Read-It! Readers in English
Luz F. and Martha have enjoyed using the library's Read-It! Readers in Spanish set with their emerging readers by encouraging their students to take AR quizzes as they read through the various book levels. Now, students will be able to do the same in English. We have just acquired the Read-It! Readers in English and hopefully the students will be as enthusiastic about them in English as they have been in Spanish. The set, located in our ER (Easy Reader) section near the circulation desk, is entirely hardcover, is part of the AR program and is a significant update to our ER English collection. Lower Primary School teachers, please take a look next time you are in the library.
Audio Book Reviews
On the Primary School Library E-Bulletin Board, you will find a link to audio book reviews. Please take a minute to explore this link. You will see that we have a great need for more audio book reviews in French, Spanish and German. Would you be willing to record one or two for me? It only takes a few minutes and is a great investment in promoting reading in the language. I really need your help to give this project some momentum and, in the process, I will teach you some easy ways to create and use audio files and podcasts in your classroom and for professional development.
Request for Book Purchasing Suggestions
Please look ahead to units of inquiry that you will be teaching in spring, 2009, and let the library know of any purchasing requests for library materials to resource the units.
Also, as you reflect on completed units during the planning meetings, please send me an email with purchasing requests based on your experience with the unit and any special needs or weaknesses in the library collection with respect to that unit.
We are actively engaged in weeding out-dated materials and replacing them with current materials that better align with the curriculum. If you are interested in participating in the collection development planning for your language collection, please let me know. Our collection will be better if you help!
Primary School Library Moodle
The primary school library is in the process of developing a presence on the school Moodle. At present, entry to the space requires a password, which will change quarterly. The current password is posted on the IT/Library bulletin board in the primary school office and in the library. Please take a look -- you will find content such as the bibliographic formats by grade and links to library project materials. With this password, teachers and students can access library related information from home. If you have ideas about how Moodle could help the library work better for you, please let me know.
K12 Online Conference 2008
Have you heard of the annual K12 Online Conference? The third annual conference was held in October, 2008, and was "attended" by educators from around the world. The sessions are still accessible and the best things are . . . the conference is free, open all the time and has no dress code. So grab a cup of tea, put on your slippers and check it out from home tonight! Choose from forty great video sessions for educators interested in innovative ways that Web 2.0 tools and technologies can be used to improve learning.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
October 2008
Reprise of BrainPop Instructions
BrainPOP has special password information and procedures and several teachers have asked me to republish this information. You will need a password for BrainPOP even at school. There is a special access point for teachers and an after hours password for teachers has been created so that teachers will be able to access the site after school hours from home. Students can only use BrainPOP from home until 5:00 p.m. BrainPOP is the only resource we have with this type of password arrangement. I will put the passwords on the Library and IT bulletin board in Ivana's office.
Update on Language Book Talks
We have now lined up presenters for the Spanish and German language book talks, so we will continue with our language book talks schedule and hopefully make up the missed weeks for those languages later in the year. I am delighted that Mayte S. has generously agreed to present new Spanish books and Astrid S., parent of students in the German track, has graciously agreed to be our German book talk presenter.
Here are the upcoming book talk weeks scheduled for each language:
Spanish
October 27 - October 31
French
November 10 - November 14
German
November 17 - November 21
English
December 1 - December 5
Remember that each language will be featured for an entire week. If you are interested in bringing your class, please let me know the day of the week that is best for you and we will try to work it out. We try to schedule book talks on the days of the week that are best for the greatest number of classes in light of the presenter's schedule.
Request for Book Purchasing Suggestions
Please look ahead to units of inquiry that you will be teaching in spring, 2009, and let the library know of any purchasing requests for library materials to resource the units.
Also, as you reflect on completed units during the planning meetings, please send me an email with purchasing requests based on your experience with the unit and any special needs or weaknesses in the library collection with respect to that unit.
We are actively engaged in weeding out-dated materials and replacing them with current materials that better align with the curriculum. If you are interested in participating in the collection development planning for your language collection, please let me know. Our collection will be better if you help!
The Book Club Blog
The primary school library e-bulletin board has a blog in place for The Book Club, a fledgling book club for 4th and 5th graders. It has been used in the past, but at present it is dormant and I'd love to get it going again. The students who participated previously were 4th graders and they really enjoyed posting their comments (moderated of course) on the selected books. This is a great way to encourage a variety of transdisciplinary skills and have fun too.
