12 Most Checked Out Halloween Books in my Elementary Library

For curiosity's sake, I recently ran a report to see which Halloween books were most frequently checked out in my elementary library in 2013, and these 12 won by a landslide:

1) Arthur’s Halloween by Marc Brown
2) Click, Clack, Boo! by Doreen Cronin & Betsy Lewin
3) Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds
4) Druscilla’s Halloween by Sally M. Walker
5) Fancy Nancy: Halloween…or Bust! by Jane O’Connor
6) Froggy’s Halloween by Jonathan London
7) Halloween by Jerry Seinfeld
8) The Hallo-weiner by Dav Pilkey
9) Haunted House, Haunted Mouse by Judy Cox
10) I’m not Afraid of this Haunted House by Laurie Friedman
11) Scaredy-Cat, Splat! by Rob Scotton
12) There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat! by Lucille Colandro
Because of these results, we were inspired to create our very first QR code listening centers.  We included each of these Halloween titles, and we're super excited about them!!

Using QR code listening centers like these can drastically modernize and improve your listening centers.  Students will scan the QR Codes using a QR reader on their smart device (iPad, iPod, iPhone, tablets, etc.), then simply press play and listen to the stories being read by ME while they follow along in the book. A train “choo choo” will sound to alert students to turn the page. All of the narrations were made using AudioBoom.com, so this should help with districts who filter/block YouTube.

You can also use these listening centers on desktop/laptop computers by having the document open on the screen and allowing students to click the QR codes which are hyperlinked to the narrations of the stories on AudioBoom.com.

I can't wait to use these in my library this year!  We hope you like them, as well! :)

~Heather
Watson Works

QR Code Listening Centers (Part 2)

After writing last week's post, How to Create a Listening Center Using the Audioboo App & QR Codes, we thought it might help to show you an example of one we made and give you a few extra tips to make it work in your class.

I LOVE the Froggy books by Jonathan London, so I created a FREE listening center card to accompany our Froggy Goes to School Sequencing Activity. (Please excuse my Texas twang...Haha!)  Click the picture on the right to download the listening center card for free.
Once you've printed/cut/laminated the listening center card, you should:

1. Download a QR reader to the smart device(s) your students will be using in the listening center.
2. Obtain a copy of Froggy Goes to School from your personal collection, school library, public library, local book store, or online, and place it in your listening center.

• Suggested storage - Glue an index card sized library pocket on the inside cover of the book.  Place the listening center card inside the pocket.
  
3. Place the smart device in your listening center, along with some headphones/earbuds (make sure the device is connected to the Internet).  If you'd like multiple students to listen to the story at the same time from the same device, consider purchasing a headphone splitter.
   
4. Train students how to operate the smart device, QR reader, and the listening center.

Then, your students should:

1. Scan the QR code using the QR reader on the smart device located in the listening center.
2. Put on the headphones/earbuds.
3. Press play and follow along with the book.  Note: A train "choo-choo" will sound to alert students to turn the page.

We hope you enjoy our free listening center card.  Comment below or email us at watsonworks1@outlook.com if you have any questions.  We'd love to hear from you!

~Heather
Watson Works

How to Create a Listening Center Using the Audioboo App & QR Codes

Thankfully, listening centers with cassette tapes are finally becoming a thing of the past!  Woohoo!  :)

For many, they’ve been replaced with smart devices and QR codes.  If you’re someone who has been curious about how to create your own listening center using QR codes, check out our FREE guide for using the FREE Audioboo app to record yourself reading a story and linking it to a QR code. 

*Note: The instructions provided are for iPad users, but the Audioboo app is also available for Android, Google Play, Windows, and other smart devices.

We hope this helps you revamp your listening centers this year! Email us at watsonworks1@outlook.com if you have any questions.

~Heather & Ashley
Watson Works