#52 - Using Flipgrid to Inspire Readers w/ Nikki Mancini

Intro

Hi everyone and welcome to Books Between - a podcast to help teachers, parents, and librarians connect kids between 8-12 to books they’ll love.  I’m your host, Corrina Allen - a teacher, a mom of two girls, and finally done with school and on to summer break! I said goodbye to my 22 fifth graders last Friday at their Moving Up Ceremony since they are off to the middle school! And I gave each one of them an end-of-the-year gift which includes a Krazy Straw and a pack of Kool-Aid that I attach to a book. And each of my students gets a different book - one that I have hand-picked for them based on everything I’ve learned from a year of getting to know them as readers and as people. Each June I spend about 2 hours browsing the Syracuse Scholastic Warehouse to select something I think each child would like.  

This is Episode #52 and oday I’m sharing with you a conversation with 5th grader teacher Nikki Mancini. We chat about how to use Flipgrid to inspire readers, and of course, what middle grade books we’ve been reading lately.

Today’s episode is sponsored by MoxieReader - a literacy app that’s like a fitness tracker for your reading life. It gives educators insights into their students’ reading lives, customized recommendations, and a way for kids to set and work toward their own reading goals in a way that is engaging and fun. If you are looking for a way to ditch those reading logs and instead have students track their reading in a more natural way, you will definitely want to check out MoxieReader.  As you recharge and reassess your teaching methods this summer, it’s the perfect time to explore a new tool. So head over to MoxieReader.com and the use the code welovereading and try it out!

A couple quick announcements for you! Our next episode features Diane Magras - author of the Middle Grade at Heart book club pick The Mad Wolf’s Daughter. The July pick is Just Under the Clouds and I’ll be chatting with author Melissa Sarno in a couple days so watch out for that episode.  Where the Watermelons Grow is the August pick and for those of you that like plan out even further - we are reading The House That Lou Built for September. And… the Middle Grade at Heart Book Club now has a Flipgrid!  I’ll drop a link to that in the show notes - along with the password so you can join the conversation and hear directly from the authors.

MG@Heart Flipgrid:  https://flipgrid.com/a8acb2

Password: mg@heart

Also, our Monday night #MGBookChat Twitter chats have been awesome!  Some of our upcoming topics include graphic novels, building classroom libraries, and the importance of refugee stories. So set a reminder for Mondays at 9pm EST and check out #MGBookChat for great conversations between educators, librarians, and authors about how to get great books into the hands of middle grade readers!    

For me, Twitter has been an incredible positive influence on my teaching life - connecting me with amazing and inspiring educators across the globe. And one of those educators is Nikki Mancini - who you may know as @missnikkiin5th. I kept seeing her talk about this thing called Flipgrid and finally I was like - you know what? I’ve got to invite her on the show.  I knew that Flipgrid could be a powerful tool, but I had some questions and figured you all might find value in that conversation as well.

After we chatted, I decided to try it out this summer. Because, I had the opportunity this year to meet my incoming 5th graders!  So, I could do what I’ve never done before - I opened up my classroom library and let them take home 2 or 3 (or more!) books to enjoy for the summer. And along with their books, I send them home with a sheet explaining how to access our Flipgrid and posted two topics - one to introduce ourselves and one to share our summer reading!  Before the day was done I had two kids already submitting videos and whoa - I am just brimming with ideas about how to harness this for next year and expand it even further! And I hope this conversation leaves you excited as well. Plus - right after we recorded this conversation, Flipgrid announced that it is now FREE for educators! Oh yeah!

Alright - take a listen...

Nikki Mancini - Interview Outline

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

What is Flipgrid and how did you first find out about it?

Beyond the author element, what are some other projects or uses for  Flipgrid that you have done with your students?

What would you suggest for some quick, easy ways to get started with Flipgrid?

Where would you suggest people go to get more information about Flipgrid?

What are some things you’ve been doing this year in your classroom that you’ve been excited about?

What are your plans for next year?

 

Links:

Nikki’s website - https://missnikkiin5th.wordpress.com/

Nikki on Twitter

NerdCampNJ - http://nerdcampnj.weebly.com

Nikki’s Author Connection Flipgrid: https://flipgrid.com/d935fd

Information about Flipgrid: https://info.flipgrid.com

Educator & Student Info about Flipgrid: https://resources.flipgrid.com

Flipgrid Inspiration: https://inspire.flipgrid.com

Flipgrid on Twitter and #FlipgridFever

Jewell Parker Rhode’s conversation about Ghost Boys on The Children’s Book Podcast

 

Books & Authors We Chatted About:

Smart Cookie and Finding Perfect (Elly Swartz)

Kat Green Comes Clean (Melissa Roske)

Babysitting Nightmares: The Shadow Hand (Kat Shepherd)

Amal Unbound (Aisha Saeed)

Daring Dreamers Club Series (Erin Soderberg)

The Peculiar Incident on Shady Street (Lindsay Currie)

Ghost Boys (Jewell Parker Rhodes)

Stanley Will Probably Be Fine (Sally J. Pla)

Someday Birds (Sally J. Pla)

Rules (Cynthia Lord)

 

Closing

Alright, that wraps up our show this week!

If you have a question about how to connect kids between 8-12 to books they’ll love or a suggestion about a topic we should cover, I would love to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected] or message me on Twitter/Instagram at the handle @Books_Between.

Books Between is a proud member of the Education Podcast Network. This network features podcasts for educators, created by educators. For more great content visit edupodcastnetwork.com

Thank you so much for joining me this week. You can get an outline of interviews and a full transcript of all the other parts of our show at MGBookVillage.org. And, if you are liking the show, please leave us some love on iTunes or Stitcher so others can discover us as well.

Thanks and see you soon!  Bye!