Is anyone interested in working with me to get this project going again? If so, please let me know.
Photos with Creative Commons License
Will your students need photographs for classroom projects? Talk with me about online sources for photos that are available for use under Creative Commons licenses. Creators of these photos have placed them them online with only some rights reserved, meaning that they have given advance permission to allow certain uses of the photos without copyright concerns. This makes these photos more desirable for school projects. Please ask me for information on Creative Commons resources if you are interested.
BrainPOP has special password information and procedures and several teachers have asked me to republish this information. You will need a password for BrainPOP even at school. There is a special access point for teachers and an after hours password for teachers has been created so that teachers will be able to access the site after school hours from home. Students can only use BrainPOP from home until 5:00 p.m. BrainPOP is the only resource we have with this type of password arrangement. I will put the passwords on the Library and IT bulletin board in Ivana's office.
Update on Language Book Talks
We have now lined up presenters for the Spanish and German language book talks, so we will continue with our language book talks schedule and hopefully make up the missed weeks for those languages later in the year. I am delighted that Mayte S. has generously agreed to present new Spanish books and Astrid S., parent of students in the German track, has graciously agreed to be our German book talk presenter.
Here are the upcoming book talk weeks scheduled for each language:
Spanish
October 27 - October 31
French
November 10 - November 14
German
November 17 - November 21
English
December 1 - December 5
Remember that each language will be featured for an entire week. If you are interested in bringing your class, please let me know the day of the week that is best for you and we will try to work it out. We try to schedule book talks on the days of the week that are best for the greatest number of classes in light of the presenter's schedule.
Request for Book Purchasing Suggestions
Please look ahead to units of inquiry that you will be teaching in spring, 2009, and let the library know of any purchasing requests for library materials to resource the units.
Also, as you reflect on completed units during the planning meetings, please send me an email with purchasing requests based on your experience with the unit and any special needs or weaknesses in the library collection with respect to that unit.
We are actively engaged in weeding out-dated materials and replacing them with current materials that better align with the curriculum. If you are interested in participating in the collection development planning for your language collection, please let me know. Our collection will be better if you help!
The Book Club Blog
The primary school library e-bulletin board has a blog in place for The Book Club, a fledgling book club for 4th and 5th graders. It has been used in the past, but at present it is dormant and I'd love to get it going again. The students who participated previously were 4th graders and they really enjoyed posting their comments (moderated of course) on the selected books. This is a great way to encourage a variety of transdisciplinary skills and have fun too.
Is anyone interested in working with me to get this project going again? If so, please let me know.
Photos with Creative Commons License
Will your students need photographs for classroom projects? Talk with me about online sources for photos that are available for use under Creative Commons licenses. Creators of these photos have placed them them online with only some rights reserved, meaning that they have given advance permission to allow certain uses of the photos without copyright concerns. This makes these photos more desirable for school projects. Please ask me for information on Creative Commons resources if you are interested.
Monday, September 15, 2008
September 2008
New School Library Standards for United States Stress Inquiry
The new school library standards from the American Association of School Librarians are strongly inquiry-based. At a recent conference, school librarians from around the world discussed the standards and remarked on the relative ease with which the standards can be incorporated in the IB curriculum. There are four components to the standards -- skills, dispositions, responsibilities and self-management.
The standards are based on the following common beliefs (which I have abbreviated somewhat for the sake of this post):
1. Reading is a window to the world.
2. Inquiry provides a framework for learning.
3. Ethical behavior in the use of information must be taught.
4. All individuals must acquire thinking skills that will enable them to learn on their own.
5. Learning has a social context.
6. School libraries are essential to the development of learning skills.
7. Technology skills are crucial for future employment needs.
8. The definition of information literacy has become more complex as resources and technologies have changed.
8. Equitable access is a key component for education.
The language of the standards is intended to provide bridges to and commonality with the standards for technology (NETS) and education.
Our AIS information literacy skills continuum is now reorganized to align with these new AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner.
Flexible Afternoon Library Blocks
Please remember to sign up for afternoon time in the library for research and library activities. The monthly sign-up sheet is posted in the Primary School Office above the sign in sheet (on the IT and Library Bulletin Board).
