be a feat to appeal to all ages.  I felt that his fee was reasonable, too; we were helped by the fact that another school in our area booked him so we were able to split the cost of a full day.

His wife is a media specialist, and all of his programs tie reading and the library into whatever the theme is.  (Ours was about the Scientific Method.)  I'm hoping to have him next year for our Festival of the Arts (aka Language Arts Fest) for his writing program.

If you want more info his website is www.tommyjohnspresents.com.

Dee Tackett, Media Specialist, C.A. Roberts Elementary, Dallas, GA 30157

Let me know how I can help! See you in two weeks!

Encouraging kids to read, I am
Tommy Johns
Educational Entertainment Specialist

PS – Don’t forget to call about your end of the year reading reward show!

www.TommyJohnsPresents.com 
tommy@tommyjohnspresents.com
Call (770) 640-6509 or Toll Free at (866) 490-READ
------------------------------------
Your peers appreciate your advice about quality programs. Please tell them about your experience working with us. Our best sales people are our many loyal clients.

February 20, 2014

Every Other Thursday, you’ll get this short, fun, relevant newsletter.  It will contain a quote or smile about the library and those who love it, an idea you can use to promote your library or reading in general, a Common Core implementation idea and a shameless plug for the programs I offer.  Enjoy! 

If you are new to EOT or have missed any previous issues, you can read them all at www.smartlibrarians.com. And please tell your friends about it!

In this issue:

·         Library Quotes

·         Host a Family Reading Night to promote reading

·         Common Core help from Galileo!

·         Shameless Plug  

Library Quote/Smile –

“You should never read just for “enjoyment.” Read to make yourself smarter! Less judgmental. More apt to understand your friends’ insane behavior, or better yet, your own. Pick “hard books.” Ones you have to concentrate on while reading. And for god’s sake, don’t let me ever hear you say, “I can’t read fiction. I only have time for the truth.” Fiction is the truth! Ever hear of “literature”? That means fiction, too.”

-John Waters, author of Role Models

“Be awesome! Be a book nut!”

-Dr. Seuss

Promote (From the “Promote Reading” Section of 45 Ideas in 45 Minutes)

19. Host a Family Reading Night. I have seen this done a variety of ways. Sometimes it is called Family Literacy Night, but I like Reading better. (I’m more likely to go to a Reading Night than I am a Literacy Night. We LOVE reading, but we are already literate at my house.)

You can set up stations for genres, age groups, independent reading or read-alouds. Keep in mind your theme for the year and decorate/promote accordingly. For example, if you are doing a Reading Round Up, all reading stations could be like cowboy campsites and the stories would be about life on the range, excerpts from Hank the Cowdog books, folk tales like Pecos Bill and biographies of Annie Oakley and Wild Bill Hickok. You could even invite a motivational reading show performer (see www.tommyjohnspresents.com for more info!).

Common Core Help

(This tip is for GA media specialists only. There may be a statewide database in Alabama or Florida that does some of the same things. If so, I’d LOVE to hear from you!)

I attended a media specialist training session in January and Karen Minton (not the WSB meteorologist, but the GALILEO expert) shared some of the hidden treasures you can find in Georgia’s statewide education database, GALILEO. GALILEO stands for GeorgiA LIbrary LEarning Online, an initiative of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. GALILEO is an online library portal to authoritative, subscription-only information that isn’t available through free search engines or Web directories. Participating institutions may access over 100 databases indexing thousands of periodicals and scholarly journals. Over 10,000 journal titles are provided in full-text. Other resources include encyclopedias, business directories, and government publications.

Here’s one super cool feature – Go to SIRS Discoverer. You’ll need to go to http://www.galileo.usg.edu/kids, login and click on SIRS Discoverer. Here you can find “Common Core Standards Correlations” and find resources for lesson plans, suggested reading and a LOT more! Learn more at http://www.proquest.com/assets/downloads/services/commoncorestds_sirs.pdf.

Also at http://www.proquestk12.com/demo/10/k12videos/2Min_Menu.shtml, there are a lot of short videos that can help you when planning collaboration and teaching research. At the top of the video box, there is a drop down menu where you can select videos by Grade Level, by Subject or by Product. Take a few minutes and see what SIRS Discoverer has to offer!

Next time – hundreds of unlimited access DK informational full color e-books that are tablet formatted and ready for use by your students and teachers!

And don’t forget to check out www.CurriculumDivas.org for lots of resources for your school!

Shameless Plug

It’s the time of year to start thinking about those end of the year reading rewards. You COULD place an order with Oriental Trading and buy a bunch of plastic stuff that nobody really wants OR you could give your students an experience that will remind them to read all summer long! Look over the many programs offered at www.tommyjohnspresents.com/programs.htm and choose one that fits your theme and needs. Give me a call or send me an e-mail and let’s book a visit to your school!

Here’s what one of your colleagues has to say about the shows we offer:

“Tommy’s shows are an amazing combination of fun and learning - and what better way to learn than to have so much fun doing so that you don't even realize you are! Students gain vocabulary, thinking skills, questioning skills, AND excitement about magnifying those skills by using the library for fun reading and independent research.

“The fact that you care about learning more than anything else is evident - you don't find that in many "entertainment" programs. Fantastic!”

