November/December 2008

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.