Book Review Journals in French, Spanish and German
This year the library is subscribing to several journals for the review of children's literature in French, German and Spanish respectively. We are also subscribing to publications which feature children's literature from the UK and Australia. We believe that these journals will help us with our collection development in the library. Hopefully they also will be of interest to you and useful for you as you contemplate purchases for your classroom and selection of summer reading list books. Please take a look at these new publications when you have time (the first issues have not yet arrived, but we will keep you posted!)
Interested in a Web 2.0 Online Workshop?
Librarians and teachers are full of great ideas to use new online social networking tools such as blogs, nings, wikis, great graphics and podcasts. When you hear "Web 2.0", think of these forms of communication and information sharing that are now available through programs on the World Wide Web. Would you like to know more? Here is a website for a self-managed online workshop that leads you each week through well known technologies in the Web 2.0 environment. Don't be left behind! Explore Web 2.0 in the safety of your own home and you'll develop the confidence to be part of this growing community of learners. Here is the website for this free online workshop sponsored by the California Library Association:
http://schoollibrarylearning2.blogspot.com
If you prefer to work through a course like this with a group of colleagues, please let me know. Shelley Paul, the leader of the IT workshop that Tom put together last spring, offers a very similar course and she encourages groups of teachers to sign up together to provide support for each other. I am taking Shelley's course right now and can let you know more about it.
Accelerated Reader and Antolin
All students currently in grades 2 - 5 are now enrolled in Accelerated Reader and can begin taking quizzes. I hope that very soon we will have the new reading "challenge" for this year lined up and will be able to share it with you. We have lots of new books with quizzes in English and Spanish. Please encourage students to take quizzes in the computer labs or the library during independent checkout times. You can also visit the library as a class to take quizzes and check out books. Please just let us know you are coming either by the FS Direct system or the sign up sheet in Primary School.
We are currently in the process of subscribing to Antolin, a German online reading quiz program. Hopefully Antolin will be available by the end of the month.
The new school library standards from the American Association of School Librarians are strongly inquiry-based. At a recent conference, school librarians from around the world discussed the standards and remarked on the relative ease with which the standards can be incorporated in the IB curriculum. There are four components to the standards -- skills, dispositions, responsibilities and self-management.
The standards are based on the following common beliefs (which I have abbreviated somewhat for the sake of this post):
1. Reading is a window to the world.
2. Inquiry provides a framework for learning.
3. Ethical behavior in the use of information must be taught.
4. All individuals must acquire thinking skills that will enable them to learn on their own.
5. Learning has a social context.
6. School libraries are essential to the development of learning skills.
7. Technology skills are crucial for future employment needs.
8. The definition of information literacy has become more complex as resources and technologies have changed.
8. Equitable access is a key component for education.
The language of the standards is intended to provide bridges to and commonality with the standards for technology (NETS) and education.
Our AIS information literacy skills continuum is now reorganized to align with these new AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner.
Flexible Afternoon Library Blocks
Please remember to sign up for afternoon time in the library for research and library activities. The monthly sign-up sheet is posted in the Primary School Office above the sign in sheet (on the IT and Library Bulletin Board).
Book Review Journals in French, Spanish and German
This year the library is subscribing to several journals for the review of children's literature in French, German and Spanish respectively. We are also subscribing to publications which feature children's literature from the UK and Australia. We believe that these journals will help us with our collection development in the library. Hopefully they also will be of interest to you and useful for you as you contemplate purchases for your classroom and selection of summer reading list books. Please take a look at these new publications when you have time (the first issues have not yet arrived, but we will keep you posted!)
Interested in a Web 2.0 Online Workshop?
Librarians and teachers are full of great ideas to use new online social networking tools such as blogs, nings, wikis, great graphics and podcasts. When you hear "Web 2.0", think of these forms of communication and information sharing that are now available through programs on the World Wide Web. Would you like to know more? Here is a website for a self-managed online workshop that leads you each week through well known technologies in the Web 2.0 environment. Don't be left behind! Explore Web 2.0 in the safety of your own home and you'll develop the confidence to be part of this growing community of learners. Here is the website for this free online workshop sponsored by the California Library Association:
http://schoollibrarylearning2.blogspot.com
If you prefer to work through a course like this with a group of colleagues, please let me know. Shelley Paul, the leader of the IT workshop that Tom put together last spring, offers a very similar course and she encourages groups of teachers to sign up together to provide support for each other. I am taking Shelley's course right now and can let you know more about it.