Elizabeth Foster, Carnesville, GA

Let me know how I can help! See you in two weeks!

Encouraging kids to read, I am

Tommy Johns Educational Entertainment Specialist
tommy@tommyjohnspresents.com
Call (770) 640-6509 or Toll Free at (866) 490-READ
------------------------------------
Your peers appreciate your advice about quality programs. Please tell them about your experience working with us. Our best sales people are our many loyal clients.
Call (770) 640-6509 or Toll Free at (866) 490-READ

February 6, 2014

February 6, 2014

Every Other Thursday, you’ll get this short, fun, relevant newsletter. It will contain a quote or smile about the library and those who love it, an idea you can use to promote your library or reading in general, a Common Core implementation idea and a shameless plug for the programs I offer. Enjoy!

If you are new to EOT or have missed any previous issues, you can read them all at www.smartlibrarians.com. And please tell your friends about it!

I hope you were able to stay safe and warm in the ice and snow last week. And then that groundhog says we have 6 more weeks of winter! I never did like that little rodent!

In this issue:

• Library quotes/funnies
• Promote reading with Family Reading Night
• Contest winners announced!
• Common Core Idea – AASL Best Websites
• Shameless Self Promotion – Best Science Night Ever!

Library Quotes/Funnies

“For something that doesn’t make a sound, a book speaks loud enough for its message to be etched on our hearts forever.”

Thoughts from a Bookworm #126 – from www.darwingeek.tumblr.com

“Any book you haven’t read is a new book!”

Seen on a T-shirt at COMO 2012

Promote (from the Theme/Event section of “45 Ideas in 45 Minutes!”

19. Host a Family Reading Night. I have seen this done a variety of ways. Sometimes it is called Family Literacy Night, but I like Reading better. (As a parent I was more likely to go to a Reading Night than a Literacy Night. We LOVE reading, but we are already literate at my house.)

You can set up stations for genres, age groups, independent reading or read alouds. Keep in mind your theme for the year and decorate/promote accordingly. For example, if you are doing a Reading Round Up, all reading stations could be like cowboy campsites and the stories would be about life on the range, excerpts from Hank the Cowdog books, folk tales like Pecos Bill and biographies of Annie Oakley and Wild Bill Hickok. You could even invite a motivational reading show performer (see www.tommyjohnspresents.com for more info!).

Contest winners announced!

I am no good at choosing winners based on anything besides drawing a name out of a bucket. We had 5 people enter and all were fun, creative or desperate, indicating that they should get the free one year subscription to www.curriculumdivas.org! So all 5 are winners! I will send your e-mail addresses to the Divas and they will get in touch with you soon about setting this up. Our winners are:

1. Elizabeth Foster, Media Specialist, Royston Elementary School, Royston, GA
2. Kelley Johnston, Media Specialist, New Hope Elementary, Whitfield County, GA
3. Cheryl Fletcher, Media Specialist, Americus Sumter High South, Americus, GA
4. Natalie Lett, Media Specialist – Statham Elementary School, Statham, GA
5. Ruthie Hite, Teacher-Librarian/Media Specialist, Reese Road Leadership Academy, Columbus, GA 31907

Congratulations Media Champs! Enjoy your subscription!

Common Core Idea – AASL Best Websites

I led a breakout session at the Dougherty County Schools Media Specialists Training in January (for the 4^th year in a row!) and had a great time. The best information I got (and there was a LOT of good stuff shared) was something that Marie Salter shared. The AASL reviews hundreds of free educational websites and chooses the top 125 each year to share with us, even if you are not a member of AASL. Take a few minutes and peruse http://www.ala.org/aasl/standards-guidelines/best-websites/2013 for some great resources that will help you do your work as a teacher/librarian! For the rest of the year, I will be selecting 2 websites from this page to highlight in EOT.

Shameless Self Promotion – Best Science Night Ever!

If your school is having a science night and they want to have the best attendance ever, tell your PTA or science teacher to give me a call. I have two science programs for elementary students that are Common Core aligned and are a lot of fun! And they both promote READING!

 
Go Wild! is all about the scientific process and life science and Work Smarter, Not Harder! is all about the 6 simple machines. Both programs were developed with input from the folks at the National Science Center in Augusta, GA.

Here’s how to have the Best Science Night EVER! Bring me in to do a half or full day of one of the science programs during the day for your students and the other that evening. At the daytime program, I’ll encourage the kids to come back for a completely different show in the evening and they will drag their parents back to have more fun! The reason I know it works is that it always does! Whenever a school books a literacy/reading night or science night using this format, we have record attendance at the evening program. I offer a discount for booking programs like this, so get your science person to call or e-mail today!

Here’s what one of your colleagues had to say about our science shows:

“Very motivating for the kids and the staff! The thing I liked most about “Go Wild!” was the way you related fun, science, reading and geography into a show that was both very educational AND entertaining!

JoLayne Rentzel, Educational Programs Director

National Science Center, Augusta, GA

Let me know how I can help! See you in two weeks!

Encouraging kids to read, I am

Tommy Johns

Educational Entertainment Specialist

tommy@tommyjohnspresents.com  

www.TommyJohnsPresents.com

Call (770) 640-6509 or Toll Free at (866) 490-READ

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