Friday, March 31, 2017

Northview Says "Hello, Hello!" to Emily Arrow by Carrie Davies

Some days just feel magical.  March 29 was one of those days.  


IMG_0212.JPG

Northview was very fortunate to host award-winning singer/songwriter, Emily Arrow, from Nashville, Tennessee, for three daytime concerts and an evening community concert.  As part of this district-wide event, students and staff from all three of our elementary schools -- East Oakview, North Oakview and West Oakview -- came together for grade-level specific concerts at our High School Performing Arts Center.  Emily performed for 1,200 students during the day, and another 400 fans at her evening concert.  

IMG_0237.JPG

I am extremely fortunate to be a part of an amazing Teacher Librarian team at Northview.  My colleagues, Kurt Stroh, Leah Pietrusza and I, began planning this event  just under a year ago.  This event was truly a collaborative event, and I’m so very thankful that I get to work with these dedicated educators, who I consider both colleagues and friends.


We were also lucky to have Teacher Librarian extraordinaire, fellow Book Nerd and friend, Kathy Burnette, join us for the day!

From the beginning of the school year, we had been preparing for Emily Arrow’s visit on March 29.  This included celebrating Emily’s music and reading aloud the books her songs are based on during library classes, incorporating her music into activities at our Family Literacy Nights, and having classroom teachers use her music and YouTube videos in their classrooms.


IMG_5559.JPG

IMG_0408.PNG

In the weeks leading up to her visit, we celebrated at school with a special count down bulletin board.  

IMG_9957.JPG

Students worked to create a welcome banner, and arrows to encourage concert-goers to “Follow Their Arrow” to see Emily Arrow’s performance!

IMG_0202.JPG

IMG_0206.JPG

We also knew Emily Arrow would need lots of water to help her singing voice for such a busy day, so we created water bottles just for her!

IMG_0235.JPG

It seemed like such a long wait, but as we found out with the first strum of her ukelele on March 29, it was well worth it! Emily Arrow not only lived up to the hype and excitement that had been created, but far surpassed our wildest expectations.

IMG_6300.JPG

IMG_0308.JPG

Emily played lots of crowd favorites, including THE DOT, THE CURIOUS GARDEN, and even sported her “Louise glasses” for LOUISE LOVES ART!  

IMG_0359.JPG


The entire audience at each show was engaged with her music, and sang right along with Emily Arrow as she played her ukulele "Bow" and her trademark big blue kazoo.  Students and staff all knew the motions to her songs, and weren't afraid to jump right in!

IMG_0252.JPG


One of the most moving moments of the day was hearing the voices of 400 3rd and 4th grade students singing Amy Krouse Rosenthal’s I WISH YOU MORE along with Emily Arrow.  Many of us in the auditorium were moved to tears.


We had quite a few staff members dress in striped shirts and pinned-on red hearts, a nod to Dennis from Salina Yoon’s BE A FRIEND.  During her performances of that song, Emily invited those staff members onto the stage to “mime along” with her!

IMG_0283.JPG

After each of the 3 daytime concerts, Emily Arrow graciously signed CDs and kazoos for her young fans who had pre-ordered them.

IMG_0333.JPG

The fun continued into the night, as we had over 400 Emily Arrow fans in attendance at her evening performance. From toddlers to grandparents, and every age and stage in between, families had fun singing and interacting with Emily Arrow's music.

IMG_0350.JPG

As a special surprise, Emily Arrow's 2nd CD, Storytime Singalong Volume 2, was made available for the first time anywhere at our Northview concert that night!


Families eagerly waited in a long line after her show to get their new CDs or kazoos signed.  

IMG_0367.JPG

We were also very lucky to have three author/illustrators join us as special guests that night!  Aaron Zenz (MONSTERS GO NIGHT-NIGHT), Laurie Keller (WE ARE GROWING) and Deb Pilutti (BEAR AND SQUIRREL ARE FRIENDS...YES, REALLY!) all had a chance to hear Emily perform that night, and meet her after the concert.  It was an awesome experience to see creators who admire and respect one another meet, and share their appreciation for each other’s work!

IMG_0399.JPG

IMG_0379.JPG

The entire day, start to finish, was absolutely amazing.  Emily Arrow is an incredibly talented, kind, genuine, passionate individual, and my life was made infinitely richer by spending the day with her.  I know the students, staff and families of Northview feel very much the same way.

IMG_0339.JPG

After the concert, one student's comment said it all: "I wish I could have this night just happen over and over and over."

Some days truly are magical.

Many thanks to everyone who helped make this day possible, especially Mike Frank at the Northview High School Performing Arts Center and funding from the Northview Education Foundation.  

Emily Arrow creates songs based on well-loved children's books, and has won awards, including the 2015 John Lennon Songwriting Contest and a National Parenting Product Award.  She is also is featured on regular rotation on Sirius XM Radio's Kids Place Live.  She currently has 2 CDs available, Storytime Singalong Volume 1 & 2 and has created numerous interactive videos of her songs that are available on YouTube.  Emily Arrow also hosts interactive Facebook Live performances most Sunday nights at 6:30pm EST.  If you are interested in ordering either of her CDs or other merchandise, visit her website at www.emilyarrow.com.  

****************
Carrie Davies is a preK-4th grade teacher-librarian from Grand Rapids, MI. You can follow her on Twitter at @readwithdavies .

Friday, March 17, 2017

Book Fairs: A Schoolwide Event

Yesterday, I closed my book fair.  It was the ninth fair that I have hosted.  Though exhausting, they are exciting and rewarding.  Our sales have increased...but MUCH more importantly, the excitement has increased.  Last September at school open house, I was actually asked by a fourth grader what this year's book fair theme was going to be and if I knew what books would be on it!

Sometimes I follow the fair theme suggested by Scholastic, other times I choose my own.  This spring, my fair theme was Book Fair Luau!  (I felt a need for some "warm weather" in my library.)

No automatic alt text available.


I do everything I can to create a space that will excite my readers and their families!


Book Fair Luau

Image may contain: indoor

No automatic alt text available.

Image may contain: flower

No automatic alt text available.

Some previous themes:

Bookaneer Book Fair


Image may contain: people sitting, table and indoor

Image may contain: people sitting, table and indoor

No automatic alt text available.


Take Me Out to the Book Fair


Image may contain: indoor


Image may contain: 1 person, indoor

Image may contain: indoor


Monster


No automatic alt text available.

No automatic alt text available.

No automatic alt text available.


Under the Sea

No automatic alt text available.

No automatic alt text available.


Sir Read-a-lots Castle




Nothing makes me happier than seeing kids come into the space and be so excited about the theme and the books.  Students enjoy previewing and making their wish lists.


Older students love to make book recommendations for younger students and enjoy helping them create their wishlists.






Excitement builds when our sale has books by authors and illustrators who will be visiting soon.



And boy do we sell a lot of their books!



Students enjoy making decorations and help to advertise.




I love listening to the conversations that families have while they shop for books...kids are talking about favorite genres, books, series, authors, illustrators...



Staff gets involved and helps build excitement!



Of course, food!  (Thanks to my amazing office staff, Cindy and Sheryl, for helping make this part happen!)







And the VERY best part...Kids with new books to read.  Kids excited to read! Kids so excited to start their new books that they actually sit in the hallway just outside the fair and read.


So...even though I just closed up the fair yesterday, I did decide today what the theme of our fair will be next October,  Stay tuned....

sir read.jpg-large