Accelerated Reader and Antolin
All students currently in grades 2 - 5 are now enrolled in Accelerated Reader and can begin taking quizzes. I hope that very soon we will have the new reading "challenge" for this year lined up and will be able to share it with you. We have lots of new books with quizzes in English and Spanish. Please encourage students to take quizzes in the computer labs or the library during independent checkout times. You can also visit the library as a class to take quizzes and check out books. Please just let us know you are coming either by the FS Direct system or the sign up sheet in Primary School.
We are currently in the process of subscribing to Antolin, a German online reading quiz program. Hopefully Antolin will be available by the end of the month.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
August 2008
New Online Resources
Flexible Checkout
Language Book Talk Weeks
Book Clubs
We have several fantastic new online resources this year! Bookflix is a library of fiction video paired with nonfiction ebooks in a variety of thematic areas, most of which correspond closely to our PYP units of inquiry and/or the organizing themes. We also have Brain Pop for younger students in English AND Spanish -- be sure to take a look! Finally, for the older students, we have a number of new reference materials including a Dorling Kindersley library of reference books by subject and a new Universalis in French. Check with Sharon in the library for more information!
Flexible Checkout
This year all students in Grades 2 - 5 will have the opportunity to come to the library on a flexible basis for book checkout. For second graders, this will be in addition to their regularly scheduled library visit. We hope you will create ways to use this time to support your classroom reading initiatives and that you will encourage all of your students to take advantage of this opportunity. This year, I will be sending you reports on which students are lagging behind in book checkout so that we can work together to keep students reading and practicing their library skills. More information on that coming soon!
Language Book Talk Weeks
Language book talk weeks are back this year. This month look for a schedule of the French, Spanish, English and German book talk weeks ahead. In connection with the language book talks, take a look at the Audio Book Reviews link on the E-Bulletin Board. I am building this section to provide audio information about books in all languages and many of the books from the language book talks will be featured in the audio book reviews.
Book Clubs
Stephen Krashen says that free voluntary reading is a key factor to increased student achievement. Last year, we introduced Accelerated Reader to make reading more fun for the students. This year, I would like to offer several book clubs as a way to involve more students in reading activities. Students engage with books in different ways. Those with strong orientation to the written word and traditional testing will enjoy Accelerated Reader. Students with strong listening skills may like to try a new Listening Book Club which will explore audiobooks and podcasting. For students who enjoy more interpersonal activities, I would like to offer a traditional book club to meet and discuss books one afternoon a week in the library as well as online. What do you think -- would anyone like to help with one of these clubs?
Saturday, February 2, 2008
February 2008
Six Traits
Accelerated Reader
Language Book Talk Weeks
Summer Reading Book Lists
Did you know that you can use the library catalog to find a book that is an example of one of the Six Traits. First open the Library Catalog from the computer desktop. In the Subject window, type Six Traits-Voice (or Organization, etc. as the case may be). The results list will be all the books in the library that are cataloged as examples of that trait.
Accelerated Reader
All students in Grades 1 - 5 have attended an orientation on the new web-based Accelerated Reader and many students have begun testing. I will maintain a display board in the library showing statistics on student use of AR throughout the grades. February is the kick-off month for the Accelerated Reader school challenge to be selected by the Student Council. We also plan a webinar for teachers on how to use Accelerated Reader. More information on that coming soon!
Language Book Talk Weeks
Language book talk weeks are off to a great start. This month look for French, English and German book talk weeks ahead. In connection with the language book talks, take a look at the Audio Book Reviews link on the E-Bulletin Board. I am building this section to provide audio information about books in all languages and many of the books from the language book talks will be featured in the audio book reviews. Also look for audio book reviews on summer reading books!
Summer Reading Book Lists
Please begin to work on your summer reading book lists now. Final lists will be due at the end of March and the summer reading book list will be posted on the school website in April! Thanks for your help on this important aspect of our curriculum. Studies have shown that summer reading is vital to maintaining lanugage arts skills and is a key factor in student achievement.
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