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

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 

A Safe Space for Helping Teachers Make Technology Work in their Classrooms

Welcome to our blog!! This is an exciting time in which we have the ability to integrate technology with teaching. While some may be comfortable with this sudden shift, we realize others may not yet be, and that's why we are here... to help YOU! Consider this your safe space to ask questions, no matter what, because as we all know, someone else may be wondering the same thing but is too afraid to ask. We will do our best to provide you with new findings, helpful tech tips, and answer any questions and concerns you may have. 

We believe technology is the way of the future and getting on board with integrating it into your classroom now will help you be prepared for whatever the future holds. Thanks again for visiting, and we hope to help you with all your classroom technology needs!

Heather & Ashley Watson
Watson Works