It's a Wrap!

Only 3 days left in 2011... where did it go? I will say that 2011 was not a stellar year for The Butcher Family and we are looking forward to 2012. We are hoping to stay off the radar in 2012... and slide by without any major incidents! I have lots of resolutions for my family- they don't know that yet!

I love blogs at the end of the year- bloggers sift through their blogs and share the best of the best with their audience.  Top 10 lists, resolutions, lessons learned, goals for the new year... anything goes! KidLit bloggers- I welcome you and encourage you to share your year in review posts here! I also hope that you will visit each of the links below and look around! Promise me one thing- you will leave a comment on the blogs you do visit. We all know how much comments mean to bloggers so spread the love!

 
My rules?  

1. All content must be appropriate for children in grades kindergarten through eighth grade.   

2. Please link to your original content, not the content of others.   

3. Websites that you link to must be child friendly since lots of kids visit this site and if they click on your link, I want it to be appropriate for them.
6. I reserve the right to remove any reviews that don't meet criteria 1-3. 
In the link title field, be sure to include the title of the post and your site name. In the URL field, please link to this specific post and not your blog (That way people don't have to scour your blog looking for it!) 
 

I can't wait to see what everyone is posting!

Good bye 2011 and hello 2012! 

1.	Kid Lit Frenzy - End of the Year/ Graphic Novels	5.	Five Favorite Fantasies of 2011 (pageintraining)	9.	Kid Lit Frenzy - End of the Year/ Picture Books Part I
2.	My Boys' Best of 2011 (Ready. Set. Read!)	6.	The Merry Media Center- Top 20 Books	10.	100 Memorable Books of 2011 - Part 2 (Mr Schu Reads)
3.	Top 10 Comments of '11 (Lemme Library)	7.	Remembering Nonfiction (pageintraining)	11.	2011 Favorites - Reading Through Life Blog
4.	Top 10 Post Views of '11 (Lemme Library)	8.	100 Memorable Books of 2011 - Part 1 (Mr Schu Reads)

Rock Star Status Update

In my quest to become the quintessential rock star, I have started learning how to play the guitar. The first week was awful. My fingers hurt, my wrists hurt, my ego hurt. I was ready to throw in the towel. But then I asked myself "What would The Edge do? Did he give up after 1 week? No. He kept going." So I played throw blistered fingers and tender wrists, and 6 weeks later, I can actually play. And I can sing along! It isn't perfect, but it is better than it was 6 weeks ago. Any tips for this noob? I haven't taken a real lesson- all of my learnin' has been online. Here are a few of the resources I have been using and loving:

Chordbook.com: This is a great site that shows you exactly how to finger a chord and then lets you strum it so you hear how it is suppose to sound. You can add your chords to a chord book so they are always there for you. You can change the key of your guitar if you need to. This has helped me so much! I keep it open while I play. 

Gieson.com provides a great guitar tuner. I think it is very accurate- not as accurate as a store bought, hand held tuner, but pretty close! I use this all the time too. I don't know why, but my guitar tends to get out of tune very easily. The weather? My clumsiness? This site is very convenient for someone who can't tune by ear yet.

 

Marty Schwartz has been my online guitar instructor. I love his style- he is funny yet serious about music. He is not condescending to a new player and he explains things in a way that I can understand. He takes popular songs and breaks them down so they aren't intimidating. He is a very talented musician and teacher. He has a Youtube page that I visit all the time and his own site- Guitarjamz.com where he offers lessons- some free, some at a small cost. Check him out! 

I use Chordie.com to find my chords- very simple. You have to know fingering before you can use this site.

 Learnacousticguitar.com is a great resource for players who are ready to learn some songs. It is a one stop shop for chords, tabs, lyrics and videos of the song you are learning.

The only thing that I am having trouble with is locating strumming patterns. I am still too new to watch someone play and figure out the strumming pattern. I need someone to tell me dduudd... I will get there! Post your favorite guitar links and tips in the comment section!  I am only a few lessons away from becoming a real rock star... right?

Valentine 2.0

When I was a kid, I loved to do Mad Libs!  You know, fill in the blank with a noun, verb or adjective?   Here are a few Valentine's Day Mad Libs for you to try!  If you don't know what the parts of speech are, there is a help button.

A Special Valentine

A Valentine Poem

Modern Cinderella

What Are Friends For?

Make a Valentine on Starfall.com and practice your connecting words like because & and.  You can print your Valentine too!

Top Ten for Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Since I have started my blog, I have discovered so many great librarian/book-lover blogs.  These blogs make me think, inspire me and motivate me.  Today, I share my 10 most visited blogs.  Enjoy! (And thank you!)

Welcome to My Tweendom is written by Stacy Dillon who is a school librarian.  She blogs reviews for young adult and children's books.   Her "On The Clipboard" posts are a great look in to what kids are really checking out and I like to see how my kids compare to hers.

Curious George's Notes from the Hut: I love local, independent bookstores (ie, Prairie Lights) and that is what Curious George is.  Located on Harvard Square across from Harvard Yard, this blog offers up great reviews and news from the world of children's literature.  

The Coralville Central Library is written by a local Iowa City teacher-librarian, who also happens to work in my school district!  Devin and I started exploring the world of librarian-blogging at the same time.  I check her blog weekly to see what she is up to across town.  We both agree that writing a blog is theraputic- and it is as much for our students and parents as it is for us. Devin also maintains a wonderful site for the Iowa Children's Choice Award nominees, where people can read about the books and then write about their reactions to the book.  This is something that I hope Devin will do next year- as I value it greatly!

The Jacket Knack:  This blog explores the world of cover art in children's and young adult books.  I too, judge books by their covers and encourage children to do the same.

Madigan Reads:  Madigan McGillicuddy is a  blogging librarian who posts reviews of books for kids of all ages from birth through teenage years.  I like the voice in her reviews and the books she shares are relevant to what I am currently doing with my kids. 

Miss Yingling Reads: Miss Yinling posts reviews for middle school age students, "especially boys", fiction and YA fiction.  I love her "Not what I wanted Wednesday" posts, where she discusses her disappointment in certain titles she has received.  Her posts have allowed me to be a little more critical in my reviews and to post a review even if it isn't all positive.  There are books for all readers and readers for all books, and just because I don't like a certain book, doesn't mean that someone else won't. 

Tales From an Open Book

This is the blog from The Carelton Place Public Library in Ontario, Canada.  The website describes them as a small library, but man, their blog packs a big punch!  I have discovered many new links by visiting their blog.

100 Scope Notes

Written by librarian, Travis Jonker, this blog hits the spot!  He offers up book reviews, great links and wonderful author videos.  His sense of humor is right in line with mine- he doesn't seem to take himself too seriously, and I appreciate that!

Green Bean Tween Queen

Sarah is a tween-teen librarian and posts great reviews of books that will appeal to my older students.

Kidsmomo

In their own words: "Here’s something else we both love: children’s books. And we want to share our favorites with you. But not because reading is good for you, as surely your teacher has told you. No offense to your teacher, but a good book goes way beyond that; it consumes and entertains you in a way that nothing else can — not even Joe Jonas performing “Single Ladies” in a leotard (although we must admit, that comes a close second)."

And, here is a video of Joe in the leotard: